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View Full Version : SCARBOROUGH BOAT RAMP.. Be Careful At Low Tide



QF3 MROCP
10-01-2012, 05:47 PM
The recent newsletter from Coast Guard Redcliffe, highlights just how easy it is to fall into the trap at low tide of loosing your trailer..

Check out pages 26 & 27

http://www.globaldigitalpublications.com.au/epub/inbrowser.aspx?id=57

extract from website story:



BE CAREFUL AT LOW TIDE

This particular Saturday for me started like so many others at Coastguard Redcliffe. I had almost finished my midnight to dawn radio duty when at around 0530 I was aware something was happening on the boat ramp that was unusual. I walked to the balcony and saw a boatie in a Landcruser having a great deal of difficulty removing a trailer from the ramp. He had just launched his large boat and apparently reversed his trailer over the end of the end of the ramp due to the very low tide.
Several unsuccessful attempts were made and clearly the trailer was well and truly caught by its axels or crossbeams and would not allow the tyres to roll back over the ramp. At about that time our duty skipper Wim Thierri had arrived and being the type of bloke that he is, went to offer assistance. By this time a small crowd of helpers and “experts” were gathering. The other thing that was happening was that the tide was now quickly rising. Wim suggested two things ,one was to attach RSL Redcliffe on to the rear of the trailer and whist the vessel pulled backwards, it would have a lifting motion on the rear of the trailer and the Landcruser could drive forwards and lift the trailer over the ledge at the end of the ramp.
“No that wouldn’t work “they said However, they did take Wim’s second piece of advice and that was to unhook the trailer and get the Landcruser out of the rapidly rising water.
Unable to assist any further, Wim retreated to our bunker.
Not long after a tilt tray recovery vehicle reversed down the ramp and proceeded to attempt to winch the trailer from its difficult position. Now we knew that this could only result in breaking something, and it wasn’t long before our fears were realised. The cable on the tilt tray broke.

The best way to fix this is to get another one and try again, no… no.. not another cable another Tilt Tray …and sure enough another truck arrived and sadly physics also stopped this from being successful.
On and on they toiled everyone seemed to have an idea as to how to recover this immovable object. One thing was for sure, the tide continued to rise. By now the trailer was barely visible.
Two tilt trays didn’t work,” I know” somebody suggested “let’s get a bigger one”.
Sure enough, a seriously large recovery truck, the type used to recover very large vehicles reversed down the boat ramp. It tried and tried and it too failed to pull the trailer from the water.
After a lot of head scratching it was decided to try plan A.
Lets attach the owners boat to the back of the trailer and reverse it up whilst the recovery vehicle pulls the trailer forward. They tried everything else “why not give it a try”

Surprise ..surprise…surprise… within two minutes the trailer was recovered .
The time was now 1030
Wim Thierri said nothing, but the look and smile on his face said it all.
Footnote I offered the owner of the boat a copy of the photos I had taken for prosperity, but he said he wanted to forget the whole sorry day ever existed . I did however email a set photos to his mate who is going to surprise him with a public showing for his 50th birthday.

BillyT2382
10-01-2012, 05:59 PM
Damn that would've sucked...did they go fishing?..lol

braders83
10-01-2012, 06:08 PM
Thanks for the read - it was great!!!

Will have to watch out for that one so I don't have to eat some humble pie!! :)

FishHunter
10-01-2012, 06:47 PM
I was watching the small one on the beach there one morning and it looks even worse with the waves breaking on the ramp

marto78
10-01-2012, 07:15 PM
Ha ha classic...

Horse
10-01-2012, 07:17 PM
Thats one of the reasons some private ramps don't allow you to drive onto your trailer. Larger boats can scour a lot of the sand and gravel from the end of the ramp

ShaneC
10-01-2012, 07:25 PM
Cant see why you wouldn't attach the recovery vehicle to the Landcruiser via the tow attachments. With two powerful vehicles pulling at the same time (similar to getting large boats over the cutting at Fraser) surely one of two things would happen. 1) The trailer is pulled out successfully 2) they pull the arse out of the trailer and skulldrag it up the ramp. Either way its mission accomplished..... and relatively quickly.

tunaticer
10-01-2012, 08:09 PM
Cant see why you wouldn't attach the recovery vehicle to the Landcruiser via the tow attachments. With two powerful vehicles pulling at the same time (similar to getting large boats over the cutting at Fraser) surely one of two things would happen. 1) The trailer is pulled out successfully 2) they pull the arse out of the trailer and skulldrag it up the ramp. Either way its mission accomplished..... and relatively quickly.

More than likely you will trash your trailer leaving behind the running gear at the end of the ramp. Trailers will not jump up onto the wheels when the chassis forward of the spring hangers is resting hard on the ramp lip.

Jarrah Jack
10-01-2012, 08:21 PM
It happened to me on a smaller trailer, had a flat on the way home. They don't want to lift up over the edge thats for sure.

ShaneC
10-01-2012, 08:27 PM
Same would have happened if they winched it though.....

Ratman
10-01-2012, 08:51 PM
I've seen them use a crane and a diver to recover a trailer at the boat club ramp a few years ago. Pity you can't sign the end of the ramp somehow, perhaps its not possible.

ShaneC
10-01-2012, 09:14 PM
I cant see why you couldnt Ratman. I dunno if its still there but there used to be a sign indicating the end of the ramp at Dohles. Looking at those photos I reckon I have come real close to a similar mishap at Scarby when launching my boat on a real low tide... I guess some of the drama would hinge from the slipperiness of said ramp when the tide is right out too. I would still be interested to see if a trailer could be skulldragged on its chassis until eventually a tyre contacts the end of the ramp and can be dragged up. Might do a bit of damage to brake lines etc, but I cant see it leaving axles etc at the ramps end. Volunteers???

cuzzamundi
10-01-2012, 11:57 PM
Link didn't work for me. Anyone able to give me a short version of how it happened? Thanks.

Cuzza

MTAQ/BTAQ
11-01-2012, 11:54 AM
Wim and I think alike - we are both marine studies high school teachers - I was at the ramp at 7am that morning, I did not want to be too nosy but I offered the same advice that Wim did later that day, my other suggestion was to park the cat over the trailer (it was in about a meter of water) send down a "diver" with a rope to attach to the rear of the trailer and then several volunteers to heave and get the trailer up over the step and drive forward at the same time.

Admittedly he did launch right on low tide, about 4am that day and i think it was a .10 tide, he did not realize it was the lowest over the year.

David Ambler
11-01-2012, 05:25 PM
I think I would have grabbed something to use as a gin pole. Push the trailer further back, have the gin pole inclined a bit towards the trailer then just hoik it out with the vehicle. If it is a common event down there maybe an "A" frame could be on hand. Would not cost much. Maybe some custom made feet of steel angle to brace against the end of the ramp. Just a thought.

tunaticer
11-01-2012, 06:43 PM
The idea of simple force to skull drag a trailer out will always end in misery. The spring hanger is always the first point of contact and it will snag enough to snap the winch cable on the decent 4wd winch. By all means give it a go if you drop your trailer over the end, but I bet you will be sorry.

Ratman
11-01-2012, 07:09 PM
Sounds like there are 'ramps' and there 'are ramps.' I've never heard of this problem at 1770.

robersl
11-01-2012, 07:32 PM
Maybe a very large floatation device attached to the back of the trailer to lift it then drive up the ramp

fisho8
12-01-2012, 10:37 AM
I was up there for all of that watching them try pull this thing out of the water the 2 tow truck that were trying to pull it it were just wedging it further into the end of the ramp I was speaking with the owner for a while to and offered my assistance to try and help aswell the big truck they bought in had a lifting arm on it like a crane I got some pics of it but did not want to post them up incase it created a shitfight for the forum. Now this has been published here are a few I have taken. The boat went back on the trailer and off he went after they got it out. You do need to be very careful on that ramp at low tide. I suggested to the coastguard to put a marker on the end of it so everyone knew where the end of the ramp was to stop this from happeneing again.

The-easyrider
12-01-2012, 04:22 PM
I launched just before this guy and when I saw his predicament offered my Patrol and some advice all I got back was some "I am superior than you attitude" So I went fishing and left him to it as I did not want to waste my time with a tool.