Slop, I don’t care what anyone says now that’s funny! I’ve identified my share of “know-it-alls” that bring my nerves to the edge and yes they always will……. until that first jerk at the end of my line…. Let’s go fishing. Kurt
I’ve got a good boat ramp story.. I and my drill crew were coring bedrock for the peliminary foundation bridge work currently being done at the Highway 494 Wakota river Bridge in Newport/S. St. Paul. We watched A guy back a large 24′ fiberglass boat down the boat ramp near the bridge. everything was fine, he had a bunk style trailer, got out unhooked all the straps and winch and threw a hand line connected to this new boat in the back of his truck box and told his wife to back in to the water so he could drive the boat off the trailer. All along he was yelling at her, you could tell she was very nervous , do this , do that , dont do that , do this.. She back in as she was told a the boat slid off nicely so he honked his horn and she started up the ramp. Meanwhile the rope in the box came whiping out to only hook on the right side bunk. AH the guy was trying to stop her but she dident hear or see what was to happen next. Driving like Alot of people do when they get in a hurry or feel pressureed in I’ll call it RAMP RAGE she pulled the boat TOTALLY out of the water onto the concrete ramp. With A sound of some very deep scratching and the weight of the boat she knew something was wrong and stopped.
About 3 hrs. later they finally got the boat back on the trailer with help from a wrecker to pick the bow of the boat and back the trailer far enough under this very expensive outing.
I think even the best skippers should check and re-check before honking their horn. 
Something i did to my trailer was put a carpeted walkway down the middle next to the center rollers. One of the ramps we have here in town is very steep and when the waters high it comes down river pretty fast on this side of the river. Its very hard to keep the boat straight let alone center it. It was this ramp that got me to put the walkway down the center. If the boat goes in between the upright posts of the trailer, even crooked i can get out after im up on the top of the ramp step up on the walkway and center it then. With the walkway down the middle i can pull the rope from my winch and hook it up to the eye in the boat, walk back up the walkway to the winch and give it a few turns to put it on the trailer a short ways. I can then pull everything up the ramp and then winch it to the bow rest on the winch post. I find this saves time. One thing im definately going to do this year is put carpeted side boards on the trailer, one on each side of the boat, so when im driving the boat on the trailer it slides between these boards all the way to the winch. It will load better no matter the current speed.
Nothing against my wife, I love her to death but I wouldn’t want her backing my boat in. Why put somebody in that position when the ramp is a zoo? My biggest concern at the landing is when my son is with. I can now put my boat in using one eye, because the other one is usually on him. 
If more people would just use common sense at the landing; and in life we would all be better off.
Quote:
“SON; NEVER ARGUE WITH AN IDIOT……THEY DRAG YOU DOWN TO THEIR LEVEL AND BEAT YOU WITH EXPERIENCE!”
Gary, that’s the best one I’ve heard in a long time! Thanks for the laugh.
All of the prvious posts are on target. If I go to hell half the time will be spent at the ramp waiting to put in, the other half waiting to take out. The body language thing is right on target. Educating folks who are clueless is a great way to do things. Sharing insight with folks who are rude is also justified…up to and including multi-knucklier attitude adjustment for those who are obviously being dinks! 
I love the boat ramp,I watched a guy get ran over twice by his wife.It was to much.
Yeah it all depends, for me, the people that are oblivious to the others waiting in line bother me a bit, I like to take as little time as possible when I’m launching/loading, but taking enough time to not be rushed and do it safely.
Honestly I think best solution for people learning, to load.unload their boats is probably find a less busy access, and learn to do it ALL by themselves first, Too many times the people that take forever are those who cannot do it by themselves, AND are with people that have no clue, my wife learned slowly one task at a time, little by little each trip, little things she can do to help, she could about do it herself now, and actually helps me do the job safer and faster.
My advice, if you can do it all by yourself, and you bring friend/s out with you that have no real clue what’s going on, it’s best they do nothing more than load gear into the truck, after the boat is loaded, and you load the boat all by yourself, this will save your temper and everyone else alot of grief.
Tough ramps, you have to expect people to take more time, Hidden falls is about the trickiest place I’ve loaded.
The few people I’ve went out fishing with have all got a great method down for loading their boats, I ask if they would like or need my assistance (rarely does anyone take up the offer) WHY??? because they’ve done it so many times by theirselves, they don’t need my help, SO mostly I try and stay out of their way, and it goes perfectly smooth everytime, every single time.
Of and the worse job you can give the unexpeinced person??? Without doubt backing the boat and/or trailer down the ramp. 
If all else fails, help the people out, so many times this has made a big difference, heck even as much as I load my boat, sometimes a bit of help from a bystander is soooo very much apperciated.
Btw, First time out this year on open water, It went totally perfect for me, I think it took no more than 6 minutes to load/unload my boat, including the time to get it started for the first time in months. No too bad.
Oh and for you those of you that have a lot of problems with other people un/loading thier boats, Fish weekdays 
I agree with what everyone here has said. I think if you see someone having trouble you should at least lend a helping hand instead of getting upset about it. However, there is one thing that pisses me off at a busy landing. When you get your boat off the trailer, pull it to the end of the dock or beach it to wait for your partner!! I hate when after waiting for someone to back in their boat, they finally get it done and then they leave their boat right in the way of other people trying to back their trailers in. What I will do is beach the boat off to the side if by myself, or if I’m with a partner, they or I will be out in the lake waiting for the other to get back from parking the truck.
On a side note: the funniest thing I ever saw was these guys who thought they could drive their boat onto their trailer with a bow mount! Snap!! 
I think we should have a boat ramp for each kind of person at the launch 
we could have a beginner,inter mediate,advanced ,oh there are millions of specific ramps we could have Walleye only ramps,bass only ramps,get the point!Lets just help out when were needed,give people a break when they need it and stay away from the people who don’t care. 
I usally am fine backing the boat in until the ramps get busy. When Many people are waiting I seem to get in a bit of a hurry and start oversteering the truck while backing down. Let me tell you it is a little imbarassing with all the people watching.
I hear ya. If I can back down nice and slow, no problem. If the ramp is busy, I also tend to hurry and over steer and it ends up takeing me longer than if I had just gone slow.
This also happens to me when I return home. I live on a busy four lane street with a center turn lane. I have a two car driveway (normally with at least one car in it)and I have to back the trailer from the center lane that goes north/ south to my driveway that goes east/ west! If fishing was good that day, I do this at night with all the other cars head lights in my mirrors! If I am lucky, there is enough of a break in traffic for me to have one shot at it going at a steady pace. If I miss, I just need to pray the cars comming have enough sense to stop while I straighten it out and finish backing it in. I have had my share of one fingure salutes and horns blareing but so far, no one has hit me! Mind you, this whole process takes a mere seconds (for sure less than a minute). At the ramps, to avoid the “nervous backing syndrome” I simply either find a ramp that isn’t busy, or I don’t launch that day ( I hate weekends!)While this limits my ability to fish in some places, it saves on my anxiety! Some ramps I have never(and probably will not ever) tried for this reason. THe dresbach one come to mind. Haveing said all this, I always prep, load/unload my boat away from the ramp. I don’t think anyone needs the extra pressure of someone “timeing”how long it takes you to back your trailer down, and getting frustrated/mad just because they could do it faster.
Take a deep breath. Relax. Live longer!
Just my $.02
John
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