How much do you pay to launch?
 

This is more of a rant than a question. My lake (Elsinore) has raised the rates to $25 to launch. They charge $15 for a "Lake Pass" and $10 for ramp fees. So Cal's one and only terd of a lake also known as "Smell-some-more” is not exactly a beautiful vacation destination.

I love wakeboarding, but the sport is just getting too expensive for me. It probably cost me about $100 to tow my boat 1hr each way, fill up the gas tanks ($3.10 gal) and pay the launch fees. This is not even accounting for my boat payment and maintenance cost (add another $100 per day of riding?).

I feel I make a very good living and I don’t know how many afford this. I will seriously consider selling my boat if the Santee cable park becomes a reality.

We go out regularly to San Diego's only freshwater lake, El Cap. If I take my two boys and a friend each of theirs it ends up being $58 to get the boat in the water ($10 ea. for "water contact" use, $8 for the boat). We usually end up using about 10 gallons for a 3-4 hour session so there's another $30. Kids beg for Burger King on the way back, add another $30. $120 out the door for the day easy. Yeah, it hurts. I've begun to tell the kids that we'll take their friends, but they have to bring their own $10.

It's cheapest when I get my steady riding buddies to join. They pay their own way and another $20 for gas or so. Then it only costs me $20-30 for the outing.

Those are crazy prices. Where I live in PA we get a year long launch pass for $30 total.

$65 a year for an annual pass, or $8 a launch up in Norcal. and that just started last year, there are still a few free ones.

$10 each time I launch on the Delta but I have a free pass that is included with my storage unit.

We could launch for free on a county ramp, but the little pass you have to negotiate to get to open water is really shallow and narrow. There isn't a dock, so you have to beach the boat to load people. So we put in on a private ramp that charges $5 plus $2 per person over 2 people. Not the greatest ramp, but they have a dock, and are really nice people so I have no problem supporting their income for the ramp. Plus, they will hurry people along who are taking too long or lend a hand to anyone who needs it.

$0

Numerous public ramps with no fees in Tennessee.

$0 to $3

$0 at numerous ramps on Canyon Lake in Texas. $10/launch at the wally ramp on Lake Conroe in Texas and $25/year at the good boat ramp on Lake Conroe in Texas. now...gas, food, maintenance, etc. is another story.

I don't think I can ever remember having to pay anything to launch. But then again I live in a small town.

I feel your pain. I am very lucky being in TN where there tends to be no launch fees. Gas is running a minimum $40 when we go out. Then drinks etc...I started looking at what I was spending on just can drinks and bottled water for us to go out and it was eye popping. Shoot, it is $4 just to put ice in the cooler. I began looking at those home ice makers since my fridge is inadequate. I guess that is the price you pay for the sport you love.

Have been lucky and haven't had to pay any fees at my home lake, but i guess they are going to start charging next year (Bullards Bar), sad sad day when i heard that. Hopefully I can get a year long pass.

$0-$10 depending on the lake.

At the two lakes I ride at most often $0.

I don't think I've ever paid to launch a boat??? That sucks.

^^^^^^ Same here!

$50 launch fee @ Foster City Lagoon - Well its in the Bay Area's Peninsula - so of course its ridiculously expensive - standard.
10 bucks @ the delta

With the exception of deals on Mexican beer and Fish Tacos, everything is more expensive in Cali. Launch fees are just about unheard of around here and filled the gas up for $2.42 this AM. If I had to lay out over $100 every time to wakeboard, I wouldn't give it up, but would ride less.

The going rate around here is about $10/set if you are bumming pulls and can see that wouldn't cut it in Cali.

yeah, all has to do with location. Here in Wisco I pay 80 bucks a year for a pass or you have the option at an 8 dollar a day pass. Now, a 10 dollar "water contact" fee is something I've never heard of. Wow. Happy I don't live in Cali.

whats a launch fee?

The problem with the "lakes" in California is that most of them are reservoirs owned by the cities, counties or other municipalities in which they're located. In order to avoid liability, and for other reasons, the municipalities feel they need to provide constant lake patrols, etc. Therefore, the only time you can be on the lake/reservoir is when they have municipality employees on duty - usually only daylight hours. This is costly to provide and so it gets charged back to the users - us boaters.

Where I grew up in Wisco, we'd only see the lake police on busy weekends in the summer. Other than that, the lakes were not patrolled.

On the TN River the closest launch is 2 blocks from my parents house and is on the Wildlife Refuge so it is free to launch. Very good ramp and dock, only downside is no jetskis allowed since it is located on a back channel.

Go to the main river and the launches are $3 at the Boat Harbor.

At the lake, the launch at the marina is $5. We actually use a private launch at the end of our road, so we just pitch in some for upkeep when needed.

3 bucks

Launch is free.

Parking the tow rig is $5 / until midnight.

$10 to launch for me at the delta. I had a similar thought last summer about how much this costing me so I made a small change to save a little. I was paying $190 a month for storage right next to my house and using 1/4 tank of gas in the Tahoe towing my boat to the ramp and back so I found a place to store my boat that was close to where we launch and it was only $140 a month. So now I'm saving $50 in storage and a lot in tow rig gas since the boat is only about 1/4 mile from the ramp now. Moral of the story: if your paying for storage you should just store it as close to the lake as possible to save gas.

I pay $18 per launch at my home lake and I think it's that much at Folsom too (haven't been yet this year). I haven't cut back how much I wakeboard because of the prices (yet) but it hurts, for sure.

$0

I pay nothing, use one of the few free ramps around. Get in at dawn and leave by noon and you avoid all the idiots on jet skis, punks fishing next to the "no fishing, docks for ramp users only" signs that bitch when you run over their lines when they won't pull them while you dock, and misc other riff-raff and poor trash. Also get out on overcast/threatening rain days and you can stay later and not deal with the fools at the ramp. Key is basically to get there, ride and leave before all the drunks crawl out of bed.

$0 to launch. Like Ryan, I now store my boat by the lake which is about $55 less a month then the one by the house. Plus saving on the gas to get there is a big bonus. I feel a little confined going to just the one lake, but that is fine because it seems to be the best one in the state.

$0

Cory, I do the same but unfortunately they don’t give me a discount for leaving early.

$10 per day for the Tonto National Forest Lakes here in AZ, or $95 for the annual pass

$10 at the Delta (Norcal).

m-

Don't worry, they don't give me one either. ;)

$0 to Launch. Although we do have a hefty $40 annual Neighborhood Association fee. hahaha

Man-- Launch fees?? Never heard of that. That's rough.

Well I guess my father paid a $100,000 "launch fee".. but that was for the property on the lake.. came with a launch, and a dock. A one time fee if you will :P

But other than that there are 3 public launches within 5 miles of us.

bought a pass for the boat for $65 and needed one for the truck as well so that was another $65. $130 for the year. Or $14 a day if you don't have a season pass.

$18 on the weekends and $28 on the weekends here in Indianapolis on Geist Reservoir...its too rough so I ride on the white river which is free to launch!

$130 for annual pass for in-state, I think they get the out of staters for $200 or more. Daily costs $10 I think. BUt I live in NJ where everything costs an arm and a leg and our ramp and launch area is horrible!

Don't think I've ever paid to launch a boat. Makes me appreciate living in BFE.

$35/year within half mile of the house. Used to be free before I moved to a new lake, but I can handle the small annual fee...

$265 a month to keep it on dry storage racks on the lake. I just text them 2 hours before or the night before for AM runs and they get a giant fork lift to get it down. When I get there the boat is in the water waiting for me. The biggest problem with this is that I can't drive the boat to gas station on land so I get to pay about $1 more per gallon to fill up on the lake.

$0 here.

I think its like $30 for an annual pass for the TX corps ramps, or like $2 without a pass... There is a privately owned ramp that charges per person, vehicle and boat, ends up like $6 for 2 people. but i rarely use that one unless I get a hookup with a group I ride with...