Boat Ramp Chaos

So we were pulling the boat out of the water on Saturday and had a interesting yet not surprising scenerio happen at the Chinook Landing boat ramp east of Portland on the Columbia River.

My wife went up to get the truck and trailer and was waiting in line for her turn to use the next ramp available. She pulls down the ramp and there is a boat tied up almost up against where we need to be to get the boat onto the trailer.

The wife and kids holding this boat against the dock realize that they are to close and walk their boat back a few feet I'm assuming to give us room.

As I maneuver toward the trailer our board racks touch theirs. Minimal damage to theirs and tore mine off as well as put a pretty big gash in the surfboard.

I was the one moving so I assume I am at fault. I dont have an issue with this and once we all got out of the water and up into the parking lot I went up to the boat owner and said "let me know if you have any damage and we can exchange information". He quickly says he is all good and no big deal .

I then said just as a common courtesy you may want to explain to your wife and kids that if they are going to hold the boat against the dock at the boat ramp that they may want to try and give a clear path for people loading and uploading their boats.

Of course this quickly turned into him spouting off that my wife cut him off and that that lane was his because he parked his boat there first. I have been boating for 20 years and I havent seen this type of chaos in years. The guy and his wife got pretty verbal and sad to say it got pretty colorful around their 4 kids. At this point we just ignored them
He threatened to call the Sherriff and I told him to go ahead. I was really curious to get an answer about whether I was totally off base.
As we were finishing wiping down the boat the guy has his wife jump into the car and they drive off. (Funny that she was now driving the truck)

Not sure I will be gong back to Chinook Landing anytime soon. This was a new ramp for us and we went out again Sunday and decided to launch somewhere else.

Am I totally off base? Doesnt the tow vehicle determine your place in line when pulling the boat out. I get that not everyone knows how to back a trailer and that not everyone knows how to load the boat on the trailer but maybe its a good idea to at least have some common courtesy when you dont have one of each.

I think there is a question in there, sorry for the rant.

Yep. If your truck isn't in line, just because your boat is there doesn't mean jack squat.

You were in the wrong because the boat was technically at dock when you hit him, so yeah, you're at fault on the hit. And no offense, if they were that close, you should have made them move. If I pull my trailer in, and someone blocks or makes it hard for my wife to put the boat on, I tell her to back off and wait till I signal her in. People realize real quick that they are holding up the line. Even if they call you names. Don't put yourself or your boat at risk.

But yes, the line is the line. You aren't in it, tough. I deal with these people regularly. All I do is block them. I never try to make it difficult as they will try to drive out and show their awesome skills and take your truck or boat with them. Block them completely, and they have no choice. If they hit you then, they are at fault for deliberately ramming you.

Always smile, always. Just smile and do what you gotta do. Ignore the assbags.

I'm with you. Place in line happens on land.
Worked at a marina with a pretty close quartered set up. There were two ramps with docks on between and on each side and there was a large dock to tie up and get your truck away from these. Usually wouldn't have any problems, but sometimes there were jokers who would try and pull crap.

Worst time I had one guy pull up his boat into the middle of the two docks in one ramp. There were 15 plus trucks lined up waiting to pull their boats out. He left his wife and child out on the dock holding the boat. Well of course no one in the truck line wanted to move to let him through because they all waited their turn correctly. Tried to get the woman to move the boat but she "didn't know how to drive it." She ended up starting to cry on the dock when 3 or 4 angry people got out of their trucks and started yelling at her. Ended up running to the owner of the boat and telling him the situation. He refused to get out of the truck and help her move the boat and insisted we let him around everyone since he was the only one who "waited in the water appropriately." So in the end he ends up cutting the line almost running me over in the process, and actually hit another persons truck with his trailer. Pulls his boat out and then starts screaming at me how this was all my fault and that I made his wife cry, and that I was responsible for the damage to the other persons truck. He was an old bald man not more than 5' 5" took a swing at me after I told him to leave the premises and not to come back. Boss booted him, and he tried to come in the next weekend. We kicked him out, but had to call the cops cause he said he had the right to be there.

Some people have no common sense....bottom line!

I've seen the same situation before too. Tough to figure out what to do too. Usually people just let them go ahead of them because their so bullheaded they just can't see the big picture.

One time I was driving the boat. My buddy backs the truck & trailer in & I pull forward towards the trailer. Some idiot in a boat nearby yells that he's next & we cut in line. I look around & there is no other truck anywhere nearby thats ready to pull into place. So I back out & tell him to go ahead. I guess he realized what an idiot he was being because a couple minutes later his truck showed up & couldn't get down the ramp (because mine is in the way). He told me to go ahead & put the boat on the trailer. I laughed. Thought he was being so smart & ended up looking like an a55.

I have been boating for 30 years from Wisconsin to Georgia every ramp I have used it is the tow vehicle that determines order. Just thing of the chaos at the ramp if every body just put their boat in the ramp then went to get the trailer. You should have put your trailer in the ramp and told the other boat to get out of the way. This just another reason that mandatory training should be required before you can operate a boat.

a local lake by me here goes by who is on the dog not the truck and trailer. Most people here seemed to be the no minds of walking their boats on to the trailer so everyone lines up on the dock left and right and walks them forward once their truch shows. I'm sorry but if I rockstar my wife or friend at the end of the dock and they happen to be ready to go before everyone else I'm going in. This lake has people running the show at the ramp and they even direct the show by who's on the dock, not who's truck is ready which slows the process in my mind.

Another ramp at a different lake can easily be 3 wide which nobody really does. You should see the dirty looks we get when we either dump or pull out when we are in the middle. Nobody ever says anything because we are in or out in less then a minute. Usually once the trailer hits the water I am already coming on or when we dump I already have the bow strap undone so my driver doesn't even have to get out of the truck. It's not a steep ramp so we can do this safely. We can sure make others around us look pretty bad. The other thing is we load everyone in the boat prior to dropping or once we have pulled out everyone gets out of the boat. Busy lake days get me mad everytime due to the less organized/informed.

I always assume order goes by truck unless otherwise posted. I'm usually in a situation where I'm the only one who can drive the truck (stickshift on steep ramps, often at low tide with trailer almost to the drop at the end) and only one who can drive the boat. I don't really have a regular crew so I don't want to have anyone not used to my truck or boat damage something and deal with that situation. So in my situation it can be tricky depending on what ramp I use. At my usual ramp, which is not too busy, there's room for plenty of boats to tie up so it's not a big deal.

I sometimes use a ramp that only has room for two boats to tie up at the dock. Getting loaded up at a busy time can be a nightmare because people just keep dropping in and won't let me get my truck. Or they put their boat in with nobody to drive the truck, then realize they have nowhere to tie up and can't get their truck out since there are one or two boats waiting to pull out. In the rare event I use that ramp I try to do it early morning and be in well before noon or weeknight evening so I don't have to deal with the nonsense. Shame that ramp is really close, but it's usually not worth the aggravation especially since all the riff-raff with jet skis and whatnot use it as their personal dock and are always doing donuts and such in front of the ramp.

Luckily where I normally go there are plenty of ramps for the size of water, and many of the people using it at least semi-know what they are doing (and a few that really do). But on the bigger lake near me, I've come pretty close to just pushing the damn boat back out to open water. People at boat ramps really lose their ability to have any consideration for others. The guy a month ago wiping his boat down RIGHT IN FRONT OF the ramp was just f'ing awesome. He didn't slow me down (or I would have said something), but slowed several others.

You can tell a lot about a person by how they handle a boat ramp. Pretty sure I've even witnessed a divorce or two in progress!

Order is always determined by tow vehicles in line. Matter of fact, most of the ramps around here (AZ) are only 1 lane in/out so I don't even know how they would go around? I launch by myself about 10% of the time while waiting for the crew and always dock the boat on the opposite side of the ramp or at the end so there's plenty of room to go around while parking the truck. Those who float their boat on or off are sissy fairies

When the dock is full I've also been known to drop people off on the deck or swimstep of other boats tied up. Had a few folks get uppity about it but a smile, wave, and 30 second pitch about why Boat Bling Hot Sauce is the best waterspot remover in the known universe leaves them with a blank stare wondering what happened, kind of like the Men In Black memory eraser

I must confess that I have cut off a few folks who were too busy fiddle-farting around to see an open lane. Most of the time they're cool about it, other times I have to use the aforementioned memory eraser trick.

Where I launch they have a staging dock off to the side of the ramp area.The rule is back in,launch boat,move boat to dock,go back to ramp park trailer.For retrieve it's dock at staging dock,get trailer ,back into ramp,load boat,and get out of the next person's way.This is posted on a sign at the launch area.Myself and maybe 5 others follow the rules,everyone else put boat in leaves it at the ramp blocks it for3-5mins or more and parks,then on return puts boat at ramp dock blocking it for3-5mins or more to go get the trailer take 5-10more mins to get loaded and out of the way.The sign might as well not be there though because,they have the sign about 50yards away from the actual ramps at the end of the one parking lot.People will start to argue with me about the correct launch procedure and I just ask them if they want to take a walk down the lot and read the sign with me.That usually ends the discussion.then they end up scratching their heads as I load on trailer,cinch the bow strap tight,and pull away,all in less than 3mins and with no help.We have 9 ramps at the launch and at 12 to 2 in the afternoon the place is still a zoo on weekends.

To the op...you were right ...tow vehicle determines order. This seems like it should be common sense for most people but it never is. What difference does it make when your boat gets to the dock if your trailer is still parked in the lot?? You are still going to be behind all of the guys in line with their trailers!
We were out a few weeks ago and I had just dropped off my buddy at the dock to go get the trailer. I always do this and then get the heck out of the way until he backs my trailer in...Well another boat had pulled in behind me and apparently the driver is also the same guy who gets the trailer and backs it in. (I have no problem with that scenario as I have to do it all when I go out with just the fiance) Well this guy is just waiting I guess for a large enough spot to open up to park his boat along the dock. He is not wearing a shirt and looks like he eats steroids and wants everyone to notice him with his chest bowed out... Keep in mind that this is a weekend afternoon about 6pm and everyone is arriving at the dock at once. While he is waiting another guy comes in in a wakeboat and starts heading to the dock to drop his buddy off to get the trailer. (there are 4 lanes and two docks and none have enough space to park a boat but plenty of room to drop someone off on the ends) The guy in the boat waiting starts yelling and cussing that they are next in line. The guy in the wakeboat says don't worry I am just dropping this guy off and will be getting out of the way. There is no room yet to dock a boat and the guy in the wakeboat was just going to nose up to a little spot so his trailer guy can jump off. This is not a satisfactory response for the Terminator and he starts screaming obscenities at the other boat. Well by now my trailer is in the water and I am on it. The trailer for the guy in the wakeboat is also already in and being loaded. Steroid dude finally gets his boat tied up to the dock and runs over and gets in the face of the guy that had "cut in line" screaming and cussing while his wife/gf is hanging on to him begging him to stop. There were kids in his boat and they are terrified and crying...what a freaking mess. I am just thanking the Lord that I wasn't the guy behind him 'cause I would have done the same thing and he would have been in my face and unfortunately I do not have the loving peaceful demeanor of some, when a guy is in my face screaming at me. It was ridiculous and to the wakeboat guy's credit he didn't escalate or respond in kind...just let the idiot make a fool of himself.

I wish there was a class or some kind of boating test that includes etiquette that we were required to take before being able to operate a boat. I am not usually in favor of more rules and regulations but the only stress I ever encounter while boating is putting the boat in and taking it out.

I was loading my boat the other day and had the trailer in the water while my wife drove out the slip we rent and around the docks.As she rounded the corner the guy pulls up to the gas docks with a tube in tow.He looks at me and says "are you loading your boat".Here's you sign!Then he says "you can't load at the gas dock"I'm thinking it's because your in the way.I've only been loading my boat here for 21 years.WHO KNEW?So not to create a confrontation i moved to another ramp.But not before i took a mental picture and good look at his boat.Pay back always comes with interest compounded daily!

I was driving my boat and my buddy was backing the truck down the ramp so we could take out the boat. There is a boat in the water in front of me but it is easy to drive around him. As I'm driving around him and up to my trailer he shouts "I'm next in line". I shout back "what are you goinmg to do, put your boat on my trailer?" There was not another truck / trailer in site.

I love this thread.

Here is an excerpt from the Washington State Boaters Manual. Anyone driving a boat or Jet Ski in Washington State 35 yrs of age and under this year has to have a license and pass a test. I was thinking maybe I would print out a copy of this page and hand it to the guy holding his boat next to the dock with no truck and trailer in sight.
"Courtesy on the boat ramp:•Prepare your vessel for launching or for the drive home well away from the ramp.
•Use at least two experienced people to launch and retrieve the vessel—one to drive the towing vehicle and one to operate the vessel.
•Never block a ramp with an unattended vessel or vehicle.
•When retrieving, do not pull your vessel into a launch lane until the towing vehicle is at the ramp. The line is formed by vehicles with trailers, not by vessels in the water.

Anyone on this forum is probably (let's hope so!) well versed in boat ramp ediquette and can probably pull or drop a boat in seconds. It's the less then 10 hr a year people that have no idea what they are doing that mess everything up or are trying to do everything by themselves. I know there are times when I am the only one able to be the vehicle driver and boat driver at the ramp but this is also why I made all of my friends and my wife learn how to back up the truck. I will admit. I am the first one to yell over the WS420 or rockstar in front of you when you have no clue what you are doing. People without a brain get me mad in a hurry and I have no problem saying something. I hate sitting on the dock. The less I am on the dock the less chance I have of getting my boat dinged from the dock and surrounded by other morons coming in hot.

Everyone in my regular crew (wife included) knows how to back a trailer and load the boat. I usually back the trailer as I am the one pulling the boat to the lake. Most of the boaters at our home lake know what they are doing on the ramp but every once and awhile you get the clowns. I usually will help someone struggling if asked or just laugh. My biggest pet peave is loading gear, coolers, etc. while you taking up a spot on the ramp. Do that before you launch while waiting in line please.

I love this thread!
I wanted to start a "boat valet" service at Chatfield Reservoir here in Colorado just because of these scenarios. My 2 times of going to this lake were identical, rich people with their Escalade and their trophy wife and 2.2 kids. Wife standing on the dock with her Gucci purse talking on the phone with the cooler and bag of snacks and towels while the kids run up and down the dock and Dad backs the [luxury runabout] into the water and ties it off to the dock blocking the ramp for others to use and vice versa while trying to leave. I figured I could make a killing at this lake with this kind of service since only 1 out 10 families has 2 people that can operate everything I could easily charge $20 to drop and $20 to pickup. LOL!

I am usually able to find a quiet ramp and avoid the headaches but on the rare occasions that I use a busy public ramp I end up regretting it. The last time I used the only free public ramp in the area I regreted it. I was the next in line with my trailer waiting to launch when a the empty truck and trailer parked next to me chirped as it unlocked remotely. A dude comes walking up and informs me that I'm blocking him in and tells me to move (rather than asking politely) so that he can get to the ramp. I say "why don't I put my boat in as I am next in line then you won't be blocked in anymore". As I'm saying this the truck & boat at the ramp finishes up at the ramp and pulls away. Rather than wasting time arguing with this genius I launch as he continues to rant and complain to my wife, sister and young nephews. So I move the boat to another dock away from the ramp while my sister parks the jeep. As I'm sitting waiting for her to return to the dock I am treated to the spectical of this hot-head taking several attempt to drive his beat up crabing skiff onto the his trailer. He is running the thing up on plane within the ramp lane and backing down at full throttle after he misses twice and just throwing waves and whitewater everywhere. It was certainly more than a 2 second effort and about 3 times as long as I required to launch.

The ramp I usally use is awesome, it is a small out of the way marina never crowded and everyone is very polite. Small private marine and they don't allow jet skis or muscleboats with dry exhaust.

Your not off base at all. Maybe at fault for the colision, but the trailer in line determines the order you pull out. People need to wait on the outside of the docks and not the inside. This happens all the time at our local ramp. I wish the police would hand out literature to all boaters on the weekends so that they might learn the proper courtesy and procedures for loading and offloading boats. This would help some, IMO

By the way, my wife drives the boat on the trailer for me, and does a better job then 80% of the men trying to load their boats. I am very lucky! Everyone should teach their partners to do this, if not to make it easier on you, then to just see the look of amazment on most peoples faces when your in and out in less then 40 seconds

Great responses. I am very lucky that my wife is very comfortable with backing the truck and trailer. She does a great job and we get several comments about her trailer backing skills. The 30 second load and launch definently takes alot of stress off.
I take full responsibility for bumping boardracks. The rack is fixed and the board is on its way to a full recovery.
Lesson learned on my side, but unfortunately and most likely not by the other party.
I think the only lesson learned was by this guys kids who now will most likely grow up with the same ignorance.
Really sad for future boating generations.

I like this line from Washington State as posted above, "The line is formed by vehicles with trailers, not by vessels in the water". Seem like every launch should have this posted at the dock.

I just leave my truck and trailer on the ramp Don't have to worry about getting hit in the parking lot and I don't have to wait in line. Sometimes I have to go around a boat, but usually I just wait until they are out of the way

Whats a public Boat ramp or lake? We dont have many of lakes here, pretty much all private

But i did grow up on one in Ohio and let me tell u, its amazing what comea out of the woodwork for boat owners who all of a sudden know everything. Was always taught to drop off the person to grab the trailer and get ur damn boat out of the way. For the people with their life vests still on holding the ropes at the dock taking up space, probably should wait until its less crowded.

Maybe its bc I was trailering the boat on & off, dropping off my dad at age 10. Backing the trailer down at 15.

Originally Posted by Fourspeednup

You can tell a lot about a person by how they handle a boat ramp. Pretty sure I've even witnessed a divorce or two in progress!

Order is always determined by tow vehicles in line. Matter of fact, most of the ramps around here (AZ) are only 1 lane in/out so I don't even know how they would go around? I launch by myself about 10% of the time while waiting for the crew and always dock the boat on the opposite side of the ramp or at the end so there's plenty of room to go around while parking the truck. Those who float their boat on or off are sissy fairies

When the dock is full I've also been known to drop people off on the deck or swimstep of other boats tied up. Had a few folks get uppity about it but a smile, wave, and 30 second pitch about why Boat Bling Hot Sauce is the best waterspot remover in the known universe leaves them with a blank stare wondering what happened, kind of like the Men In Black memory eraser

I must confess that I have cut off a few folks who were too busy fiddle-farting around to see an open lane. Most of the time they're cool about it, other times I have to use the aforementioned memory eraser trick.

Thank-you for being one of the few that doesn't tie up on the launch/load side of the dock! Saguaro lake is probably one of the worst lakes in AZ where everyone feels the need to either be in the way or dock there boat on the launch side for no point. I too have had to drop off our driver onto docked pontoons, canoes(yes even a canoe), and even a waverunner.

On another note, you guys are right where several people out there aren't out often enough to know or just have no common sense at all. I'm more than willing to enlighten people; when they ask for help, backing there trailer, etc. But that it doesn't happen as much as I would hope.

I felt like an azz once when I nicely asked if they could move their jet ski to the other side of the dock so I could launch and they said their duelly truck and trailer were under the jet ski. They were waiting for a diver and tow truck. DOH =)

tow vehicle rules

Originally Posted by sailing216

I felt like an azz once when I nicely asked if they could move their jet ski to the other side of the dock so I could launch and they said their duelly truck and trailer were under the jet ski. They were waiting for a diver and tow truck. DOH =)

Now THAT'S chaos!

Zack, I like your memory erasing tools. If someone is acting a fool and I have to bypass them to get business on the ramp done, I usually just yell "well...some people think cucumbers taste better pickled!" Its just random enough to make them think and I'm on my way.

This is a tough one because we're talking about etiquette. If you hit a docked boat your at fault. Now etiquette would tell us that people shouldn't hold their boats at the dock in order to "walk" them onto the trailer if they are blocking a lane. But remember not everyone is as good, or required to be as good, driving and trailering a boat as many of us are. And some docks are short and thin. So there will always be people who do this, Always. And I've had to walk my boat once or twice also!

I won't say who was the cause, speaking etiquette only, but I will say there is no changing some of the docking behavior we watch. People get better with time, but they will get replaced with newbies doing the same thing. Keep calm, docking is usually the most stressful time of the day for us boating, and remember there is such a thing as "dock rage." Don't get sucked into losing your cool at the docks. Not meant towards Brady, this was just a general thought for everyone reading.

I agree with Bu Coo100%. When I arrived at the ramp last Saturday I backed some ladies jetski trailer in for them. I stood at the back of the vehicle to help hook the jetski up and as the lady pulled, up the trailer came off the ball. I couldn't believe they didn't even have a clip holding the tongue down. I helped them get the jetski on and explained why they needed the clip or lock or something to keep the trailer from coming loose. They were so thankful for my help. If I had fussed and fumed instead of helping, I would have been in a bad mood. It took a little time, but I felt a lot better afterward as I pulled away from the dock in my boat with a smile on my face.

I've twice seen another boat and truck at the ramp I normally go to. I guess when you're in the boonies and you've got a gravel and rock ramp to use most people drive to find a concrete one. Who knew?

I moved from a 105' wide ramp to a barely big enough for 2 trucks ramp so I could avoid all of the tomfoolery that was happening at the big ramps. I have seen all of the fools size ways at the ramp, spousal rage when loading and unloading and the general lack of consideration that happened there. The last straw was when my trailer got hit while I was enjoying my day on the water. The ramp I move to is small gritting and hard to get the trailer in the water straight. Since it is so small, the 20 hour a year crowd stays away from it.

On north wind Sundays we would take the bikes and go the the ramp in Morris IL on the IL river.
Get there around 3 and join the other spectators with a snack and beverage. Its a tough ramp with the river currant and barges passing by occasionally. Total carnage including fist fights when someone cuts in line.

Originally Posted by Bumpass1

The last straw was when my trailer got hit while I was enjoying my day on the water.

Been there too. My wife had foot surgery early this year and while she couldn't board until a few weeks ago, she could enjoy the boat at least. Our routine is she launches me and parks the truck, but when we went out the first time after her surgery and as she couldn't walk far, she parked the rig in a handicap truck/trailer slot close to the ramp. After our day on the lake she comes down the ramp all upset and I notice the right side Rock Tamer was all bent down and in. Turns out some douche hit the Rock Tamer with his trailer and just took off, it not only bent the rod but broke the bracket and dented the bumper, a-holes.

This just happened yesterday..
Get to the ramp at our local park. come around the corner to find a line of rigs and trailers 12 long in the single road to the ramp. WTH... I have never waited in line here before. It's usually empty.
Look at the head of the line and see the problem. Safety checks are being done by the local water cops while the boats are still on the trailers. Their boat is tied to the dock. Each rig being checked takes 10 minutes or so, it's the hottest day of the year and the line is now backed up to about 20 boats. The guy in front of me gets a ticket or a warning for something and the paperwork takes an extra 15 minutes.
I can understand the need for safety checks, but why they were not doing it by boat or after the boats were in the water is beyond me. Everyone in line is pissed. After about an hour we finally get checked, pass inspection and get to launch. As I am parking I see the line has now grown even longer.

I thought water cops had NO authority on land . I got called back to the shore for a safety check after the officer watched me launch. When I asked why he didn't do the check before I launched he said he couldn't because he didn't have authority until the boat was in the water.

Originally Posted by mhunter

I thought water cops had NO authority on land . I got called back to the shore for a safety check after the officer watched me launch. When I asked why he didn't do the check before I launched he said he couldn't because he didn't have authority until the boat was in the water.

These were actually county sheriffs doing water patrol.

Sounds more like County Sheriff's looking to add to their budget or maybe the doughnut store was closed.

Oh lord, here we go.