Idiocracy at the launch

[sstone]

At the ramp the other day to get my boat off of a borrowed trailer onto it's proper trailer (no small task by yourself: leave empty trailer at the park, bring boat, launch boat, tie to dock, park and unhitched trailer, hitch first trailer...). Anyway, this was a Tuesday, a relatively slow boat ramp day, and as I was pulling up I see two guys launching one of those incredibly overpriced inboard wakeboard boats, one backs the trailer in, other pulls boat off. Truck driver then pulls forward just enough so the trailer was out of water, and parks and locks his truck. On the ramp. I had (barely) enough room to launch, on the far side of ramp from the dock (wasn't planning on starting the boat), so I launched and pulled the boat by a rope to the dock, working around truck and trailer. The wakeboard boat was on a test drive, turning laps back and forth in the channel. Anyway, I had enough time to pull my rig out of the way, get the other trailer, and load as they were pulling up, and a line of three boats waiting as they came up. I just don't understand how somebody, especially a boat dealer/salesman, can miss such obvious common courtesy.

Sorry this is kind of a rant, but hopefully some lesser experienced can learn from it and I can help keep this from happening again. Thanks

 

[generator12]

Re: Idiocracy at the launch

My man, if there was a name on the truck, please post it...! I don't understand the politeness and courtesy shown clowns like this on this forum. OUT 'EM...!

 

[vintageglass]

Re: Idiocracy at the launch

I see that kind of crap more and more these days. Its not usually salesman, just idiots that don't give a hoot about anyone else.
I came back to the dock one day pretty late, well after midnight only to find two rigs parked on the ramp completely blocking the ramp.
We waited for a bit, there were no other boats around and we hadn't passed any on the way in. A call to the local police resulted in two wreckers showing up and removing both trucks and trailers promptly. There's a sign that's even lit on both sides stating 'Do Not Block Ramp, Violators will be towed'. Apparently they don't waste any time removing them.
We backed in, loaded up and left. I'd have loved to see the looks on their faces when the returned.

 

[catfishcarl99]

Re: Idiocracy at the launch

ya times like this brings out the animal in me.ide kick a 2 foot dent in the door and drive off. or a fillet to a few tires. i have 0 respect or courtisy for creeps like that. havent seen this yet and hope i never do. midnight two trucks blocking ramps. they would have NEEDED tow trucks when i was done. idiots deserve everything they get. im one of the nicest guys who would help anyone and bend over backwards to help a buddie out. but i have a real short fuse. things like that burn it out quick too.

 

[m casey stock]

Re: Idiocracy at the launch

Common courtesy not so common these days

 

[R DAVIS]

Re: Idiocracy at the launch

ya times like this brings out the animal in me.ide kick a 2 foot dent in the door and drive off. or a fillet to a few tires. i have 0 respect or courtisy for creeps like that. havent seen this yet and hope i never do. midnight two trucks blocking ramps. they would have NEEDED tow trucks when i was done. idiots deserve everything they get. im one of the nicest guys who would help anyone and bend over backwards to help a buddie out. but i have a real short fuse. things like that burn it out quick too.

You need to get some professional help to deal with your problem.
Really !

 

[RogersJetboat454]

Re: Idiocracy at the launch

I don't understand the politeness and courtesy shown clowns like this on this forum.

From the forum rules;

4. Attacks (bashing) on any person, organization, company or other entity will not be permitted. Reporting experiences with any vendor, website or organization must be limited to facts. Unqualified attacks will be considered bashing.



Take it for what it's worth. Perhaps they are the best dealer in town, but had an eager salesman there who's hungry for a sale, and didn't consider the implications of tying up the ramp. Or maybe he's just a jerk...

 

[jestor68]

Re: Idiocracy at the launch

It's a dealer doing a demo. I'm surprised that he didn't leave the trailer in the water, ready for the drive on demonstration.

You're out there messing around; he's working, trying to sell a boat. Should not the guy working get priority?


Around these parts, Tuesday is considered a work day.

 

[soggy_feet]

Re: Idiocracy at the launch

It's a dealer doing a demo. I'm surprised that he didn't leave the trailer in the water, ready for the drive on demonstration.

You're out there messing around; he's working, trying to sell a boat. Should not the guy working get priority?


Around these parts, Tuesday is considered a work day.

And when I'm paying $150/hr for a big rig to launch my houseboat in the spring, and the ramp is blocked by someone trying to sell a boat?

There is no priority. Launch, go park, then do your boating.

 

[WSDavis]

Re: Idiocracy at the launch

Quite some years ago, at the State ramp in Milford, CT, my +/-10 year old daughter and I waited in line to launch with probably 6 other trailers waiting to launch or retrieve. It was all very civilized and orderly. The protocol was to form a line at the right, then when you're next, perform a U-turn to the left and back down the ramp into one of the two positions. Larger craft that required a dock to launch had to use the right-hand position.
A tricked out pickup truck towing a clorox bottle shaped boat cruised up the pull-away lane on the left, passing all the waiting vehicles on the right. He made a quick u-turn and immediately backed down the open position. Several folks took verbal exception to his cutting the line. He laughed and said that he'd be out of the way before anyone else was even ready to back down. And, I must say, he launched more quickly than I'd have expected anyone to launch. He was soon pulling back up and parked in one of the trailer & vehicle spaces. Other than a few horns honked and a few sarcastic remarks as he walked back to his boat, nobody got into this guy's face.
I remember explaining to my daughter that it's not a good idea to cut in front of others. I remember that she also asked me why I "didn't do something" about his behavior. (After all, I was "Dad"... the guy who could fix everything.) I probably told her that I wasn't in charge of what others did. Then, before we knew it, we were afloat for a lovely father-daughter day on the water.
When we returned to the ramp in early evening, the parking lot had thinned and we could take our time pulling out and getting our 14' yacht squared away to trailer home. My daughter was looking around as I strapped things down and shouted, "Dad! Look what happened to that guy's truck! It has two flat tires!" I took a look and saw that the damage wasn't limited to just one side - that there were FOUR flat tires. My daughter asked me why somebody would puncture four tires instead of just one. I explained that most people carry one spare tire, so two flats would get you really stuck and four flats double underlined the fact that he had REALLY ticked someone off.
I'm not sure my daughter remembers that day, but I sure do. Somebody actually acted on the thoughts I wasn't alone in thinking when the guy cut to the front of the line. Glad it wasn't me, though.
I wonder how or whether he got his boat out of the water that day.

 

[emoney]

Re: Idiocracy at the launch

That salesman/dealer (supposedly) was being "lazy" not "just working". There is no example to set for a new customer to block a boat ramp under any circumstances. He could've just as easily parked his truck & trailer and used that time to set an example of good boatmanship as well.

I still see people with zero thought for others almost every time I go to a ramp when there are others there. Just this past Sunday, watched it more than once. Waited in line for 17 minutes (I literally clocked it) as a group of people loaded their pontoon boat and then proceeded to "tear it down" right on the ramp. Everything from straps to pulling the plug to folding the bimini up...ALL ON THE RAMP?!?!? This is a "one ramp" spot too and it's a single, not a double. There was probably 6 or 7 of us in line waiting to either unload or load and it was obvious to anyone conscious that everyone was waiting for one other person. The guy directly in front of me, myself, and the person behind me were all prepared to launch, and it seemed like we had secretly made a bet as to who could get unloaded and out the way the fastest. We all hard our straps off, plugs in, launch line hooked and safety chain off. I believe it was a 3 way tie, but I didn't have a stopwatch, lol. Took us each less than 90 seconds from the moment we pulled up to back down to the point the trailer was out of the ramp zone.

As I was preparing to take off, I hear a guy walking up the ramp (he had gone to get in the boat while his buddy was backing the trailer) yelling at someone else to the effect of "Dude, do you not see the line?!!?!!" Obviously someone was "cutting". I didn't stay around to see how that turned out, because tempers were already flaring thanks to the pontoon folks.

Then again, I suppose if I ever get bored, I know that I can always go hang out at the ramp and watch the follies, so I do have that.

 

[bonz_d]

Re: Idiocracy at the launch

Thank God am I glad I use a primative gravel ramp that no one else goes to!

 

[Another retired guy]

Re: Idiocracy at the launch

I read these ramp stories with interest and sympathize with everyone who has to suffer these idiots. I thank my lucky star/fairy godmother whatever, that I have a dock on a waterway and don't have to trailor my boat anywhere

 

[sstone]

Re: Idiocracy at the launch

It's a dealer doing a demo. I'm surprised that he didn't leave the trailer in the water, ready for the drive on demonstration.

You're out there messing around; he's working, trying to sell a boat. Should not the guy working get priority?


Around these parts, Tuesday is considered a work day.

I can understand if I was borrowing a dealer's or marina's ramp, I'd have all the patience in the world to stay out of the way of their working. But this is a public, city owned ramp, and there's no place for that.

 

[TerryMSU]

Re: Idiocracy at the launch

I wonder... If I took a picture of the vehicle with the dealer's very visible on it and posted that under stupid-human-tricks, would that be a "fact". While I was at it, I could send the same picture to the dealer and to the manufacturer of the boat in question. That might tend to put a permanent stop to that sort of behavior.

TerryMSU

From the forum rules;



4. Attacks (bashing) on any person, organization, company or other entity will not be permitted. Reporting experiences with any vendor, website or organization must be limited to facts. Unqualified attacks will be considered bashing.



Take it for what it's worth. Perhaps they are the best dealer in town, but had an eager salesman there who's hungry for a sale, and didn't consider the implications of tying up the ramp. Or maybe he's just a jerk...

 

[TerryMSU]

Re: Idiocracy at the launch

It's a dealer doing a demo. I'm surprised that he didn't leave the trailer in the water, ready for the drive on demonstration.

You're out there messing around; he's working, trying to sell a boat. Should not the guy working get priority?


Around these parts, Tuesday is considered a work day.

No. The guy working should NOT get priority (unless his employer owns or rents the ramp as a sales platform). First come, first served. Does the guy working get first priority at the diner? How about at the gas station? How about on the highway?

TerryMSU

 

[RogersJetboat454]

Re: Idiocracy at the launch

I wonder... If I took a picture of the vehicle with the dealer's very visible on it and posted that under stupid-human-tricks, would that be a "fact". While I was at it, I could send the same picture to the dealer and to the manufacturer of the boat in question. That might tend to put a permanent stop to that sort of behavior.

TerryMSU

Jump in your time machine (don't forget your camera!), rent a car (can't fly, the TSA has a strict policy against time travelers boarding post flights), and drive to the OP's ramp. We'd all love to see the pictures in SHT...

 

[Jlawsen]

Re: Idiocracy at the launch

I completely understand ramp frustration and have learned to deal with it. I don't like it but I understand that I'm not at the ramp to change the world, I just need to launch and retrieve my boat. If I have to wait until a mess clears up I just light up a cigar, grab a gator aid and wait it out.

I might recommend that the next time you need to swap trailers you just use the three jack stand method and do it in your driveway. You'd have been done in a half hour and not nearly as upset. No, size doesn't matter in this case.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Idiocracy at the launch

I might recommend that the next time you need to swap trailers you just use the three jack stand method and do it in your driveway. You'd have been done in a half hour and not nearly as upset. No, size doesn't matter in this case.

That sounds like a huge pain in the rear - how many driveways are actually flat enough to do that? Seems like taking a buddy along pulling the other trailer would be the easiest way. Dunk boat off vehicle/trailer one, back in vehicle/trailer 2 and you're done.

 

[sstone]

Re: Idiocracy at the launch

That sounds like a huge pain in the rear - how many driveways are actually flat enough to do that? Seems like taking a buddy along pulling the other trailer would be the easiest way. Dunk boat off vehicle/trailer one, back in vehicle/trailer 2 and you're done.

It was a pain, but I just looked up the jack stand method, and there's no way. First of all wouldn't that put a lot of pressure at small areas of the hull? And there's no way my driveway would work for that.
Bormally I woulda had a buddy but everybody was outta town and I only had that day to do it, but the 10 minute drive to the ramp wasn't too bad