fiasco at the boat ramp

[sandm]

kind of a long story, but sure an eventful afternoon yesterday..

my buddy has a 94 boomerang that needed some work done after the winterization. took it to the lake yesterday to check out the pump and make sure the cooling system worked. we were sitting at the bottom of the launch, where there's only room for 2 at a time with a shared dock in the middle about 20ft out into the lake. we sat at the launch point and waited for the mechanic to show up. there were 2 guys in a small fishing boat waiting to pull out. the mechanic told me to put his boat closer to the dock, so I pulled up and started to back down and dump in the water. the guys in the fishing boat(obvious they had a few in them) thought I was pulling out so they proceeded to head toward the dock. as they saw me backing down again, they backed up and I watched them run into the buoy. didn't think much. was a mastercraft x-10 dropping next to me at the same time. 3 20-something guys and 3 girls. 2 guys in the truck and the other 4 in the boat. another guy in a brand new mb b-52 waiting to pull out with just him and his wife. went up and parked the rig along with the mastercraft guys. it's about 1/8mile uphill to park. as we are walking back down the ramp, I can see the guys that backed into the buoy still attached to it and the motor up. mastercraft guys are walking much faster than me and get to the dock first. once I got down there, the guy with the b52 was trying to leave. was his first outing, never owned a boat before and out there with no help. the m/c guys were giving him a hand trying to stabilize the boat, no one in it and the owner standing on the dock trying to get it on the trailer. m/c guys were giving him all kinds of crap for not driving it on the trailer, basically making fun of him. he ended up in the water, on top of the trailer trying to pull his boat up onto the trailer since his wife did not back down far enough. felt sorry for the guy and only imagined his experience spending 50-60k on a boat and having these m/c 'tards poking fun at him.. helped him get loaded then got on my buddies boat. putted out the 50-60 yards to the guys stuck on the buoy and we spent 10 minutes helping them get untangled..
it was a very eventful afternoon. gotta love the early boating season outings and all the fun you can see

[kaneboats]

Yup, gotta love the spring. Can't tell you how many times I've jumped in a newby's truck and backed their trailer down for them. You think they would go to a store parking lot at night and practice a little, but NOOOOOOOOOOO! They want to practice at the ramp on the first nice day.

Love my park b/c there are 4 ramps and I've never waited more than 5 min or so. Within about 2 min. there is an older park with 3 more ramps (but no docks and they are not long enough for our boats) that lots of the fishermen with smaller boats as well as jetskiers can use. I used to drop my 17 ft runabout there with no problems. Really takes the pressure off the main ramps.

[mmandley]

Our first day on the Hagg Lake was nice. Only fiasco there was when we were floating listening to tunes and enjoying the sun, we got flaged down by some fishermen in a North River boat. I was like they can be asking us to move out of there trolling path, we been here for hours.

Nope they killed the starter battery and were asking for a tow. From a Tow boat LOL.

Roped them up and off we went, dragging them back, i was tempted to crank up the tower LOL. They kept saying go slow because i don't want to hit you. I said don't worry about it, no way im letting you rear-end me, i got close to the dock turned sharp and it ran them nose first to the dock so they could steer it in and i tossed them the rope.

Malibu was sitting at the dock watching, i cranked up the tunes and rolled out nice and slow. It was great.

I can only imagine how much the fishermen hated asking the Wake Boat for a tow when they hate us so much already lol

[sandm]

makes you wonder why the fisherman "hate" us so much..
there's an area at our lake called the cliffs. it narrows up a little and the banks are a vertical drop. usually around 175ft deep. it's probably a couple miles long. fisherman love to fish there and most of us that recreate don't spend time there. most mornings, there's between 40-50 boats along that stretch.
when we camp, I have to go thru that area every morning on the way to the marina to get gas and ice, usually around 10am when the pumps open. I usually roll thru around 30mph and I get some real nasty looks. I've thought a couple of times about stopping and asking them if they would rather have my wake roll thru at 30, almost non-existent, or if they would rather I slow down to 15 or so and send some rollers around there.
I'm sure all they see is a boat, presumably filled with young kids(far from the truth ) and assume that we're going as fast as possible, and don't ever think that maybe we are trying to be somewhat courteous toward them..

[jester]

Early season is great. You just know you will be waiting at the boat ramp for 2 boats to pull in or out and it will take a good 30 min. A few weekends ago i gave another wakeboard boat a tow that New to them and it would start then die. Just as i was pulling up to the dock with them in tow a fishing boat cut me off since he wanted to get out of the water before the boat in need. It is good to be nice to other boaters and let them learn now because when summer hits there is all ready enough people out that have issues on the ramp.

[Grady]

I bought my first boat about 3 years ago, and all I knew was boats were fun. The dealership gave me a test drive and quick class, I was on my way. The first saturday me and the wife, were headed to the water. We pulled up to the boat ramp and there was a truck in the water about 30 feet from the ramp. The guy didnt put it in park all the way. So we found a spot and watched the show, and let all the other boats in line go first. I watched ever lil move they did so I wouldn't be the next one, making costly mistakes.

Of course being the a newby, I got a story. The wife, me, and some friends headed out to the water, been about 2months since we ran the boat. I unhooked the boat, got in, wife backed me in the water, and battery was dead. So there I was floating in the water, with everyone wondering why I wasn't coming to pick them up.lol A fisherman came by and gave me a jump. Another lesson learned.

[kaneboats]

I have a 42 min. ride to the ramp. I'm in the habit of checking the battery every time before I leave the driveway.

[skiyaker]

When I was out last Sunday my dad gave me a call- his house overlooks the lake and he noticed there was a pontoon boat with a few guys passing around a joint and drinking- so he just wanted me to know so I could avoid them. Well I get back to the ramp and there was a lady just begging me to go out and give this boat a tow that ran out of gas- you guessed it same boat. So what do I do? I know the guys are doped up and drunk but I couldn't tell the lady no so I went out and gave them a tow- and man these guys were smoked up out of their mind. Best part was they were somehow worried I was going to hurt their boat. So I got them to the dock then got the heck out of their way. Fun times.

[phospher]

When I was out last Sunday my dad gave me a call- his house overlooks the lake and he noticed there was a pontoon boat with a few guys passing around a joint and drinking- so he just wanted me to know so I could avoid them. Well I get back to the ramp and there was a lady just begging me to go out and give this boat a tow that ran out of gas- you guessed it same boat. So what do I do? I know the guys are doped up and drunk but I couldn't tell the lady no so I went out and gave them a tow- and man these guys were smoked up out of their mind. Best part was they were somehow worried I was going to hurt their boat. So I got them to the dock then got the heck out of their way. Fun times.

personally, i would be a lot more concerned with the alcohol as opposed to the pot.

[Razzman]

personally, i would be a lot more concerned with the alcohol as opposed to the pot.

I'd be even more concerned with the combination of both!