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Lauch ramp making me contemplate selling


Sunscape fan

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5 minutes ago, Sunscape fan said:

Yes.  I agree.  We were getting there but that mishap occurred and she won't retrieve the boat anymore and if it's busy, she won't launch it either.   I'm not going to force her cause how much fun would that be?

Point out to her all the other idiots on the ramp and prove to her that she can do it if she just goes slow. If your taking her to a busy ramp and she doesn't have confidence your setting her up for failure. Do you have a buddy that would coach her? I coached my friends wife to back the truck and all though it's slow she is money doing it. This last weekend the boat ramp was packed and she wanted me to back the trailer in for her. I said no and just stood on the side of the truck and helped coach her. She did great. 

You have to give her confidence. Don't ever put her into a position to fail because if you do your screwed. 

If she can drop you off and pick you up at the docks she is perfectly capable to drive the boat on or off. 

 

 

Edited by malibu2004
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One thing that helped my wife with the boat was to have a friend run the truck/trailer and I stood next to her  while she launched and retrieved a couple of times. Inboards can be a little fickle in close quarters maneuvering but once you know how they handle they are great.

  • Like 1
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We we're almost hit a few weeks ago at a dock dropping off my wife to back the trailer in and a few mins later lake patrolling was there doing inspections. And asked how it was out there and he saw by my expression how I felt. He saw the same jet ski in the no wake zooming around. He got him. I get nervous sometimes at the ramp. I'm news to dd boats. But some people just need to slow down. Unless an emergency.   My wife broke her nose last outing on kneeboard.  We still waited our turn and got loaded without waking or ramin anyone.

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Remember that backing down the ramp is not much different than backing down a level surface, so taking her to the big open section of the Wal-Mart parking lot would be a good place to practice.  You could set goals of have her backing into a parking spot.  

My wife backs the truck down nicely.  

Edited by TallRedRider
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Sunscape fan I might have the perfect solution does the lake you go to have a marina? If it does than you should just get a boat-slip that would solve most if not all your problems.

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1 hour ago, gobble said:

It's a lot easier to back a boat off the trailer than pick someone up off a dock. Sounds like a slow practice night could solve your problem.

My wife would disagree with you.  She's actually very good at maneuving up to the dock to pick me up.   She picked that up quite quickly.  And she was getting fairly good at putting the boat on the trailer, with a little help from the guid poles.   But then she got really crossed up one day and that was that.   Part of the problem was it was busy that day, she got flustered and there were a ton of people watching her.  I tried to say just look and focus on me and forget the onlookers...but she was pretty embarrassed.   And she hasn't tried since.   

Good thing is she's an awesome woman :)  I asked her if she wanted to sell and she said she wanted to practice more instead of selling.   But if practicing doesn't work, I won't subject her to the anxiety.  It's not worth. 

14 minutes ago, bretcole said:

Sunscape fan I might have the perfect solution does the lake you go to have a marina? If it does than you should just get a boat-slip that would solve most if not all your problems.

No it doesn't.  The lake is set in the middle of a provincial park...so no marinas are allowed.   I can leave my house, launch, park the truck/trailer and literally be motoring away from dock in 30 mins or less.  It's a nice location.   

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3 minutes ago, Sunscape fan said:

My wife would disagree with you.  She's actually very good at maneuving up to the dock to pick me up.   She picked that up quite quickly.  And she was getting fairly good at putting the boat on the trailer, with a little help from the guid poles.   But then she got really crossed up one day and that was that.   Part of the problem was it was busy that day, she got flustered and there were a ton of people watching her.  I tried to say just look and focus on me and forget the onlookers...but she was pretty embarrassed.   And she hasn't tried since.   

Good thing is she's an awesome woman :)  I asked her if she wanted to sell and she said she wanted to practice more instead of selling.   But if practicing doesn't work, I won't subject her to the anxiety.  It's not worth. 

No it doesn't.  The lake is set in the middle of a provincial park...so no marinas are allowed.   I can leave my house, launch, park the truck/trailer and literally be motoring away from dock in 30 mins or less.  It's a nice location.   

Can you rent dockspace from a homeowner? On my sisters lake this is common. Usually 500-1000 a summer and cook the homeowner dinner a couple times a summer!

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5 hours ago, asp13 said:

 

Nope.  With the exception of the launch ramp dock, there are no docks on the lake nor are there any residences situated on the lake.  It is a provincial park.   Back in the 50's my grandfather had actually staked off land along the shoreline of the lake and was going to build a nice summer cottage for the family.  Then the federal/provincial government came in within a month and made all the stakes null and void as they designated the entire area a provincial park.  It was too bad for my grandfather, he could have made a fortune!...lol.  But it's great for everyone else...lol

Edited by Sunscape fan
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4 hours ago, gobble said:

I don't get what you're saying. This sounds like the ideal setup. You're in the truck. She's in the boat. The minute the boat hits water she starts then engine and backs off, takes a drive into the lake. As soon as you park the truck she shoots back to the dock and you jump on. Your total time in the boat ramp is like 30 seconds. That's how it's done while the typical guy with a bayliner takes 5 minutes. What am I missing in this story?

By the way, before we bought our lake house I found it easier for me to back up the truck until a few feet before the water and let my wife handle the final distance while I handled the boat. She seemed more comfortable with that.

We do this, kinda.  SHe rides in the cab with me while I am backing down.  I jump out, jump in the boat(our ramp is relatively steep so I don't even get feet wet) start the boat, release the strap and back up. She parks the truck and meets me at the dock.  She does drive the boat on the trailer though. Has gotten good at that. My daughter can as well.

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My wife wont load the boat onto the trailer or boat lift.  Too afraid of damaging something.  Nothing will convince her that sh!ts going to happen once in a while to even the best boat driver.  She will back up the truck though.  We use walkie-talkies (the ones from Costco) to communicate in case something isn't going right at the ramp.

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I am like some of you, I back the truck down to the ramp, climb in the boat, she backs it in rest of the way.  Then she drops me off and I get the trucking like to have her drift in to the trailer so I can winch her in. Boat is always lined up on the bunks.  

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This thread is really making me appreciate living on the lake and being able to have my BU on a lift under a canopy.  Don't sell, it will get better.  Be thankful you and your wife share the interest in boating. Families that boat together stay together!

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Just tell her to be patient and you have to show her you can be patient as well.  Build her confidence.

We have a place at the lake with a lift and all.  We still deal with the idiots.  

My wife tells me at least once a year she is just about done.  I manage to stay civil and patient most of the summer but certain weekends just fry me.  

Last weekend was one of those.  I had 5 different issues within half an hour and called it a day.  The first was a MC who decided to come up on my left(person on the right(me) has the right of way) and gradually try to overtake my line.   They had crept up on the left merging toward my line where my bow was even with the middle of their boat....about 50' apart.  Guy kept coming over and 3 women in the boat started waving at me like I was in the wrong.  I had been running a straight line for 1/2 mile.   I was furious stood up and waved them over and explained I had had the right of way based on position. 

4 were other boaters who didn't quite understand who had the right of way....I was the only one with somebody in tow and none of these 4 seemed to realize I had the right of way.  Each time I had to kill it or majorly divert my line to avoid an accident.    The last happened about 200 yards from my dock.  Had person being towed board the boat and headed to the dock. 

It's hard to stay calm and patient, but as responsible boat owners and operators the best thing we can do is be rational and expect everyone else to have no clue.  We live in a society of me first and I see it more and more even on the water.  The best thing you can do is have a calm and polite conversation educating the other parties on rules of the water.  I suggest you be prepared to back it up as some will dispute you.  I keep a stack of North Carolina Wildlife Rules and Regs Pamplets on the boat for his purpose.  I have handed out many.  I've gotten many, thanks man I didn't know and a few basic screw you, I don't care responses, but at least I'm trying to educate.   

I've often wished the LEO's would put on auxiliary officers.   I would sacrifice several weekends a year to volunteer just to try to educate not scold   

 

 

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9 hours ago, TallRedRider said:

Remember that backing down the ramp is not much different than backing down a level surface, so taking her to the big open section of the Wal-Mart parking lot would be a good place to practice.  You could set goals of have her backing into a parking spot.  

My wife backs the truck down nicely.  

A few years ago my wife decided to drive the truck instead of the boat.  We took the boat to a high school parking lot and spent a couple hours, on two different days, practicing.  I had her pull into spots forward and then back out with out hitting orange cones.  She still gets nervous when the ramp is super busy and I occasionally tie off at the dock and I get the truck.  Luckily our ramp docks are fairly long and can handle 6+ boats at a time. 

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I have one answer, just get a boat slip and do it a few times a year. We're so fortunate to have a private launch we can use, along with dock space to store the boat. I really hope the launch doesn't make you stop hosting.  The local public one can just be crazy, along with it not having a dock. 

I have seen many things happen at the public one, fires, collisions, jet skis and donuts, you name it. One of the best ones to watch was an older outboard, they had obviously unhooked all of the tie downs on a very steep ramp and the boat went sliding down. The one thing that save it from going a long ways, was the outboard trolling motor on the side. It dug into the ground before the boat totally went flying 

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My wife doesn't drive boat or truck.  I just launch with a stern and bow rope and tie up to dock. I have the family load up before  I rope off and I park my rig.   At end of day I tie up to dock and go get rig and then use the stern and bow rope to get it on trailer.   Sucks not having any help but it's not that bad.   I'd give up on trying to show her how unless she wants to do it.   A trick I've used to teach rookie trailer drivers is have them put hand on bottom of steering wheel and tell them to move their hand toward the way the want trailer to move.   Even if it's super busy most people can launch even if ur tied to dock and thhey can navigate around my boat.   Just relax and do it solo, no biggie.

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When I brought my wife out to practice for the first time, she absolutely could not back the trailer down straight to save her life.  And it was an empty launch ramp for over 45 minutes.  No matter what she did, she couldn't make small progressive changes.  It was always brake, rotate steering wheel to correct, then she would over correct and have to repeat the process the opposite direction.  It was painful.

Then last weekend, for the first time, she had to make a choice between loading the boat in a 15mph crosswind or backing down the truck on the ramp.  She loaded the boat perfectly.

I am cringing the day when we get back to our bigger, busier lake.  The launch ramp there is a zoo + crosswind.  I have great insurance! ;)

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Get a marina membership or rent a boat slip somewhere. It costs a bit more, but it takes all the hassle out of launching & trailering the boat. 

Some time ago we figured out that you should never teach someone to drive or ride if your sleeping with them. Have your buddy do it. And you teach your buddies wife. It works great.

Edited by Bill_AirJunky
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