Boat Ramp Etiquette

Dave Diefenderfer

Dave Diefenderfer

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Most seasoned duck hunters and boaters know proper boat ramp etiquete, but a post for the new folks might be in order.... feel free to jump in and add or correct as fits your areas...

From my experience hunting in Vermont.... spend your time up in the lot getting the boat, decoys, lights, guns, bags etc organized. Put your plug in, prime the gas, etc, all up in the lot. Have your partner walk down to the ramp to help guide you and handle the painter line and give the go ahead for the trailer to pull away. When you start to pull up the ramp, move the trailer from the water slowly, pausing as soon as the frame is out of the water to let it drain in the water and not all the way up the ramp! The guys behind you will wait another minute to keep the ramp clear of ice! Your partner should move the boat well out of the way of the ramp for the next group to unload.

When the boat owner arrives, he makes the boat ready to go... gets the motor started, nav lights on. Allow sufficient time for the motor to warm up and idle smooth.... no one what to be towed back to the ramp, and no one has figured that time in their hunt to tow you back and help you just because you were in too big a hurry.

Remember the 1/3rd fuel rule... go no further than you can on the first 1/3rd of the gas in the tank.... need to be prepared to take the long way, against the wind, in the dark ride back and don't want to be low on fuel too!

At the end of the day, same rules apply. Don't land on the ramp and leave the boat in the way while you walk to you truck, relieve yourself, make a call, etc. Back the trailer in and load the boat, again letting the frame drain before you head up the ramp. A bag of sand in the truck this time of year is always smart. If no one is waiting, pull the plug and drain the boat back into the water.... lower the motor for the same.

I made a set of muffs with a short hose and big funnel that I used after every hunt. Bought RV antifreeze by the gallon.... once the water drained from the OB, I had my partner start my motor while I poured the antifreeze to her... when orange/pink came out the tell hole, she was good to go. Never had a freeze up in Vermont with this method. I know some simply hit the starter and "blow" the water out, but I wanted the antifreeze in there in case.

I now hunt in Virginia, so my routine is not as diligent....at least not now when it is 60s and 70s!!!! When/if we get freezing weather, the routine will be the same, though I hunt a sneakbox, and load and unload alone mostly now. Don't have a plug in the boat, but a warm garage will thaw it out and a 20" box fan set over the cockpit rails blowing down in the hull will dry out what I can't sponge out!

So what do you do differently?

Dave
 
So what do you do differently?

Pretty much the same with one big exception. I am almost always launching solo, so I have to make a few adjustments to the stated routine while at the waters edge.

Oh, I turn my boat navigation lights on first thing and leave them on before anything else. It the lights are not working, I won't be launching.

Speaking of lights, I always shut off my truck headlights and use the illumination from the parking lights. Nothing like being blinded by the other guys headights preventing you from backing down along side in the adjacent ramp.
 
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Dave,
This is a good idea, i have never thought of waiting for the trailer to drain at the waters edge,thats a good one. A couple things i do that i wish more people would do is, dont back up to the ramp then start getting ready, pull off to the side and do that. Second, when you are on the ramp shut off you lights just leave your parking lights on, it is horrible trying to back up with someones lights shining in your mirror. Last, if the ramp is big enough for more than one boat to launch at a time, please learn how to back up a trailer before opening day, i hate waiting 15min to launch while someone pulls up and backs up ten times then finnaly gets to the water and takes up the whole ramp because they are sideways.

Brian
 
Something I have been running into is people not waiting there turn and jumping in line.this is mainly the the guys fishing but none the less it happens then they ask you to hook the winch for them cuz you have waders on
 
Nothing worse than some one who pulls into the launch lane and then proceeds to take 15 minutes to load the boat with gear, take off tied downs, put in plugs, etc...., when they should have taken care of this in the parking/standby area.
 
i have only met a person once at the ramp, that happened to be bob b on a junior day we talked for a bit then i went first since i got there first.

when i go with my buddy his two stroke merc will run perfect in no time at all, even in cold weather so it takes us no more than 30 seconds at the ramp, we are also there at 3 in the morning so we never meet anyone there

when we take my boat the four stroke copperhead takes for ever to warm up. i dump the boat and let her warm up for a few minutes then my buddy turns us around and we are off. we are also there at three so no ones there

i havent thought about letting the water drain off the trailer since we use channel trailers not tube trailers but i will remember this step if we ever get below 50 degrees

i keep my boat in a garage and i have a mud motor so i dont have to worry about a frozen water pump
 
Oh Boy, I saw a guy from out-of-state at a ramp in Ohio that jumped ahead of 3 of us waiting to launch. I never found out but by the look in the eyes of the locals I would have been real surprised if he had air in his tires when he got back.

In my area the biggest thing at this time of year is drain your trailer over the water. Everything I need to get done is done before my boat is in the water except start the motor. In and out of the ramp in under 2 minutes usually. Once the boat is off the trailer it is either cleated off or pulled up to shore away from everyone else so there is nobody waiting for me to leave. I leave my dog in the truck until after the boat is in the water so I don't need to worry who he is friending or pissing off.
 
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Practice makes perfect. If you don't have a lot of experience launching and loading, familiarize yourself with it on a quiet day at a quiet ramp. Much better than jumping into things in the dark at 4am! As many have already mentioned the loading your gear and getting set away from the ramp is a big one.

I think some days I can actually launch and load my Regulator faster than the sneakbox!
 
last year in rhode island an activist slashed the tires of ten trucks and trailers. it was all the guys out sea ducking. now in the morning the guys each pay a guy ten bucks to stay in a truck to make sure the crazy b'/#h doesn't come back and take out their tires
 
Being a solo hunter, I take the time in the parking lot to load my gear, tie off my bow line to the trailer, prime and start my motor for a moment, turn on nav lights, unplug trailer lights, put in the plug and remove transom straps. Like Pete, all I have to do is pull up, release the winch strap, back the boat in and pull the boat around out of the way and tie off to a cleat or pull up to shore. In and out in 2 minutes. I have seen to many guys sitting at the bottom of the ramp with the hood off trying to get the motor started screwing up everybody's day. I don't want to be that guy. I don't even leave the yard until I know the battery has a good charge and the tank has enough fuel for the day. My typical drive to the ramp is 45 minutes. I don't need to waste the gas to find out I flipped a switch and drained the battery only to turn around and drive another 45 minutes going home!
 
THE NUMBER 1 RULE: Go early to beat the crowd. You won't have to worry about being in the way at the ramp. And the added bonus is that there won't be anyone in the spot you want to hunt.
 
The ramps I use are big enough for 2 boats to launch in addition I try and stay to one side to allow another to launch.
When launching and pulling out I keep my window open and my safety belt off. If the truck goes in the drink I want a quick exit I do not want to have to break the window because of the pressure on the door.
After it is launched i pull my boat to the end of the float to allow another to tie off.
 
Something else, I forgot to mention, though someone else touched on it..... leave the dog in the truck until the boat is launched, then air them on leash and load up in the boat, and when returning, leash up the dog, and put them in the truck before you start moving your truck/trailer. Nothing frustrates me more and worries me is to have dogs running around the launch when I am trying to back a boat in. I don't care how steady your dog is... if he moves, he might die. Too many distractiions there... dead fish to roll in, other dogs, dead birds.... unless you are there to make the quick correction, don't assume he will sit stay. I have seen more wander off the stay then stay steady.
 
Pretty well covered above. My pet peeve is not with other boat owners at the ramp, but with the snow plow operators. If you're bothering to plow out the boat ramp to maintain winter water access, please don't push all the snow onto the ramp just above the high tide line! Nothing worse than trying to back a trailer through a couple feet of packed snow.
 
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Oh Boy, I saw a guy from out-of-state (Iowa) at a ramp in Ohio that jumped ahead of 3 of us waiting to launch.
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Geez Pete, I didn't realize that was you that day. :>) :>) He may have had a Iowa plate, but that don't mean his parents raised him right.
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Our town ramp is very large and has two spots to launch and two spots to retrieve. If you get to the ramp and both launch ramps are occupied wait till a spot opens up, don't use the haul out spots.
I came in last weekend towing a disabled boat. I see a guy standing by his truck parked at the top of the ramp with his boat loaded up at the out bound ramp. I think he has just hauled his boat , right? Wrong, he sees us coming in and jumps in his truck and starts to back down and launch then leaves the boat in the spot closet to the ramp. He walks away as we are standing by waiting for him to clear the ramp then he takes his time parking his truck and getting his stuff together. We waited about 15 minutes for him to return and move his boat. With tide and wind pushing us I needed to get the disabled boat on the dock ramp before it was blown side ways up the ramp. The guy finally returns and looks at me like I'm getting in his way.
Now before someone says maybe he did not know which ramps are which, they have giant white arrows painted on the bulkheads to make sure you know which is in and are which is out.
Moral of the story, read the launch ramp rules or just use common sense.
 
I also try to get there early to beat the crowd - i'm usually first in line...

I also pull to the side near the boat launch area to get my gear and boat all set up before backing the trailer up. If someone comes up behind me who seems more ready to go than I am, I tell him I'll probably need a few more mins and he can go ahead and launch ahead of me.

I'm usually quite protective of my estuary, so instead of tying it off to a cleat on the dock (where the current or a wave can rub or bash it against the dock), I pull it off to the side of the launch area so someone else can launch their boat while I go park the car.

It also takes me a couple of pulls of the motor to get it started, and I do 't want to be blocking the launch area, so I usually paddle out into more open water first before I start dithering around with the motor.

Great thread for newbies Dave!

AA-
 
Yeah, I know that Dave. Not to disparage any of the 99.9% of the good folk in Iowa or any other state. I really do believe in the Victor Hugo quote at the bottom of my signature. I probably shouldn't have put that in and in fact will edit it out as it's of no account where they were from.
 
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