UNLOADING AND LAUNCHING

A few simple guidelines that will make the time at the boat ramp shorter and more pleasant.

If you are a beginner almost anyone in line behind you would be glad to assist you.

Be courteous; everyone's always in a hurry. Ramp is open 24 hours.

1 Get in line - No one likes a line jumper.

2 During the dark, TURN HEADLIGHTS OFF - they blind everyone - park lights are ok.

3 Get gear and boat ready to launch before getting on the ramp.
If you need additional time wave others around but stay in line.

4 The most experienced driver should position the boat so the novice will only have to
back a short distance and pull straight ahead to park. (see #7)

5 Wait off the bank until your partner is ready to board.

6 If you are solo, unload, park your boat and move your vehicle & trailer off the
ramp as soon as possible.

7 Park Straight!!! Crooked parking wastes parking spaces and
increases the chances of the next guy running over your trailer.

7 Use caution leaving ramp. This can be as dangerous as a Shotgun Start.

LOADING AND LEAVING

If you are a beginner almost anyone in line behind you would be glad to assist you.

1 Drop the driver off at the ramp. If solo or with a novice, beach the boat, otherwise wait
off the bank while others are loading their boats and until your trailer is on the ramp.

2 During the dark LEAVE HEADLIGHTS OFF until you are off the ramp.

3 The experienced driver should position the trailer so the novice can pull straight ahead.

4 After loading, pull as far away from the ramp as possible to reduce congestion.
Do not turn headlights on until you are leaving.

Add your suggestions!

...and don't decide to teach your wife to back the trailer down on a busy weekend with boats waiting to launch!!!

Item #3 on unloading and launching for sure. I've seen an extremely busy boat ramp on a DFW lake get tied up for several minutes because rookie pleasure boaters backed down the ramp and then started loading stuff from their SUV to the boat with a dozen or so people waiting in line to use the ramp. With years of practice under my belt from tournament fishing I've turned unloading and loading into something that can be measured in seconds rather than minutes, even rolling solo.
One other thing I'd like to stress; this probably ties up more time on the ramp more than anything, is to make sure your motor is ready to start. Go to Walmart and purchase a set of water muffs that connect to your garden hose and fit over the water pump inlet. These work with Mercs and all other brands but Yamaha. If I remember right Yamaha's have an attachment built in them to attach a garden hose. NEVER AND I MEAN NEVER run your motor DRY without WATER. You instantly destroy the water pump. Plastic rubbing against stainless steel creates instant impeller melting heat @ hundreds or thousands of rpms. Get the water attached and on, go through your normal starting procedure and run the motor until it warms up all the way and starts peeing water. If it don't start don't take it to the lake. If it didn't start @ the house it won't start @ the lake. You can also do this the afternoon before your trip to the lake. Now when you back the boat down the ramp the motor fires instantly and you are ready to let the trailer clear the ramp in seconds so someone else can get launched. This prerunning procedure is something that can be done every two weeks when you aren't using your rig regularly. It can save you tons of money having ethanol damage repaired from letting it sit, use treatments too.

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