Trailering Club

Lessons From The Ramp

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  Mother Knows Best

  My mother has grown up with boats and my father has always deferred to her skills when on the water as well as at the ramp. So when we drove to a boat ramp a few years ago in Michigan, all of us knew what to expect when mom got behind the wheel to back the trailer into the water. There would be looks from people expecting to see a problem. Click here to read the entire story.

  

  An Hour on the Water Works Wonders

  Last summer my wife and I took some friends from Utah on their first boat ride. We had a terrific time despite the fact so many people seem to be clueless about the way a boat should be operated. My friend, who is a devout Mormon heard two boaters cursing each other as we motored to the boat ramp and mentioned "they need some religion." Click here to read the entire story.

   
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  This Beats Snakes on a Plane

  Here in the Dells, I was taking some friends from the office for a boat ride last August. They lived in Chicago and were visiting for a long weekend at my cabin. We'd had a great day on the water exploring rocky coves and watching deer and raccoons along the shore and trying some fishing with a cane pole that I kept in the boat (Sea Ray 18). Click here to read the entire story.

  Backing a Trailer

  I was waiting for a friend to show up with his boat on a trailer at the public ramp along Trail Creek, which is about two miles from Lake Michigan. Our plan was to go out and spend the day fishing as we do every Tuesday. A boat came in to get hauled out and there's a guy and his wife or girlfriend. Click here to read the entire story.

   
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  Trucks Don't Float

  One Sunday my family and I were taking our 23' Sea Swirl for a day on the water to celebrate my daughter Shannon's 14th birthday. The ramp is a state run facility that is fairly rustic and tucked into the woods off the main lake body. We were next in line behind a group of younger people using a brand new Nissan pickup 4x4 as a towvehicle to launch a 20' bowrider. Click here to read the entire story.

  

  Just Say "No"

  I'm new to launching so my first time at the ramp, I waited until everyone else had gone out before backing my trailer (I had practiced at the mall parking lot for a while before bringing my wife to the ramp for the real deal). As I was backing down the ramp, I noticed another fisherman coming in (it's a single-lane ramp) so I pulled back up to give him some room. Click here to read the entire story.

   
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  Tie Down Tie Up

  The Cullman, Alabama trailer boat club always makes an annual trip with about 9 boats. In 2004, one of the destinations was the Defeated Creek Marina in northeast Tennessee. The boats cruised 125 miles downstream to Nashville, spent two nights enjoying the music and the sites before returning to Defeated Creek. Click here to read the entire story.

  

  A Second Chance? Probably Not.

  It was a warm May day here on Long Island which means the air temperature was 75 but the water temperature of Long Island Sound was about 56. My fishing partner and I were returning from a morning of fishing. As we were in the process of winching my boat on the trailer at Mt. Sinai, NY, a brand new SUV trailering a brand new 22" walk around backed onto the top of one of the ramps...Click here to read the entire story.

   
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  Know The Bilge And Know The Plug

  It had been one of those days for my buddy and his wife. Great day on the ocean, they had taken their limit of kingfish, oceanic tuna and sailfish on a spinrod. We both arrived at the boat ramp at the same time and noticed that the gentleman that had just retrieved his boat in front of my buddy had stopped at the top of the ramp. Click here to read the entire story.

  

  No MENSA Here

  A few years ago we were on our way to our favorite vacation spot. We stopped for gas at a small town in Minnesota. A young man who appeared to be about 13 or 14 years old came out of the gas station, and slowly walked around the boat several times. He was looking intently at the boat and trailer. I couldn't figure out what he was looking at. Finally he looked at me and said, "Is this your boat?" Click here to read the entire story.

   
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  No Future is Good

  I took a lady I know out for a day on my Sea Ray last year. She isn't a boater, doesn't know how to swim, made sure she wore a PFD even before we ever got into the boat and was a little concerned about my idea of a day on the water. I guess you could call this a first date. She brought a picnic lunch and my plan was to take a ride over to Shelter Island and find a quiet beach. Click here to read the entire story.