Whether you are launching a 16 foot fishing boat or a 40 foot power boat, the end goal is to get on the water and have a great time. Don’t let a bad day at the ramp ruin that for you, or for all the others that are out there to enjoy the water. By remembering a few do’s and don’ts you can remove a lot of stress in launching your boat. Overall, the basic etiquette of launching your boat at a public boat ramp is to get your boat in the water and out of the way as quickly as possible so others can launch their boat and keep a steady flow of boats entering the water. If you can keep this in mind when launching your boat not only will your day be off to a good start others will also appreciate your efforts and will more than likely do the same.
Pre Launch
Taking the time to get your boat ready before you back your boat down to the ramp is without a doubt the most important thing you can do to ensure a quick boat launch. The last thing you want to do is have your truck and boat half way in the water then start getting everything ready. The boating community is a bunch of pretty cool people, but if you want to get on their bad side fast, hold them up from getting into the water. So to avoid this, get your boat ready to go before you get in line to the ramp. you would think that this would be common sense but I have seen it many times. People want to get into line before a bigger rush of boats hits the ramp to “save time”. All they do is hold up the line for everyone else.
So, what do you need to do before you back down the ramp? The quick easy answer is, anything that will make it so all you have to do is start the motor and drive off away from the dock. When you arrive at the place where you are going to launch your boat, park your truck and boat in an area in a way so you are not blocking others from getting around you, and you have enough room to maneuver around your boat safely. Here you are going to do all safety checks and prep your boat for launch. This is also a good time to arrange any gear you are going to take with you out on the water. Here are some things you would normally do at this time. Depending on your boat some of these may not apply to you.
- Loosen or remove any straps that are connecting your boat to the trailer.
- Check the transom drain plug to be sure it is in and secure.
- Turn on the battery switch.
- Turn ignition key to check electronics. Then turn it back off.
- If you have an inboard motor, this is a good time to turn on your blower to ventilate the engine bay.
- Check bilge pump operation.
- Load any gear that is in your truck and arrange it in the boat so it is out of the way.
- Arrange your mooring ropes so you can access them easily.
- If you are launching alone, and have bumpers, get them ready.
- Take care of any utility fees for using the ramp.
Once you are done with checking everything over and you are to a point where all you have to do is put the boat in the water, and go park the trailer, you are ready to drive down to the ramp.
The Boat Ramp
First thing that needs to be said is that all boat ramps are different. Some are really long and wide, and others are short and narrow. Some have a specific direction flow pattern that you need to follow. And some will have specific ramps for launching and landing a boat. If you have not launched a boat at the ramp you are currently at, it is a good idea to take a minute to walk down to it to see how things work before you just drive down and possibly do something wrong and back things up. Not to mention, it is a good opportunity to watch some of the other boaters put in to maybe learn a tip or trick to better navigate your truck and boat to line up with the ramp. Now get in line and wait your turn.
If it is at all possible, when lining your boat up to the ramp, give yourself as much room as possible without restricting other boaters access. What I mean by this is, do not get to close to the dock. If you are to close you will restrict the ability to turn your vehicle to make corrections when you trailer starts to veer off to one side. Also if you have the room available, after you make the turn to point the back of the boat to the water, try to pull up far enough so your truck and boat trailer are already in a straight line. It is much easier to make small corrections when backing up than it is to turn sharply to re-direct the boat down the ramp. Because once you start having to turn hard it just compounds and gets worse. It is best to just pull forward and straighten back out and try again. If it takes you a few tries to get it right, don’t stress about it. Like I said the boating community is a cool community. They understand. Because they have been in the same situation at one time or another. Take your time. It is faster to go slow with small corrections in steering than it is to try and rush it and over correct causing you to have to start over.
Back the boat into the water so that the water is just covering the wheel fenders. For most boats, this will be just about far enough for the back end of the boat to be almost floating and the propeller in the water. But each boat and trailer combo is a little different so test and see what works best or your setup. From here there are a couple different ways you could get the boat off the trailer.
- You could get in the boat and start the engine and put it in reverse to back the boat off the trailer. This way can be very easy if your trailer has rollers that the boat sits on. You may need to rev the engine up a little to give it that little extra to get it started. the down side to this is that you have to be careful because the boat could come off a little fast if you give it to much power. If this happens try not to overcompensate by going to fast in the forward direction. Tie the boat off on the dock and park the trailer
- For this launching method you will still need to have the front trailer strap loosely connected to the boat. Give yourself about 6 inches of slack. Back the trailer a little deeper into the water so that you can see the boat mostly floating off the trailer. Stand on the tongue of the trailer and disconnect the strap. Grab the mooring line you arranged earlier. then push the boat back off the trailer. let the boat float back behind the trailer. At the same time, hop off the trailer and walk up on to the ramp dock, keeping control of the ropes. then slowly direct the towards the dock. Tie the boat off on the dock and park the trailer.
One thing I should clarify about this, is that once the boat is off the trailer, move the boat as close to the end of the dock as possible. this will allow for the next person to have enough room to start unloading their boat while you park your truck and trailer. This may not always be possible. If some one before you has not already left the dock, and you cannot move your boat out of the way of the next person, just be courteous enough to park as quickly as possible and get back to your boat to move it as soon as an opening occurs. That way the next person in line can at least line up to back the boat down into the water. If you are with another person have them stand by the boat and they can move it when the people leave.
Leaving the Dock
Now that the trailer is parked and you are back down on the dock, you can start your engine and prepare to leave. Here are some helpful tips on leaving the dock.
- If you can, walk the boat down to the end of the dock. This is not always possible. Use your best judgment. Doing this, it is sometimes easier to push off the end of the dock out into open water giving you a little more room to maneuver the boat.
- Reversing out of the dock is done by giving the engine small bursts of power in reverse gear then back to neutral. Then repeating. This keeps your speed down and give you more time to steer the boat around obstacles, and makes it a little easier to control.
- While preparing to leave the dock, just remember that the dock space is limited. This does not mean you have to rush to leave. If you are deliberate, and not just standing around, most other boaters will not mind if you take little extra time to leave the ramp dock.
Although I have given you some of the basics of launching your boat, the best thing you can do is maybe take a little time to go see how things work at your local boat ramp. Knowing what is going on, before you have a boat strapped to your truck, will really ease the stress of launching your boat for the first few times. Also, another tip would be to take your boat to an open parking lot and practice backing up with it. Not only will this help you at the ramp but will also help in maneuvering the boat any other time as well. Launching a boat for the first few times can be a little stressful. but just take your time, prepare, and just be courteous of others using the ramp and it will be the start of a great day.