Launching Your Boat: Common courtesy on the boat ramp

If you ever need to feel better about yourself, watch a YouTube video or two about boat launching. There are some people out there who shouldn’t be allowed to clip their own toe nails, let alone back a boat down a ramp. But it’s important to realize that even the most experienced boater can land himself in an unexpected situation.

Triple Check

Experience is a valuable thing, but it can be made irrelevant if you become sloppy. Run through your pre-launch checklist where you personally cover the basics of your boat. If the above-mentioned YouTube videos have taught us anything, it’s that the drain plug is a vital component of a deck boat. Checking simple things will save you on the water.

Another important aspect is setting the parking brake on the towing vehicle. It makes for a crowd pleaser—for everyone but the owner—to see a vehicle submerged in the water.

What To Do

If your vehicle does end up in the water, having the tools on hand to immediately rectify the problem will be best. Keep an extra strap handy to be able to quickly tow it out. Quality products can be expensive, but the investment will be worth it if the situation ever comes to be. Hopefully someone with a truck or SUV equipped with a heavy-duty winch will be able to quickly come to your rescue. That would definitely be the best case scenario. Worst case? Calling an ambulance because something went wrong. If you need help and don’t have the right tools, call a professional tow company. Your well-being is much more valuable than a vehicle.

Practice Makes Perfect

If you're a new boater, you can’t practice too much. Find an empty parking lot and practice backing up and using side mirrors. Backing up a boat can take a while to perfect, but practice certainly speeds the process up.

When you’re at the launch ramp, make friends with fellow boaters. If you need help, ask for it. On the flip side, when you see someone struggling, volunteer to help out. There is an etiquette on the dock. So familiarize yourself with what other nice boaters are doing and do what they do. If there’s a courtesy dock, use it while you park your vehicle. If you suspect someone is in a bigger hurry than you, let him go first. If we all do more things with a cheerful spirit, the boating world will be a better place.

TEST DRIVE THE 2016 PONTOON AND DECK BOAT MODELS AT PDB DAYS

Prepare as much as possible in advance while the boat is on the trailer and not on the launch ramp. Get your cooler situated and your life jackets ready so you can drive the boat off the trailer as soon as it's backed down the ramp. Other people want to launch as well and there is nothing more annoying than watching someone on the ramp doing things they could have done in the parking lot.

Retrieving The Boat

Once your day is done, common courtesy is still important. If there are other boaters launching or leaving, be patient. When it is your turn, be ready to move quickly. Start by getting all of your gear ready to take off the boat, and get your boat ready to go on the trailer. If you have the option, let someone off the boat to get the trailer to the water while you float nearby so you don’t tie up the courtesy ramp. 

Slowly back the trailer into the water, and use the boat's bow and stern lines to line the boat up. Once you’re there, guide the boat onto the trailer instead of driving it for optimum safety. Using the engine to assist trailering will erode the ramp bed and can lead to debris being sucked into the engine.

Be careful that no one is in the direct line of the winch cable because if it breaks, someone can be seriously hurt. Once you’re back in the parking lot, make sure all lose gear is stowed and reconnect the trailer lights to the tow vehicle. These should have unplugged when you originally launched to keep warm bulbs from breaking when they reach the water. Make sure you drain all water from the boat, starting with the bilge and livewells. Trailer boats are a leading cause of the spread of invasive species. Do the environment a favor and make sure your boat is cleaned before you launch again, particularly if you go to a different body of water.