# 2676: First time launching boat! -- Boat Ramp Stories

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SUBJECT: # 2676: First time launching boat!

Submitted by Nancy from GEORGIA on 4/13/2001 8:58:00 AM

Yesterday was the first day I launched my boat. In the past I have always fished with friends in their boats, and I finally purchased a used boat so that I could fish whenever I wanted. I have read all of the stories on this page about mistakes people make at the ramp. Including all of the stories about either a female or a blonde launching a boat. Well I am female and blonde and I took my blonde sister along with me to help so there were two of us. We pulled up at the ramp and pulled over to an area to ready the boat, then backed it down the ramp and launched it without problems (remembered the plug too). Spent a while fishing and riding around on the lake (my sister could care less about fishing). When we got ready to leave we pulled back up to the ramp, backed the truck down and my sister drove the boat up on the trailer like a pro, hooked up the winch strap and winched it up real good, then pulled up away from the ramp and finished readying the boat on the trailer. I am happy to say we had no problems and remembered everything. So for everyone on here who posts telling you not to worry about launching your boat just to take your time and don't worry about it... Thanks for those posts!!!

Nancy

4/13/2001 9:09:00 AM Submitted by spinneB8 (128.82.201.6) from VIRGINIA says Nancy...
...way to go! Fun aint it? Your gonna have a great summer! Please see my response to post #2651.
4/13/2001 9:41:00 AM Submitted by Charles Pulley (12.72.31.42) from CALIFORNIA says Launching the Boat
Good job! And don't worry about mistakes on the ramp they happen to everybody eventually.
4/13/2001 9:48:00 AM Submitted by Spooled Again (64.132.1.162) from TEXAS says Not Everyone Makes Mistakes On the Ramp, only
the ones that forget to put their brain into thinking mode make the mistakes.
Apparently the site of a body of water tranquilizes many people as they are trying to launch their boats.
Or as Forest Gump once said, "stewpid is what stewpid does."
4/13/2001 10:12:00 AM Submitted by Firefox (143.166.82.239) from TEXAS says Great for U!!!!
But I have to put a damper on that first day though. Your first day you were careful and cautious, a LOT of times the "First Day" actually goes quite well. Sometimes it takes a little time for the first mistakes to happen. I have had quite a few myself!! Luckily just little things, nothing major. Well, not really.. Heheh.. See when your guard is down, is when the mistake will strike!! But isn't it a great feeling to go fishing and everything goes well?? Did you catch any fish?????
Good luck in your future boating trips...
<<<< Firefox >>>>>>
4/13/2001 10:39:00 AM Submitted by Nancy from GEORGIA says Firefox - no fish was the only damper
Firefox... that was the only damper of the day was we never even got bit as far as fish go. Of course the lake I decided to launch at for my first time is referred to as "the dead sea" so I could use that as an excuse... but we had a good time anyway and it's the closest lake to my house. There's fish there somewhere and I'll keep looking until I find them!
Nancy
4/13/2001 10:51:00 AM Submitted by Nancy from GEORGIA says SpinnerB8....
Yes it was fun! I've helped others do it plenty of times, just had never done it myself without an experienced boater along. Was just glad to see I could do it. And I had read your reponse to 2651 the other day... I know your girl friend was glad things went well for you guys too. It sure makes the day much more enjoyable when there are very few problems encountered along the way. All I gotta do now is play with the gadgets on the boat at home enough to figure out why I could not get the depthfinder/fishfinder working. I was so glad everything else went well I decided to take a break and worry about it later. I definitely know one thing.... for now I prefer to take a day off during the week and launch the boat and fish, more so than try to do it on the weekend... there were only about six or eight other rigs in the parking lot yesterday versus a full lot and busy ramp on the weekends. When I get so good even I am impressed, then you might see me tackle a weekend. Take care!
Nancy
4/13/2001 2:40:00 PM Submitted by Aggie89 (209.47.92.29) from TEXAS says nancy
Congratulations! Welcome to a great sport. Don't worry about the mistakes. They will happen to everyone no matter how experienced that you are. The point is that you have taken the time to learn, and think, and be courteous and concerned enough to do your best. The problem with some of the people is that they just don't care.
4/15/2001 12:55:00 AM Submitted by Charles Pulley (12.72.31.226) from CALIFORNIA says Ramp Mistakes
Nancy, next time you go to launch your boat keep in mind that the only people that don't make mistakes on the ramp are those that don't go to the ramp because they don't own a boat and are too sanctimonious to keep friends long enough to ride with.
4/16/2001 8:58:00 PM Submitted by ProCraft Bill (209.214.56.69) from NORTH CAROLINA says On the ramp
Nancy, congrats, as a regular reader here, just a rare poster, I can assure you that a mistake will come. It is just how you handle it that counts. 15 years of boating, and 2 weeks ago, I left the plug out. 4th time in 15 years. It happens. Pulling out of my garage, I thought, oh yeah, I left the plug out, gotta remember that. Then I went into that fog that sets in at the ramp..we all know it..I am goona go here, throw this, then go here....started to walk back down to the boat..saw it sitting there, thought hmm..i didnt put the plug in...went back up..got the trcuk, pulled it out...sat out for 5 minutes letting it drain...started over. And yes, busy ramps are a pain for everyone. It seems every lake I go to, the parking "engineers" have never pulled a trailer becasue the angle they have u leaning the ramp from and the slots to park in are impossible to do without crossing the lines. Anyway, dont want to ramble too much here. Just keep at it. We all screw it up now and then.