Thread: Tempers on the water

It's comical to watch busy boat ramps, and Him haulers at the ramp...Just got to bite your lip and laugh at some of these folks. Allot of folks are just getting into boating, by themselves and learning, elderly, maybe just take the boat out twice a year and like you said no common sense. Put these folks into a hurry up or busy situation at the boat ramp and it's hard to tell what will happen next. I remember having to help two lady's get their boat onto a trailer after their first attempt almost landed their boat over top of the winch and into the back of the bed of their truck. They had their trailer backed up way to far in the water. I took the time to show them how to properly load their boat. These two lady's were out trying to crappie fish by them self's and you could tell they were not experienced at the ramp. I had to help them out. When you run into time delays at the ramp it is almost always someone who is not experienced at launching and loading or boating in general. If i see anybody having problems I try to help them out and even gave the lady's a good part of my catch to take home as they did not catch much. I wanted to encorage them to keep trying. I later saw the same ladys back fishing and catching thier own fish and loading and unloading their boat in the proper manner. More times than not it will speed things along in a safe manner if you take the time to help out. I kinda look at boat ramps as "Hey we all had to start somewhere and learn and even the best boaters in the world can have problems or make a mistake at the boat ramp". I have made a few over the years that took some time to fix. Thinking this way eases my pain and helps with not getting too mad at these folks while at the dreaded public boat ramp. LOL

Crappiepro, I agree with you. After owning/operating boats for 30 years, my loading boats to this day can be best described as, "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly."

You are right CP! I surely don't want to do anything to anyone to discourage the outdoors. I help when I can as well. Other people's tempers these days makes it hard to give advice to help them out without offending them. I told a guy (In a nice helpful way I thought) before that was having trouble aligning his boat on the trailer that he was backing his trailer way too far into the water while loading his boat because his boat was dinged up from hitting the winch and he couldnt get the boat to sit right on the trailer. Man I got a cussing and was pretty much told "I been loading and unloading MY boat before you were born!" Hahahaha Cat got my tongue on that one....I didn't know what else to say ahahahah. I wanna help but have to be very careful when making suggestions. I on the other hand love it when people tell me their ideas because it may be something I have never heard of and I have an opportunity to learn. There is no harm if it s something I already may know it still wont offend me. So.....somebody please teach me how to catch a fish. Every tip anyone may have... I WANT TO LEARN!

If you want laughs, go to Horseshoe lake the first warm weekend of the summer and watch people load their boats.....as to 'meltdowns', fishing for me is fun; if I have to fish with a 'meltdown artist', I just won't go. One fellow we trout fish with had one big 'meltdown' over his inability to tie a knot (he's got essential tremors). I just let it go, and signed up to go pheasant hunting with him in South Dakota. The second time we fished, he had another 'meltdown' over something I felt was inconsequential. I cancelled my participation in the hunting trip & forfeited my (large) deposit. Life's too short to put up with avoidable crap.

Last boating related meltdown I had this year was actually during duck season. Busy ramp at a local wma....several jacklegs had parked very inconsiderately, making it difficult to turn around to launch boats. I sat in line for 15 minutes just seething but the folks I was mad at were long gone. So "someone I know" finally got out, unhooked a couple of the offending trailers and rolled em off in the ditch. Freed up the traffic flow, taught a valuable lesson, and made me feel a lot better.

Originally Posted by LowePro

You are right CP! I surely don't want to do anything to anyone to discourage the outdoors. I help when I can as well. Other people's tempers these days makes it hard to give advice to help them out without offending them. I told a guy (In a nice helpful way I thought) before that was having trouble aligning his boat on the trailer that he was backing his trailer way too far into the water while loading his boat because his boat was dinged up from hitting the winch and he couldnt get the boat to sit right on the trailer. Man I got a cussing and was pretty much told "I been loading and unloading MY boat before you were born!" Hahahaha Cat got my tongue on that one....I didn't know what else to say ahahahah. I wanna help but have to be very careful when making suggestions. I on the other hand love it when people tell me their ideas because it may be something I have never heard of and I have an opportunity to learn. There is no harm if it s something I already may know it still wont offend me. So.....somebody please teach me how to catch a fish. Every tip anyone may have... I WANT TO LEARN!

Yep...Sometimes you can't help the helpless. I have taken help at the ramp myself, I have had some good folks help me. Just little things like hooking my boat up, winching it tight when by myself or helping me back up. Or even better the same guy pulls you out also after hooking your boat up. Go's along way to making your trip a little easier.

Watch Out!!! tho who you take help from, had one guy almost back my truck up into the lake with my boat hooked up. Thankfully after yelling HEY!!!! Your In REVERSE!!! he got it corrected and pulled me out with no damage done... But sheww it was close. I have never had this situation but just what if someone offered to help you lets say at the ramp, and they mess up your rig or make a big mistake and damage something. What then in a awkward word? Are you liable or is the person who you allowed to help you. Awkward...I know some folks who won't take any help just for this reason.

I had a boat ramp melt down duck hunting, but it was caused by one of my hunting buddies. It was one of the coldest days I have ever hunted. The only thing keeping the surface of the water from freezing was the wind. We had finished our hunt with all four of us killing limits. We got to the boat launch area took pictures ect ect. When we were loading out gear for the trip home one buddy was looking at the first diving duck he had ever killed when he began whirling it around by its head. As it spun in his hands he said " this is why they are called ring necks". About then the head comes free from the body and the body comes free from my buddy, glancing off the side of my head. I thought it ripped my ear off. It took some hide off from behind the ear and off the ear. When it's that cold that hurts like crazy.

As much as I hate to admit, I had a cussing fit. I wasn't really cussing my buddy but the pain the wayward feathered missile caused. Had it not hit anyone it would have been funny to watch, probably still was for the other guys.

These days I do my level best to keep my temper and tongue in check.

Chris

Originally Posted by crp4570

Crappiepro, I agree with you. After owning/operating boats for 30 years, my loading boats to this day can be best described as, "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly."

One time on the ARkansas river i launched my boat by myself right into the Arkansas river with no tow rope attached... that sucker, just kept on going right onout into the Mighty Arkansas. I quickly stripped down and swam out and grabbed it and swam it back to shore. Thank goodness the river was not raging and it was summertime. Turned out to be just a nice cool swim and a good day of fishing on a warm summerday. I considered myself lucky and had a good memory to laugh at down the road. SHewww...It was an immediate Melt Down/Cool Down situation if you get my drift.