Dock Ramp Issues

T

Tallahassee240Sundeck

New Member
Jul 31, 2007
207
Tallahassee, FL
I personally will be using another marina or the public ramp because of an issue last weekend at the marina we use to launch.

I read the ramp ett. thread and this was not addressed, so I thought I would throw it out for discussion...

Loading the boat, I sent a friend to get the truck and trailer. He waited patiently in line - 20 or 25 minutes - until he was next. A person from the parking lot on the other side of the ramp pulls up and starts to pull in front of him to back into the dock. Needless to say it was explained that there have been people waiting for upwards of 25 minutes to use the ramp. The persons response was to say (implying, you aint from 'round here) we alternate and you shold have let me use the ramp even though we just pulled up and get in my friends face. My friend is a big person - 6'3" and 250... They guys response was - dont bow your chest up to me and starts hitting him.

My wife and I are on the boat unable to intervene or help or anything. My wife, yelling at our friend says just walk away... At this point the marina owner comes out, talks to the other person and comes over to our friend and says this is a family place and proceeds to call the police and describes myself, my wife and our friend to the police saying we are causing problems.

After I load the boat, I tried to speak with the owner and asked what the problem was. He gives us his "friends" take of the situation. I explained that it was his friend that was cutting into line and started hitting my friend... to which he responded, oh yeah, who started hitting first??? That is why the police are on their way to sort this out... there are two sides to every story...

I then asked him if he desired to hear the other side of the story or if he was just going to go on what his friend said.

Needless to say, I will not be using this marina again, and wish there was some way to file a complaint against his submerged land lease with the state or something. Totally uncalled for on the marina's part.

Any suggestions or other horror stories out there? Should I just bring my gun next time?
 
Tallahassee240Sundeck said:
Should I just bring my gun next time?
Click to expand...

Absolutely. Having a loaded gun when you get all worked up at the boat ramp sounds like a good thing.

I use the public ramp by our place on the order of once a month and it is the most painful thing around. The last time I was there with my oldest son and two boaters were emptying life jackets and crap out of their boats that were still in the water while their trailers were left backed in the water. Some other boater comes up and yells "Hurry the f* up" and wants to start a fight. I even had a boat pull in from the water right behind me where I was backing in and said he "had the right of way and I needed to wait my turn"... couldn't find that rule in Chapmans. Stuff like that happens every time I go there... cutting in line, can't back a trailer in, can't center a boat, general jackass-edness, etc. At the end of the day is worse with a bunch of alcohol mixed in the picture. Mixing in a gun into that would be perfect.

I take my camera now and when someone starts looking or acting stupid, I start taking lots-o-pictures and just keep quiet... I even have a picture I'll post of a guy backing his trailer in all crooked across 2 ramp slots and he saw me taking pictures and flipped me the bird and just stopped and stared at me like he wanted to beat me up... He was also pretty drunk. I thought it was funny...

I say just ignore it and move on... no one wins at ramp fights.
 
I agree with the no gun issue, however, I am not worried about me getting worked up and I don't drink on the water, just was venting and really wanted to see what other folks do. But that does bring up another discussion for another time. From what I understand, folks who spend several days out at sea a lot of times do carry, but not an issue for me and my sundeck.

I like the idea of the camera!

I will have to get a copy of the guide you mentioned as I am always looking to make sure I am doing the correct thing so as to not piss off other folks.
 
Common sense and common courtesy prevail. Many people at ramps have neither. Even with a quick temper I sometimes just sit and watch the morons with a smirk on my face. Most people know they're being idiots and as long as you don't point it out, out loud, they'll feel stupid enough and move on. But as soon as you point it out, they have something to defend and prove and it can get nasty.

Take the high road, offer to help, watch closely with a smirk, but let them or belittle or beat themselves up, cause they can do it better than you can, and that way you stay out of it. :smt043
 
So this guy actually started punching your friend? Was he drunk? Did your friend kick his a$$? Does he keep his boat there, or just use the ramp? Do you keep your boat there or just use the ramp? If he keeps his boat there, or at least is a regular, the owner is obviously going to take his side. It's been my experience that marinas are like little communities... very skeptical of outsiders. I've had my boat at the same marina for 7 years, and I am just now starting to get a pleasant nod from the owner. I guess I've earned my stripes. It's frustrating and I probably would have lost it and attacked the guy! But each marina has it's own culture and it sounds like the one you were at was pretty tight knit. Best to find another one for sure. And buy the owner a beer so he takes your side when it happens again.
 
Police showed up as I was leaving, never stopped us...

Yes, they guys just started hitting my friend and pushing him because my friend explained that there were upwards of 10 people waiting in line and he had just pulled up. He showed a lot of restraint, which is why it was frustrating that the owner took his (apparent) friends side on the issue.

We both just use the ramp... I was considering keeping my boat dry docked there, but am reconsidering now.

Agree, simple politeness is my preferred avenue. If I were backing up the truck, I would ignored him and if he approached me I probably would have apologized and said something about him having the ability to get out of the side parking lot while I was on the ramp and for him to wait his turn.
 
If he pushed your friend, you could have atleast pressed charges against him or battery or assault. But that would just make things worse.
 
I witnessed a fight at our local ramp last year..... Ridiculous. It's just no worth it; I now launch at a ramp where you have to pay. It seems to keep the riff raff and underclass away.

Don't sweat it; he'll get his, they always do.
 
I vote for paying to launch your boat. Anytime money changes hands that excludes a lot of rednecks and the associated problems. This will not eliminate all of the problems but it goes a long way towards civility.
 
As we camp a lot while boating, we use the campground launch ramp, which is usually pretty relaxed. You still get those that take their time, but no one is intentionally being an a-hole.

Even when not camping, I'll drive the extra 3 miles and pay the fee to still use the campground ramps, because I too believe that I am less likely to run into 'problems' than at a free/public boat ramp.
 
I always keep a wooden tire presure tester under my seat. It has quietly dispelled any notion of moron behavior around me at times. :wink: Sorry to hear of your troubles 240, I sent you a PM. :smt024
 
SearayPaul said:
that excludes a lot of rednecks and the associated problems.
Click to expand...

Ouch. :smt009

There are a lot of people from all walks of life that are good boaters in every sense of the word. A-hole behavior comes from all walks of life. I see a-holes that appear to think they have a lot of money, some that don't look like the should be able to afford a boat, some are punk kids with Daddy's boat and some are just average families with bad attitudes from a bad introduction to boating. You could exchange "redneck" with a lot of other "names" and it would fit just fine based on behavior.
 
I would have hoped in this situation that the line now behind you of people totalling 20-25 minutes (or were you the last one in line?) would have vouched for your side of the story and this guy would have offended them all by jumping in front. So it seems to me it would have been jerk-marina_owner vs. you-buddy-everyinline.

Too bad; but like you said, just go somewhere else. That owner just lost a bunch of money from you.
 
SearayPaul said:
that excludes a lot of rednecks and the associated problems.
Click to expand...

Hey Paul, you do know that the term Redneck refers to farmers who have been out in the sun all day working crops and now has a red neck from it. :grin:
 
you could file a complain with the bbb @ bbb.org
 
This is the reason why i carry brass knuckels in my pocket. At my ramp in clearwater the rednecks with their bass boats allways got something to say. Then when they see the young guy get into a nice NEW searay they just shut up and feel stupid anyway.. I have people like that.. i mean WHY FIGHT.. the fish and the water arent going anywhere!. Thats just bull crap. and the owner was his friend so no matter what you do you would not win!. The one bad thing about loading and unloading is that everytime you are loading or unloading there is almost everytime someone drunk there doing something stupid.
 
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