"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 19 Jul 2005 22:49:57 GMT, Don White
wrote:

HarryKrause wrote:
*JimH* wrote:

Some of the funniest times we have include sitting at the local boat
ramp.

My wife and I grab an ice cream cone at Dairy Queen, drive down to the
Muni dock and watch the entertainment.....most often jet boaters
arguing with power boaters on who has priority. You also get the
folks who don't have a clue on how to back a trailer down the ramp.

Always a good time. ;-)

It figures an asshole like you would get off watching others struggle.

If he was really interested in boating, he'd offer up his 'great wealth'
of boating knowledge to the newbys struggling to launch/retrieve.

A couple of years ago, I went to help a guy out who obviously didn't
know what he was doing - it looked like a new boat - 20' or
thereabouts bow ride. He was having trouble getting the boat onto the
trailer - it had bunks and clearly was designed for drive on, but he
kept screwing the approach up, etc.

I backed my trailer in about ten feet from this guy, then went over to
ask if I could help. The guy gives me this look and say, No - I can
handle it - with his wife standing by rolls her eyes - yada, yada,
yada. The guy gets out of his boat and starts manually putting it on,
swearing up a blue streak, etc.

Ok, I walked over to where my Ranger was beached, backed off, drove it
on the trailer, secured it to the winch, got off, cinched it up tight
and towed it out of the water.

The guys' wife says, REALLY LOUD - "Well, I guess it must be really
nice to know what you are doing".

I kind of got the hell out of there quickly. :)

To just make a general comment, I do trailer during the week a lot and
I offer to help anybody who appears to require assistance. Out of ten
times, I'd bet 7 of them are refused.

I don't know if times have changed, but 30+ years ago, when my dad had big
boats, somebody would almost always come to help with docking. Not only
that, but they'd do whatever you told them to do, or just hold the boat fast
until you stepped off to tie up. Now....you get people who wrap the rope
once around the cleat and walk away, or pull the bow so tight that the stern
sticks out.

We also have a plague at our boat launch: Pedestrians who wander over from
the ice cream place to "watch" the boats, which is defined as standing right
in front of the ramps. Last weekend, I think everyone (including me) was at
the limits of their patience, due to crowding and heat. Everyone leaned on
their horns to wake up the ice cream cone-heads. They're like seagulls!!