On Sun, 01 Aug 2004 16:58:47 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:



In my case, "chased in" could be dicey. My 14' yacht will get me through
anything, but sometimes slowly. But, the worst part is what happens at the
launch ramp. It's a town ramp, staffed by the most ancient guys you've ever
seen. With a storm behind me last week, I lined up with a bunch of other
boats to pull out, and watched as some putz straightened out his boat,
rinsed his fishing buckets and put his canvas in place before pulling his
boat out. At the same instant, 3 of us started yelling at the guy, and
another boat began blowing its horn. Some old geezer hobbled out of the
ticket booth and said something to the asshole. He didn't budge. Finally,
the coolest little Coast Guard boat* cruised in from the inlet, pulled up
behind the guy, said something, and he was out of the water in about 8
seconds. Afterward, 3 of us were out in under 5 minutes, by helping each
other. It also helped to chase all the dumb sightseers off the dock,
especially two enormously fat ladies who thought it was helpful to make the
floating dock list at a 30 degree angle.


Argh! Don't you hate that? As much as our political leans may differ,
on the issue of launch ramp antics, we're in 100% agreement. My goal
is to be on and off the ramp in under 3 minutes. My wife and I work as
a team. She handles the boat, while I handle the tow vehicle. When I
line up the trailer and back it in the water, she's already heading
in. I reach the back of the truck to give her some directional hand
signals, and she glides it right on. I hook up the winch and snug it
down, and pull out.

There are a great many people who just don't get it. Some are
clueless, and others just seem to lack basic skills.

Dave