"Genius? Not!" wrote in message
m...

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
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"Genius? Not!" wrote in message
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Someone mentioned somewhere that I should back in enough to get the
bunks wet, then pull forward until ...; it's the until that I haven't
figured out yet.


It's different with every boat/trailer combination, as well as the slant
of the ramp and the shape of the hull. My boat's small, and the hull's
not a deep V. On a steep ramp, if I put too much trailer in the water,
the boat doesn't contact the bunks until it's 90% on the trailer, at
which point it's probably not sitting straight relative to the trailer,
due to wind or whatever. The boat's light enough that I after I pull away
from the ramp, I can shove the boat into position just by lifting it, but
that's just so un-stylish. :-)

Then, there are the ramp demons. I'll launch & pull out 50 times in a
row, getting everything perfect. And then, the 51st time, on a day with
no wind, no rush to get out of the next guy's way, no beer in the
captain, same ramp as always, and everything turns to crap and it's like
I'm a blind man trying to steer the truck with one toe while being shot
at AND swarmed by bees. Ramp demons are the only explanation.


I thought ramp demons were the unsupervised kids that walk right in front
of or right behind the truck or boat where they can't be seen until it
becomes a close call.

Oh yeah...them, too. And their parents, 50 feet behind, feeding pickles and
french fries to the ducks. One of the ramps I use a lot has a serious design
flaw: 3 burger & ice cream joints a half a block away. Lots of pedestrians
who come to slurp an ice cream cone and pretend they don't notice the
trailers. My son and I initiated a new thing last week - we trying to see if
tapping the horn can make anyone drop their ice cream cone. :-)