On Apr 1, 1:47*pm, wrote:
On Apr 1, 2:37*pm, "D-unit" wrote:

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in ...

I was thinking of taking the new boat to the lake this afternoon using
my wife's car. She has a FWD Saturn Vue with the factory larger tires.
It has the towing capacity but a friend warned me that FWD vehicles
may be more likely to spin out pulling a boat out of the water. The
car as electronic traction control. If it slips does it help to let
air out of the tires? I do carry a 10,000 lb tow rope. If someone is
around and I can't get it out I guess I could ask for a pull, but
hopefully I won't have to. Any tricks are appreciated, hopefully it
won't be an issue but I don't want to get stuck.

-Robert

I may have a similar issue to deal with this year. *I keep a boat (21' Carolina skiff)
in a neighborhood with a boat ramp. *Travel from my place to the ramp
is 3 blocks. I'd like to *attempt* to load and unload the boat with my
Honda Accord. (try not to laugh). *It would keep me from driving
a gas guzzler to/from said beach place (approx. 160 miles) *and*
keep me from having to leave a pickup truck down there solely for
that purpose which is what I did last year. *I don't think loading the
boat into the water would be a problem. *I like to shuttle back/forth
to the beach house in the Honda for obvious reasons.

The ramp is not very steep and there's very little tongue weight by
the trailer.. Ramp wetness would probably be an issue.

Falling tide = wet ramp
Rising tide = dry ramp. (most of the time when I would use it)

db~still trying to decide if this is a good idea.

Check the ramp when it's wet and see if it's slippery. Some ramps are
pretty good even when wet, some slippery as hell!

One time up at the mouth of the CT River (Baldwin Bridge ramp) the
tide had brought in a very thick layer of slippery sea vegatation, it
was literally like ice, and two inches thick up the ramp and out yards
into the water. My Jeep Wrangler had pretty aggressive tires and I
almost slid back into the water a couple of times with a very light,
wooden skiff and trailer, probably less than 1000 pounds. Got water in
over the door openings, I would have been on the news if I had been
driving a front wheel drive, near it's towing capacity. Now, I am not
telling the guy not to do it, but he will need to use his head, even
if someday it might mean waiting some to load up, or being ready to
say, "not this ramp, not today, where else can we put in?". Of course
if he can afford it, a good winch on the front bumper might be a
lifesaver too.

Scotty