Every boat ramp has a crowd and some of them are there to watch somebody mess up, so I've been studying how to launch a boat pretty seriously. Doreen is about 25 and a half feet of aluminum on a tandem EZ Loader trailer, which is a lot of boat to back down a ramp, and this is the checklist I put together from Discover Boating and a few other official guides.
At the house
Most of the work happens in your driveway and not at the ramp. Check the trailer over, the tires and lights and hitch and safety chains and bearings, and pack your life jackets, lines, fenders, registration and boater card. It helps to know the ramp before you show up too, like whether it's public, how many lanes it has, if there's a courtesy dock and where the trailer parking is, and my Clarksville boat ramps post covers the local ones. Then check the weather and the river for wind and current and any lock or event closures. If you're new to towing, go practice backing up in an empty parking lot first, which I say as a guy who also needs the practice.
In the staging area
Discover Boating is real clear that you do your prep in the staging or parking area and not on the ramp, and their etiquette guide says the same thing. Their list goes about like this:
- Put in the drain plug, and check it twice.
- Load your gear into the boat.
- Attach the bow and stern lines and hang fenders on the dock side.
- Take off the transom tie-down straps but leave the winch strap and safety chain on for now.
- Unplug the trailer lights if they're the old incandescent kind, since Discover Boating says hot bulbs can blow when they hit cold water.
- Raise the motor enough to clear the ramp, and look the ramp over for depth, traffic and anything weird in the water.
Backing down
Line up straight with the lane, since a straight start is honestly half of it, and back down slow with small steering inputs. The old trick is to put your hand at the bottom of the wheel and move it the way you want the trailer to go, and if it starts getting away from you just pull forward and try again. Some people at the ramp might care, but I'd ignore them.
Discover Boating says to back in until the stern starts to float and stop there, because too shallow and the boat won't come off and too deep and you're soaking your truck. Then put it in park and set the parking brake, every single time.
Getting the boat off
If you've got a helper on the dock, they hold the bow line while you unhook the winch strap and safety chain, then you push the boat gently back off the trailer and they walk it down the courtesy dock and tie it off. If you're powering off, somebody at the helm lowers the motor and starts it, the winch strap comes off, and they back the boat slowly off the trailer. Check the local rules on that though, since some places ask you not to power off or power load because the prop wash digs holes at the end of the ramp.
Clear the ramp
This is where etiquette matters the most. Pull the truck and trailer out right away and park in a truck-and-trailer spot, move the boat down the dock so the next person can use the end, and don't do your prep on the ramp or the end of the courtesy dock. Discover Boating's list of don'ts pretty much boils down to not holding up the line and helping out people who are struggling.
Coming back in is the same thing backward with one extra rule, which is that somebody gets dropped off to go get the truck first, or you tie up and go get it yourself, before you bring the boat to the trailer. Clean, drain and dry before you leave so you're not hauling weeds or critters to the next lake.
Tennessee stuff
If you were born after January 1, 1989 and the boat has more than 8.5 hp, TWRA wants your boating safety certificate on you, and kids 12 and under have to wear a life jacket on an open deck while underway per TWRA's handbook. Clarksville's ramps also sit on a working river with barges, so look both ways before you pull out into the channel.
The classic mistakes
From everything I've read, the classics are forgetting the drain plug, unhooking the winch before the boat's in the water, forgetting the parking brake, prepping on the ramp while people wait, and backing in crooked and fighting it the whole way down. I'm trying hard not to be the guy who does any of those, and if I do one I'll probably tell you about it.
The goal is for launching to get boring, which is a good thing at a boat ramp. If you need the words first, read boat terms for beginners and then go practice on a quiet weekday. Doreen's story is on the build page if you're curious what I'll be backing down that ramp.
FAQ
What should I do before backing down a boat ramp?
In the staging area, put in the drain plug, load gear, attach bow and stern lines, hang fenders, remove transom tie-downs, disconnect incandescent trailer lights and check the ramp. Discover Boating recommends doing all of this off the ramp.
How far do you back a trailer into the water?
Back in until the stern of the boat starts to float, then stop, park and set the brake, according to Discover Boating.
When should I unhook the winch strap?
Once the trailer is in the water at launch depth and the vehicle is parked with the brake set. Keep the bow line in hand or with a helper.
What is the most important boat ramp etiquette?
Prep away from the ramp, launch quickly, move the boat off the end of the dock and get the vehicle parked so the next boater can go.
