handeling a small boat at a big boat launch solo

[surfman]

I agree with Jethro.

 

[LDUBS]

It is the same in California. Boats without motors need not be registered. However, I would be surprised if much or any of California's boat or trailer registration fees went anywhere near supporting boat ramps or fish & game. Instead, they are more likely lumped in with all other DMV revenues that primarily support DMV and Highway Patrol. Every lake I've been to has parking & launching fees. Many also have fishing fees. $20 is pretty much what you can expect to pay to launch at these places. I don't mind too much if the money is used wisely to maintain the facility and stock the lake.

BTW, we no longer have Dept of Fish & Game. Instead we have Dept of Fish and Wildlife. We no longer have Game Wardens. Instead we have Wildlife Officers. Didn't even know that until I just looked it up.

Edit: I forgot. Not sure about other states, but we pay a personal property tax on boats to our county assessor. I guess it is kind of like a luxury tax. It amounts to more than the registration fees. I think I can pretty much guarantee you not a penny of this goes anywhere near any boating related activity.

 

[LDUBS]

And he was only 21?

Naw, he just acts like he is still 21. :LOL2:

 

[turbotodd]

It is the same in California. Boats without motors need not be registered. However, I would be surprised if much or any of California's boat or trailer registration fees went anywhere near supporting boat ramps or fish & game. Instead, they are more likely lumped in with all other DMV revenues that primarily support DMV and Highway Patrol. Every lake I've been to has parking & launching fees. Many also have fishing fees. $20 is pretty much what you can expect to pay to launch at these places. I don't mind too much if the money is used wisely to maintain the facility and stock the lake.

BTW, we no longer have Dept of Fish & Game. Instead we have Dept of Fish and Wildlife. We no longer have Game Wardens. Instead we have Wildlife Officers. Didn't even know that until I just looked it up.

Edit: I forgot. Not sure about other states, but we pay a personal property tax on boats to our county assessor. I guess it is kind of like a luxury tax. It amounts to more than the registration fees. I think I can pretty much guarantee you not a penny of this goes anywhere near any boating related activity.

Kinda the same here. We don't have wardens. We have wildlife officers; and they can (and do) enforce the same laws that the highway patrol does from time to time. I know, because I've been stopped for speeding before, by a wildlife officer. There was a lawsuit over this a while back and was no outcome to speak of.

We also pay personal property tax on boats and trailers. The really bad part is, we pay on the trailer-and we pay on the boat. The boat is taxed by it's horsepower. The trailer by it's length and GVW. Mine is 25hp and under 1000 lbs, so it's cheap. Some of my friends have 21' bass boat, one has a 300 hp motor and the other a 225. I would imagine it's considerably more expensive tax-wise. I seen one a while back with a 400hp Merc on it. Same thing, I guarantee you that that tax money isn't used for fish and wildlife. Matter of fact I know it isn't. "Supposedly" personal property taxes help pay for road repairs in the county you live in, as well as humane society, landfill, schools, etc. Funny thing? I can't even use "our" landfill. It's a "city" landfill and I live out in the county, but I still get to pay taxes to support it. Stupid you think? Same for school. I don't have kids and a BIG portion of my personal property tax pays for the city school system; and I don't live in the city. I'm just close enough to have to pay for it, regardless of whether I have kids or not. To those who do, in this area, you're welcome. Our Game and Fish is supported by hunting and fishing licenses, all the fees that they get from different types of licenses, launch fees for those G&F owned ramps, and, among other things, the homeowners that live on the G&F owned lakes pay a fee every month, which helps support G&F lake maintenance-or so they say.

The way that our governments seem to never have any money makes me wonder about how "wisely" any of them use our money. Fuel taxes? Supposed to pay for "fixing" the roads, yet they're always in poor condition. Continually. The government wants to raise fuel taxes here but the citizens have voted it down 3 times in 3 years; I personally thing because the voters/taxpayers have realized, finally, that our dollars aren't used wisely and/or efficiently. Until they do, it'll likely keep getting voted down. One congressmen who pushed for the hike stated that the bridges will just have to fall down because the highway dept can't afford to fix them on the current budget.

 

[ppine]

I use boat ramps to unload canoes and rafts for overnight trips. The trick is to get your stuff unloaded in a hurry and move it off to the side to clear the ramp. I have a canoe trailer which speeds things up. I like to travel on week days, and stay on less popular rivers for the most part. It is much more relaxing when there is no one else around.

 

[jethro]

Boy that sure "sounds" like you have a bone to chew there.

Ok, in the spirit of dialog, I can see why you think this, and yes, I have a valid bone to chew with the cartoppers, but it's not for using the ramps. I could really care less about how much time they take at the ramps becasue as said, many registered boaters take much more time than the cartoppers. I just really don't think it's fair for me to bear all the financial responsability to manage and rescue these people, which are the most prone to needing rescue than any other catagory of craft on the water. They don't pay a dime into the Fish and Game service that riskes thier own lives trying to recover dead bodies from the bottom of the Merrimack river. They often drink to excess and are inexperienced. They are more likely to fish without a license. You often see them with life jackets. I believe they should have to register these boats to pay into the system that manages them but they do not and MYSELF, who pays many hundreds of dollars, pays for them to play. Not fair, not fair at all! I pay for registration on 3 boats ($150) 2 ATV's for hunting and ice fishing ($106) a snowmobile ($90) and seasonal fishing/hunting licenses in 3 states- sometimes more (minimum $270). These monies are contributing to the enforcement of laws and rules and rescure operations of everyone in the state, including those that are not required to pay. So yes, I do have a very valid reason to be upset and if you can't appreciate that than I am sorry.

 

[-CN-]

Good and funny thread. :LOL2:
Stories about idiots are always entertaining.
I live near a tourist area, and a particular scenic lake, which happens to have good fishing which is why I take my boat there on occasion, attracts hundreds of canoes and kayaks a day. There's a full-fledged cement boat ramp there for large boats, a small sandy shore on both sides of it, and a very long dock next to it. You'd think a guy would be able to launch his boat when there's nobody else but kayakers unloading their crap. They can be off to the side or staging their boats by the dock, wouldn't you think? Couldn't be more wrong of a notion. The "no parking - loading zone" signs don't even deter these people from parking there for extended periods of time while they picnic or use the bathrooms or whatever else they are doing.

You see, I need the space designated as the "loading zone" to stage my vehicle and trailer so that I can unstrap it and then proceed to back down the ramp. Man I get ticked off at times it makes me feel like doing some kayaker bowling. And kayaks at water's edge - wouldn't you move that sucker off to the side? Nope, not if you're a tourist - just park that crap right on the cement! Now I don't own a kayak or a canoe so I never needed to unload one from a car top or trailer, but I can tell you that I will not need the dead center of a cement ramp and 20 minutes time to get it into the water.

 

[MrT]

Thanks for all the replys...iIve dropped in quite a few times since starting this thread and have found it quite easy to do so from the back of my truck solo. Although there is no way to do it dry as i have to get my tail gate almost to the water's edge.

My concerns have been squished by the many boaters with trailers i've had to wait on (and help) in order to get them on their way. Just this last weekend i helped a dude by backing his trailer down the ramp to load up his 21' searay. He apologized for being a nubie...I said it was fine...we all had to start at sometime.

No longer concerned but that trailer would make so many things easier. Picked up a 8hp Merc and now there's lots to carry once the boat is in the water. :?

 

[MrT]

Do you pay a registration fee for your boat? Here in NH, cartoppers (which means pretty much any boat without a motor) do not have to register with the state. That means they pay nothing for the boat launches and the parking areas. I have to admit I get a little bit steamed when I see cartoppers blocking up a State boat launch. In my opinion they should make efforts to only use cartop loading areas that do not have a concrete ramp, but obviously I would not ever say something. This includes people that have thier kayaks on trailers- they don't have to pay a registration fee. And to make it even worse, if they don't fish and buy a license, they also don't pay for the Conservation Officers that need to rescue them when they get in trouble. Anyway...

If you indeed pay a registration fee for your boat (if not now, I'm sure you will when you add a gas motor) then you paid for that launch and deserve your time. Or at least I would guess that is how it works in other states. So don't feel guilty about using it. When I had my squareback canoe (which was registered for a gas motor), I ended up buying a cheap trailer for it. Before I had the trailer I would make every effort to launch at cartop only lakes and areas, even though I paid as much for my canoe as an 18' Bayliner with a V8 on a trailer. But on the rare occasion I was cartopping at a busy ramp I would dump the boat then get it off to the side as quick as I can, then get my truck somewhere out of the way and hump my gear down to the water.

To be honest, there are some people even with trailers that can take an amazing amount of time at the ramp. So just do the best you can and as long as I see someone making an effort to expedite thier time at the ramp and be efficient, no worries.

I actually don't have to license my boat as long as the HP is below 10. My fishing license gives me ramp privileges to the majority of ramps in my area. Some charge regardless but i haven't needed to go to those so far.

 

[SeaFaring]

Good and funny thread. :LOL2:
Stories about idiots are always entertaining.
I live near a tourist area, and a particular scenic lake, which happens to have good fishing which is why I take my boat there on occasion, attracts hundreds of canoes and kayaks a day. There's a full-fledged cement boat ramp there for large boats, a small sandy shore on both sides of it, and a very long dock next to it. You'd think a guy would be able to launch his boat when there's nobody else but kayakers unloading their crap. They can be off to the side or staging their boats by the dock, wouldn't you think? Couldn't be more wrong of a notion. The "no parking - loading zone" signs don't even deter these people from parking there for extended periods of time while they picnic or use the bathrooms or whatever else they are doing.

You see, I need the space designated as the "loading zone" to stage my vehicle and trailer so that I can unstrap it and then proceed to back down the ramp. Man I get ticked off at times it makes me feel like doing some kayaker bowling. And kayaks at water's edge - wouldn't you move that sucker off to the side? Nope, not if you're a tourist - just park that crap right on the cement! Now I don't own a kayak or a canoe so I never needed to unload one from a car top or trailer, but I can tell you that I will not need the dead center of a cement ramp and 20 minutes time to get it into the water.

Until this weekend, my only boat was a 16' old town canoe. I HATE launching it on concrete- it's almost impossible to avoid tearing up the royalex. I'm baffled that a ramp with sandy beach on both sizes could ever get clogged with paddle raft... they must all be rentals.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[LDUBS]

I thought a royalex was a divorced Earl. :shock:

Didn't know it was a composite material used on canoes. Learn something new every day.

 

[ppine]

For a small boat, don't use the boat ramp. Just find a place where you can get near the water. That is what we do for canoe and raft trips because it upsets people to tie up the ramp.