Launching boat sequence and muddy boat ramp

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Bassjunkie503

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This is kind of a 2 fold question... how many of you unhook your winch strap before you launch your boat in the water? I see some who do and some who don’t. Also any tips for launching and landing a boat with a lot of mud at the waters edge of the boat ramp? I have a 4WD and mud terrain tires. Just wanted to see if anyone had any tips to make it easier? Also there is no dock there to help guide the boat. Thanks for all the input!
 
I would leave the strap hooked up or have a bow line connected to keep the boat from floating away after backing down the ramp.

As for the muddy boat ramp, we have some very muddy ramps here in SC. They can get slippery on your footing and on the vehicles traction. I have seem many vehicles spinning their wheels trying to get back up the ramp. It can get to point that you may need another vehicle farther up the ramp in a better traction area helping pull the rig out with ropes, chains or straps. I have also seen vehicles try to stop while backing down ramps and the vehicle keeps sliding down the ramp. It can get to be kind of like a slimy clay texture at some ramps and very hard to get traction.

FWIW, We have some mud here. I have pulled seines here before and they can get very hard to pull when you put your foot down and sink in the pluff mud up past your knee. You then are stuck in a suction like material that feels like some kind of jello. Then as you place your other foot down to try and free the first one the process starts all over again. I would much rather throw a cast net.
 
Most of the time I'm launching single handed. I leave the winch strap hooked on until the back of the boat is over/in the water. Then I remove the strap and hold the bow line through the driver window as I back the boat in the rest of the way.

Truth be told, a lot of the time I forget to unhook the winch strap. Then I wonder why the boat isn't coming off the trailer. Then I realize it is still hooked to the trailer, pull back up, unhook it, repeat. :(

Can't help you with mud. I've only been on one ramp that wasn't concrete. I guess is would say it was compacted base fill. I know I'm spoiled in that regard.
 
I usually am launching a good, paved launches, but almost always solo. I have my "launching rig" which is basically a section of rope about 10 feet longer than my trailer with a caribiner/clip on one side and a big loop tied into the other. I will back the stern of my boat almost to the edge of the water, then I undo my transom straps, remove my bow strap and install the launching rig. Clip goes on the bow eye, then I coil the rope and drape it over the gunwale of the bow and drape the loop over the winch post. When I back it in and the boat starts floating, the rope pays out off the gunwale and I pull up so the trailer is out of the water. Then I get out and grab the rope off the winch post and pull it into shore or the dock or whatever.

I don't think it would be any different at a launch with mud, only thing I ever change is if the launch is steep, then I will not unhook the bow strap until the boat is mostly floating.
 
I leave either boat hooked up on the trailer and back it into the water far enough to be able to start it without sucking up debris. I always start the boat while it's still on the trailer, I figure if it's not going to run, why bother taking it off the trailer. We don't have a dock at our ramp either so if you don't start it on the trailer, you're pulled up on the shore in very shallow water trying to start it and with both my boats being jets, the risk of sucking something up is high. Our ramp is paved but it does get river silt and mud buildup from time to time so I try to remember to bring a shovel. I don't know that I would really want to mess around with a true mud ramp that has no surface under it. Getting stuck would turn a good day of boating into a bad day real quick.

Here's our ramp. The big rock is usually 2 feet out of the water in the summer and it's currently under water completely (not in the picture obviously). We have to pull the boat off to the side and up onto the bank while you park your vehicle/trailer.
 

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i usually tie off the bow to the truck or camper with around 3 meters of slack line and unhook the winch strap so i don't have to get wet.as for muddy shores,i have a winch,which i've only needed to use a couple times.we are almost always launching into lakes without a concrete ramp.it's usually fairly compact gravel or sand and very rarely mud.up here,if the description of the lake states cartop boat launch it usually means it's sketchy to launch a trailered boat but it can be done,usually.if you regularly launch in mud there are several traction aids on the market like max trax or similar knockoffs.
 
I don't like gimmicky launches... best way to launch a boat is get over your fear of water... I unhook the back straps, and back the boat down till the back end starts to float....

In the summer I have my crocs on and wade in.... unhook the boat and get it secured beside the trailer... then pull out. In the winter I put on the boots....

https://www.amazon.com/Yong-Chao-Bootfoots-Fishing-Hunting/dp/B07FF5X7CJ/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_­2­0­0­_­t­r­_­t­_­2­?­_­e­n­c­o­d­i­n­g­=­U­T­F­8­&­a­m­p­;­r­e­f­R­I­D­=­H­7­V­R­G­D­Z­6­E­0­J­XXFSS59JP

simple... and idiot proof... which suits my tendency to forget stuff in my old age......
 
For solo launching a 19 foot boat, I disconnect the winch strap but leave the s hook attached to the bow eye. There are some steep ramps around. I secure a line from the boat and tie to the trailer with some slack in it. I crank the boat back on the trailer with the winch strap.

We don't have muddy water, but we have plenty of cold water.
 
gimmicky launch:standing on shore and pulling the boat in with dry/warm feet,or standing up to your knees in cold mud.i'll take gimmicky.
 
What i am going to do is have about a 6 foot extension bar for my trailer that either slides under or beside the existing hitch i may even have it just in the back of my truck. Keeps the truck on dry ground. Back the the water edge unhook the strap and attach a rope from the eye to the winch support Back in once the boat floats off pull ahead and the rope will pull the boat up to shore.

Loading , good long guide ones will help alot.
 
Thanks for all the input guys. Put it in 4 low just to be safe, but no slippage or issues going in or out. Then again it is just a 12 foot Jon boat lol.still new to launching landing a boat. But getting easier each time!
 
Justaguy442 said:
What i am going to do is have about a 6 foot extension bar for my trailer that either slides under or beside the existing hitch i may even have it just in the back of my truck. Keeps the truck on dry ground. Back the the water edge unhook the strap and attach a rope from the eye to the winch support Back in once the boat floats off pull ahead and the rope will pull the boat up to shore.

Loading , good long guide ones will help alot.

Huh, I guess I really am lucky. Every ramp I've been on my rear tires barely even touch the water, and my trailer tongue isn't especially long. In fact, if my rear tires are in the water, I've backed in too far.

If the front tires are in the water, then I'm really in too far! :LOL2:
 
LDUBS said:
Huh, I guess I really am lucky. Every ramp I've been on my rear tires barely even touch the water, and my trailer tongue isn't especially long. In fact, if my rear tires are in the water, I've backed in too far.

If the front tires are in the water, then I'm really in too far! :LOL2:

Our ramp flattens out and depending on the water height, you could end up with the front tires in the water and still not have the boat floating yet! Some of the ramps at the beach are pretty steep and you don't need any of the tires in the water.
 
LDUBS: my big boat gets all the nice ramps and cement pads. My 14' tinner is for all the little lakes that dont even have a dock and defiantly no cement pads. Last fall the water was so low you would have had to back the trailer tires 10 feet past the end of the pad.75% of guys up here power load so always a huge hole at the end of the pad. With the tongue extension just keeps you high and dry.
 
We have droughts in California and Nevada and water levels go up and down a lot. Sometimes there are no docks and the tow vehicle rear wheels are in the mud at the end of the concrete ramps. No problems this year as everything is full. 4 wheel low is a bad idea if the traction is not very good. We have different classes of boat ramps. Some are really just flat spots on the beach. At low water it can be risky to try to use them. Some are out of the way places with no one around. Get stuck and you could be there for a couple of days. Another vehicles with a tow strap is the standard way to get out.
 

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