Asshat stories from the ramp

[Kilo Bravo]

Share your asshole encounters
or observation where a fun day
can turn ugly, stories from the ramp...

[Kilo Bravo]

Holidays seem to bring out
pent up aggression.
Labor Day about 15 minuets in to the
Launch wait, I'm up for next opening,
launch toon, tie off as I was
by myself, go to move truck,
when this guy wheeled around the
Waiting launch line and starts yelling
At me I had cut him off ( from loading)
Gave him a shrug and moved to park.
Walked back he's now parked across ramp,
pissed off to no end, started loud talking
about I saw his boat there, sure did tied at the
End of the dock, he could have used either of
Two ramps couldn't tell or maybe he was heading out,
which really set him off.
So he's throw the door open and got out,
he was well past his prime, maybe had a few
drinks under his belt too.
Now I'm much more a threat to some fried chicken,
but I thought the odds were in my favor.
I gave him a nice smilie and wave and walked on down
the dock, his choice if he felt the need to follow.
The line behind him starts honking, he does some
maneuvering to get the trailer lined up and
damn if he didn't drop one side the trailer off the slab
and was peeling rubber dragging it up.
Marine Police Boat with officers were at the
Fuel dock witnessing it all, so he probably
didn't make it far with out some blues in
the rear view.

[Tlowry]

We keep our boat in the marina when we are up for the weekend. Since we don't have a TV at camp, after dinner, we take a couple cool ones down to the boat, turn on some tunes and watch the evening shenanigans at the ramp.

So many stories to tell but I'll tell what we saw the last trip.

Pull into the slip and tie up and start off loading cooler and tackle and such and hauling it to the truck. When we arrived, there was a Super Duty with a trailer sitting in the ramp idling with the trailer not in the water yet. Thing sat there whole time we unloaded and we had a couple fish to clean so took them to the cleaning station and found a guide with two clients with a mountain of whites to clean. They took their sweet time cleaning, all the while, the guides rig tied up one of the two ramps which happens to be the usable one, the other is an axle breaker. This went on for 45 minutes before we could use the cleaning station or anyone could use the good ramp.

What an .

[badmoonrising]

We went out Saturday and Sunday, beautiful but hot here all weekend. Cheryl's cousin is in our marina too and Saturday he was waiting in line to retrieve his boat when this guy flies in to the no wake zone, him and his wife in a domestic dispute. He is obviously falling down drunk and is operating this 'toon. He slows down and immediately starts honking/screaming at other boaters at the dock loading their boats for taking too long.

His turn in line, still in mod domestic dispute takes him 3 tries to load his 'toon, yelling at his wife the entire time. Finally gets it loaded, then pulls the boat out, almost running over his wife. BACKS UP, almost hits her again. Took him almost a 1/2 hour to get his a$$ out of the way.

Several people called the cops, who didn't respond in time. He was falling down drunk, yet drove home


Sunday, this asshole gets in front of us, but he appears sober. Still screaming at the wife. He gets his truck, loads it on his trailer so I pull up to the dock and tie up. At that time a storm starts to roll in and 4-5 boats are waiting behind me. He pulls out of the ramp, STOPS and proceeds to put on his straps, drop his bimini tops down , etc. when EVERYONE ELSE ON THE PLANET moves out of the way to do all of this. His wife tells him to move, he yells at her and says "F*ck those people". I'm at my truck at this point, so I lay on the horn, expecting "tough guy" to throw a punch or whatever "tough guys" do. Note that I keep a Rem 870 in my vehicle at all times

He tells the wife to get in the truck, and he peels out of the marina, almost getting t-boned by another car. I was hoping he would have

Several people complained to the marina manager and she posted pics of his boat that Cheryl's cousin took on their Facebook page. They are trying to ID the guy so they can ban him from the marina.

[OK Toon]

Sure makes me glad that our ramp is in a private development -- we don't get the a-holes. We do however get some funny things happen when new boat owners attempt their first launch or load. I guess it doesn't help that our ramp turns just as the boat drops over the crest -- so unless you know this, it's really easy to back off the side of the ramp. Also makes me glad that we keep our boat in our dock on a lift.

[zoom650]

My marina ramp was not used in this tale, but one of the 35 ton forklifts used to lift boats in and out of the water sure was. My near 8,000 lb. center console had been lifted from the bay and placed on a cradle, dockside along the seawall. It was normal to wash down and clean up from the day here before taken back to the hurricane barn rack 'n stack.

Ricky, the dockhand, parks his forklift slightly upgrade from where I'm cleaning my Century. Wifey was working on the waterline scum. I was inside the cabin. I don't know if the forklift slipped out of gear or if the brake turned loose, but the forklift rolled backwards down the grade striking my boat's starboard quarter against the transom. This pushed the boat and it's cradle.

I was inside and felt the movement. All I could think was the cradle had given way and was collapsing. My wife was trapped between the boat being pushed her way and the bay, which back in that day was none too clean. She got knocked off the seawall into the shallow slop. My boat stopped when the driver realized what happed, jumped aboard and found the brake, but not before my boat pressed against the side of some guy's Four Winns, puncturing the Four Winns' hull. My Century sustained a crack in the transom. Four of my offshore rods were added to the casualty list. I grabbed my truly pissed-off wife by her wrists and pulled her out of the brackish lagoon water. Her Crocs were left stuck in the muck.

The marina stood good for all the damage, and of course was most apologetic. I've never seen them work so fast to repair that damage. I had to take my wife back to our condo for a thorough cleaning. Where she got dunked was adjacent to several fish cleaning stations. Lots of crab were present to clean up fish guts. Also oily runoff and wash chemicals drained here too.

The marina manager told us to go to the nice restaurant on their premises and have a dinner on them, so after more Margaritas than I remember, a plate of crab claws and a couple lobsters, and no telling what else, we put the finishing touches on $300 tab, plus tip, before leaving for home the next morning. My boat was repaired by the time we made our next trip down.

[Blessed]

Mom offers to watch the babies so my wife and I can take the boat out one weekend by ourselves! We get to the ramp and someone is trying to launch a 30' party hut...

The ramp is awesome at the Marina we frequent the most ... the ramp makes a "Y" @ the end ... one side I have never used or have ever seen anyone use until that day... it looks really deep but it backs right up to the boat slip dock and has a steep embankment on the otherside... so it's a tight spot



This is a photo of the dock... the picture is a bad angle whick makes it look like the ramp is angled away from the grass area... it isn't... it just goes straight back into the slip area... and it drops down fast...you can see in the water at the closer, concrete ramp and it is angled away and is at a much more subtle downward angle...notice the cone in the middle... shows the two ramps...

I'm not really paying attention to them as we are busy getting ready ourselves. They have an excursion hooked to it and it's nearly jackknifed at the water... they get it maneuvered into a better position and the man gets onboard... starts the motor and tells the lady to back it in... she is having a tough time keeping it straight... gets it jackknifed into the water... I'm watching now because I'm curious how he is gonna get the boat to clear the trailer and make the turn away from the dock...the pontoon floats up over the trailer fenders and the winch strap is still hooked on...! He trys to unhook it but can't.... he tells the lady to pull forward... the boat is hanging off the trailer on one side.. the excursion starts to move and the boat starts to flip over on its side! She isn't paying attention and he is screaming stop! stop! She finally stops and you can see a large portion of the underside of the boat and we're on higher ground... She backs up a little and I think they may have cut the winch strap to get out of trouble...

I didn't really get to see how they got it unhooked.... but after they did she drove off! I thought that was a little strange... most folks get the boat in the water then park the truck and trailer in the parking lot... she kept on going... can't say I blame her... I'd have been scared to get on the boat with him too!

[badmoonrising]

Probably took the boat and left him, lol. Boat ramps are the cause of many domestic disputes. I've seen many over the years.