Tips for reversing a trailer

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AT THE BOAT RAMP

There is a right way and a wrong way to launch and retrieve a trailer boat at a public boat ramp. Doing it the right way is mostly about proper organisation.

THE IN-THE-WRONG-ORDER PERSON

This is the person who backs the boat and trailer down the ramp before he is ready to launch. While others wait, these clowns remove tie-down straps, load the boat with gear, fit the bungs – if they remember them – and untie the outboard flag. These tasks should be done in the car park.

THE TWO-LANES-ARE-BETTER-THAN-ONE PERSON

Then there are those boaters who use both lanes of a two-lane boat ramp to launch or retrieve their boats so no one else can use it at the same time. Or the new boaties who have yet to master backing a trailer. The boat ramp is no place to practice.

BOAT RAMP ETIQUETTE

Stop well clear of the ramp to remove the tie-downs, fit/check the bungs and load your gear into the boat. Check the fuel line is connected, the keys are in the boat’s ignition and the safety chain shackle is finger-tight so you are not fumbling around for a tool to undo it when the boat’s on the ramp.

Slowly back the boat down the ramp, keeping to one lane on a multi-lane ramp. Stop with the trailer wheels in the water, undo the safety chain and release the cable. Holding the painter, either push the boat off the trailer or reverse the vehicle a metre or so and hit the brakes to bump the boat off. Boats slip off modern

communicate politely with other boats so it is clear who is next in line: “Hi there, you’re in front of me, then I’m after you and then Get Reel is next.”

If you have a spare crew member, consider putting them on the finger so they can go and get the trailer and get in line to back down the ramp. Meanwhile, you can stand off; avoid tying up at the finger if it will block other boats’ access to the ramp. If someone’s on their own and you have spare crew, offer to hold their boat while they go to get the trailer.

Where boat ramps don’t have fingers, it’s usually better to land the vehicle driver and stand off until your driver has backed the trailer into the water. Avoid holding the boat on the ramp as it prevents others launching or retrieving their boats, and can be risky to the

“Communicate politely with other boats so it is clear who is next in line: ‘Hi there...”’

boat and the person holding it in difficult conditions. Sometimes you can pull the boat ashore beside the ramp while you wait.

Back the trailer into the water far enough that the boat goes on easily, but not so far as to float the boat on the trailer as it may not sit straight. The exceptions are large boats or bunk trailers where floating on may be necessary. Try and get the boat on the trailer as quickly as possible. Running the cable down the trailer and hooking it to a roller for easy retrieval will also save time.

If waves are sweeping the ramp, try and time your retrieval between the sets and use a painter from a corner cleat to hold the boat straight as it comes on.

Driving the boat onto the trailer speeds up the retrieval and looks impressive, but propeller wash can scour out the seabed at the base of the ramp. For this reason, this practice is expressly forbidden at many public boat ramps in New Zealand.

GOING SOLO

When boating alone, it’s best to use boat ramps with fingers or jetties so you can secure the boat while you park the vehicle and trailer. You can’t just leave the boat bouncing around on the concrete ramp. Preferably choose a ramp with a seawall that offers shelter from the wind and swell, because launching is the easy part. Retrieving the boat on your return is usually more difficult.

If there is no finger, you can anchor the boat after launching and swim or wade ashore to deal with the trailer and retrieve it the same way; in some places you can pull the boat up on a beach adjacent to the ramp.

It’s not so bad with a small dinghy or runabout but a six or seven-metre cabin cruiser can be a real handful for a solo boater.