Loading on a steep ramp

[NCLakeGuy]

My wife and I just spent a few days on Lake James here in NC. First and foremost what a beautiful lake! Clear water, scenic shore, and mountains in the background, few homes. But the reason for the post.

Our launch ramp at Lake James was very gradual and excellent for launching our Q23 and retrieving it. Put the trailer back enough, drive on and the boat easily flushed to the front pads at about the level the rub rail should impact when boat is fully sitting on the trailer. The ramps we use here in Charlotte (rarely use as the boat stays in the water most of the time) are quite steep. With our 23' Cobalt V-hull I got a system down to retrieve the boat when the bow would hit low on the front post below the roller. With the pontoon and the ramp angle we can float the boat to the front post cushions and the rub rail hits about 8 inches below the boats final resting position. Snugging it there and pulling up the boat it settles down on the bunks, the slight rotation of the boat moves the rub rail off the cushion about 2-3 inches and rub rail is now at its resting height but off the cushions. At that point pontoons are secure on the bunks and no pulling it forward. On the trailer I secure the front with additional tie downs which pulls the boat forward slowing as we hit small bumps in the road and I have to resecure the tie downs.

Just curious if anyone has the same challenge with steep ramps and their approach. I will try to continuously winch while my wife pulls out next time and see it the boat will come up more securely into position but with the length of my bunks there may be too much resistance as boat settles.

Safe boating!!

 

[Remediation]

Lake Cumberland and our home lake have very steep ramps. We have the same issue at the top of the ramp, the boat has settled on the bunks and is now away from the bump stops. I just take the boat up the road till I hit the slight downgrade, tell Jill to hang on and slam on the brakes. Moves the boat forward to the stops and I tighten the strap and head home. Done it for decades.

 

[NCLakeGuy]

That a great idea! May have to try it that way and then put my front straps on to secure!

 

[BigKahuna]

When we trailered over the years we have been fortunate to use well constructed ramps that are relatively flat. The public ramps here on Lake Norman are an example! We just float our boat on and winch up to the "stops". In addition to the winch strap I also have a safety chain that I attach as well as a ratcheting strap. Once our boat is against the stops it does not move when I pull it out of the water. (Even if the ramp is steep) Once up the ramp I attach the rear ratcheting straps. If we see that the boat isn't quite seated on the trailer where it should be, I'll just back it into the water and adjust it .....

 

[NCLakeGuy]

Daril
We are on Lake Wylie and use the public ramps, very steep. Many public ramps are as it is faster to launch a boat on a steeper ramp and the ramp can be shorter in length, that is the government thinking about the cost not the functionality. On these ramps backing in again floats the rear and lowers the front relative to the stops or cushions. Thus not an option. We too strap front and rear but front is of no value until the boat is fully settled on the bunks or in your case it is very close to this with trailer in the water. That is how the ramp we used at Lake James was.

 

[BigKahuna]

Daril
We are on Lake Wylie and use the public ramps, very steep. Many public ramps are as it is faster to launch a boat on a steeper ramp and the ramp can be shorter in length, that is the government thinking about the cost not the functionality. On these ramps backing in again floats the rear and lowers the front relative to the stops or cushions. Thus not an option. We too strap front and rear but front is of no value until the boat is fully settled on the bunks or in your case it is very close to this with trailer in the water. That is how the ramp we used at Lake James was.

I understand!!! I was just sharing what we do. Haven't trailered our boat for a few years now now that it's in dry storage. But that may change.....

 

[BigD]

Our trailer has the plastic covered supports, or whatever they are. Once it's wet, they are easy to winch the boat to the stops even after getting out of the water. Loaded up today on a quite quirky, curvy ramp. We backed the trailer about 3/4 of the way into the water, walked the boat following the contour of the ramp right onto the trailer as far as we could, hooked up the winch and cranked it to within a few inches of the stops, drove it out of the water watching for alignment, and it was perfect. Finished cranking it to the stops once out and on level land. Strapped down the front and back. Pretty much always our process.