Boat Launching by yourself

[Muligen01]

I'm new to the forum, so bare with me.

I just recently lost my Dad to cancer and he was my fishing partner for 20 years. So now I'm left with a 20' Ranger and no buddy to help me launch the boat. So I need to ask for help on how I can quickly launch a boat myself. I'm sure this appears to be a stupid question, but for 20 years I never had to do it alone.

All suggestions would help.

Muligen01

[leatherneck77]

You can launch one of 2 ways. Tie a rope to one of your gunnel cleats, back in the boat to the point it floats, detach the winch strap and the tie it off to the dock or back it in to the point it floats, board the boat, then detach the winch strap and use the motor.
Sorry to hear about the loss of your dad.

[eagle123777]

sorry to hear about your dad but glad u still fishin.....drop my boat all the time when noone else around...easiest thing i have found tie a long rope on the bow and after setting up to launch tie the end to the bumper or dock then back up and let her go...even with a strong current u have time to grab the rope and quide her to the dock where u can tie up while parking the boat....tougher in colder weather as feet may get wet so take extra shoes and socks just n case....hope this helps....jack

[Muligen01]

Ya, it's been tough. Best friends/Dad are hard to lose.

I hoping I wouldn't have to get wet, but it appears I will. I will give this a try.

Thank you.

[Muligen01]

Thanks.

From your ID it appears we have both spent some time the USMC.

Muligen01

[SABP]

The first thing is when you unhook the straps leave the front strap hooked on. You just want the back to float up when you back in.

When you back down into the water back down within a foot of the dock on the drivers side so you can see it real well until the boat floats up from the back of the trailer.

Set the brake, walk down the dock and hop in the boat. I will trim down and start the boat at this time to make sure everything is working before unhooking, that way if there is a problem you can pull out with ease.

As the motor is idling and warming up, go to the front and reach down and unhook the front. A little effort but not hard. You have to crank the handle to let the tip of the boat slid off the roller but then you just unclip from the front ring.

Walk back and use a rope off the back cleat on the dock side ( I will stand on the dock for this) and just pull the boat back from the trailer about 5 or 6 ft and tie it off to the dock. I then stop the boat motor and take the keys with me and go pull out an park. Come back to the boat and take off.

I do this every time I fish by myself or with someone who is unsure about helping out. I becomes a routine after awhile.

Some guys tie a long rope onto the boat but I think that is a pain to deal with.

Good luck and sorry to hear about losing your fishing partner.

Damon

[Gator]

I do this all the time -

tie a rope to your bow eye or a front cleat. I then tie off the rope to the inside of my truck bed (with enough slack to get the boat all the way off the trailer). I back in, untie the rope from the truck and tie the boat off to the dock. Yes, you will occasionally get your feet wet.

[jeff bradshaw]

I've been launchng boats alone or with young kids for years.....it's easy to do it without getting wet and you don't need to use a rope other than to tie up with. I'll e-mail you how.....

[Bat Turn]

Don't forget the rubber buoys to protect your boat from gel-coat damage that can be caused by the dock.

[Muligen01]

Thanks Guys. I appericate the help.

[Bill kizer]

My way works pretty good.

Tie a 20' or so rope one end to the forward cleat, the other end to the rear cleat on the side the dock is on. Put on your bumpers.

In the middle of the rope make a loop and tie another rope that reaches all the way to the cab of your truck.

At the waters edge disconnect the boat trailer strap.

Slowly back in till the boat floats off, set your brake and walk to the dock pulling your boat right along. You'll notice with the loop in the middle the boat floats evenly as you pull it in to tie off.

I try to always launch on the side where the wind is blowing away from the dock.

[Casey]

All these suggestions will work and I launch my boat alone lots. I would add one thing that some boaters forget at times.

Get your boat ready in the parking lot. Un-strap what you can, put plug in, etc. etc. It just amazes me how often I see boaters doing this at the ramp and delaying the rest of us.

Just my .02

[Muligen01]

Ya, your right. My old man and I hated that. That's why I'm looking for teh fastest way to get ot done without wet feet or losing the boat.

[Guest]

I do the same thing and often get some pretty surprised looks from others while struggling at the launch ram. But the 20' rope is key so that it clear the trailer and you can walk the boat over to the ramp.

[MN]

Sorry to here of your loss but i also have a 20' Ranger and i fish qiut often by myself.

What i do is back up as close as i can to the water then undo the transom tiedown's leaving the winch strap still attached to the bow eye.I then back down into the water until i see the boat float up off the bunk's.Makiing sure your parking break is set.Then i just get out hop in the back of the truck bed undo my strap get in the boat start it up pull over to the dock tie up walk back to the truck and away i go.

This way you dont have to be so close to the dock if it is congested,one other thing make sure your trolling motor is unpluged becouse you could hit the button to turn it on and it may cut the crap out of you.

[Jeff Jewell]

Prepare the boat for launching before driving onto the ramp
Leave bow strap on
back the boat down next to the dock, until stern float up
Walk down dock, step into boat, start boat, unhook bow and back-off trailer.
Tie boat up on dock so as not to block ramp,
Walk back up the dock and park your truck.
Reverse process for loading
you don't need to get wet...................

[survivor]

Sorry to hear about your dad, I know how bad that feels. Here's my no wet feet solution.
I have a high front bow, so sometime I need to get in the water. So I bought a cheap pair of waders and threw them into my boat, no more wet feet if you have to jump in to straighten up the boat on the trailer or just to hook up the bow strap, just my two cents.
Paul aka survivor

[185vsfrog]

Real simple. Undo bowstrap and back boat down and into the water. Back it down until you get to the point where you leave your trailer when you put you boat back on the trailer at the end of the day. Make a mental note of where your trailer bumpers sit in the water. Then back it down just a little biut more where the bumpers go down just a little from the last point. Then climb on you trailer tongue and up onto your boat. You don't need to get wet. Start your big motor, trim it all the way down and once it is warm, put it in reverse and back it off the trailor. Tie to dock. Park truck and your fshin. Sorry to hear of your loss. Losing my mother to cancer was the hardest thing I ever had to go through in my life.

[Paul W]

First off that is very sad, sorry for your loss. This is how I launch my boat by myself (a 17' flats boat), its very safe and easy. I back it down into the water still fully secured by the safety chain and winch up front. When the boat is half in the water, I put my truck in park and engage the emergency brake. Depending on how far I had to back in on that particular ramp, I'll jump in the bed or on the bumper and make my way across the tounge and onto the boat. I lower the motor, and fire it up. I then kneel on the front deck and unhook the winch and safety chain...an awkard angle but its easily done even w/ the bow trolling motor kind of in the way. After that I back it off, then go tie the boat up. Hop back in the truck and park. Its really easy and I can usually have it done in 2 minutes or less. Not quite as fast as having a friend help, but if people cant wait 2 minutes for you to launch they have problems!!!!

Paul W

[Ken C.]

But I would be careful about removing the front bow hook before you back down the ramp. If it's steep enough your boat may slide right off the trailer onto the ramp!

The other thing that was mentioned before is to make sure your TM is unplugged so it has no chance of starting with your face out over the bow when you are either hooking up or unhooking the bow line!

Very sorry to hear aboutyour Dad, but it's great you are carrying on the fishin' tradishin'!

[Paul W]

The other thing that was mentioned before is to make sure your TM is unplugged so it has no chance of starting with your face out over the bow when you are either hooking up or unhooking the bow line!

True, but when launching I keep my thrust setting on 0 so even if the trolling motor wanted to go, the prop wouldnt turn.


Paul W

[mark poulson]

Release the dog on your winch, let a little slack out, then reset it before you launch. That way it's easier to unhook the strap when you're ready to back it off the trailer.
And I do unplug my TM every trip. Just a safety thing that's become a habit, ever since my partner minced his hand while leaning over the bow to hook the strap.
I launch alone a lot. I use both the rope method and just backing it off the trailer with the big motor, depending on how crowded the ramp is, and whether someone else has already tied off to the dock.
I have a pickup, so I drop the tailgate before I launch and walk across it to the bow to stay dry.

Sorry to hear about your Dad.

[macinckirk]

Sorry to here of your loss but i also have a 20' Ranger and i fish qiut often by myself.

What i do is back up as close as i can to the water then undo the transom tiedown's leaving the winch strap still attached to the bow eye.I then back down into the water until i see the boat float up off the bunk's.Makiing sure your parking break is set.Then i just get out hop in the back of the truck bed undo my strap get in the boat start it up pull over to the dock tie up walk back to the truck and away i go.

This way you dont have to be so close to the dock if it is congested,one other thing make sure your trolling motor is unpluged becouse you could hit the button to turn it on and it may cut the crap out of you.

I have been doing it this way for 25 plus years, and after a few times with a new boat you will know were your trailer tires should be when in the water. and its fast and easy this way

and I'm sorry to hear about your Dad Best wishs to you and your family at this time of Need!!!

[Marc]

Muligen, sorry to hear about your loss. I launch by myself all the time, and I don't bother with ropes other than what I need to tie to a dock.

I have dock lines that I made by splicing in a loop at the end, and the loop is just big enough to fit over my cleats. This allows quick attachment and removal, which are important since you are tying up a lane. I also use low profile bumpers, which I attached a velcro strap to the hole used for attaching a rope. Before getting in line to launch, I attach the buoys on the starboard side by looping the strap with velcro through the center of the cleats. Then I place my dock lines over the cleats and leave the loose dock line on the decks.

I then back-off my winch so that I have about 5 feet of slack in my winch strap...but keep the strap hook attached to the bow eye. Be sure to re-engage the antireverse cog on the winch.

Then I get in line and back down the boat at the ramp until the boat floats off the trailer. You will feel the tug when the boat drifts back and takes out the slack in your strap. That is when I slowly pull the truck forward about 3 feet.

Now you can easily climb on your trailer without getting your feet wet, and unhook the bow, (I crank up the slack in the bow line), and then back the boat over to the dock and tie up. Hop back in the car and park.

I can practically do all of this in less time than it takes to read all of this.

[Randy Walker]

Very sorry about your dad!!

- back the boat down until the back of the boat floats up off the trailer, set parking brake and jump into the boat from dock or from tongue of trailer (no wet feet). start your boat and drive off the trailer to dock and tie off... done! (you can elect to unhitch your boat before or after you jump in... up to you

Make a mental note of the depth of the trailer when you back the boat off the trailer, when done fishing for the day and ready to load up, put the trailer in at the same depth as earlier and drive you boat up on trailer...very easy and will only take you a couple times until you will be in and out of the water.

Walker

[mark poulson]

whenever someone needs help. It's good to know so many are around.

[NaCl]

You'll rarely have to launch alone!

.....NaCl