So being a nice day My wife and I went out for a ride in the Glasspar. Being a fairly inexperienced boater I backed down the ramp, hooked a line to the bow eye and pulled it over to the dock. There was one boat coming in and I offered to get out of the way since I would take some time, but they were very friendly and offered tips, great start to the day! We cruised for a couple of hours then tied up at the city dock at went for lunch. As we were walking up the ramp I noticed that a family had sat down on the bench beside the boat then noticed that they must have been disoriented from the sun as they had mistaken our boat for a carnival ride and sat their child in the back seat. I walked back down to inform them that this in fact was not a tilt-a-whirl but in fact our private property. Well I got a look of confusion, but they left. With some trepidation we went on to lunch, much relieved to find the boat in place and intact on our return. We continued back to the ramp and noticed several boats tied up at the dock. We tied up at the end and found several people fishing off of it, including one person not blessed with dental hygene sitting in his jon boat, tied to the dock, and casting away. Well, okay then. The sun must have been very hot, because as we walked to the truck we found that a family of anglers had taken up residence, including the car, in the middle of the ramp. I asked the man if it would be a great hardship if he moved, he said O.K., but didn't actually budge until my trailer was bearing down on him. I got the trailer in the water and walked back to the dock, unfortunately disturbing an aged angler cleaning his catch on the steps, and fastened the line to pull the boat on to the trailer as my wife is even more inexperienced than me in the nautical arts. I asked the dentally challenged man if he might move his jon boat that was perpendicular to the dock so I might tow my boat in. "sometin wrong with yur moter" Well no, but my wife doesn't know how to use the winch, "get it out how you got it in". After a minute of escalating conversation I decided that short of calling in the law, I was going to have to get wet. Well we managed to get the boat out after me enjoying the refreshing waters of the great Tennessee river and headed home. Now I know I need to get better at launching and should teach the better half to help, but is this why people rent a slip?
Bill
Bill