[Capt. Debbie]

`The biggest problem is at low time with a moon tide the slimey bottom section makes friction go away. That goes for chocked and unchocked.


You can't get anything to bite into to create drag.

Best suggestion ( as stated above) is walk it out and see what you have and where.

#1 Two critical points to worry about. (1) Getting it on trailer and no traction to move it up hill off the ramp. (2) Momentum downhill pushing your tow vehicle after the trailer / boat into the water with it.

#2 SLOWLY back down. The hard stop of a 3000# truck / SUV creates momemntum. The large moving mass with gravity keepa it moving down the ramp. Worse yet ( even more momentum) is add another 2-3000 lb boat to the moving tow vehicle and the trailer. There you have potentially 5-6000 lb of moving mass with a downhill gravity assist on this extremely low friction surface. You slide and slide picking up speed unless you hit some traction.

One person suggested sand. Sure it'll work.

Remember what happens on ice? 4WD is meaningless when you brake or are on and all slippery surface.

Think it out and have a plan or just wait it out.

Remember the straddling days to a new and full moon make that low tide even lower. Exposing ramp sections under water 99% of the time.

Good luck! This has been a problem for years. The Ramp operators are all too happy to take your money, but wont do much else about this. It's common place. Been down there doing Sea Tow Summers since 1999 and I would guess a few vehciles are lost there each month