seeing as u have to pay to use it they should at least maintain it

What can they prosecute you for - there is nothing to say you cant drive you boat on and off. The only places that do not allow it at the moment are some private yacht clubs. Whilst I am not into destroying the facilities out there, that ramp has been negleted for years, for a popular launch area and within a marina at that, it is a disgrace. A single ramp for all that traffic. It needs an upgrade. On the subject of drive on and off. It can reduce alot of ramp traffic and congestion. I can get my boat off and on a hell of a lot quicker than winching, and then i'm out of there, I am not impatient, just beleive in efficiency. If i had my way All ramps would be wide enough for several lanes to be marked with only jetties on either end. those that can drive on/off can simply pick their passenger/s up off the jetty, no need to moore up. Most of the damage done to boats at the ramp is from the jetties, the remainder is from those with no C.D.F.

Cheers

Hmmmm ......... that will cut down the boat traffic there if they enforce it.

It will only take a quick bylaw to be drafted and a sign errected..... and they will enforce it.

If the ramp was not constructed to cope with it, scouring from prop wash due to driving boats onto trailers can cause great damage.

Why damage it more and risk the downgrading or closure of the ramp ?

The marina is private property, not sure what bylaw they're going to enact.

The sad fact is that stopping drive-aboard all thats going to happen is the ramp is going to stay in its current shoddy state forever.

me and a mate were there early sunday morning talking to that guy. the yacht club don't own the ramp, they lease it ( not sure from who ), thats why you pay for parking/launching - they need to re-coup their costs.

yes, the ramp is farched. took 3 goes to get my boat level on the trailer on the way in, but i reckon its a good thing that they're doing this, as it will stop the bigger boats fishing my spots!

The  last few years the Council have been talking about doing up the ramp which they may put of due to i have been told theres a new marina getting built a few Kms south of Yanchep, what they need to realise the amount of traffic already going through two rock at present, maybe it should be fast tracked and several launch lanes and jettys be installed, they could close it for upgrade and re open the old concrete ramp adjacent the cray boat area in the mean time

i have not seen this ramp but i am stuffed wondering how driving on the trailer can wreck the ramp, arent ramps concrete,

this dumb smart alec engineer is just looking to act like hes doing something

plus thatl force more bloody boat traffic to my local ramp

also what the hell is he gonna prosecute with, unless they tell everyone not to do it and people are still doing it

is this ramp concrete, and up north you lauch 6M boats off the beach

surely a ramp can be stronger the beach

I was told a few years ago that the 5 bucks launching fee was used to partly fund the current rescue boat. The ramp has always had a few pot holes. I imagine a 8m+ cat been rammed against a trailer then powered up would do a great deal of damage to a concrete ramp over time.

by the movement of soil   moved under the concrete panel caused by prop wash. This eventually will leave minimal support and the panel will crack and move eventually. Would not be surprised that D.O.T will try and stop people driving their boats onto trailers to prevent this damage in the future......   nev 

There is a sign and has been for some time telling people no drive on .

I drive on to a point. I come in and let the boat go up on the trailer until it stop then jesse winches it the rest of the way 1 minute and we are out not reving the moter and chearning up the sand i think some people get confused with being quick and being lazy.

If your ramming your boat onto your trailer to drive it on, then your doing it wrong ! If your trailer is positioned correctly in the water, it dosent take much to drive it up. Consider that on the east coast the drive on/off practise is the norm, it works over there, and they have great facilities to go with it. No i'm not gonna move to the east coast to do it, but it is about time that some expenditure was pumped into the facilities throughout perth and other places in the state. Instead of stating the obvious "the ramp is buggered" and then making everyone work around the crappy ramp, how about fixing the problem with a better design. As a boatie/fisherman, I expect good facilities to use, thats why I pay for ramp/carpark fees and boat registration via DPI.  Do not forget that the ramp is in a corrsive environment to begin with, add to that the movement of tides etc, there is more than one issue at play, not simply those that drive their boats on. Over time, the ramp will fail even if it is not used.......

Idrive mine on aswell, but only with 1 engine, and only half way up, exact same as Paul, only at idle until it stops, then other person attaches winch and continues to winch.

Got to remember bigger boats arent as easy to guide on straight under ropes.

Don't need to ram the trailer ,come in at idle and the boat will go three quarters the way on ,I would only need a small burst on the throttle and she would be on ,Jesse hooks the winch up and winds her the rest of the way. There was a guy there the other day all by himself he put his trailer in and jumped in his boat and drove it up leaving it going until he climbed off and hooked it up, then got back on and shut the motors down .Dickhead. I cannot see any money being spent on the ramp I think they will just shut it down first .That will take the pressure off the fish out of Two Rocks.

they get enough boats at the one ramp , could you imagine what it would be like for the fish and parking if another ramp was put in place, the fish would be gne in no time. only having 1 ramp to use would put a lot of people off as they would have to be there real early or be prepared to wait

From my experience driving on is the only way to get the big cats on, but I have only done it 3 or 4 times. Looks like they will be down Mindarie way.

Yes you dont need to ram the trailer to drive a boat on but there are plenty of people that have no idea. Last week at the Quindalup boat ramp had a guy with a 28 foot glass boat with twin 300 motors stuff around for 10 minutes trying to get his boat on. The guy was reving the s*%t out of the motors trying to push this boat up the trailer in only about 500mm of water with kids swimming on the beach only 20m away. Quindalup ramp is not suitable for boats this size with drive on trailers. Some boat ramps aren't suitable for big boats. Most locals are happy to leave the ramp as is. If it turns a few people off lauching from there great, less fishing pressure.

Some of the ramps at Ocean Reef have holes in the deeper sections due to the concrete collapsing from the sand being eroded from under them. I have seen larger vessels being launch and the trailers suddenly sink as they hit the holes. This is due to people driving vessels on and leaving the engines in gear whilst the winch is connected. Their is no need to drive on if you maintain your rollers and slide on the trailer. I have a 20ft vessel and it takes 1-2 minutes to hand winch. Driving on is just lazy.

I drove it off and then I drove it on. If uou kick the leg up so the wash goes straight out the back there's no disturbance to the bottom.

We waited in line for 45mins to get in; the ramp is crap and has been for years......built on the cheap. It is now leased to some Jap outfit, aparently the lease expires in the next couple of years and they dont want to spend any money on it.

The main problem seems to be that the concrete bottom doesent extend far enough out and the foundation is not solid.

just make a really long concrete bit which goes twice a far in as a normal ramp and the the engines wash wouldnt effect it?

Yep, make the ramp over size, dosent have to be twice the size but wider than usual and push it out another 5 - 10 metres. Yes everything is built to a budget, but unfortunatly the budget is more often than not set at the lowest tender. I have had input into ramp design ideas through sea rescue, but when dealing with the penny pinchers, useful ideas and initiative do not fit within the budget. I have seen projects fail because of the scrimping on budgets, causing the revamp of the rebuild ! Which ends up costing twice as much anyway. Spend the money and do it right the first time..........................

Making larger ramps will incure additional costs which will we have to pay for with the increased launching fee. Why should I pay more just so you can drive you boats on the trailers.

They make a lot of money out of boat and trailer licensing and they are always putting themselves up as supporting recreational boaters when they want to sell their marina ideas.

Have to put up with substandard facilities which I already contribute to, just because smaller boaters are willing to make do with what they have. I already pay the fees, through parking, increased boat registration etc, which in case some of you have forgotten have almost increased by 100% in the last year for boats over 5.5 metre. This forum goes towards the cant do attitude of this state and the way in which it seeks to restrict people. Consider the money that comes out of this state and the emphasis which is placed on tourism and the facilities which are provided throughout the state, yes there are a few excellent ones, but the majority are an embarresment when compared to other states. With the water lifestyle that is available here, it should be better.

some people disagreed with the extra concrete, of course it might work but no one wants to pay the extra cost

so what about sandbags how about putting lots of sandbags, that might post pone the the sand erosion,

plus with the concrete, extra cost, have you seen what the goverment wastes tax money on, how about those signs which are puposely rusted and cost heaps, why dont te spend it on something useful? 

I don't agree with doing anything to the ramp it does the job .Making it twice as big and long will mean ten times more boats ,If all that use the ramp do the right thing and take things slow it will last ,if not and it gets worse you will all be lanching at quinns or hillaries .As said the ramp is privately owned and the signs are posted at the ramp .Therefore they can stop you using the ramp or fine you if they see you driving on .I am only saying what i have been told , didn't want fw members getting fined,so if you persist on doing the drive on have your check book ready.

i always winch the boat on the trailer and never have drove it on was just trying to think of some solutions.

yes it you drive it on like you explained i'm sure we woulndnt have any trouble but its the people that just leave their boats revved out on the trailer and you can see how much sand and silt get thrown of the bottom

i payed extra money to buy my drive on trailer and to make my life and others at the ramp easier.( the quicker i am gone the better for the next person )

when you have to wait at a ramp queing because people have no idea of putting there boat on is a joke.

why cant they come in and drop there trailer driver of and then go and circle or whatever until there trailer is at the ramp and then come back and go on, either by winch or drive. this thing about tieing to the jetty and then going to get your trailer is bad.  understand  if you are the only car driver you dont have much option.

but when avail where you can go to another jetty or beach to drop off what is the problem

or they need to do what woddys have done and put in a launch and retrive ramp

i drive my boat on but only to the last few feet and then it is winched, i do not try to drive it all the way on.

either way i agree that if we have to pay a fee we should be allowed to drive on, have you seen the price to launch at east freo for the day? now that is pathetic and the jettys are very average to say the least.

1 more thing...how long has the ramp been there, how much money have they taken in fees and when was the last time anything was done to the ramp?

p.s

i use that ramp maybe once a year why should i suffer?

Im with you on the waiting ,Most boats need to use the jetty and will line up some time 10-20 boats .If this is the case then I will drop someone of on the jetty and come down the other side ,this can save a 30 minute wait .I have seen some come in and drop people of only to jump the line ,there will be two boats on the jetty waiting for the trailers and these dicks will try and get there boat infront, one guy hit the other boat one day ,.Now this is not on ,also when I say drive on I mean the guys who put there first roller in the water then use 4000rpm to drive there boat onto there trailers .Anyways that I think is enough said happy fishing.

i know what you mean by jumping the line, but if the 10 boats lining up are still floating around and i have droped my trailer guy off and he lines up with the trailer in the que, when my trailer comes down the ramp is it fair to say its my turn to go on, or do people still think you are jumping the que.

only asking as this happened in the river a few weeks ago and the looks we got from people was impresive, or are they jealous because i was gone in 5 min and they have been floating for 30min.

this particular ramp is a double with a very short floating jety with unlimited beach access next to the ramp,  if i can do it, why cant everyone else, and that is weather you drive or winch on.

again execeptions for those who do not have another car driver on board, then you dont have much option.

Two Rocks as you know has one small jetty two boats can fit on the jetty at one time everyone else has to line up.then as they get to the jetty they get there trailer ,if you can retreive on the side without the jetty then to jump que is fine as most will use the jetty.I will ask first to see if they are using the other side to come in ,if not then i will drop a driver of and come down the other side. Expecting others to move there boats back so you can jump the line .No not on,not having a go but i would not move or give anyone doing that an inch,you would be waiting longer than if you had stayed in the lineup.

There seem to be a number of conflicting comments with respect to the "responsible body" for this ramp.  Private marina / yacht club lease it / Japanese interests / council were considering upgrading it?  I'm confused. Anyone care to elaborate.

It all comes down to the dollar no one wants to spend the money as it could cost hundreds of thousands to fix properly. Japanese own the marina as far as I know. Yacht club leases the ramp from them. Yacht club collect the $$$$$ but don't want to do a big upgrade , Im guessing Yacht club say you own you fix ,Japanese say you lease you fix.Im betting no major upgrade will happen in the near future.

What's the government doing, after all that's whose coffers we are filling up to provide us with ...... what?