Little kids at the boat ramp

[flatstrap]

Recently launched my boat the Jacobs Well ramp and as I was lining up to reverse noticed little kids (5-6 yrs) playing, loitering around the water's edge in the vicinity of the family boat. I pointed the dangers of this to their carers (parents?) politely, and they seemed to resent anybody interfereing with their day on the water. In short (although not actually said) the message was, "mind your own business". Has anybody encountered this? In my case, when my kids were little, they would stay in the car or right away from the action. Keen to hear other peoples experiences.
Cheers...flatstrap

[longtail]

why is it dangerous for kids to play at the waters edge??

my two usually get out of car and play on the sand until i get back from parking the car . they are not in anyones way , i would rather them on the sand than in the boat while i'm not there with them.


jason

[phewy]

why is it dangerous for kids to play at the waters edge??

Yes well 2 reasons obviously. Unsupervised kids and bodies of water certainly do not mix as don't unsupervised kids and reversing cars and trailers. But yet, sounds as if these kids were being supervised.

[Feral]

Still a lot of fish frames, old bait etc etc hit the water at ramps, not the best place for kids to get wet.

Also it only takes a second for a kid to chase another and have one of em step under a moving trailer / car.

I am not saying dont have your kids there, but be aware of the kid, and the potential danger.

[unhappyseajaybuyer]

i agree kids should b supervised and if anything happens to kids it is and always will the fault of the parent or gaurdian not the poor guy backing his boat in who will probably dream about it for the rest of his life not to mention a blokes love 4 fishing wat i am saying is if im backing my boat down a boat ramp and run into or over someone that is playing there cos they ran in path without looking it is the parents fault for not keeping child under supervision my kids stay in car or with other adult at all times being watched it only takes one second to ruin a bunch of lives

[Sportfish_5]

Never leave your kids in the car while you are launching or retreiving - that is a big no-no

[blaze]

interesting
lets remember when us old farts wernt so gray and playing around like that. Must have been a real worry for our parents. I would leave home at 6 in the morning and not be home till well after dark (seemed to always get home untill I got to about 15)
I wonder wether intodays world we are slightly over protective and certainly treat cleaniness to close to godlyness (remember doing things like skinning a rabbit and cooking in open flames and then eating it half raw with the dirty hunting knife), my kids 26, 22, 18 always had a long lease, boys will be boys and girls (well ya gotta lock them up, never needed to though) and all grew up with the ability to see danger and have a sense of self presivation and above all respect for others.
So whats all that got to do with the obove post
Maybe we as inderviduals need to be more aware of others, slow down and take a breath.
cheers
blaze

[Grand_Marlin]

I loved hanging around the ramps as a kid ... always interested in looking at the boats and seeing what fish had been caught.

My Dad always watched what I was doing, and always told me what the dangers were.

Funny how things get passed on ....

Kieran (my son who is now 8) does exactly the same thing as I did ... and he knows the dangers ... and he respects them.

He has done since he was about 3.

Cheers

Pete

[coasty]

my kids help launch and hold the boat where everi tell them. by the time i get back its ready to go.
but mine are 13 and 15 . they do know what to do but young kids should be supervised. i never let my kids play beside the ramp when there were boats about.

[Mr__Bean]

My main concern with people at the ramp (not only the kids) is that they are usually concentrating on something other than me trying to back my boat and/or trailer down beside them.

Trailers always tend to come down the ramp quietly as they are basically rolling down with the foot on the brake without any car engine noise.

For interest, the other thing I find dangerous is where people leave their headlights on when on the ramp. This makes it very hard for the next guy to back down safely next to them.

Parkers only on the ramp please.

- Darren

[2rods]

Yep I keep my 3 year old close by at the ramp...and not because of the boats, the trailers or the cars.(they are a hazard that we look out for and he knows about).

But we lucky buggers have to worry about "CROCS"

In 15 years of fishing and boating in the NT I have seen some big buggers (5mtr +) sitting on ramps or close by. Even seen 1 climb into a boat at the ramp to eat the bait

So consider yourselves lucky

2rods

[onerabbit]

I think I know where flatstrap was going,
Cant tell you how many times now we have been coming into Fishery Crk ramp, trying to pull up at the pontoon in a crowd of boats, only to have one or more of the local urchins from behind McDs jump in the water in front of the boat, most of them too young to be there unescorted at all.
When my kids were too small to help they were in the car or in a safe spot out of the way.

Muzz