Courtesies

Anchoring

Anchoring is an important factor in shrimping. Be courteous and give yourself plenty of room away from other boats! They will not appreciate you anchoring up over their anchors and lights! For the solo shrimpers anchoring one anchor and light from the bow should be all you should have to do. Positioning a seat at the bow gives more comfort till they start running.

Ramp Courtesy

1. Turn OFF your headlights when backing down the ramp or launching your boat so others are not BLINDED by your lights. Some of the newer vehicles have sensors that automatically turn there lights on and there is two ways to do this: Some use the parking brake, just step on the brake one click or so and should turn off the lights and the other is to turn on the parking lights. (some call this the running lights)
2. Your boat should be ready to launch in the water when you are on the ramp. The only thing you should have to do is to unhook the front of the boat and then back it in the water. You should not be loading the boat while your on the ramp. This takes up way too much time and holds up the launching process for others.
3. When removing your boat from the water simply put it on the trailer and secure it with the winch or hook and then pull off the ramp and out of the way. IF your at River Breeze pull off the ramp and go down by the restrooms or to another parking slot and fix whatever you have to do there. Other wise you tie up the ramp so others can't use it.
4. When launching/removing your boat from the water should take no longer than 2-3 minutes at the most. IF you take any longer than that you are wasting your time and others and basically blocking the ramp. Have your stuff ready BEFORE you launch/remove the boat.
5. If you notice someone launching their boat by themselves offer to help them, this will speed up the ramp faster for everyone and maybe someday that individual will help someone else.
6. Remember to be courteous to all boaters as much as possible and to offer assistance when you can. There is nothing that changes things better than LEADING by EXAMPLE!!!!!!
7. People that do not do the above mentioned items are simply NOT EDUCATED in BOATING!!!! Lets set the examples and teach others how it should be done. Lead by example and they will follow eventually. It does work. People do pay attention to things. Not only will you benefit from this but so will everyone else that uses the ramps around.

Trailering Tips

I thought I would post this since I have seen a few trailers on the road side.
I have to travel several miles with the location im in and I will give you the information on the buddy bearings. Always replace the inner seal when you have to break loose the hub from the shaft. Also greasing the bearings is very important! either get a greasing adapter that is half moon shape to shoot grease thru the bearing till it comes out the top. Otherwise put grease in the palm of your hand and do a motion that will force the grease thru the bearing. Make sure to be careful to seat the inner seal tight to the seal seat on the shaft. install the buddy bearing on the hub and pump it till the spring receives tension and moves outward and stop!. NEVER over pump the bearings or you will get that grease in the inner wheel and find yourself stuck on the side of the road due to excessive smoke or worse losing or destroying the fender, tire, axle, trailer, possibly loss or enjoyment of life. I normally pump them up about every other trip. Actually you are supposed to pump them up prior to launch to not allow water in. Safe trailering and hope this is helpful.

Trailering and launching your boat each weekend can be either a frustrating ordeal or an enjoyable outing, depending on how you prepare for it. While there are many good books on the subject (the late Patrick Royce's Powerboating Illustrated is considered a classic), we've distilled down some of what we've learned and put it into this West Advisor:
Trailer tires must be properly inflated due to their small diameter and narrow profile. Depending on the size, they may call for pressures of up to 65 PSI. Lower pressures will cause heating and premature failure. Also, make sure you install a spare tire and wheel, since trailer tires and wheels are difficult to find in obscure rural American towns where breakdowns are destined to occur.Trailer hubs and axles are remarkably reliable if they are properly lubricated. The rapid cooling caused by dunking hot hubs in cold water causes water to be drawn into the hub, where it causes the grease to deteriorate. If you must immerse your hubs, use Bearing Buddies® or similar bearing protectors to keep grease under pressure so water cannot enter. Plus, they make your hubs dramatically easier to lubricate, so you will be more likely keep up with routine maintenance. Tongue weight is sometimes seen as a burden on the tow vehicle, but it is critical to insure the proper handling of the tow vehicle and trailer. Royce recommends that tongue weight be 5% of the total trailer weight on trailers to 1500 lb. gross, and 7% on trailers over 1500 lb. While that might seem like a lot of weight on your hitch, it will keep the trailer from swaying back and forth. Trailer wiring is a mystery to many of us (in fact, some of the first expletives that many of us learned as youngsters were due to our fathers' attempts to get trailer lights to work!) We've seen two common problems that have caused extreme frustration when troubleshooting trailer lights. Make sure that you use a ground wire (white) in addition to the ground provided by the trailer hitch and coupler. The voltage drop across the hitch can cause very peculiar results. Take the white wire on the vehicle's side to a metal chassis ground, and do the same on the trailer side.
It's possible to force bayonet lamps like #1157 into their sockets reversed, so that the bright and dim filaments come on at the wrong time. Insure that you have the bulb guides in the right slots.

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