Roseville Boatramp Now Has Water For Washdowns

[wise one]

Can you believe it?.

National Parks charge you to get into the park, they spent a fortune on landscaping for non-boaters, still havent upgraded the pontoon and left us without water for maybe 2 years.

Now they have finally connected (only 2) taps but have set up machines that need to be fed $2 to allow you 5 minutes of water!

The machines also only work during daylight hours so if you return in the evening you won't be able to wash your boat / trailer or flush your engine even if you are prepared to pay $2

Edited October 19, 2009 by wise one

[pelican]

The abuse of the water down there and the noise from people flushing was unbelievable at all times of day and night. The park opposite was just a noisy place listening to swearing and motors flushing for 8 hours on a weekend as people flushed with one hose and then did a full detail wash of boat and trailer with another until the next person in the queue got the shits. . Just flush and rinse at home with an exhaust plug in and where you can use detergent to get salt off the boat and trailer is the solution.

This crap about wanting to flush motor as soon as getting off the water is bull as most folk go out and then stop and anchor of drift so if salt build up is happening it it is also happening then inside the motor . Take it home and do it properly, use a exhaust plug so the neighbours are happy or the flush port if it is a recent model.

The jokers down there have it draining straight into the harbour so any detergent , grease , oil etc is going straight where you don't want it so hopefully they have the brains to stop people washing boats with detergent or using flushing detergents.

As for trailers people launch and then leave trailer with salt on it for 8 hours while they fish and then when they retrieve and have a urgency to wash it off for fear of corrosion. Yeah that makes sense!!

Quicker and simpler to just have a flexible bag tank and on return use deckwash pump to give boat clean final rinse and all the rest done on the water with salt water for cleaning off blood and guts. No queue to wait, no being sprayed by some other idiot, no stress and all good.

Just drive it home and use the pressure washer and detergent and do it properly

Car and boat parking spaces are pretty expensive landscaping and the price of a ramp and pontoon lighting etc ain't cheap to maintain. Vandalism as it is open and empty all week . Only in the last few years have they got any help in funding from other sources via grants. Same space with 10 BBQ and kids playground would be far more profitable and less hassle for them I would guess.

Edited October 19, 2009 by pelican

[wise one]

Pelican - that may be a fair comment for many boaters (although I haven't seen first hand too much abuse).

For me, after launching I wash my brakes and disks using a hand spray with a salt de-activation chemical mixed with water. I hope this prevents some commencement of corrosion whilst I am out fishing.

I like to wash trailer, brakes, springs straight after retrieval as otherwise the wind and heat build up on the way home "sets" the salt and makes it harder to wash off later.

As far as flushing the motor and the comment about fishing at anchor with the motor off - its a fair point but not 100% addressing the issue. Flushing a motor is definitely best when the motor is hot and hence before salt crystals form. This can be achieved by running the motor at home but you need to run it for a fair length of time to get it hot. When you return to the boatramp the motor is obviously already hot regardless of whether you fished at anchor during the trip as you had to run the boat back to the ramp. Many (all?) modern motors are able to be flushed without running them - for these there is no noise.

Its a shame that the good citizen boaters have their lives made harder by a few idiots don't care about the "neighbours" to the boat ramp.

I'll continue to use my 90L inboard freshwater tank to flush the motor and my 12volt "Car Cube" washdown bottle for the trailer and engine. Like most sensible boaters I use the salt-water deck wash during the trip but prefer to wash as much salt off as soon as I return.

Just on this point:

"Car and boat parking spaces are pretty expensive landscaping and the price of a ramp and pontoon lighting etc ain't cheap to maintain. Vandalism as it is open and empty all week . Only in the last few years have they got any help in funding from other sources via grants. Same space with 10 BBQ and kids playground would be far more profitable and less hassle for them I would guess."

Not so sure about that, most of the landscaping relates to the area where there used to be a nice stone cottage (built at considerable expense, never used then demolished - great waste of money!)

As for the playground generating more money, well they have that upstream of the road bridge and from what I can see there are more people paying to park and launch boats than families having a picnic in the park.

Personally I think they would be better served with a more wholistic approach to the ramp. Charge $10-15 rather than $7. Have a security guard attend the site regularly, should have used the stone cottage for a cafe / kiosk / tackle shop / bait shop rather than demolish it. Build a better pontoon which can handle more than 2 boats at a time (given its a 4 lane ramp!). Allow flushing of motors / washing trailers with a time limit and no running of engines. If anything more people would use the ramp and they would make more money. They could go one better and build a rack and stack facility here - that would pull in the money!

Edited October 19, 2009 by wise one

[pelican]

You are a rare person to rinse off at launch and isn't really a chance to do that when solo as boat would be hogging a spot at pontoon. Yeah warm water and detergent under pressure or sponge seem to remove salt the best and quickest. Doesn't take much time or water which is something most people don't get the idea of.

The whole cottage thing and lease was a joke. They didn't want commercial leases in parks and all that crap an now they are running their own commercial leases and businesses. The whole benefit of having a person down there at a shop would have added to security etc etc. Spent more time and money demolishing, remeadiating and suing people than fixing up what was there before it was left to rot.

The problem is always the idiots wrecking it and then the people who look and do the same as the idiots because they got away with it. Downward spiral to lowest IQ of behaviour.

I don't even believe in NP fees as we pay enough tax , petrol, income, gst and the more people that experience nature I hope the more people who want to preserve it but it has very much become a user contributes society. We have already paid for it and continue to do so with tax and yet they want fees that actually discourage everyone going to parks.

The fee for the full deal will be like private ramps in QLD and the Berrys Bay disaster planned or even the Rozelle one and the fees are huge , they don't want trailer boats or access they want the other end. We have police that should patrol more often in these sorts of areas already and it would help is people actually reported all the theft and vandalism as unfortunately only squeaky wheels get attention or smooth the stastics.

I don't know the answers are but dispelling a few wives tales can't hurt and to place a bit of blame on the idiots that make the noise and cause damage would be good.

Edited October 19, 2009 by pelican

[tuffy]

Go Pel! The man's on fire !!!!

Tuffy.

[adjustedpete]

WOW.......I am pelican, but wanna be wiseone. Both really valid, but for some, not viable. Be it money,knowledge, facilities. It is a complex situation. All I know is be as respectful as you can to fellow boaters and your neighbours and do the best you can..............It comes back 10 fold.

My 10c worth

[Day's Fishin]

Hi, I launch my boat from there on occasions. How do you guy's go about getting a ticket when you go out early one morning & don't come back untill the following night? Last time I ended up with a fine,

I had the ticket from the Saturday morning entry on my dash as stipulated, however you can't pay for 2 days in that pirate machine. My sons took the boat out a few weeks ago & came back & told me there was a bloody big rock in the water, I've never noticed it as I always launch at night & retrieve at night, is that the rock you guys are talking about? I guess I have been lucky not hitting it.

Regards Jeff

[Jason Sunn]

Easiest way to avoid the fines is to get a national parks pass. Not too expensive especially if you go there a few times and allows you to avoid the fees and fines from parking past midnight.

Of course it is a tax to enjoy the very parks our tax $$ go to create. Go figure...

Sunnyboy1

[Ray R]

Gee that's a shame you fellas get hit from all angles, parking fees, coin operated water,

and maybe some road tolls too, shame about the people washing and flushing motors

right there at the ramp, I agree with taking the thing home and then doing it as we do..

[Day's Fishin]

Hi sunnyboy1, I've looked at the pass however we take it in turns with tow vehicles & as the pass is for one stipulated vehicle we would have to purchase 4. This is the only ramp that we would have to use it at, as we mainly fish the Hawkesbury.

Regards Jeff

[Dhutchy]

Hi sunnyboy1, I've looked at the pass however we take it in turns with tow vehicles & as the pass is for one stipulated vehicle we would have to purchase 4. This is the only ramp that we would have to use it at, as we mainly fish the Hawkesbury.

Regards Jeff

Rather than ROSEVILLE you could try the ramp at Appletree Bay, via Bobbin Head. Its still national parks, and you still need a pass or a ticket, but its not a bad ramp and its closer access to the Hawkesbury.

I reckon the only way you will get local government to act on a hazard, such as rocks impeding access to a boat ramp, will be for someone to sue the local government for the damage its caused to a boat and/or its crew. But that is expensive. Don't they (or Maritime) have a duty of care to ensure such faciliities are safe?

Rgds

Dhutchy