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Ramp And Water Access Data Base
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Flying corporate helicopters for clients in the UK and EU neccessitated having a constantly updated, easily accessible data base of available landing sites. This was critical in case some one or a new pilot had to go in at a moments notice. This lead to a standardised multi season constantly updated (with seasonal and light / dark) reference document with constantly updated photographs and pilots comments.
Considering the multitude of boat ramps and accesses available, it might pay for the creation of a similar setup on this forum which may also even be published by the site owners eventually in book form.....creating an additional revenue stream ? This would really be using the power of the net to gather data - well!
Critical information would be -
Cost
Access
Security
Ease of use in tides
Weather effect
General comments
Day night, low, high tide photographs and any prohibiting structures....ie the bridge at Orewa Jetty - difficult for HT boats at High Tide....
etc etc
If standardised, and constantly updated by the great users of this forum, it would present a wealth of information at one source.
Hey, hit me over the head (but gently) if this is a bad idea.
a bit of an example....(I'm sure there are better ones)....
Orewa Jetties:-
Orewa has two main jetties both on the estuary:-
One is on the Eastern side inside the caravan park (A) one on the Western side of the main road bridge (B)
A - Access all the time through the caravan park. Can be difficult in high season due to numbers of visitors and vehicles. No parking allowed inside the park - so you have to launch and remove the vehicle and trailer. Bad wash in the tides, shallow access only at low tide!
Taken at low tide date (Summer - but forgotten) 
From the top of the ramp looking down
A narrow channel to navigate in and out - rocks covered at High Tide
Jetty B
Boat ramp directly on the other side, but out of sight in pic. Pleanty of parking, but not secure at night - (dark) also crowded in Summer.
The main bridge over the estuary pic taken on / from Northern side at low tide
And so on and so on - I dont have all the pics, but a handy hint would also be to watch out for the concrete drop off at the end of the ramp...
Could be seriously damaging to the health of your trailer if you don't know its there in high tide.....
Pics in opposite tides would be great and could be added by any interested parties.....
May be useful for boat owners that move around a bit too.....
I see one issue in that some people like to keep their local knowledge local and not too public.
For example we have a bach at a really nice place with a really bad boat ramp but there are tricks on how to use it, tide, rocks, where and when to launch etc.... when talking to people around the area, they dont want it improved at all because the feeling is that the fact that it has a reputation as being hard to use keeps the masses away and therefore the problems such as cars stuck in the sand, the rubbish and the vehicles crammed in a tiny parking area.
otherwise a good idea.
Legasea Legend, the rest of you should be too, $10 a month.
Plow - Sorry mate but i think that's a terrible attitude to take, sure you can keep your fishing sites to yourself but the point i believe of this is more for safety than as an invite for masses of people..
Its handy knowledge to have and i think a really good idea, it will help boaties make safer decisions as to where they can launch and in what conditions the ramps are ok to navigate and give new boaties some base info that they can use before taking their boat out for the first time.
This IMO could never be considered a bad idea..
I will add photos and information about all the local ramps i know of when i get a chance and hope more people do the same.
Information is meant to be shared.
Alex.
Edit: I think the SpotX publications also provide ramp info for certain areas, i know its not very comprehensive but is another source of ramp info available..
"We all pay for life with death, so everything in between should be free."
-Bill Hicks
-Bill Hicks
I reckon its a top idea. There's some good info in the back of wises maps (mayvbe even phone books too?) on ramps available around the place and includes some basic details on them - gradient, surface, tidal access etc. This could provide a good base for further development with pics and info like Bill has suggested.
LedgeNZ LBG
someone on the website here was going to publish a book on boat ramps. try a search you might find the thread.
[email protected] 
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I agree, a bad idea for this forum not to collate and share this potentially great information making it easier and safer for us all.
I especially remember my 1st trip out of Whangamata. EARLY MORNING, DARK, ALMOST BOTTOM OF THE TIDE and although I did a reco the previous day, IT WAS ALMOST AN EMBARRASING DISTASTER. If you have launched there you would no what I mean - EASTURY LAUNCHING STRAIGHT OF THE BEACH, TINY CHANNAL, VERY LOW TIDAL LEVELS AND TRICKY NAVAGATION MARKERS FOR THE 1ST TIME USER.
IS THIS NOT WHAT THIS FORUM FOR MEMBERS IS ALL ABOUT ??? 
I think thats a great idea!
I think it would be very handy to know about other ramps in your area and also around the country.
Im always keen to try new ramps and explore new fishing opportunities but always abit hesitant without knowing the local knowledge and safety of the ramp im about to use...
Boaties giving first hand knowledge about the safety of each ramp and other useful info is no way a bad idea...
To be able to know abit about the ramp you want to try out for the first time without having to do a recce beforehand is great thinking...! Im all for it and will contribute in any way 
Hrmmm, I'm thinking it might be useful to create a proper hosted database for ease of use and updates, also for searching purposes as if it were a forum post it would take some time to navigate through to find the ramp you wanted, but we would still want to include the forum members information, and mainly make it available for them..
I'm a graphics/web-designer by trade and would be happy to create the layout and graphics and supply hosting however actual database coding is not my forte (give me a book and a few hours i can do it though)..
But anyway, just an idea.. If anyone has any thoughts or if Admin want to smack me *starts running* feel free to comment..
Edit: Also have taken low tide photos of the local Beachlands Public Ramp and will take high tide photos tomorrow morning.. Of note there were two guys from Manurewa trying to retrieve their boat when i was taking the photos, apparently the Ramp is listed as an all tide ramp (insert Tui ad here) which left them waiting for an hour before they could get their boat close enough.. Made me realise how helpful this information could be..
"We all pay for life with death, so everything in between should be free."
-Bill Hicks
-Bill Hicks
Is the ramp over there (beach lands ) suitable for a small tub? Plus i like the idea of a handy ramp to the intended area to fish Specially for those of us that fish from small boats.
So if by anychance the weather turns about its a short haul to safety.
Some may think over dramatic but its not a silly idea
So if by anychance the weather turns about its a short haul to safety.
Some may think over dramatic but its not a silly idea
.........
Great idea, don't have a boat, but still a really good idea.
Puddlejumper
 loryda wrote:Plow - Sorry mate but i think that's a terrible attitude to take, sure you can keep your fishing sites to yourself but the point i believe of this is more for safety than as an invite for masses of people.. |
fair enough chaps, Im just expressing the feelings from the home owners around where we have our pad. I was all for upgrading the boat ramp to one that was safer and more user freindly and was suprised to hear everybodys resistance to it.
Also this particular place I am referring to is very hard to use, and any instructions I would place on here I beleive would only encourage people to go and use it and end up getting themselves in the ****. If you dont know where the rocks are, then dont use it is the moral of the story. we have actually had to rescue people from the area before who thought they knew what they were doing.
Legasea Legend, the rest of you should be too, $10 a month.
I think this is a great idea.
Great idea. One of the best things that this forum could do to support and help other members.
I can see your problem PLOW and have to say that I've experienced the same attitude here in Tuateawa. Hell, I'd even organized funding for an upgrade of the ramp but the locals didn't want a bar of it.
I guess the best thing to do is supply the info but make sure to include residents feelings along with other problems encountered.
I guess the best thing to do is supply the info but make sure to include residents feelings along with other problems encountered.
Sitndrinkntalknbullman
Also supplying information about the intended area for new users may be of some help also.
All well in saying if you don't know where the rocks and so forth then maybe something to help others out.
Sorry plow i don't agree with you there dude
None of this we dont want a ramp here because we dont want public access to our area ( B_S )
then again whative just said was pretty much sumed up post# 3
All well in saying if you don't know where the rocks and so forth then maybe something to help others out.
Sorry plow i don't agree with you there dude
None of this we dont want a ramp here because we dont want public access to our area ( B_S )
then again whative just said was pretty much sumed up post# 3
.........
BillG, it's a great idea.
Believe it or not, a couple of years ago I investigated the idea of building an extensive updateable database for helicopter spare parts. Hearing tales of multi-million dollar machines sitting idle for want of a part nobody could source, well paid mechanics on the phone all over the world all night trying to get them, etc. There were other beneficial spin-offs to the database as well and we even had the finance in place.
HOWEVER everyone thought it was a great idea until we asked the companies what they'd expect to pay for the service. Pay? PAY??!!?? "You mean we'd have to pay for it?"
And that was the end of that great idea.
Great idea though.
Interesting Plow, all the boating info brochures say to speak to locals before using bars etc, does this mean your locals wouldn't help? Assuming this I wonder how they would feel if after not giving information there was a tragedy which could have been avoided by suppling certain local info?
Also, once again assuming, does this mean that the "locals" would not render assistance to "out of area" boaties in need of assistance?
There is plenty of fish out there, I don't see any problem with rendering whatever asistance I can, whether that be info or other.
I witnessed this 1st hand myself earlier this year whilst on a bareboat charter, in bad weather we made a run into the harbour, across the VHF came a mayday from a yacht, a "friend" who was with me said to ignore it. I in turn ignored him and responded offering them or the coastguard assistance, altough it was ultimately not needed at least I can sleep at night, and hope should I been in the same situation someone would do the same for me.
A well designed searchable database would be great. I've seen visitors steam over rocks at Kuaotunu at Christmas for years. Always happy to provide advice when asked but some people resent advice being given without the invitation!
Jermish - as for your "friend" wanting to ignore a Mayday, not only was he wanting to break the law, in my opinion he wouldn't be a skipper's backside with the attitude! Good on you for ignoring him.
Jermish - as for your "friend" wanting to ignore a Mayday, not only was he wanting to break the law, in my opinion he wouldn't be a skipper's backside with the attitude! Good on you for ignoring him.
rocko - The ramp is suitable for anything 1/4 tide up, at low it is possible to retrieve but a jockey wheel and decent rope wont go astray and at a real low tide you'll be walking out 60meteres on muddy sand before you hit water. There's also a nasty drop off at the end of the ramp, i normally go over the drop off launching anything below 1/3 tide but with my car, the gradient (read: steep-ish) and slipperyness (word?) of the ramp i wouldn't like to try bring my trailer and boat back up it when retrieving. There is also no breakwater and a Northerly or Nor'wester will roll in there, although a Nor'easter is a little more sheltered due to the positioning of the ramp semi-behind the jetty i wouldn't like to try it with any real serious winds, mostly all other wind directions are ok but the ramp faces north so it pays to take a look at the swell directions as well. There are afew rocks around but nothing really in-line with the ramp so take the line and your sweet, there is also a reef to the left as you come into the ramp from the water which at full tide is submerged but to the right the beach is relatively rock free, personally i use Maraetai over Beachlands when i can as its only Easterlies that ruin the fun there but mainly because i prefer the bottom end and with my tanks the difference counts although i have occasionally had to come round to Beachlands to retrieve after launching at Maraetai because the winds have gotten up..
There is parking at the top of the hill by the road with lights and a solid jetty with stairs down to water level, at high tide there is around 2.5-3 meters of water which gradually gets deeper, low tide its .5 meter +/- some depending on tides and conditions.
Ive only gotten low tide photos as of yet, and it wasent a full low tide either so am yet to take some more comprehensive photos along with the Maraetai ramp..
"We all pay for life with death, so everything in between should be free."
-Bill Hicks
-Bill Hicks
Just to note: If anyone has any ideas on this or BillG if you have anything you would like to add please feel free to PM me or leave a message here, also Admin some input from your perspective on how this could be achieved would be awesome. I also think that with an online system like this costs could be eliminated with advertising and through donations so a pay scheme can be ruled out, progress not profits!
Once again though, just IMO.. 
"We all pay for life with death, so everything in between should be free."
-Bill Hicks
-Bill Hicks
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