North Australian FISH FINDER forums

Is the new Hudson ramp too narrow, or just right? Please only vote if you have used the ramp.

Went down Saturday evening with the family and then again Sunday morning to have a look early and to throw a couple of lures around with the 8 year old snothead.

Set up is good however for my personal situation - boat and trailer a little over 10mtrs + a F250 that is around 6mtrs + narrow turn around + a low tide of say 2.5 mtrs + a missus reversing down this narrow ramp to retrieve me (she does reverse better than most) = problems. This being the case I am probably down a ramp in Darwin once the east arm proper ramp is closed.

I might suggest that the Territory government may in the long run have been better off spending a little extra on the ramp first time around rather than having to spend more money in the future to upgrade/repair.

The topic/vote is for people that have used the ramp, sorry I have not but in my two trips down to have a look at the ramp I witnessed 5 boats being launched/retreived, all had problems getting down the ramp with the biggest boat being 5mtrs.

I used the ramp on Sunday at about 10:15am. My boat, motor and trailer length is 8.7m (and an overwidth 2.6m beam) and is towed behind my Landcruiser. I had no problems either turning around or reversing down the ramp. In fact I like the ramp with the pontoon down the middle as it forces everyone to stay in their own lane. I also like the gradient of the ramp, nice and steep.

Used the ramp yesterday when it was almost low tide. I had no real difficulty turning around and or backing down the ramp but it could be a bit wider. The Pontoon down the middle is the better idea than along one side. The only real problem I had was the cross wind. It made the launch and retrieve difficult on my own, but would not be a problem with someone to help. I never had the wind problem with the old TDZ ramp. I did notice the carpark was full of lights but I haven't seen them on at night yet. Are they only on at night on the week end?
Everyone I spoke to their said they were happy with it but very expensive for what it is.

Used it yesterday on 3.4m low tide. No problems (5.35m boat and patrol) Only complaint is the pontoon should be longer. If I launch by myself and leave the boat tied up, there won't be enough room for the next person in line to launch.

Can still see it being a sh!tfight when it gets busy, with only two lanes.