The Seminole Boat Ramp
I stopped by the boat ramp this morning to see what all the fuss was about because the park planners want this ramp out of the Waterfront Master Plan and I, and others thought it would be a good idea to keep it for the handful of people that use it.
While I can see people's concerns about this being a beautiful area catering to a small group of people who don't respect it, I also can see the handful of peoples' concerns.
They need a place to launch their boats and I guess this is the convenient one for them. But I went later in the morning (about 10 am) and at that late hour, it was annoying and loud. I can just imagine what it is like there when it's really early in the morning and everyone is trying to launch at once. Today I saw people screaming, music blasting, one idiot was yelling into his cell phone so loud that he was louder than all the music and other people combined. One truck almost hit another, people were beeping their car horns, it was really a mess in such a small area.Wave Runners (Jet Skis), which should not even be allowed, were prevalent, they were going in and out of launching boats, zooming around peaceful kayakers and disturbing everything in their paths, including the delicate bay bottom.
This serene scene was chaos made by the few boaters (and Wave Runners) leaving the area. I didn't really want to get their photos, because I don't want to pick on one group of people, but just picture the opposite of this scene. That's what it's like on weekends there.
It's actually so nice and peaceful when the boaters are long gone.
I am having second thoughts now about keeping the boat ramp in the Waterfront Master Plan. I didn't like the element I saw at the waterfront today. I'm not talking about the guys in the little dingies and kayaks and small things that float, it was the others -- the huge boats, the huge trucks and the shameless display they made of putting on a show for anyone interested. It was just too over the top and really will take away from the whole Master Plan concept.I think maybe a good idea would be to keep small docks there that accommodate small motor boats and row boats and kayaks and do away with the larger boats. Maybe Matheson Hammock is the place for them after all. Or maybe there should be a place, far from the serene area of the bay where these
Just now I drove by again, and now late boaters have South Bayshore Drive all backed up with their boats and trailers. The parking lot is full (so says the sign), but they don't care, they are going to launch if it kills them and if it holds up traffic on both sides of South Bayshore (and 27th Avenue) in the process, oh well.
posted by Tom Falco at 2:45 PM
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19 Comments:
The park belongs to the people, who pay taxes to keep it. The government also belongs to the people, as its officials are sworn to uphold their general wellbeing.
There is no intrinsic right that boaters have to have a ramp right on 27th avenue, where traffic jams are sometimes so long they stretch halfway through the park.
I'd think they could go somewhere else that is not right smack in the center of town.
Grape:
Why do you always call people names like idiot and moron? It's offensive and rather unnecessary when making your case.
It seems that perhaps you could practice what you preach – "I DELETE Anonymous comments that judge or put others down..." and begin by censoring some of your judgemental ways.
Just a thought.
My on topic comment goes like this:
Having a boat ramp right in the center of the Grove allows convenient accessibility to Biscayne Bay. A solution to the congestion it creates could be to limit the size of the boat to 17 feet or under, thereby allowing more parking space (smaller trailers) and consequently, smaller egos. I recently visited Apalachicola where they protect certain areas by only allowing smaller crafts to launch. The ramp itself is inherently smaller/
It's nice to be able to launch canoes, kayaks and dinghies from a park like setting too. And then all the big boats get to line up at Matheson and join the fracas over there.
Noisy:
It is "nice" but, why should the majority of us, who don't own boats, have to sacrifice a huge amount of our coastline so that a few of you can have the convenience of launching from downtown?
LEAVE IT !! However...
Manny waterfront communities make boat ramps available to residents only. Since residents would be the ones to take care of the property. This removes all the negatives mentioned in the post and limits the use to a reasonable amount of individuals. Unfortunately we are part of the City of Miami. It’s a City of Miami park and with that comes all the negatives of Miami. So I do not think you would be able to limit it to 33133 area code. But I believe this is probably the best solution and I would be in favor.
I can not agree with the idea to limit size, I do not think you really solve many of the issues mentioned. Maybe closing it on the weekends might help but I am sure many will not like that idea either.
I live in the Grove and am a boater although I typically go out of other areas. I have helped friends launch from the Grove and it is a pain because it is so tight. Public access ramps are disappearing and that's a real concern for boaters who can't pay hundreds per month on rack storage. Part of Miami's problem is all of the yahoos who trailer massive boats because they want to keep them at home. The legal width for trailing is 8.5 ft which typically is a 25 ft boat or less. MANY people around here trailer 30 ft plus boats regularly and back traffic up. They're trying to have it both ways and the police do nothing.
My experiences with the Seminole ramp has been quite the contrary. Sure, on beautiful weekends it gets crowded, but we all deal with that everywhere in Miami. The majority of boaters are patient and courteous and we just wait our turn in line knowing that in a few minutes a great relaxing family day on the water awaits.
The Grove waterfront is a large enough area to provide something for everyone with an interest in it.
This includes a full facility Marina, CGSC, Shake-A-Leg, Shrimp boats, restaurants, green space, city hall, etc. But is it fair to exclude those of us working families who can't afford big money marina dockage fees from enjoying the Bay that we love?
Is our community becoming that snobby that we can't tolerate seeing a few boat tailers and sharing public water access?
And how is making the waterfront "more accessible to the people" if they can't launch a boat to go out and experience it?
Boating is a family pastime for many.
We need a boat ramp here in order to make the waterfront "accessable".
If not, there would be no place to launch between Key Biscayne and Matheson Hammock.
A boat ramp can be pleasant and well-run with the addition of one police officer on weekends.
Side note: The sign should have said the parking lot is full, not the boat ramp.
How about this rule: Each boat party must contain the wife. She is the captain. The husband gets to stay home with the kids unless he can behave. That should quit things down and put those macho egos in check.
I agree with Grape on this one. On many a weekend I have been aboard my boat on the moorings at the CGSC - my boat is over 100 yards from the Seminole ramp - only to be interrupted by the noise of wave runners, guys throttling high-horsepower speedboats, and meringue or hip-hop played so loud I can feel it thumping through the deck of my boat. When it's echoing off the Expo Center and the condos across the street, I can't even hear a normal conversation in my cockpit.
Most of these "party boats" are overcrowded with younger guys and their "chongalicious" girlfriends - whose only interest in being on the water is to party and work on their tan lines. The serious fishermen are generally more respectful (both at the ramp and out on the bay), and I would feel sorry for them if the Seminole ramp was closed without any replacement. But these whumpa-whumpa-boom-boom party boys screw it up for everybody.
Swlip, It's nice to have your boat in the mooring, but not everybody can afford that.
Yes, noisy people are a problem but not just at the boat ramp. This is common in a large segment of the S. Florida population, everywhere.
If I am understanding the ramp objectors it seems that the common thread is the bad behavior of the boaters, though not all of them, just some, and just on weekends.
This does not justify elimination of a valuable asset.
P.S. I support the "chongalicious" concept. I just wish that the volume could be a little lower. Ha ha ha.
I'm sorry, but the city has to assume some of the blame for the problems at the boat ramp. I've been using that ramp for over thirty years and have seen alot of change. most bad. The city redesigned the ramp with more landscaping and less parking,specially for large boats and vehicles.It would be a shame to close the ramp
I'm saying that I would go out of my way to close the ramp. But if the ramp ends up being closed, I'll be hard-pressed to feel sympathy for the boaters who have to move on to Matheson or Crandon.
Tony, I hear what you're saying. A part of me agrees with you, but another part of me says that one of the attractions of boating has been a feeling of being able to separate myself from the rabble, from time to time.
Ugh! - I'm NOT saying....
Grape,
Thank you for going to the boat ramp yourself and seeing what was seen by other residents who gave input to the master plan. The boat ramp only has 35 parking spaces and is not designed to handle the volume it gets. It will still be there when the plan is implemented for the use of the sailing organizations.
We considered the idea of making it a resident-only facility. Only a small percentage of the people who use the ramp are City of Miami residents. The problem is that it was built with state funding that requires access be given on a first come first served basis to all residents of the many counties that are members of the FIND program. Limiting the ramp to sailboats for regatta use (on a first come first served basis) does not violate that rule.
The City will be expanding access elsewhere and is considering building a state of the art launching facility at Virginia Key. Trailer access will not be lost; it will just be outside the Center Grove.
The ramp needs to go... Imagine the conflict of all that triple-engine machoism adjacent to our world class sailing facility. Black Point Marina and Matheson Hammock have a much better capability of launching boats.
I believe we need some more investigative work at the ramp.
Grape, could you please try to snap some pictures of these so called "chongalicious". Appears to be needed to make a proper assestment of the situation.
On a serious note, plenty of these boaters also stop at the shell, quickie mart and BP. I am sure they get some good business on weekends from this group.
Ramps used to be free. Ramps also used to be plentiful. Parking lots used to be empty and there was never a full lot. Obviously those who are complaining are not boat owners. Those of us who do own boats have a whole other set of complaints. Suck it up! We do.
Blame the lack of enforcement, signs posted say vehicle and trailer must not be greater than 40' so if a truck tows a 17' boat, this would be about the maximum size boat. These boat ramps are very short and made for small vessels, also parking is very limited. Instead there is no enforcement, double and triple axle trailers overload the parking lot, these big boats occupy the length of the pier for extended periods of time. Because of this, boats returning must now race to get to the pier first otherwise they will find themselves floating forever waiting for someone to eventually get their trailer and remove their boat occupying the pier. Rule there is tie up your boat and leave it there as long as you like, don't move for the other person with a trailer.
Blame the lack of enforcement, signs posted say vehicle and trailer must not be greater than 40' so if a truck tows a 17' boat, this would be about the maximum size boat. These boat ramps are very short and made for small vessels, also parking is very limited. Instead there is no enforcement, double and triple axle trailers overload the parking lot, these big boats occupy the length of the pier for extended periods of time. Boats returning must now race to get to the pier first otherwise they will find themselves floating forever waiting for someone to eventually get their trailer and remove their boat which is occupying the pier. Rule there is tie up your boat and leave it for as long as you like, don't get out of the way for the other person with a trailer.
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