Brown'a Bay Launch Facility

C

cabazon

Member
"Facility " means making things easy... I thought


Yesterday I dove into Browns Bay Marina to check out the launch after a 25 year absence. I swore not to return there after cursing over a 1/2 hour wait circling in the wind waiting for a fellow getting his vehicle while his boat was banging on the cement blocks. The poor fellow found out that his trailer was stolen in the parking lot. . I see that after 25 years , and all those launching fees, nothing has changed.
I am a pensioner now and find it very disturbing that I would still have to swim to my old 22 ft boat to launch there. Compare the Marina in Alberni where 4 boats can launch at one time with docking loading offloading slips with similar launch charges . It appears that all the funds have gone into someone's pocket, with no concern for the boating public. I hope someone can prove me wrong here. Probably a better launch means more boat trailers and nowhere to park them. Regardless

I say it's time to make some waves. Put some pressure on the owners to make the necessary improvements to an antiquated launch facility. I will now search for their E-mail Address and pass on this Post.
 
I would have to agree with you. I launched there on sat morning and haveing to park up the hill the (last spot) and the ****** lauch it is didn't sit well with me. The lauch is 2 bucks more expensive you have to go down a dirt road and the run from discovery is only 20 mins thats the last 12 bucks they get from me but some people like the place so good for them but not for me.
 
Last time I was there I heard a rumour that they wanted to improve the ramp by widening it and stuff but got turned down during the process for environmental reasons. I don't know if it is true or not but that is what I heard.
 
Brown's Bay marina is one of the worst I've ever seen. If you fish alone don't bother trying. As Cabazon said there is no slip to tie off to while you park your vehicle. The discovery launch ramp is a fricken gong show all the time. There is no rhyme or reason to how this place operates. One old guy takes your money and after that it's a free for all. Yesterday morning there was a commercial fishing boat being loaded on a trailer. It took forever to get it loaded so only one side could be used and on that side there is no place to tie off to. The commercial guy finally pulls ahead and stops a few metres from the top of the launch and starts tying it down. now he was blocking all traffic. Incoming, outgoing grid lock. I pointed this out and the guy said I will only be 3 minutes which turned into 20 and asked him to pull up further so the ramp is not blocked. He did that but in the meantime there were a few frustrated anglers. There is no one policing the traffic or telling people don't rig you boat in the launch, don't stand there discussing the weather, get in and out quickly. I have my boat moored at the marina to avoid these problems and it's worth every penny to not go through that gong show almost every time. I wrote a letter to DFO harbour authorities a few years ago complaining about this and the response I got was no surprise. "We own the ramp but the Campbell River Indian Band owns the parking lot." They said there is no money to improve the facility and the parking lot is not our problem. So here we are the self proclaimed salmon capital of the world with the world's worst launch facilities. The city is going to "improve" the big rock ramp but it will not change the fact that there is very limited parking and no room to expand. So we'll have a pretty launch ramp that is not capable of handling more volume. Typical bullshyte. If you are meeting your buddy at the ramp park your vehicle there and there is one less spot for a vehicle with trailer. I have seen where a parking lot was reserved for vehicles with trailers only which worked fine.
 
Brown's Bay will never get my money for launch again as their facility is frustrating. I will launch at Discovery every time and run up. When launching at Discovery I've always paid to launch and sometimes have had to park off the lot since it was full. If the band only owns the lot and not the ramp if you park off the lot it should be free then right?
 
I would not push that one-- just be thankful for the access we have. Get ***** and it WILL disappear.
 
Oh Really? May your waters always be calm and we all should learn to walk on the water at least at Browns Bay ramp
 
Settle down bullhead... this quote by KaytieB is what I was referring to-- not BB When launching at Discovery I've always paid to launch and sometimes have had to park off the lot since it was full. If the band only owns the lot and not the ramp if you park off the lot it should be free then right?
 
Holy Cow Wow.........glad I don't live in CR....sounds like a helluva place to be a boat owner/fisherman.....

Just as an aside...........Parksville Boat House owner told me that most of the people who spend big bucks on boats and fishing nowadays are actually older people......50 years plus.......

They have in many cases, lots of income to blow on fishing and golf. (As he put it:- Fish in the morning,golf in the afternoon, start drinking at 4pm)....:rolleyes:

Too bad many of these city councils and other departments haven't woken up to this yet.......
 
The access to the ramp is PRIVATE-- go ahead with making noise and the Campbell River Band is well within their rights to kick you out, and the rest of us too.... Think about that before you decide to start a snot throwing contest.. want to *****?? Well go after the CR council to do more work on the other ramps. BTW-- when the ramp was put in it was for commercial boats... And , for the record, I have been using the ramp since it opened, during all times of the year. I have NEVER had to wait more than 20 min at the most. Usually its closer to 10 min.
 
Yep, I happily pay for an annual pass to Discovery Ramp. Once in a while there is a bozo clogging up the system, but that is similar everywhere. The ramp is always clean and usable. For a bigger boat, there is no choice. Stay away you whiners!
 
Happily pay for an annual pass at a ramp that is closer to my home. I have only used the Discovery ramp a handful of times and have never had an issue with wait times although I have heard some horror stories. Just find it amazing that if DFO owns the ramp as was stated in a previous post that anyone could kick you out. My home ramp has it's issues and it seems that others have theirs too. Bottom line is that more access to our resource is needed in most municipalities.
 
I live in CR and use all the boat ramps. Discovery is the best but not perfect by any means. Prawn Star, I was there on Sunday when that moron took his commercial boat out of the water and plugged the ramp for 45 minutes. Not the smartest guy in the world but what can you do. As for Brown's Bay, all of the negative comments are justified, it's a shithole, worst ramp in town. Big rock is not great either but it sounds like the council will do something about it. The parking issue at Big Rock is easy to fix. There is a park located on the lot just south of the ramp parking lot. There is a picnic table it that park and that's it. I have never seen anyone use that park in 20 + years of living here. Remove a couple of concrete barriers to give vehicles with trailers access to park on that space. No need to pave it. Easy and cheap.
 
Umm, the land the mall is on is owned by the same people who own the ramp parking lot. It would be nice if they filled the gravel in between the rows and made a bunch of truck and trailer spaces, but that is a wish. Have never had a problem with the people that run it. It seems to be getting a lot more use this year, obviously a product of a better fishery. As for Brown's Bay, I stopped using it years ago. The "Z" lot parking for trailers and no where to tie up your boat are the deal killers. Stopped buying gas there too, they clearly do not want day launchers.
 
"There is a park located on the lot just south of the ramp parking lot. There is a picnic table it that park and that's it. I have never seen anyone use that park in 20 + years of living here. Remove a couple of concrete barriers to give vehicles with trailers access to park on that space. No need to pave it. Easy and cheap."
GP,
I looked into that little park and the city told me the land had been donated to the city to be used by the public as a park so no go for parking. What a waste of space.
 
I used the browns bay launch on sunday to launch, aided, and then today to retrieve, unaided. I will agree that having no dock sucks, I am used to launching at Cow Bay for free, with a dock. However the launch wasn't nearly as terrible as everyone makes it out to be. Parking was a bit frustrating, but I did manage to get a spot for my trailer. The Solo retrieve of the boat went fine as it wasn't busy, so i just parked the truck at the bottom, then power loaded. Before I did it I talked to the guys at the fuel dock, and said no worries. They said if it was busy on the ramp, they would gladly give a hand.

So not the best, but useable. And you cant really beat the location. Honestly if I had something to ***** about, it would be the road going in, but it too wasnt that bad.
 
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