I paddle 3 or 4 times a week on my local lake, Caesar Creek Lake, and there is one (out of 6 total) hand launch area. This year, I’ve been seeing jet skis launch there, often with two boats on a trailer. Odd, I thought, those ain’t hand launched. So, I asked the park service and, yep, they are allowed. This is an unpaved beach. I just wish that there was one place I could carry my kayak to the water without having to work around trailers. Oh, well. I may try to push for this to end. The hand launch area is 200 yards from a double boat ramp and 1/4 mile from a marina.
Do the jet ski folks ever try to use the boat ramp? Or is there a fee there but not the beach?
It seems to me it must be a PITA to get the skis to the water, or out again, in an unpaved situation. Maybe I am wrong though.
No fees anywhere and the beach is cobble, but they get in without having to walk so far to get back to there cars. The hand launch area has the closest parking, which makes sense when you have to carry your boat.
I guess… I usually see them launching jet skis off of trailers around here. When we have to deal with them. Municipality along one quite major lake banned jet ski launches a couple of years ago after a collision that sank a classic motor boat.
I haven’t heard of a hand launch area but I like the sound of anything that seems to favor smaller watercraft. I wonder what it really means…I don’t pay close attention to jet skis but it does seem like they can be pushed right off their trailers (I saw one mounted on an SUV bumper) and maybe even pushed right back on…maybe without the hand cranks used on even small fishing boats. Seems like it could be hard to enforce with such a wide variety of watercraft these days…and even some canoes and kayaks launching from trailers.