Boat Ramp POI - by land or by sea?

I'd put the coordinates on the ramp itself (or perhaps at the top of the ramp).

People in a car will be able to navigate to it from the road. It would be more difficult for someone on a boat to navigate to coordinates on the road.

Just my two cents.

I'd have to agree. The top of the ramp sounds like the coordinates to use.

top of the ramp it is, then.

Thanks a lot.

What's the difference between a Ramp and a Landing?

Then again, what I really need to know is simply do I need to note the difference in the POI file? Does it matter? Is it important to know ahead of time?

Who knew this boat ramp stuff was complicated . . .

Is where you can back a boat on a trailer into the water to launch it... And landings are generally a place you can keep your boat at a dock or slip....

edit now ask what a marina is... Similar or the same as a landing.... A landing or marina may both have ramps but not always...

I'll include whether each launch is a landing or a ramp (where I can find that info) in future updates.

I get marina - that's where people park their boats more or less permanently, or for the duration of their visit, or something.

I'm running across launches that are labeled "landing" where there are no permanent or semi permanent parking places. But I guess there's place to tie a few boats up for a short time - maybe overnight. Whereas the ones labeled "ramp" (that I am familiar with) don't really have any place to park a boat for any length of time. At all.

I can see that it would be good to know that ahead of time.

it so there aren't any real rules.... These are just my observations as a boat owner or passenger on friends boats...

Also at landings you may also be able to purchase fuel and/or food & drink.... Which is also nice to know, that is if the info is available....

And the names do seem to be arbitrary.

I'll report to the file what I find as I find it. I don't think I can include too much info in a POI - like availability of fuel and such. How would the GPS report it? There's not that much space . . .

As a professional mariner and boater, my experience is that most people I know do NOT use their automotive-only GPS units on their boats.

There are some units (Garmin makes a couple of models) that can display both full road information w/POIs and also navigational quality chart information.

If boaters are using a GPS for their boats, they have an appropriate marine GPS with a (hopefully) recent electronic chart installed. Those marine charts (Navionics, C-Map, and Garmin Blue Chart are the most popular) have varying degrees of information on services at the facilities along the water.

My suggestion is to concentrate on the area where most of the people who frequent this site will get the most benefit. Locate the POIs on land near the road that will get them to the ramp/landing, etc. Maybe a second POI closer to the water can use a different icon for the type of service (i.e. fuel pump, restaurant, etc).

Just my two cents,

Joe

I agree with the post above. I'd never take my nüvi on the water. If I wanted to use a gps on a boat I'd take my 76CSx. It floats and is pretty waterproof. For use on a lake I'd use the maps for the water rather than land-based maps and those will (should) already have the ramp/launch/marina info.

thanks to both of you for your response. I'm using coordinates from the top of the ramp or as close to that as I can get, anyway.

As I said in my first post, I'm clueless about actual boating practices. I appreciate the input.

Cheri