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I took my kayak out there the other day, and had a minor emergency. I managed to get my trolling motor stuck in some shallow vegetation, and my motor came off the transom. Took a bit of time getting the motor back on without taking on water in the back of the Nucanoe. It was getting closed to sun down, and I had to hustle to get back to the launch area before they closed the gate on me.
When I got there, the guy that closes the gate was there yelling that he would close the gate in 10 minutes. There were a few other kayakers packing up and I managed to get my stuff loaded on to the truck in time. I did not have enough time to safely strap everything in, but I did manage to move my stuff beyond the gate and avoid being locked in. The county employee just walked around acting like jerk, and he watched a young girl struggle to get her kayak to her car. You could tell she was feeling a bit panicked in fear that her car would get locked in.
He then shut the gate, walked up to a Loudoun police officer and let him know that he locked 3 cars in the parking lot. They both sat there and laughed about it.
It sucks that our tax dollars pay these guys. It makes me wonder what would have happened if I got stuck out there. It's not like either of them checked to see if everyone was alright or needed a hand.
I don't make a habit of staying out on the water too late. The only other time that I was out on the water that late was at Fountain Head and the staff there was very professional. They came down to ask me if I was alright, or if I needed a hand loading my boat on my trailer. The guy at Beaver Dam sat there and watched a young lady struggle to carry her kayak, and seemingly took pride in locking people in the parking lot.
What if the people in those 3 cars needed assistance? Did they even bother to check? Nope, they locked the gates and drove away.
If you head out to Beaver Dam, be sure to give yourself plenty of time to load your vehicle back up before dark. The county employees seem to get a kick out of locking your car behind the gate.
Last edited by gonefishing (May-24-16 9:47AM)
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You should call NVRPA and report this. It's not the county.
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thats terrible on so many levels. I definitely would've said something and reported it.
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That right there is a safety issue. Self serving staff and officials that don't understand the purpose of their positions. No matter the job, safety first!
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I sent a note to one of the managers at NVRPA. He was not happy and will get back to me later. I will put him in touch with JR.
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Thanks Ernie, I went ahead and sent him an email with my contact information.
Last edited by gonefishing (May-24-16 9:52AM)
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No gate issues on the Reservoir Rd side.
I might be able to get the name of that cop if interested.
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I was one of them that he locked in.....he did the same thing last Friday. We had to drive between trees to get our cars out. I was already out of the water and loading my Yak, when he proceeded to lock the gate. His response was "I'm Doing you a favor and to call the number listed on the ticket, bc the Patrol car has keys to the Gate". SMH........
Last edited by L73global (May-25-16 7:25AM)
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L73global wrote:
I was one of them that he locked in.....he did the same thing last Friday. We had to drive between trees to get our cars out. I was already out of the water and loading my Yak, when he proceeded to lock the gate. His response was "I'm Doing you a favor and to call the number listed on the ticket, bc the Patrol car has keys to the Gate". SMH........
JR is chatting with the chief of ops at NVPRA. No way that should be the attitude.
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Many times they are late opening the gate, I waited 20 minutes one morning.
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bill3648 wrote:
Many times they are late opening the gate, I waited 20 minutes one morning.
Need to let NVRPA know.....
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bill3648 wrote:
Many times they are late opening the gate, I waited 20 minutes one morning.
Like that at several parks. Waited 40 minutes after "official sunrise" to get into Occoquan this month on a Tuesday.
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I was a paying customer at the boat ramp last year and still got locked in with light left in the day. I was able to move a few big rocks to get out but was mad it happened. The best time to fish is as the sun is setting. There should be no reason to lock the gate that early. Bringing bolt cutters next time
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The guy who was locking boaters in, no longer closes BD.
I was told by his replacement and he apologized to me for what happened and agreed that it was unacceptable. I guess many folks complained, kudos to the Director for acting fast.
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L73global wrote:
The guy who was locking boaters in, no longer closes BD.
I was told by his replacement and he apologized to me for what happened and agreed that it was unacceptable. I guess many folks complained, kudos to the Director for acting fast.
Excellent!
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Good to see people taking action and helping to get this addressed. Sorry that some of you had to go through that; totally unacceptable behavior by those employees.
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