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be sure to apply the parking brake, before you put transmission in park

X1000 [and take out of park before releasing].

WTF. Waiting for the OP's punchline. Hoping to God (for his sake) there is one?

Aw, leave the man alone! At least he asked!

The answer to his question is definitely put it into park and put the emergency brake on before you jump out to deal with the boat. When you go to pull away, put it into gear, let loose the emergency brake, and ease up the ramp to your spot where you can secure everything down.

Easy peasy.

Lol....i drive truck in low while my buddy gives the air boat about 4000rpm ...to help get the boat ...trailer...and the truck to dry land !

Depends on the size of your boat. If its not too big ideally just get the trailer in the water where you want it put the parking brake on, even add a wheel chock if you want to feel a bit safer. Then just push the boat off with a long enough rope that it can glide off and clear the trailer. Then pull the boat to the beach by hand. Good practice to tie the line to your trailer in case it glides away and you loose control of the rope. To load up do the reverse. Push the boat off the beach, pull it on to the trailer part way, hook up the winch line and pull the boat on the trailer. If your boat is too big to man handle like this you really need a helper especially as a newbie to this. After a couple dozen launchings you will probably figure out ways to do it yourself.

Side note- if any one's ever bored sit a lawn chair up at a boat ramp on a busy day at the beginning of the season. You'll soon learn all the things you don't want to do and witness a lot of drama!. Great entertainment, at one small place we lived in up the coast the local cable company ran a feed channel 24/7 from a camera at the boat launch. lol

I'm talking about a 14 ft. aluminum rowboat with a small outboard on it. Around 350 pounds total weight. On a sloping concrete ramp. I should have made that clear. I'm a first timer so the good advice is wecome. Thank you

Set the brake[but again, check it somewhere else first]

Perfect that's right where you want to be to learn the ropes. Doh! Biggest thing is go slow take your time and work through the steps. Trouble happens when people get in a hurry and flustered. The first thing I'd do is buy a good line, 1/2 or bigger rope so its easy on the hands and tie a that with a bowline knot (look that up) to the eye on the front of your boat. Then run it back under the boat and chop it off so its just short of ever getting tangled up in the prop. This line will live there never take it off. It should be just long enough to tie it off to mid way on the trailer or so and push your boat off to clear the trailer. Then just reel it back in to the beach or dock if there is one.

Another thing fubar find a place to practice with the trailer before you go to the ramp. Around your place or even go to an empty parking lot and practice backing in to stalls or whatever. It takes a bit to get a handle on backing up a trailer as the steering basically is backwards. A little trick to start off is put your hand on the BOTTOM of the steering when backing up and then turn the wheel from there the direction you want the trailer to go. If things go south, no worries just stop go ahead a bit till the trailer comes back in line then try it again.

Parking an auto transmission on a steep slope can cause transmission lock. You can't get it out of park because of pressure on the shift mechanism. Set the parking brake and let up on the brake pedal to put most of the weight on the parking brake. THEN put it in park. To move, put it in gear before releasing the brake.

I put it in park and set the parking brake when I back mine in at the boat ramp. If you're not sure if the parking brake will work then I'd exercise it a few times in the driveway before going to the boat ramp. If the brake won't work then I'd probably get a cheap wheel chock from harbor freight. As Salty says use a line tied to the front of the boat also tied to your vehicle when you push off the boat, that way it doesn't get away from you and you then untie the boat from the vehicle and walk it to the dock. It's pretty easy but pictures are better than words, there are a bunch of youtube videos that show how to do it. I got my first boat a couple of years ago and the youtube videos really helped me to learn solo loading and unloading, after a few runs it's no sweat now. Head to the boat ramp on a weekday (fewer people there) with no wind and practice getting it on and off the trailer, you'll pick it up in no time.

Ignore the jerkoffs with the condescending remarks here. I'm sure they were born knowing everything unlike the rest of us mortals that have to learn by asking and doing. Unfortunately for some being a jackass is somewhat synonymous with owning a boat. Don't be afraid to ask questions on this forum and there's a boating forum called The Hull Truth that has a lot of helpful people on it (unfortunately a few jackasses there like here too). It's not rocket surgery.

There are dozens of YouTube videos on the subject.

I've seen the beginnings of at least a dozen divorces over the years while watching husbands a wives launch or retrieve a boat.

Bingo! That's probably one of the most important things to remember to do at the boat ramp, along with remembering to put the plug in the boat.

Parking brakes are notorious for rusting, sticking and not grabbing very well if not used. At least find out how to unstick the parking brake before you try it or make sure a mechanic friend can come over and help before romping on the parking brake. Once stuck, the park brake can burn up the rear linings if driven very far. Might not be a bad idea to just have a shop check and lube the parking brake system, would be a lot cheaper than rolling into the water.

Besides the excellent tip to put your hand on the bottom of the steering wheel, here's one for pulling up the ramp after you've gotten the boat on the trailer:

Hold the brake pedal firmly with your LEFT foot, shift onto Drive, release the parking brake, then add gas with your RIGHT foot as you slowly let off the brake pedal. This prevents "rollback" into the water. Some new vehicles have "incline assist" which does this for you, but yours is not a new vehicle.

Ha! Yeah. Leave the woman home till you figure it out. I use the p brake and park, because I want to stay dry...I also use a long bow line, back deep enough to float most of it, hang onto the bow line, and give it a shove. Walk up the pier with bow line in hand, tie the boat off, park truck. On the way in, back to the required depth, walk the boat to the trailer with the long bow line, push it out to time lining up with the trailer. Trailer guides are a HUGE help. I'd get some. Walk to the front of the trailer, and pull on with the bowline.

the cat makes a good point. If you're handy jack up the rear of the van block it and take the back tires off. Work the E brake and see what all parts move to make it happen. Take a little paint brush and lube up the springs and moving parts careful not to get any oil near the brake shoes. Or take it to a shop should be a cheap deal as long as the brakes don't need re doing which if they do they do anyways.

It depends how big the boat is I think. I have never owned a boat bigger than 19' and launching and retrieving has never been and issue.