Between loving and hating what the county did to the boat launches. I went down to go fishing this morning (didn't go, because a storm popped up on my drive down), and when I got there, the boat ramp had been completely redesigned. About 2 years ago, the state put in 2 new launches in a popular bay behind the barrier islands. Before this, the existing launches were sort of "local" hideouts, because they weren't in high visibility places, and had no signage. The new state launches are fee-based (I think $5 a pop). When I got down to the old, out of the way county launch I always use (it is VERY out of the way), I found it had been completely redesigned. It was basically a filled and paved bulkhead, about 100'x60', with the actual ramp in an awkward location around the corner, facing the marsh. If you had a boat bigger than about 16', you were going to have problems making the turn in the marsh to get out to the bay, and if it was low tide, you weren't gonna do it in more than a 14' with the motor up.
Now, the ramp faces directly out toward the bay, a straight shot, and the thing was jammed full of bigger trailers, pontoon trailers, and lots of vehicles. And it was a cluster, all of the people trying to get off the water because of the storm. I had never before seen anything beyond 2 vehicles there, and some people crabbing, that's about it. Now, it's "usable" for a lot more boats. The bad part is that the launch faces directly into the prevailing winds, facing NE toward the ocean, so your boat's gonna get pounded up against the bulkhead while you're parking the trailer.
The reason I'm torn is that I was talking to a couple of the old timers, and they said the county had redone the boat ramps on the back bay to get people to use them instead of the state ramps, just to poke them in the eye so to speak. That part I like. But I can't help but think that these new, bigger ramps run by the county aren't going to "magically" become fee-based before it's over with. They don't do anything for free. Charging to use their old launches would've been an insult, but these new ones are nice. I suspect my days of "free" are coming to a close.