stupid boating mistake

[Carrel]

As long as the boat is moving forward (rapidly) through water the water in the boat will get sucked out through the drain plug hole. The plug in my boat only gets removed for winter storage- during the summer it stays in.

[dkff49]

Kedge. Swim, with the anchor on a float like a couple of life jackets, out the entire length of your rhode, drop the hook and then haul yourself off. I used to routinely drop a kedge on the way in to a beach anyway. Tides, 'n all...

i'll try to give tht a shot next time

thanks

[ROX]

Was out in Harrison, TN and my friend was testing a new propeller.

Along comes a couple of guys with a brand-spankin-new boat.  Not reallly a bass boat, more of a racer/wakeboarding boat.

They back in and let the boat slide off and his buddy drives the van forward.  The guy in the boat (he's got a ropeline) comes back ashore and they prepare the stuff totransfer to the boat when one of them notices the boat is really low in the water.  "There's a lot of water in the back!" on screams and it's only a few inches from the motor.  The boat guy now WALKS on water (apparently) and runs out to the boat--gets in--and guns it while the van buddy backs the trailer back into the river.  They just barely made it before the brand new boat sank.

Knowing where the plug is......not QUITE proceless.





Bruce

[john9001]

i never used the drain plug, thats what bilge pumps are for.

[Hornet33]

I've seen too many boating mishaps to count. Some of the best though:

Guy backing down the ramp with the boat already unhooked from the trailer. Stops his truck, boat rolls off trailer and slams onto the boat ramp 15 ft from the water.

My dad backs the boat in but forgets to unhook the stern straps from the trailer. Trailer is floating under the boat. Dad tries to back boat off trailer, guns the engine and starts pulling the truck into the lake.

My dad backs the boat down the ramp to the waters edge. Unhooks the boat from the trailer but forgets to tie off guide line to boat. Backs boat into water, boat floats off trailer with no one in it. Watch boat float in the boat bay for 30 minutes before someone tows it over the the dock for us. At 9 years old dad decides I'm old enough to drive the boat off the trailer from now on when we go fishing

While stationed onboard the USCGC Scioto in Keokuk IA we were underway and had our 20ft john boat tied off on the portside of the work barge while steaming up river. The BM1 decides he wants to work a buoy on the starboard side of the barge. We hook onto the bouy and start dragging it around to get it back on station. While backing down and watching the bouy the stern line on the 20ft parts, the stern goes under in 18ft of water and the engines get burried into the mud, $35000 worth of ATON gear is lost over the side. Fuel cans, seats, life jackets and all manner of gear is floating down river, and the BM1 is yelling at us because we weren't watching the boat. He was an idiot.

While at the beach at Tom Stead lake in Oklahoma watch a guy trying to bring his boat into the beach. My friend yells to the guy to watch out for the rocks. Guy yells back, "What?" Tom even louder now, "Dude there are rocks right there!!!" pointing right in front of the guys boat. Guy, "What??", Tom at the top of his lungs, "Dude you are about to hit the rocks!!!! Stop your boat!!!!" BOOM!! Bang, bang, bang.  Hole in the bottom of the boat, busted prop, and cracked skeg on the lower unit. Guy, "Why didn't you guys tell me there were rocks there?"

Have plenty more.

[SpazMan]

      

[eskimo2]

I once buried the nose of my 19' boat in big surf and flipped it end over end.

In Homer Alaska back in about 1978 I saw a guy stand up in the back of his small skiff and gun his outboard engine.  There was good chop and the boat pretty much stood up on end and sunk straight down.  It ended up capsized with the keel barely out of the water.  The man and his wife held on to the capsized boat.   Alaskan water is so cold that summer life expectancy is 15 minutes; some people go into shock almost instantly however.  About 100 people on the beach just watched as the man and his wife called for help.  After a minute or so of watching adults do nothing I grabbed someone's inflatable Zodiac and drug it down to the surf.  About halfway down the beach a drunk guy helped me.  There was one paddle; the drunk took it and I paddled with my hand.  The breakers kept pushing us back, however.  After a couple minutes of this I jumped out and pushed us past the surf and then climbed in.  We paddled like mad.  We were about half way to the people when someone on the shore got a skiff with a motor in the water and went out the rescue the couple.  They towed the drunk and I back as well.  I was 13 and couldn't swim, but I couldn't watch people die either.

[FTDEEP]

i had a 17' bayliner. left the plug out, didnt winterize it, left the straps on when i was trying to launch it almost loosing my truck. jumped off it in lake michegan..almost lost it by wind dragging it away from me.swam like tarzan for that one. i once parked it w/motor running and jumped off the back to get ready for skiing. well i left it in gear, when i came up i got hit in the mouth by the engine as the prop tore my knee up. could see the bone. it was alot of fun driving home with a clutch. that 17' bayliner would just eat the waves up in a big lake. i would take it out in a storm and drive down the coast to waukegan..catch a buzz in front of the waukegan nuke plant. god i miss that boat. hopefully getting another one this fall. first day i had it, i took it to a small lake at 7p.m.. it was butyfull out and not a soul on the lake. i'm thinkin how could all these people pass up a boat ride this time of night. so i gave it gas and noticed a little red light following me. i soon learned lake rules after that..... when i got pulled over there were 2 fisherman laughing thier butts off. the sheriff kicked them off the lake for the night for laughing at me. we both learned valuble lessons that night.

[SKYGUNS]

feels good not to be alone...

[nirvana]

Ah yes boating mistakes...not so funny anymore.



Hornet:  My MK3 just went to the Scioto.

[68Wooley]

Amateurs the lot of you 

[SKYGUNS]

the embarrassment would have to be the next worst thing to the cost, wouldn't you agree?

[nirvana]

I saw a 'boating accident' today that would put the whole thread to shame.  And yes, the cost will definitely be worse than the embarrassment.

[deSelys]

I was expecting Nilsen to show up in this thread... 

[Ripsnort]

Probably the  most common boating mistake.  I've seen so many people do this that I've learned to put the plug in BEFORE I leave the house.

The second most common mistake I've seen out in these parts is watching folks attempt to back their trailers up in a straight line while launching.  Sometimes its comical.