RICHARD5
Petty Officer 2nd Class
- Joined
- Aug 8, 2009
- Messages
- 150
The 70 gallons thread reminded me of this one:
We pull up to the fuel dock in a converted Viet Nam era minesweeper. A sport boat pulls in at our bow and the sole occupant throws a half assed half hitch around a piling. He completes the normal procedure to begin fueling. Fueling commences and he scurries off to buy some ice leaving his boat unattended. I treid to tell him he better secure his boat in a better manner but he shoots me this look that says, Kid, I know what I'm doing. At the time I was in my mid-20s and he was about 2x my age.
Sure enough, the current pulls his boat out from the dock because the single bow line slipped it's hitch. All that is connecting the boat and dock is the fuel hose. The nozzle jams into the fuel port but I can hear scraping of bronze on steel. I scramble onto the dock and throw a lasso out to his boat and start pulling to reduce the strain on the fuel hose.
There is some shouting on the dock which catches the skipper's attention. He runs down the inclined ramp cursing the whole way. He tells me to leave his boat alone. So I free my line from his boat and since we are ready to back away from the dock I hop aboard and watch him from our bow.
That's when the fuel nozzle--still pumping--slips out of his fuel port. Now the hose is sinking at the nozzle but the hose is snaking back and forth across the water. The dock mgr hits emergency shut-off and calls us back to the dock. My skipper says nope, not until you guys clean up your cluster. The boat owner starts cussing across the water and threatens to call the USCG, etc. I simply point to the rainbow sheen on the water and shake my head at his idiocy.
A couple weeks later I found out that boat owner had included in his report to the Harbor Master that I had sabotaged his boat and the whole thing was my fault. The HM laughed at this clown because he knew us and our operation and there were about 10 witnesses, most were retired Navy or commercial operators.
We pull up to the fuel dock in a converted Viet Nam era minesweeper. A sport boat pulls in at our bow and the sole occupant throws a half assed half hitch around a piling. He completes the normal procedure to begin fueling. Fueling commences and he scurries off to buy some ice leaving his boat unattended. I treid to tell him he better secure his boat in a better manner but he shoots me this look that says, Kid, I know what I'm doing. At the time I was in my mid-20s and he was about 2x my age.
Sure enough, the current pulls his boat out from the dock because the single bow line slipped it's hitch. All that is connecting the boat and dock is the fuel hose. The nozzle jams into the fuel port but I can hear scraping of bronze on steel. I scramble onto the dock and throw a lasso out to his boat and start pulling to reduce the strain on the fuel hose.
There is some shouting on the dock which catches the skipper's attention. He runs down the inclined ramp cursing the whole way. He tells me to leave his boat alone. So I free my line from his boat and since we are ready to back away from the dock I hop aboard and watch him from our bow.
That's when the fuel nozzle--still pumping--slips out of his fuel port. Now the hose is sinking at the nozzle but the hose is snaking back and forth across the water. The dock mgr hits emergency shut-off and calls us back to the dock. My skipper says nope, not until you guys clean up your cluster. The boat owner starts cussing across the water and threatens to call the USCG, etc. I simply point to the rainbow sheen on the water and shake my head at his idiocy.
A couple weeks later I found out that boat owner had included in his report to the Harbor Master that I had sabotaged his boat and the whole thing was my fault. The HM laughed at this clown because he knew us and our operation and there were about 10 witnesses, most were retired Navy or commercial operators.