Have you ever been in trouble on the water in your boat?

[highN'dry]

Re: Have you ever been in trouble on the water in your boat?

Weather scares me, I keep a close eye. I may get XM Weather, boater off and on most of my life but storms and fire are the two big ones that scare me.

We were caught out in our Boston Whaler years ago out of Galveston, storm came out of nowhere, not in forecast, it was small but intense. Several times the boat was filled with water so much that the boat actually went below the water from stem to stern and green water washed over. Fortunately the self bailing cockpit, open transom and legendary BW buoyancy and seaworthiness held the day as it was certainly not my skill.

Inlets scare the c--- out of me too and when you have a shallow inlet, out going tide and good size waves/wind on shore then you can get some very impressive standing waves. These things are dangerous to small boats and can set you on hard bottom, cover you with the next wave or pitch pole your boat. I like to avoid such things nowadays.

Lakes in general, aside from the Great Lakes, lol, just don't get me worked up, fire is still an issue, storms worry me if there is lightening of course, other than that, bring it on.

 

[WAVENBYE2]

Re: Have you ever been in trouble on the water in your boat?

My question is has anybody been in trouble or had close calles in their boat?
You know grounding, running out of gas on the water, bad weather sneaking up on you, getting lost, you name it.

ALL the above and then some, I think the coolest thing that got my blood pumping was when my boat ran out of gas above the lock & dam heading back toward Paducah river front, current was about 6 knotts that day and no way i was going to paddle it towards shore(tried that) so I just kept floating down river and was very close to the wickets so I grabbed my anchor(which I lost) and threw it up stream held the rope until anchor caught instead of dragging in the mud and tied it on the bow chuck, flipped bow of the boat facing up river so I would go backwords down the wickets and water would rush under the bow not on top of the stern into the boat and sink me(didn't know what else to do) and it worked beautifully, lost anchor and rope but better that than boat and possibly being pinned under the rush on the bottom of the river where the catfishes eyes are as big as a headlight on a volks wagon, so I untied the rope and went over(succesfully) a man in a pontoon boat saw tha whole thing and towed me over the were I wanted to go, at the foot of the damn where a dirt road leads from Shooter's supply where people fish(AND I) and called a friend to bring me some gas.
Tons of fun for every one!

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Have you ever been in trouble on the water in your boat?

ran straight up #1, dove down the back to see 6' of green water inches from the bow light

Pretty close to my near death experience. We were trying to get back to the marina in 4-5' waves (which wasn't a problem, been there before) when we saw a set of 4- 6+' waves coming at us. No way to jog around them and at the top of #1 I looked down and thought, whoa crap were going down there. Bow was just inches away from the face of #2, 3 and 4. After that, we found the nearest cove and waited for the wind to die down.

I blew the engine in my boat 20 miles from the marina, middle of December, middle of the week, no one around... I was worried about how we were going to get back, but nothing compared to those 6' waves.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Have you ever been in trouble on the water in your boat?

I've run out of gas once, not really my fault, it was a new boat, not mine, with two bad gauges. Nothing more than some mosquito bites while waiting for a buddy to bring out some gas.
I've had a few bad storms sneak up on me, mostly when trying to sneak in a few hours of fishing just before it got bad. Luckily I've always gotten back in safe. Maybe a bit rattled, but in one piece.
I was on board a boat for an initial test run which split it's hull open at the forward keel. After some argumentative force, I beached the boat very much against the owners will. What I found was a 4' split in the hull right down the keel. The fact that it stayed afloat long enough to make it to the shore amazed me. The owner who was driving all but refused to believe me when I said it was sinking. I was about 17 at the time, but luckily bigger and more persuasive than the owner/driver that day. We sat about an hour on the river bank half sunk until a patrol boat came along. The 24'+ boat was eventually recovered from the muddy river bank with a trailer and several wreckers.

As to the original post, I too pretty much traded bikes for boats, but I'm still tempted every time a bike deal come around. I've had far too many friends killed or seriously hurt on 2 wheels, none of which were really their fault. I myself have been hit several times but got lucky. I'll take my chances on the water from now on, at least for now.

 

[electricjohn]

Re: Have you ever been in trouble on the water in your boat?

Navigating through Hells Gate on the East River in NYC in my 14 foot runabout. Waves were so big that I could not see the skyscappers of Manhatten when I was in the bottom of the swells. I take this boat out into the ocean, but these waves in Hells Gate were 5 times as bad that day. My boat actually had trouble getting over them, then once on top, I had to come down at an angle so my bow wouldn't nosedive into the next swell, swamping me.

 

[charkelly]

Re: Have you ever been in trouble on the water in your boat?

I have had no problems where i currently live. Not many boats at all. BUt back when i was a kid i went to a private lake in Illinois called Apple Canyon lake 480 acres 80 ft deep. The only way to get on the lake is the at the marina launch or if you already have a dock location around the lake. Every weekend this small lake and small 2 boat boat launch there is roughly 100 boats trying to get on the lake. Every time i remember we were so tense because we would pull up to park someone would jump in front of us. Ect ect. Then i remember tubing. It was a blast but scary on the weekends. For maybe 280 acres of the lake is no wake. So there would be 50 boats pulling skis and tubes and i remember one time tubing i hit a wave at least 6ft and my dad stopped the boat then and while i was in the air i almost hit the boat i launched so far. Small lakes alot of boats. Dangerous!!!!

 

[45Auto]

Re: Have you ever been in trouble on the water in your boat?

Most of you guys seem to have a different opinion than I do of what "trouble on the water" means. I would classify almost all of the above posts as the equivalent of a "hangnail on the water", or maybe an "inconvienience on the water" ........

 

[BWR1953]

Re: Have you ever been in trouble on the water in your boat?

I did run aground one time in my Bass Tracker. A buddy and I spent a long day fishing on Potholes Reservoir in Washington in 1985. That impoundment is used for agricultural irrigation and the lake level had dropped several feet during the day while we were out. We didn't realize it at the time of course.

We were cruising along at about 30mph on the way back to the dock when the boat just stopped. We didn't get thrown out or anything, just leaned forward hard. My buddy got out and shoved us off the sandbar and we went on about our business. No problem really, just surprised us.

 

[jdlough]

Re: Have you ever been in trouble on the water in your boat?

Japanese submarine slammed two torpedoes into our side, Chief. We was comin' back from the island of Tinian to Leyte... just delivered the bomb. The Hiroshima bomb. Eleven hundred men went into the water. Vessel went down in 12 minutes. Didn't see the first shark for about a half an hour. Tiger. 13-footer. You know how you know that when you're in the water, Chief? You tell by looking from the dorsal to the tail. What we didn't know, was our bomb mission had been so secret, no distress signal had been sent. They didn't even list us overdue for a week. Very first light, Chief, sharks come cruisin', so we formed ourselves into tight groups. You know, it was kinda like old squares in the battle like you see in the calendar named "The Battle of Waterloo" and the idea was: shark comes to the nearest man, that man he starts poundin' and hollerin' and screamin' and sometimes the shark go away... but sometimes he wouldn't go away. Sometimes that shark he looks right into ya. Right into your eyes. And, you know, the thing about a shark... he's got lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll's eyes. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be living... until he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white and then... ah then you hear that terrible high-pitched screamin'. The ocean turns red, and despite all the poundin' and the hollerin', they all come in and they... rip you to pieces. You know by the end of that first dawn, lost a hundred men. I don't know how many sharks, maybe a thousand. I know how many men, they averaged six an hour. On Thursday morning, Chief, I bumped into a friend of mine, Herbie Robinson from Cleveland. Baseball player. Boatswain's mate. I thought he was asleep. I reached over to wake him up. Bobbed up, down in the water just like a kinda top. Upended. Well, he'd been bitten in half below the waist. Noon, the fifth day, Mr. Hooper, a Lockheed Ventura saw us. He swung in low and he saw us... he was a young pilot, a lot younger than Mr. Hooper. Anyway, he saw us and he come in low and three hours later a big fat PBY comes down and starts to pick us up. You know that was the time I was most frightened... waitin' for my turn. I'll never put on a lifejacket again. So, eleven hundred men went in the water; 316 men come out and the sharks took the rest, June the 29th, 1945. Anyway, we delivered the bomb.

 

[45Auto]

Re: Have you ever been in trouble on the water in your boat?

^^^^^^^^^^ If you were on the Indianapolis, I think you could legitimately claim that as a "problem" .......

 

[jdlough]

Re: Have you ever been in trouble on the water in your boat?

Yeah, 45Auto, I thought that was more of what you had in mind for trouble on the water. Just in case anyone didn't get it, that was Quint's speech from "Jaws"

Jim

 

[david_r]

Re: Have you ever been in trouble on the water in your boat?

Yeah, 45Auto, I thought that was more of what you had in mind for trouble on the water. Just in case anyone didn't get it, that was Quint's speach from "Jaws"

Jim

the whole time i was reading it i was racking my brains trying to remember quints name lol............. yep thats what i call trouble.

i have had my fair share of scrapes ............gotten out of them by being prepared though.

back in the winter we ran across some people having a bad day...... i didnt post it when it happened cause i didnt know if the guys it happened to where members and thought they may post it or keep it a secret , their choice........... but i think it falls into this catagory of bad days and the necessity for boaters to help each other in times of need........ ill have to say i wasnt prepared for this though. http://www.sequoyahcountytimes.com/...969099-Heroic+efforts+avert+possible+tragedy-
........... the whole time this was going on we were sitting sideways with 3' waves coming at us... and my bassboat has very little free board to stern.

one of the main factors of the whole ordeal is one of the men weighed 400# and the one in the wheel chair weighed 450#........... yes they got a ticket for being over-loaded..... and the lake patrol was the last one on the scene.

so yes boating is just as dangerous as biking...... i would do both but the wife has this idea one day ill die on a bike...... i tell her "not if you keep on stopping me from buying another " .......lol

 

[SeanT]

Re: Have you ever been in trouble on the water in your boat?

(...) You know that was the time I was most frightened... waitin' for my turn. I'll never put on a lifejacket again. So, eleven hundred men went in the water; 316 men come out and the sharks took the rest, June the 29th, 1945. Anyway, we delivered the bomb.

LOL

You win.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Have you ever been in trouble on the water in your boat?

Speaking of JAWS...

Having the transom torn off your trawler by a 20' shark would be a bad day.

(Wonder if the ORCA had soaked foam and a rotten transom The way those cleats tore out, I think Quint was a tad behind on his preventative maintenance)

 

[lakelover]

Re: Have you ever been in trouble on the water in your boat?

The last time I can remember having trouble on the water so that I needed help was when I was about 15. Man was that really almost 40 years ago

?!? I jumped in the boat and took off from the dock, showing off for the rest of the family around the picnic table. I was tearing up the bay when all of a sudden, the motor stopped dead. OK, no problem I'll just row back in. Looked around...no oars. That's when I noticed that I had a gas line...but no tank! Took me years to live that down, my brother in law who towed me in never let me forget it. But I learned a valuable lesson that day. I've also been lucky, I guess.

On Memorial Day weekend this year, I interrupted my dinner to help some stranded boaters whose motor had quit. Took the guy about 1/4 mile in very rough water, struggled to hook up his boat without grounding myself or hitting his boat, about a 21 footer with three other passengers aboard. Got it hooked up, fought the waves and a shallow rocky area, got to the other side of the lake and towed them about 3 miles to the only boat launch, me with my 14' tinny and 9.9 motor. It took about 45 minutes.

When we got there, they were truly grateful and appreciative, tried to give me money, which I refused. I told them to just help out someone else some time. They wanted my email address so they could send me a note of thanks. Well, I never did hear from them, but that's OK. I know I've probably neglected to follow through on something that seemed the most important thing in the world when it happened, and then time went by, and gradually I thought it was too late to be relevant (not in boating though). Funny how that happens. I guess we all came out on top, they got home and I felt good about helping them.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Have you ever been in trouble on the water in your boat?

Very often, the difference between trouble on the water and "a hangnail" on the water, is one small event, one small item not thought of in advance, one bit of safety gear not purchased or used.

The marine environment is not a good place to become complacent.

 

[airmail]

Re: Have you ever been in trouble on the water in your boat?

Many years ago before I knew anything about boating I rented a 10 hp boat at Ascetic bay. Got stuck on a sand bar just got out and pushed it off no problem. On the way back to the rental dock I had to cross close by a whirlpool then go out in the bay to get back to the dock. I was fighting a current and not moving anywhere. Out in the ocean there was a big ocean liner but it looked far away. After fighting the current for awhile and not making any headway my wife asks if everything was alright. Sure honey no problem. Just then a very very very loud horn sounds and I look around and that ocean liner is right on my tail. I couldn't go back because of the whirlpool to close. Some how I got 100 hp out that 10 hp motor and made it across out of the way of that very big ship. Then after it passed I crossed the bay into the dock and promised myself never to get in a boat without at least 100 horses behind me. My first boat has a 130 of them.

 

[wellsc1]

Re: Have you ever been in trouble on the water in your boat?

Clogged fuel line in 8-foot seas about 10 miles offshore. Boater safety training taught me to get boat safe first. I set anchor and let out all the line I had to have best scope on the rode. After fixing fuel line well enought for engine to run, we headed safely back to shore.

On another trip offshore, dense fog set in and LORAN chain quit. Knowing our position, I used a map with TD lines to find our location then used compass for dead-reckoning back to shore... at minimum speed mind you.

 

[barataria]

Re: Have you ever been in trouble on the water in your boat?

I have small children and a small boat that I use to fish in the gulf. I am considering the purchase of a Emergency Position Indicating Radiobeacon to carry. They are a little pricey, but not having one when you need it would be much more costly.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Have you ever been in trouble on the water in your boat?

Saturday night, just me and my wife, running across a large shipping harbor with no moon, wind at 25 blowing opposite the tide to make the waves stand up, a choppy sloppy mess and too dark to read. Can't see the pilings, crab pots, and barely lit dredge equipment scattered about. And then it happened, that which all mariners fear. I tipped my head back a little and my favorite hat blew off. With the dark night and dark color, we just gave it one pass and then had to abandon it. I forgot to hit the MOB. Tragic. the thought of it drifting away out there....