OK.. Tell on yourself..

[mathiasmorgan]

We all love stories of nimrods that know nothing about boats and the things they do... But even experienced boaters make mistakes: What is the dumbest thing you've done with a boat..<br /><br />Mine was the time I took my daughter (who was 12 at the time) night fishing in my little 12 foot boat. (thank god it was a little boat). I launched the boat, and had her hold onto it while I parked the trailer. I had given her a small flashlight and warned her not to put it in the pocket of her lifejacket because it would fall out. Well sure enough, that is exactly what she did, and as soon as she bent over to hold the boat.. it tumbled out and into the water. I pulled the boat up to the edge of the ramp so we could try and get the flashlight with my fishing net. The entire time I'm having a hissy fit at her for not listening to me, rushing around without thinking what she was doing.. etc etc etc.<br />Finally got the flashlight back and turned around to find the back end of the boat underwater.. I forgot to put the plug in! <br /><br />We eventually got out and caught fish.. but I was too full from eating crow to enjoy it much..

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Re: OK.. Tell on yourself..

back in the mid 80's we just got the engine for our small runabout back from the mechanics.<br /><br />It was my job to mount it on the transom. I most have been distracted when I was doing the job. <br /><br />Later that day, while water skiing on the Hudson, near Poughkeepsie, the motor jumped its mounts and falls into the river, held only by the steering cables.<br /><br />We were in the middle of the shipping channel and a freighter was rapidly approaching us.<br /><br />Somehow we managed to get the engine remounted, and restarted before this could have turned into a real mess.

 

[gonfishn]

Re: OK.. Tell on yourself..

Buying one and thinkn that was it..never thought about all the jing it was going to cost me every time I started the darn thing. Lets not forget the cost factor when you screwed up doing all those dumb things we tend to do before and after we hit the water...such is the life of a pro...

 

[OBJ]

Re: OK.. Tell on yourself..

OK....I'm shamed into it....<br /><br />Now keep in mind I'm a mech....I DON'T DO DUMB THINGS.....I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING.<br /><br />Just rebuilt a 90 Rude last year that I got at a reasonable cost. Great says I...I'll put it on the StarCraft and the 50 on the toon.<br /><br />Rebuilt done...got to get it going...going fishing with my Dad in one week to John Kerr...(anual thing with the regulars). All put together...put her in the drive way for a little run time....TIME!!!! it's growing short. Need to get this bad boy rolling. Hook the ears up, pump the bulb...no leaks...good...hit the key.....POW!!!!!....BACK FIRE!!!!. CRAP!!! Now she won't even do a decent cough. Looking ....looking. HEY DUMMY!! YA GOT THE PORT POWER PACK HOOKED UP WRONG. Nuts...blew the head gasket and cracked an exhaust rib. Mount the 50 back on the StarCraft and go fishing. <br />It gets better or worse depending on if your reading or writing.<br />Have my favorite machinist bevel the crack. No problem. Put her back together. Runs like a champ.....until.....she herself and I are on the river and I can't get full throttle. Should hit 5.5k with no problem. HMMMMMMM.<br />Bring home some stuff from the shop to check compression, spark and the norm stuff. So....in the drive way...disconnect fuel line (got to be safe). Check spark...goood....compression...goood. Change out spark plugs for s*its and giggles. Grab she herself and the cooler and go to the river. <br />Launch is a well mastered routine between herself and me. She in the boat, I back her in and she starts the engine and off she goes. All is well. I walk back to the ramp and she is cranking and cranking the 90 to get it started.<br />What the ??????? I jump in. No start. Drifting. No start. Paddle to the ramp. Battery near dead. Set for a while and have a cold one. Nice folks on shore help us tie up. Well.....she wants to fish. Well....cold one gone....better go get the truck and load her up. OK says she....but wait....what's this I see??!! HEY DUMMY!!!!!! YA FERGOT TO RECONNECT THE FUEL LINE FROM THE DRIVE WAY TESTING!!!!<br />Hook it up....pump it up....battery got just enough left for a start. Waddaya know. Runs real good with gas. She gets to fish.<br />Just keep in mind....I'M A TRAINED PROFFESIONAL........right.

 

[SeaMasterZ@aol.com]

Re: OK.. Tell on yourself..

Jim ol buddy, I am a shrewd observer of humanity, and as most know by now, addicted to these posts<br /><br />that being said ... you wrote about that misadventure in a prior post<br /><br />and the thing within them that is your saving grace, is the very thing you forgot to mention this time<br /><br />Three Hints<br /><br />Itty Bitty<br /><br />teeny weeny<br /><br />yellow polka dot<br /><br />from the way you go on, hoooo boy, I would have been jumpin to get back on the river too, hit some wakes, lol<br /><br />

 

[catfish1]

Re: OK.. Tell on yourself..

i had a 14ft grumman jon boat, i took it to a paddle only lake for some trout fishing, so i put it in the water, and me and my 11yr old son go paddleing off, my wife is driving away. i'm about in the middle of the lake when i notice water in the floor. oh no! i forgot to put the plug in! so i'm rowing like a madman to the other side of the lake, (was closer) get the boat next to bank, and start thinking what am i going to do now! i dont have a plug, and i'm on the other side of the lake. well i scooped water for about 30 min and stuck a stick in it. it worked good for the rest of the day. now my son asks me every time before i launch, you got the plug in dad?

 

[chuckybaby]

Re: OK.. Tell on yourself..

The screws that hold my trolling motor batteries kept pulling out of the holes. Tried plastic anchors, bigger screws, you name it, couldn't get the **** things to hold. Finally decided to mount a peice of 3/4" plywood. Several 2" screws and a couple of applications of epoxy and this baby is solid in the bottom of the boat. Mount the batteries and head for the lake. We get to the ramp and the bony b**** won't come come off the trailer because it is screwed to the left bunk.

 

[mathiasmorgan]

Re: OK.. Tell on yourself..

Chuckybaby..<br />I spit coffee all over the desk reading that one... sounds like something I'd do!<br />George!!

 

[magster65]

Re: OK.. Tell on yourself..

I was alone this particular day, launched without the plug in and left the boat sitting at the dock while I parked the car and trailer. I walk back from the parking area to see the boat dangerously low in the water! I knew what I'd done right away. I run back up to the car, back it down ramp, quickly hooked it up and pulled it onto the trailer. I guess the weight was a little much for it, it bent the back of the frame at the rear roller down about 4"... basically ruining the thing (I did end up fixing it). The people watching really enjoyed the show.

 

[magster65]

Re: OK.. Tell on yourself..

Actually, after it had drained out, it launched nicely with the last roller lower than the others

 

[snapperbait]

Re: OK.. Tell on yourself..

Several years ago I decided to go see the annual Christmas boat parade on the Intracostal waterway in my 14' jon boat with 20hp evinrude... DUMB IDEA! <br /><br />It was quite fun untill...<br /><br /> 9:30-10:00 pm, Boat parade finishes up and everybody is racing for the boatramps and marinas... Many BIG BOATS, like 50' plus, throwing wakes easily 5' high... Here I am in a 14' jon boat in the middle of the ICW in the dark five miles from the ramp with these 50 footers bearing down on me while I'm just trying to keep on plane and upright without getting swamped... Nowhere to pull over.. Can't stop, I'd be run over for sure... If I get in the shallow water that'll really get me in trouble, can't turn around and go back.... No room for error... One wrong move and I'm sunk... Death grip on the tiller... Never been so scared in my life... Still to this day, I'm amazed that I made it home in one piece...<br /><br />The only way I can describe the mess... It was like being in the middle of eight lanes of 65mph freeway rush hour traffic on a skateboard...<br /><br />That was the dumbest think I ever did in a boat...

 

[OBJ]

Re: OK.. Tell on yourself..

OK...this is for Castawayray so don't know body look.....<br /><br />Ray...I knowd I posted it on NTDWB's forum....I jist wanted to show my ignorance to ALL the world. Maybe help someone in a similar zistion.<br /><br />And.....it ain't yellow and it ain't got pokka dots on it.....it's red, white and blue with little Mickey Mice on it......

 

[11 footer]

Re: OK.. Tell on yourself..

Can I tell on my uncle? <br /><br />A few years back someone owed my uncle money, they gave him a 70's try hull runnaboat. It was about 17 feet long.<br /><br />The floor was all rotted out, he had put a new outboard on it, so he wanted to fix the floor.<br /><br />He is not much of a handyman, the screws he used where alittle long...... Every screw he put in the floor when right threw the hull .<br /><br />He did not realize what he was doing untill he was finished with the whole thing. <br /><br />I still love to bust his balls over that.

 

[ebbtide176]

Re: OK.. Tell on yourself..

good story OBJ lol<br /><br />i have a gift. i can totally erase these kinds of things. since wifie isn't with me while boating much, it works out very well thank you <br /><br />but what snapperbait listed was the way i felt when out in my 17.6ft low slung bass/ski rig on july 4th this yr. the old dynatraks slope down in the front, and if you see one, you can attest to the fact that the bow is @ 4" of freeboard(when idling). 1st time out for this occasion, had a good friend, a woman who'd never liked boats, and was terrified of the water with us. i must've asked 5x if she'd like to go back to the little bay we launched from. nope- so we ventured out all the way (@ 1mi) to the islands for the fireworks. my wife & 4yr old were with us. i putted around fairly near to an island most of the time. they all(incl myself) were amazed at all the boats' lights in the dark. it looked like a parking lot. when the show was running down, i didn't realize it until all these boats started cruising by. <br /><br />it was scary for me with getting on/off the throttle the whole way back, to avoid getting a wake over the bow, but they thought it was great fun. we did take a wake over the bow, but it was off the main lake, going for the ramp. i let the other husband with us drive, and he didn't compensate for the front riders. no prob though, i got mucho powerful bail motor these days. he's an old marina guy, just not practiced lately it was all-in-all a very wonderful cruise

 

[Larry Carnahan]

Re: OK.. Tell on yourself..

My first time out with my first boat I was launching and told my wife to put a dock line on a bow cleat. I didn't know she would just loop it over the cleat without securing the line. I handed the other end of the line to my son and told him to hold it. I launched the boat and took the truck to park. When I got back to the ramp my son was standing there holding the end of the dock line and the other end was in the water. I looked out and saw my boat floating out on and outgoing tide about 1/4 mile from the ramp. I told him that I told him to hold on and he said he was. The next guy in line told me that he would run me out to the boat and I jumped in, only to discover 6" of water in the bottom - guess who forgot to put in the plug. Well, I finally got the plug in, the water drained, the motor started and went back to the ramp. I said I was going home after that experience and was cranking the boat up onto the trailer when the winch handle slipped out of my hand. It whacked me on the ring finger of my left hand and I had to have my wedding band cut off. What a great first day on the water.

 

[dinsdale]

Re: OK.. Tell on yourself..

First test run after hull repairs. New hitch on Van as my truck died. Hooked up trailer and wiring harness. Tested lights. No lights. 4 fuses blown! Hmmm. Replace fuses, disconnect harness. Test lights. 4 fuses blown. Replace fuses, test lights. All OK now. Hook up harness. All OK.<br />Pull out onto road, put turn signals on. 4 Fuses blown. Brother remembers that he was worried about the harness when I closed the tailgate.<br />I check and the harness was wedged between the latch and post.2 wires exposed. Fix with electrical tape. <br /><br />Now I take more care when closing the tailgate.<br /><br />Took 1 1/2 hours to figure out and 12 fuses!

 

[mellowyellow]

Re: OK.. Tell on yourself..

early in the season, was anchored off a point jiggin<br />for smallies. had wife and 3 kids in the boat.<br />gets to be time to go; "all lines in"... gotta<br />stow stuff properly etc.... <br />finally everyone is ready to go! (took forever)<br />start her up, hit throttle... but I ain't moving<br />AT ALL???? what's wrong? <br />being the genious I am, I push the throttle forward<br />a bit and after 5 seconds she takes off like she<br />should.<br />about halfway to the ramp, I figure out nobody<br />ever brought up the anchor.... <br />feces occurs,<br />M.Y.

 

[n0ukf]

Re: OK.. Tell on yourself..

So, did you break the rope or drag the anchor?

 

[mellowyellow]

Re: OK.. Tell on yourself..

snapped rope.... lucky it was short enough didn't wrap the prop.

 

[Skiuseme]

Re: OK.. Tell on yourself..

When I first got my jon boat I went out to the landing with a buddy to go and catch some walleyes. Well we get the boat off the trailer and into the water. Alright it doesnt leak(yes we remembered the plug). Well ok now its time to hook up the gas line. ok thats done. Start pulling on the cord. 30 minutes and a few hundred cuss words later it wouldnt start. ok pull the boat out of the water. Looked it over until we found that the darn gas line was going the wrong way. We fliped it around and it started on the first pull.