What is your worst day on the water?

[DeepCMark58A]

My most recent bad day was last year, had a friend and his family up for the day to tube and pontoon. 20 minutes in the ski boat goes down, have to have a kayak come out then paddled to get the pontoon, towing the ski boat the pontoon quits shifting. 2 boats down in an hour no water sports that day, I felt horrible, they were going to stay overnight they ended up going home.

 

[dingbat]

Back in the young and dumb days.
Buddy had a17’ tri-hull with a 100 hp Merc on the back. Followed the charter fleet to a hot bite about 30 miles down range

We’re happening. Catching fish, high fives amongst the crew. Then we noticed we were the only boat left in the area. Figured they caught their limit and went home.

Long story short, a storm warning was issued. Got beat to heck. Had a (green) crew member hang over the transom. Wave takes out the windshield, splitting the captains head wide open (10 stiches). Left me and the other guy bailing to keep the boat afloat . After what seemed like forever, the clouds part we finally made it back to the dock where we were greeted by an old salt (charter Capt) smoking a pipe. In his best James Cagney voice… didn’t think you all were going to make it.

 

[DeepCMark58A]

I sunk a Jon boat on the Mississippi should have never put that 9.9 on a 10 x 28 boat with electric start and a battery in the back, transom tore out.

 

[Ifishmuskie2]

Years ago.

Some captains make it interesting.
A friend got a boat but didn’t have a tow vehicle yet so he asked me to go. His dad had a boat so I figured he probably knew how to drive one. Four people and a baby load into an old 15’ runabout, closed bow with windshield. We round a point and the waves are over 4’. His wife is yelling at him to turn around but everything is ok. We are doing 2mph. He then goes full throttle and the boat goes up a wave and spears the next one. The bow is fully under and The water is 1’ up the windshield. To my surprise the boat comes up on top. It has about a foot of water in it and we head for the ramp.

 

[Jeff J]

Rafting down a normally benign river. Rains had the river high and flowing much faster than normal but still no rough water. We got caught in a tree and got flipped. The current pushed us under the tree. My buddy managed to get a hold of something on the bank but I surfaced a couple hundred feet downstream toward the middle of the channel. Naturally not wearing life jackets but I surfaced near one so I grabbed it and started swimming for my raft. Couldn’t catch it. Another raft in the group finally caught up and fished me out. My brand new raft was hung up on the end of an island the last time I saw it.

 

[kenny nunez]

One day in lake pontchartrain the wife and I were in or 16’ ski boat with a 135/t&t Johnson. There is a watering hole just in the yacht harbor entrance, so we were headed in when a 65’ footer came out, I had already slowed down and trimmed it in for the light chop but when the first wave raised the bow the next one put 2’ over the bow, and with no windshield we really took a bath. That cancelled the plans for the watering hole!

 

[FLATHEAD]

In my 20’s, my cousin and I and both our girls were on a lake in his bow rider. I was running the boat at a pretty good clip and misjudged a sizable wave we hit head on. He was in the bow seat. When the boat came back down, he stayed suspended in air. The bow bounced back up as he came down slamming him into the seat. Broke his back. He is a big dude and the paramedics had a heck of a time getting him out and in the ambulance, the floating dock didn’t help any. I raced back to the launch loaded up and headed to the hospital. I was a mess and lightly rear ended a pickup, but enough to ruin the front bumber of his beloved Camaro. Was a terrible day.
We are in our 60’s now and he has no back issues at all, thankfully.