Worst boating situation you have encountered

[fishrdan]

Re: Worst boating situation you have encountered

I had my old 16' SeaSwirl tri-hull on Lake Mohave and we decided to head back when the 2-3' chop was smacking the hulls annoyingly. The 2-3' waves turned into 3-4'ers as the wind picked up and since we saw spray blowing into the boat I had the bilge pump running. After an hour the engine died because the bilge filled up,,, a bug nest plugged up the bilge pump discharge hose. When we finally got back on the lake the waves were 4-5', a bit nerve racking, but the boat had been through it before. We were chugging along, quartering the waves, when I looked up and saw a set of 6 (7?) foot waves heading dead at us. There was no trying to skirt around this set of waves and quartering them looked dangerous so I took them on head on... Cresting the first one, we went into the trough with the bow licking at the face of the next wave by 6". The next one was the same with the bow licking the face of the next wave by 6". Then the engine decides to die again! We limped over to a cove on the trolling motor as we had enough.

I was fishing in the canyons below Hoover Dam, midnight, when a thunderous sound broke the silence, like a herd of elephants was crashing down the canyon wall... I didn't hear anything hit the water but pointed my 14' jonboat in the direction of the sound in case there was a big wave coming. Nothing happened, but I've always thought, what would happen if a big chunk of rock broke off and fell into the water. Kind of freaky as it was pitch black and I couldn't see anything in the darkness. In the morning I checked out what the noise way and is was a land slide, luckily, it didn't make it to the water. I wouldn't want to be around if a big chunk of the canyon wall fell into the river.

 

[kahuna123]

Re: Worst boating situation you have encountered

1. Boat on fire 30 miles out. Eprib in one hand my 10 year old in the other.
2. Lost one engine due to fuel filter in the channel to home. Went through a waterspout. Boat behind me said I disappeared. Blew all the eye-n-glass out. Could not see the bowrail. Went out of the channel. Ran aground. Thank God it was high tide. Just bend two props. One of the few times I really felt out of control.
3. Bringing a 35ft Luhrs from St. Augustine to Clearwater. Came out of the lock into the big lake. 30mph from the North. Very shallow and very nasty waves. Guy 1/4 ,mile in front of me in a blow boat is screaming on the radio. Got in front of a marina and one big wave hits the concrete wall and comes back and meets the next one right under the boat. We go up 8-10ft and come down on our side. Port outrigger is in the water. Sure happy that boat had heavy twins way down low and she righted.
4. Left from the Middle Grounds 80 miles out into hard East wind 6ft no back crap for 6 hours. Pro Sport is out of business for good reasons. That boat was such an eggshell I expected it come apart at anytime. 4 strokes are not made to run in those conditions.
5. Fishing at 4 AM in the grounds 70 miles out. Long story short my friend gets hit in the face by a cuda that skied. I hear the the noise and come out of the cabin. He's laying on the deck asking me if he still has an eye. What saved him was he was wearing glasses and the cuda still had the stolen snapper in its mouth when it hit him. We can't reach shore with the VHF so I raise a friend who is commercial that is out there that can. Coast Guard is on standby with a chopper if we can't stop the bleeding. It was a LONG 4 hour ride home and 40 stitches later he's ok. That one made the St. Pete Times,
There are many more.
Now that I think about it. I was never scared in my 26ft Dusky. I never, never,never should have sold that boat. Perkins diesel 22knts and could not burn 30 gallons in a day. Never let me down in 12 years. Never in the worst stuff did I ever feel unsafe.

 

[sasto]

Re: Worst boating situation you have encountered

I'm enjoying this thread. I wish I could respond to each of the threads. These are good.

I have another one.

We left Michigan just after 9/11. I had to travel the Hudson and pass the towers. They were still smoking and the mate and myself didn't speak a word. We were speachless.

We left NC after a fuel stop late in the evening, deciding to reach Jacksonville by daylight for fuel and a couple days rest. I hit the rack about 2 hours out. The mate slowed the boat down and this woke me up. I figured we were in J-Ville. I opend my hatch for some fresh air. I heard over a speaker system ashore announcing if we didn't turn back we were going to be fired upon. The mate in the enclosed flybridge didn't hear what was going on. I stuck my head out the hatch and there were guns pointed at us, big 'uns! We were in the Mayport Naval Station. The mate made a wrong turn. If anybody has ever been in that inlet, they understand how this could have happened.

I headed atop and we quickly turned around after I hailed them on 16.

We ended up at Mayport Marina, washed down the boat, and headed to the pub for a brew.

 

[Av8nBill]

Re: Worst boating situation you have encountered

Not as bad as some of these, but scary enough for me. And, yes, my name is Bill and I'm a reformed JetSkier. :facepalm::redface:

Was out on Lake Benbrook by myself on a Kawasaki 650 JetSki and weather was overcast but not bad. Wind started to pick up and I was out near the middle of the lake, so I decided to basically pin the throttle and head in. I was more or less airborne about half the time, just skipping the tops of the ever-growing whitecaps when I caught one wrong and was tossed off.

The old original JetSkis didn't have a lanyard, they would just circle at idle once you fell off. That's fine and dandy unless you fall off at full throttle and the ski goes 50 yards upwind before it drops to idle so it can start to circle. To add insult to injury, every time it started to turn a wave caught it and straightend it out so it was just idling straight away from me. I chased it until I couldn't swim anymore and was thankful I had a good life jacket. About the time I started to swim for shore with the idea that I'd just walk around to wherever it washed up after running out of gas it finally coughed and died.

I was able to catch it and rest in the back till I caught my breath, get it re-started and slowly return to the marina. Last time I went out alone.

 

[AZBoatDreamer]

Re: Worst boating situation you have encountered

A bad Sunburn.

 

[sw33ttooth]

Re: Worst boating situation you have encountered

my worst situation could have, should have not happened. while going threw the channel to lake michigan on my 17 foot open bow [at the time]. this jack wipe in a 30-35 foot flybridge comes speeding in, making 6-8 foot wake and i had litterly 30 seconds to say holy sh- and up and over i went. lucky me some how i took on no water but it could have been worse, it could have sunk my boat because the driver didn't slow down ahead of time.

 

[CaptOchs]

Re: Worst boating situation you have encountered

You truly know no fear until you realize you're about to sink. Last year towing a tube on an Adirondack lake. Had a few adults and kids on the boat. The tuber fell off so I retrieved him. Heard a "waterfall-like" sound coming from the back. The bilge pump kicked on, but didn't shut off. I knew something was wrong. I jumped in and felt around the transom. It had a big crack in and and water was pouring in. I got back in as quickly as I could. I had everyone put on their life jackets and I took off. It took an incredible long time for the boat to get going because of all the water. I tried not to push it too hard knowing the transom was cracked. I got back to the ramp and let everyone off. I got the boat back on the trailer as quickly as I could. Water was over the deck by that time. It took a good 10-15 mins for the water to drain. It was really scary.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Worst boating situation you have encountered

rolled a canoe while goose hunting in January in Virginia hills; it was about 25* out and dropping. We knew we had 20 minutes to get out of the water.

My dad took the family off our island club in the 13' whaler, into wind and waves way too big for the boat at an ocean inlet. But once we got in it, he knew we couldn't turn around, and our route to safer water was straight into it. Ran with the plug out, bailing, green water coming over the bow. Any other boat would not have made it.
I have since, many times, found myself in stuff I shouldn't be in, especially duck hunting in the winter, but nothing to do but deal with it. A person less experienced, not as well prepared equipment-wise, or without a cool head would not have.

My hairiest trips, though, were going out in conditions you shouldn't to rescue friends who were in trouble. Once getting an 80 year old man and his son off a mud flat in a coastal snow storm, another a night rescue in an ocean inlet, small boats, big waves, shallow water and bars, current and pitch black darkness. Got them, though.

 

[canman]

Re: Worst boating situation you have encountered

well my worst was , i got a real bad sunburn , the police took my beer and my mother in law was with us all day ..

 

[DuckHunterJon]

Re: Worst boating situation you have encountered

rolled a canoe while goose hunting in January in Virginia hills; it was about 25* out and dropping. We knew we had 20 minutes to get out of the water.

Beat me to it by 2 posts! My scariest was hunting for about two hours in 15 deg F weather. Paddling in, we were just breaking a skim of ice. We kept an eye on the water, but lost track when the ducks started flying. And boy were they flying. After two hours, we had the limit of beauties, we went out to pick up. First problem was that the decoys wer froze in the water. Broke the ice around them, and started heading back (about a 1 mile paddle). The only way we could make headway was for my dad to sit in the back, and I to sit in the middle. We'd slowly ride up on the ice (over half an inch by now), and break through it. We could see the truck when it happened. We rode up on to an ice sheet, and it didn't break even. Down we both went to one side. Dad being dad wanted to get everything back into the canoe before we went any further. We couldn't get back in the canoe (have since practiced that manuever) and had to wade/claw our way back in, using a paddle to break the ice in front of us. About 20 yards from shore, we break the second paddle. Having nothing else, dad used the gun stock to break up the ice the rest of the way in.

We both got to the truck, stripped down to nothing, and sat in the truck for about a half hour before going back out to load up and head out. Truely scary at the time, but one of my favorite hunting memories now.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Worst boating situation you have encountered

there is probably not much crazier than what we duck hunters do--go out in the dark in deserted areas in the winter in small boats wearing heavy gear, and the worst the weather, the better.
In my case it took us 3 tries to get in the canoe but we made it. We built a fire (matches in ziplock in shirt pocket) and even though I was warm enough in army surplus wool under gortex, I changed into dry pants. My wet pants, when I picked them up, had frozen and I could hold them straight out like an ironing board. My gun (pump action) froze so I couldn't shoot any more, and all the ropes holding our gear tied in the boat froze, too, so we had to cut them loose rather than untie. often I leave water in my hip boots to warm up but this time I dumped them. A day to remember. That same day in another part of the state 2 duck hunters in a canoe rolled and died.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Worst boating situation you have encountered

We got caught 23 miles down Bay in November when front arrived earlier than expected.
Other than a few guys turning green, getting beat to death and things falling off the cabin walls, things where pretty much under control until we had to pass the mouth of the Potomac River. The river at this point is over 10 miles wide and the tide turns it into a raging torrent on a change. Coupled with a north wind blowing straight down the Bay we where in for the beating. Waves constantly breaking over the bow of a 50? Bay built with a 13? beam doesn?t give you the warm and fuzziest. Things started getting hairy when we left the levee of the land to get around Point No Point. The waves where running up the side of the lighthouse and hitting the underside of the observation platform. That platform sits 30? above the water level. The wave where nowhere that tall but that gives you an idea of how big and how much force the wave where generating that day.

Still not as scary as getting caught 15 miles offshore in the thunderstorm in a 17? tri-hull bow rider. We where young with a sense of an invincibility. Mother Nature smacked us down and taught us a lesson that we will ever forget. While it only lasted 20 minutes or so, there was absolutely no reason why we came back alive except it wasn?t our time to go. It took 50 stitches to close up the forehead of the ?captain? that was hit in the head when a wave collapsed the windshield in on him. Another guy cut his hand up pretty bad while trying to use an aluminum can to help bail out the boat. When your greeted at the dock by the local coast guard telling you,?We didn?t think you guys where gonna to make it? you know you dodged a bullet.

 

[Selena]

Re: Worst boating situation you have encountered

My worst experience happened New Year's Eve 2000' in Seattle, WA. I was crewing on a sailing club's 36' Catalina with club members onboard. We were headed back to Shilshole Marina from Elliott Bay after watching the Space Needle fireworks show. A high wind storm picked up. We were being hit by big puffs, one knocked us over sideways, rails in the water. The skipper's hat blew off because he did not have a keeper on it. He was getting really cold and wet, and asked me to go down below to fetch another hat. I went down below, and we were hit by another big puff that turned me into a projectile. I flew headfirst into a fiberglass bulkhead, knocking me unconscious. When I came to, I became violently ill from my concussion and went into a state of shock. I crawled up out of the cabin and sat down. Continuing to be ill... everyone thought I was just seasick. My body temp had gone down due to the shock, and I was unable to speak. My friend and co-worker, the skipper, asked me a question. I couldn't reply... he asked again, and again, then realized that something was wrong. He asked a few club members to sit by me to attempt to get me to respond, which I could not, and the members noticed that my color was bad. They told the skipper, who called medics. We were quite a way from the Marina. When we finally arrived, the EMT's carried me off, put me in the back of an ambulance with heaters aimed at me.. took off all my gear, wrapped me in pre-warmed blankets, and thawed me out. They said it was a close call. My core temp was so low that I could have died.

 

[Selena]

Re: Worst boating situation you have encountered

Oh no, lol!

 

[smallboatlover]

Re: Worst boating situation you have encountered

For me a day after tubing in a pond we were leaving the pond under the bridge i realized that it was rougher in the bay then i thought. i had to go throught the bay to get back to my mooring. Well with 4 people. 12 gallons of gas and tubing gear all on my boat that was scary ride back. took 4 hours which would usally take 20 mins.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Worst boating situation you have encountered

was 3 miles off shore with the SeaRay in an outgoing wind. engine died because the ignition pickup failed. was 30 minutes prior to waving over a fishing boat.

this spring, the girlfriend and I took the SeaRay from Egg Harbor up to Sister bay. was 2' chop. forecast was for light wind of 5-7mph. wind picked up to over 25mph, and the return trip was 7' rollers, many of which were coming over the bow. white knuckled it all the way back.

This summer took the Rogue for a trip around the Door County peninsula. reached deaths door and the wind changed, going from 2' chop to 7-8' rollers again. turning the boat around, took a few good waves to the side, thought we would swamp it.

Now I carry extra ignition parts on the boat, and I watch the weather even more closely.

 

[oops!]

Re: Worst boating situation you have encountered

worst boating situation i have ever encountered?

dont go there.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=510791

nuff said

 

[southkogs]

Re: Worst boating situation you have encountered

Oddly, after all of the Great Lakes boating I did the scariest moment I can recall actually happened here in TN on an inland lake. We were out in my 15' Tri-Hull and I had just brought the kids in to shore at a beach (TN - not nice sandy beaches ... rock, concrete & mud). We noticed some clouds building up and decided to get the boat on the trailer and get everyone headed home. By the time we got the boat to the ramp a full on thunderstorm had brewed up (literally in 10 minutes) and the winds were pushing 3' waves on shore, shoving my boat in to the rocky edge of the lake. I told my friend who was with me, if this starts pushing harder don't get trapped between the boat and the rocks just let her go into them. There were two other guys who had just gotten their boat on the trailer and they came down to help us out. It took 4 guys standing in the water pushing and pulling to put a pretty light boat on the trailer - I couldn't believe the force of the storm. - Had I been underway out in the water I would have been more comfortable than I was trying to hold the boat off the rocks on shore.

Second place comes in during a run on Percy Priest Lake. Priest gets a bunch of traffic because it's so convenient to Nashville. One day I had the boat loaded with the family and a couple of friends - max load. We were just puttin' a long (little over no wake) and plowing a little bit at the bow on the same tri-hull mentioned above. Some yahoo in a day cruiser (guessing at 24' or so) cuts past me on the port side diggin' a pretty solid wake (2 - 3' maybe), and then proceeds to turn to starboard right across my bow and complete a full 360? circle around me. The first wake hit and we took it right over the bow. I had tried to goose the throttle just a touch to get the bow up, but it was too late. We didn't dig in, but the bilge pump was working for a while after. Couldn't catch up to the guy to get his TN numbers. Growl.

 

[5150abf]

Re: Worst boating situation you have encountered

We were headed back to the launch about midnight going 6-7 mph and we got to this island, I was 40' off shore and thought I was fine but all of a sudden the boat starts to stop as the bow rises.

I immediatly cut power but there we sit with the bow 3' in the air, it didn't make any sound at all just raised the bow, I look at my buddy and looks at me and I tell him I am going to go see what we hit but as soon as I moved the boat starts rolling to port, my tackle box hit the floor adding to the scare, I though for sure we were going over.

It stopped and the transom is still above water so all is well, I grab the spotlight and head to the bow and pop my head over expecting to see a big log, nothing, all that is under the boat is water, it was really weird, I was hopeing to jump out on the log and push us off but ther was nothing there.

I finally settled on starting the engine and reversing while spinning the steering wheel, eventually we slid off.

Turned out to be a tree trunk 8'' across and we keeled it dead center, couldn't do it again for am million bucks, 2'' one way or the other and we woudl have just glanced off of it, but it was really scary.

 

[gtochris]

Re: Worst boating situation you have encountered

You truly know no fear until you realize you're about to sink. Last year towing a tube on an Adirondack lake. Had a few adults and kids on the boat. The tuber fell off so I retrieved him. Heard a "waterfall-like" sound coming from the back. The bilge pump kicked on, but didn't shut off. I knew something was wrong. I jumped in and felt around the transom. It had a big crack in and and water was pouring in. I got back in as quickly as I could. I had everyone put on their life jackets and I took off. It took an incredible long time for the boat to get going because of all the water. I tried not to push it too hard knowing the transom was cracked. I got back to the ramp and let everyone off. I got the boat back on the trailer as quickly as I could. Water was over the deck by that time. It took a good 10-15 mins for the water to drain. It was really scary.

Can you expand upon this? What boat/ age, did you hit anything? was it repairable?