Remember that time you almost drowned????

Your down on the ohio I'm up the monongahela in lock 3 pool, so I know what these rivers are like, grew up on the mon. Now the allegeheny is a different animal!! Been going down and spending a week up the allegeheny exploring that river the last two years, like to get all the way up to Brown's Landing this summer as him and his grandfather put all my poles in for my docks but with lock 5 and up only open on weekends need two weeks off to do it which is a problem for the wife to get off. I also drowned this april had two boards off my docks working on a float and me, my son and his wife were pushing debris off and I was pull a piece of old dock that floated down and had the hook hocked on it and was pulling up against the current and wasn't watching where I was at on the docks just watching the rope and bent over forward so if the rope slipped I would fall on my butt, but step in the hole where the board was missing went in head first got turned around and open my eyes to see where i was and started kicking but wasn't going so started paddling wiyh my arms and kicking my feet for all I was worth and finally hit surface where my son grabed back of me belt and got me on docks. Water was moving fast and carried my 15 to 20 feet down river just lucky he guessed right. Found out you can't swim very good with work boats jeans and a double flannel shirt, just doesn'y work very well!! Used to laugh at the movies when people fell in the water with clothes on and couldn't swim, now I know why. Good thing I never got scared the whole time was planning my escape route and how to get back on docks if and when I came up.
 
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Since this has morphed into a "remember when I saved that guy from drowning" thread I have a few of those but one comes to mind.

Some of you know I was a city cop in Washington state in my earlier life. One February night about 7:30 I was dispatched to see if I could assist a neighboring town police dept. with some people trapped in the Yakima River. I drove out there and found that a canoe with 2 couples in it had gotten trapped in a snag and one man was trapped between the canoe and the tree. There was a strong snow melt and the strong water current was holding the canoe and the man against the snag.

I had a canoe of my own at home so I radioed my hunting partner and told him to meet me at my house. We loaded the canoe onto my Blazer, got life jackets, ropes and a bow saw and headed back to the river.

We launched upstream of where his canoe was trapped and maneuvered our canoe to come up alongside him. It was about 8:30 by the time we got back there, so he'd been in the frigid water about an hour and a half by that time.

We tried cutting the snag but couldn't do that. The water was up to the man's chin and slowly rising. After all we tried seemed to fail, I got out on the snag and was able to pull the canoe around the snag and free it and the man. By this time the water had risen up to his nose. My partner held his head up and blocked the water away from his nose so he could breathe.

We loaded the man into our canoe and were able to paddle him to shore where he was removed from our canoe and loaded into the ambulance for a quick trip to the hospital. He was conscious but delirious; he didn't know who he was or how he got into the ambulance. I checked later and found he was kept overnight in the hospital and was released the next day.
 
Your down on the ohio I'm up the monongahela in lock 3 pool, so I know what these rivers are like, grew up on the mon. Now the allegeheny is a different animal!! Been going down and spending a week up the allegeheny exploring that river the last two years, like to get all the way up to Brown's Landing this summer as him and his grandfather put all my poles in for my docks but with lock 5 and up only open on weekends need two weeks off to do it which is a problem for the wife to get off. I also drowned this april had two boards off my docks working on a float and me, my son and his wife were pushing debris off and I was pull a piece of old dock that floated down and had the hook hocked on it and was pulling up against the current and wasn't watching where I was at on the docks just watching the rope and bent over forward so if the rope slipped I would fall on my butt, but step in the hole where the board was missing went in head first got turned around and open my eyes to see where i was and started kicking but wasn't going so started paddling wiyh my arms and kicking my feet for all I was worth and finally hit surface where my son grabed back of me belt and got me on docks. Water was moving fast and carried my 15 to 20 feet down river just lucky he guessed right. Found out you can't swim very good with work boats jeans and a double flannel shirt, just doesn'y work very well!! Used to laugh at the movies when people fell in the water with clothes on and couldn't swim, now I know why. Good thing I never got scared the whole time was planning my escape route and how to get back on docks if and when I came up.

The river the kid drowned in where my step-son was fishing was the Connequenessing Creek. in Ellwood City. It's only about maybe 50-75' wide where these drownings happen. In many parts you can walk across and never get your belly button wet but there are holes and a strong undercurrent.
 
I almost cashed in swimming in a rip on Nantucket about 20 years ago. To this day I don’t like not touching bottom on the beach.

More recently this past summer, we had a flash flood that was quickly submerging my entire marina. The dock was under about 2 feet of water, my lines were fine for the moment, but my shore power cord was like a guitar string. I walked down the dock to boost myself over the gunnel to loosen thing up and reset.

My neighbor on the other side of the same dock was tied to cleats on the dock and was listing pretty hard as his boat floated and the dock didn’t.

As soon as I got ready to get on board my own boat, his ripped the dock up off it’s fastenings. The dock was vertical in a second and I got dumped in like I was in one of these carnival dunk tanks.

The current was strong, the water muddy and I went right under and popped up under my swim platform. Gratefully I didn’t wind up under the boats.

Someone pulled me up onto the sea wall, but I lost my wallet, iPhone and car keys. Could have been far worse.
 
Glad your okay, only takes a split second for something bad to happen doesn't it??
 
I have had two ... Both were my fault ..the first was in high school when I didn't realize the captain had no clue what he was doing.... And I did and should have stopped him and didn't.... The second was 20 years ago when I crossed Lake Ontario...with 10' swells so I could be at work Monday... That was just stupid. I have never allowed myself to be in one of those positions again..and will never be in another life threatening position ever..
 
I have had two ... Both were my fault ..the first was in high school when I didn't realize the captain had no clue what he was doing.... And I did and should have stopped him and didn't.... The second was 20 years ago when I crossed Lake Ontario...with 10' swells so I could be at work Monday... That was just stupid. I have never allowed myself to be in one of those positions again..and will never be in another life threatening position ever..
Blueone, I'm betting that you learned a LOT from the second experience. I've always felt that anyone can steer a boat on calm waters.

When the sh!t hits the fan is when we learn now much our boat can handle and also we learn how to handle the boat in bad conditions. Boats can handle more than the passengers and crew and THAT is when you expand your skippering boundaries.

You learned from it and now you're a better skipper because of it.
 
I've been trying to forget for the past 12 years....

I was out on the 340 with my oldest son, who was three at the time. It was a nice day, with 1 to 2 foot chop, winds from the north. I boat on the south shore of lake Michigan, which explains the waves. This particular day was pretty warm so I decided to anchor the boat so we could swim.

Approaching shore, I was able to position the stern of the boat about 40 feet from shore, in about 3 feet of water. As per my usual, I had let out around 100 feet of rhode. I secured the stern anchor to hold the boat in place, and we disembarked, father and son. My son, of course was wearing his life jacket. I considered getting one out for myself, but then discarded the notion as I was only mere feet from shore.

We had a great time frolicking in the waves at the beach and throwing a ball around. After a short walk, I noticed the boat was no longer where I parked it. The winds had shifted from the south, and apparently my stern anchor had not set. So now, the boat, rather than being 40 feet from shore, was more like 100, and most likely in 10-12 feet of water.

No problem, I can swim out there I thought. Then there was this little tug on my swim suit. Oh yeah, the kid....My son was a bit of a clinger at that time, and I had fears that he would not stay on the beach, and instead try to follow me to the boat. (At 3, he couldn't swim, of course) So I did the next logical thing, I did the back stroke with him resting on my chest.

This is working like I champ, I thought as we made solid progress towards the boat, despite the 2 foot waves. That is, until one of those two foot waves caught me in the face when I turned to see where the boat was. I found that water is rather unpleasant to breathe, and next thing I knew, I was underwater, trying to feel the bottom with my feet.

It was strange, in that time seemed to slow down, and I had time to ponder almost every dark thought you could come up with, such as them finding my son floating alone in the middle of the lake, etc. etc. and lastly, what a stupid way it was for me to die, being an experienced boater and swimmer, to be caught without a life jacket.

After what seemed like an eternity, when the end seemed near, my feet hit the bottom and I was able to rocket myself to the surface. Unable to find my breath, on pure adrenaline, I grabbed my son and kicked for the boat. After another 20 feet, I was able to get the water out of my lungs and I side stroked to the boat. "I'm scared daddy" said my son...I could only say "me too".

Even typing this now, I am feeling equal parts anger at my stupidity that day, and angst at what could have happened. Hopefully the lesson learned that day will keep another possible tragedy from happening.
 
I have had two ... Both were my fault ..the first was in high school when I didn't realize the captain had no clue what he was doing.... And I did and should have stopped him and didn't.... The second was 20 years ago when I crossed Lake Ontario...with 10' swells so I could be at work Monday... That was just stupid. I have never allowed myself to be in one of those positions again..and will never be in another life threatening position ever..
I'm admittedly a fair weather boater. I'm not willing to put myself in a position to encounter peril on the water where it is completely avoidable. We boated for years out of a West Michigan salmon fishing port. I was always amazed to see fishermen leaving port when I was entering because of a pending storm with lightning clearly visible. That said, my wife and I have both been in the water between the boat and the dock. Neither instance turned into anything critical, but it could have. It's one of those things, I think, that happens once. I'm now sure of my footing when I step onto a dock.
 
I was probably 4 years old. My parents had just bought their first boat. My mom told me "DO NOT LOSE YOUR TOOTHBRUSH" because apparently us kids would lose our stuff between the boat and the marina bathroom. One morning returning from the bathroom after brushing my teeth I fell in between the 26' sailboat we lived on during the weekends and the bathroom which was about 20' away. I did not have my life jacket on. Treading water when you don't know how to swim while holding a toothbrush in one hand and toothpaste in the other is tough. I was losing the fight and to this day remember seeing a seahorse underwater one of the times I went under. This was at Georgetown Yacht Basin in MD, and I don't think there were seahorses there, but I can still see it todayl My brother who was awake but laying in his bed heard the commotion and thought it was some ducks splashing around. For some reason he got up to check it out, found me, ran back to the boat to get a boat hook, and extended it down from the dock for me to reach. He then pulled me to a floating dock where an adult pulled me out. If not for my brother I certainly would have drowned. I wore a little red life jacket every moment in MD for the next 6 years. I never did lose that damn toothbrush.
 
Keep 'em coming. I'd bet that all who have read this thread have learned from our experiences. I'd also bet that they were scary to us at the time as well as when we relive them.

Jim, I can hear the fear in your message when you relate to us your "adventure" with your son on your back. Damn, that would have scared each of us!

When I think back to that rescue involving the canoe the hair on my legs stands on end when I think of how scared I was when I got out of the canoe onto that snag. Middle of the winter, middle of the night, darker than hell, cold rushing water. Oh, and did I mention I'm not a good swimmer?
 
Many years ago I was swimming at a beach in Nova Scotia, playing the waves. Not a lot of people around on the beach. Family happy to be on shore playing in the sand. It was a beach known for rip tides, but I am a reasonable swimmer so wasn't concerned. Chasing some waves while in about chest deep water I swam over to where some better waves were breaking and very quickly realized the outgoing tide and currents had changed and I was being pulled away from the beach in a rip tide and the water was deeper and colder. No panic, just swim along the beach not against the rip is the guiding rule. So started to, and then the water got really cold and the current stronger. Now I am really moving fast away from the beach pulled out by the current. So do I keep going the direction I am, or do I turn and swim back the other way? Keep going. But I keep moving farther and farther away from the beach, and now quite a ways off. Surf and waves so no one would hear if I yelled and no one on shore was good enough swimmer to help anyway. So I try swimming back the direction I was coming from. But I am now farther off shore and the currents are all different. And I am now in really cold water and getting tired. I am really starting to get worried and panicking (thinking about sharks too, as stupid as that sounds. Jaws was only about 10 years earlier). Keep swimming, keep swimming. FINALLY I get to an area where I am not in the rip any more and I can turn towards the beach. Exhausted I get close enough where I can touch bottom and rest a bit before dragging my cold butt back to shore. Never did tell my parents how close I came to drowning.
 
I race triathlon and Ironman races. What I have found with mass start swims when my anxiety is high is if I count to 10 and keep repeating it I can calm down. Anxiety and panic is the worst. Have had circumstances like that and calming down is not easy.
 
On a lighter note, we educated our kids on the potential dangers of getting shocked by swimming in the marina (pun intended).

My son, about 10 at the time, was helping me wash our 210 SD. He slipped into the water, and I scooped him back out in a couple of seconds. He was standing there on the swim platform shivering and screaming, "Am I going to get electrocuted?!" I couldn't help but laugh as I reassured him.
 
Back some 30 years ago my new second wife and I planned a camping honeymoon for 10 days in northern Minnesota. The first stop was to be a white water rafting trip down the Cloquet river. It was a very popular trip and supposed to be a lot of fun. There were 6 of us in each raft. The trip was nice in that the rapids were progressively more difficult as we traveled.

The trip was about 5 hours. We had stopped for a snack break about half mile from the last and most difficult rapids. Here the river was flowing quite high so the drop over the falls was a good 10-12 feet. This was The first of June so the water was very cold, I’d guess in the 50’s. Its never very warm. It was a nice sunny day and with the life vests on not cold....at least I wasn’t. Wife was freezing.

Anyway the raft leader told us about the shear drop and whirlpool below. We were to avoid that section of the river.
The other ares were very turbulent but looked like fun.
Well the guys in our raft were not good raftsmen and had a couple beers too many already. We got in the current and drifted over to the steep falls. Wifey and I were on the middle seat. I saw the skyline drop and knew we were in for a rough ride. As we went over the edge I could see we were going to hit the edge of the whirlpool but not right in the center. Wifey panic screamed and we hit straight down. Everyone got thrown out of the raft which came out right side up. I went straight down head first. It was very deep there probably 30 feet or more as I went way down in the swirling water The water here is brown because of the iron content. I looked up toward the light and it was a long ways but I was rising. I was on the swimming team in college and had done a number of lifesaving and cold water tests so I knew I had to just keep calm. I saw I was coming up directly under the raft but I simply couldn’t get away. The current kept me pinned to the raft but I finally wiggled out. Nobody was in the raft but wifey was near by and screaming her head off. I paddled over and managed to get a hold of her and paddled us back to the raft. There was a line all the way around the raft so I used it for leverage and boosted her in. I yelled at her to sit in the middle and be quiet.

I quickly looked around for the others and they were all,over and pretty much non swimmers. So I swam over to the closest guy and helped him back to the raft. He finally got in so I told him I’d get the others but he was going to have to help get them in. It was getting pretty cold by this time and I knew I had to get the others in as quickly as possible. The other three were out a ways but I got to them and had them just hold each other and I dragged them back to the raft.
We got them in ok but now the paddles were floating away.
I swam over and got two of them so they helped me aboard and we gathered the other paddles.

The other rafts were down stream and didn’t realize we had flipped over. I was a bit put out as the raft master should have been the last one over or at least hung around until the last raft,..us, was safely under way.

It was fortunate that I had had the cold water training both in lifesaving classes and with the military. This could have been a tragedy. My wife was so cold that she didn’t really realize how serious the situation was and just shivered the rest of the way.

The other guys more or less displayed what we learned in classes that the alcohol numbs the mind and senses and it’s very dangerous to drink and mix play in cold water.

So that was the last of white water rafting. We continued our honeymoon camping in the Boundary Waters in northern Minn. with a few more exciting encounters with wildlife and nasty weather but wifey seemed to enjoy the experience...with a new respect for cold water.

Every experience in that area is exciting and new.LOL
 
Speaking of getting shocked in the marina water, I noted that there are signs noting no swimming or wading in the marina.
The manager told me that somebody forgets to unhook shore power every week and drops cord in the water.

Probably better be careful about peeing in the scuppers too.LOL
 
5 years back I was solo in my 21 ft wood boat and had Just docked in a boathouse. I was taking my bike home so to free up my hands I put my helmet on before disembarking. When i walked past the bow to go and tie up my portside lines a pile of beams used for winter storage that were not secured toppled over and took my legs out from under me. I fell into the water and my head hit the anchor roller on the way in . Had I not been wearing my helmet I would have likely been ko'd by the blow to my melon . I list a wallet, got a massive bruise on my leg and got wet but thankfully was otherwise ok . The owner of the marina got an earful over the reckless pile of beams that were piled unsecured along the wall and i stopped using that marina after that year as they were so negligent about maintaining every aspect of that facility. I worried the whole winter that the boathouse i was in would not survive the winter and would lose "Handsome Transom " I didn't carry insurance in that old woody beyond liability because the premium I was quoted was 60 % of the value of the boat. . Miss that old wooden boat .
 
I am not sure how close to drowning we really were but This was a very scary night for my wife and I. I am typically very conservative and don’t put myself in bad situations but this time was not one of these cases.
This past October my wife and I were picking up our new to us 520DB. The boat was at Port Washington, NY and we had to get it to Falmouth, MA about a 7.5hr run. This fall we were having a lot of bad weather and the wind was blowing all week and was supposed to die down on Thursday. Then it was supposed to pick up again Friday afternoon so we wanted to be home by Friday afternoon if possible. That said we were supposed to take possession on Thursday night around 8pm and then leave Port Washington around Friday at 8:30am after fueling up. I was planning on getting a few repairs done and get me checks done Thursday evening so we would be already to go in the morning. On our drive down from MA to NY around 6:30pm the selling broker informed us that he didn’t wire the money to his client on Thursday so we had to wait till Friday at 9:30am to take possession now. By the time I got the repairs done, competed my checks and got fuel it was 12pm on Friday before we left NY. This would now put us in the dark a little before we got the tip of Martha’s Vineyard and Cuttyhunk Islands. The wind was blowing it of the SW about 15-20 for most of the day so for the first 4hrs of the ride through LI sound it was a nice 2ft following sea pushing us home. Once we got out beyond the shadow of Long Island it got a bit rougher, winds blowing 20-25 with 3-4ft seas but the boat was handling it great and we were perfectly comfortable with the ride. At about 6pm it was starting to get dark and that was time to decide to continue on north to Falmouth or bale out to Newport, RI as we were not far off the coast of there at this point. I have been in these waters at least 100 times through out my life on different boats so it is familiar water and looking at the wind forecast it wasn’t supposed to increase more in strength till around 10pm and the Wave height forecast was about the same so we chose to continue on home.
As it got dark and as we got closer to the islands the waves started stacking up so I slowed down to around 18-20kts then all of a sudden a large 8-10ft wave came up behind us and turned the boat sideways in about 2 seconds. This is a 55ft, 50,000lb boat and the water pushed us over to what felt like 45deg lean and then spun us sideways. It was a crazy feeling. Once we got back on our feet and seated again I regained control and pointed the boat with the waves and tried to stay on the backside of the waves from here on home. We were in 7-8ft seas in the dark for a good hour and got turned sideways a few more times before it started to calm down as we got up into Vineyard sound. It was a very stressful hour and my wife was not happy but actually kept her wits about here.
Once at the dock around 9pm we realized how hard the wind was actually blowing, probably around 30-35 sustained with gusts around 45. The dingy was on the swim platform and was completely full to the top with water.
I can guarantee that I will monotone put us in those conditions again, especially in the dark. Looking back the boat handled it really well but would have been better to have more than 6hrs with it before being in those conditions.
 
Jeremy, nice tale. I've said for years that anyone can drive a boat when the water is calm. When the winds kick up and the waves grow is when you learn how well your boat can handle it and how much better you become as a skipper.

Congratulations on earning your "skipper's badge".
 
My younger bro drowned late Nov last year. Experienced boatie & trawler fisherman, working, living and messing around on boats since he was 10 years old, fell from the bridge of an 08’ Fairline 78 late at night. We saw finger nail marks in the antifouling & in the recently replaced wood pylons on the dock. Still can’t believe how silly & totally avoidable this was...
 

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