How about a stupid boater thread?

Not me but surveyor almost sank our boat. He had the seller go from forward no wake to reverse to listen for any noises in the coupler area. Well he was in the engine bay and the swim platform starts plowing under and shoving water up in through the transom door and it started running into the bilge. I yelled for the seller to hit neutral. Both bilge pumps kicked on and pumped it back out. I don't think the water ever even touched the oil pan but if I had waited a few more seconds to yell it could have been worse. Surveyor said 'well don't have to test the bilge pumps now'...lol

 

One fall evening a few years ago the admiral and I were out on the boat drifting, enjoying some wine and cheese and crackers. At the same time I took the transom show handle off to drain the fresh water tank before winterizing. Well we were talking and eating paying attention to the tank draining. I suddenly remembered we were drifting, and looked around. Holy shit, the shoreline was 10' in front of me. I look down and we were in 2' of water. I tilted the drive up until it was just under water, started the boat and gingerly pulled away. Stirred up so much muck that the normally clear water looked like chocolate milk. Made it out with no damage, but it was a close call. I never leave the helm on the rare occaisions that we drift.

 

oh...thought of one I did. I had very little boating experience before we bought our 250DA in 2015 but never anything that big and it was just driving family members boats, etc. So we put our 250 in for the first time and I'm in it by myself. Had a little current and about 20' down river from the ramp is rocks. I'm trying to pull up to the dock between the ramp and rocks and can't get it lined up. End up drifting into the rocks so instead or raising the outdrive a little and powering out I just throttle up and bang the brand new aluminum prop off the rocks until I'm clear. Ruined that prop before I ever got to use it. The hull never touched bottom thankfully

 

Oh gosh @Carpediem44DB , You reminded me of our first launch of our first little boat. It was a 15' bayliner with a 85 horse force Outboard. It was our maiden voyage, and the first time we had ever been to this lake, John Martin Reservoir in Southeast Colorado. I backed the boat off the trailer with my 3 kiddos and motored out about 50 yards and shut her off and drifted while my wife parked the car. I was doing something in the bow, maybe reading the manual, and my Oldest daughter Amy (probably 5 years old at the time) said "dad". I said just a minute hon, a bit later she says "dad". I said hang on sweet heart, a minute later she says "DAD"! I look back and say what do you need? and her feet are in about 3" of water. So I jumped behind the wheel and fired up the old force and gave her full throttle, it took a while of plowing water but eventually the boat got up on plane and sucked all the water out, so I shut her off and bailed into the water and quickly put the plug in. Really scary as I look back on it, I was alone in the boat with a 5 year old, 4 year old and a 1 year old and almost sank the boat. I have not forgotten the plug again with any of our boats.

 

I'll confess.

About 9 years ago I thought I was Captain Ron. The plan was coming in hot to the dock at the marina and then at the last minute, put her in reverse. My 9 year old daughter was on the bow.

As I approached, my starboard side bounced off the dock and was headed toward the adjacent boat. My wife yelled to our daughter, "Use your feet". I promptly yelled, "No". So idiot me, left the helm, slid across the non-skid on my knees to push off the other boat. Doing so I realized I left the boat in gear.

I turned around and my wife, who has never driven a boat before, was at the helm as I yelled it's still in gear. Luckily she pulled the throttle back to neutral and before we hit the wall. My Father-in-law quickly tied aft to a cleat. All of this, but not before I put about a 10" gouge in the neighboring sail boats gel coat. ($300 cash)

All of this happened in mere seconds, and of course I had an audience of locals. They still give me shit to this day, which is warranted.

I didn't want to boat after that. I had the scenario running through my head for days of my daughter going overboard and being crushed. We don't do the bow thing anymore, unless we're rafting off with another boater to toss a line.

 

Isn't that what your supposed to do? I start mine before I unplug and don't shut it off until I plug back in.

As for the blowers, I run mine constantly. Always while at anchor and after the engines are off for at least an hour. I have forgotten to turn them off because I don't hear them running anymore, have gotten to use to them.

 

I had it drilled into my head since I first drove a boat by myself (at the helm at least) that fiberglass is stronger than bones and easier to fix. If I have new people on the boat I tell them first thing that under no circumstances should they reach outside the boat. I explain that I have a plan when I dock and them grabbing or pushing off on something will spoil my plan. I also tell them that if I f up my plan that's on me and it comes out of my pocket, they don't need to worry about it. YMMV.

 

Ditto. One of the reasons I yelled 'NO'. A year prior while fishing up in Canada, my buddy and I were coming in for shore lunch on his Ranger. I thought I'd help by grabbing the wooden dock while we're still in motion. Ended up with a 5" splinter shoved into the palm of my hand. Screwed up my fishing for the rest of the day.

After getting hurt and then reading somewhere on here about not getting on the bow while docking and keeping all extremities inside the boat until stopped, that's been standard practice. It never fails with guests though. I think they just try to be helpful when it isn't.

 

The 1st full summer we had our 240 we took 3 other couples to the lake to hang out for a few days. I was pulling my best friend since kindergarten on a tube when I started hearing a vibration. It would come and go, but I would hear it every time I turned. Everybody else picked up that I was looking for a problem and started looking and listening as well. So to recreate the noise, I started doing S turns. Everybody was lifting up seats, opening hatches and doors trying to find the noise. Turns out the "vibration" was the beer cans rattling in the trash can. Relieved I turned my attention back to driving and looked back to check on my buddy on the tube...He wasn't there! I looked farther back and saw him about a mile behind the boat, about where I started doing the S turns. He was fine but justifiably pissed that no one noticed that he fell off the tube. Fortunately it was a week day and there weren't many boats around. That was 17 years ago. He brings his family to the lake a couple times a year and rightly gives me shit about it every time. I decline every time he offers to pull me on the tube. It could have turned out badly, but thankfully it didn't. His wife and daughters think the story is hilarious because he is the "it could only happen to him" guy. At that time I developed a no tuber left behind policy and don't allow myself to become distracted.

 

All these really long stories and not a single pic

 

Okay here is my last stupid boater incident…. I tied the dinghy to the side of the boat with out a bumper….. a tiny amount of chop over two days did this….. my buddy took a pic and pretty much summed it up … in one word

 

Here is the plug I forgot to put in!

 

Not my story. I did scratch my boat once. And forgot the power cord once. But this is my favorite below:

But I do enjoy telling it. My best employee was in his 20's and dating a girl. Her family has a couple of Jet Ski's. Him being a go getter offers to tow them to the lake and get them in the water at their camping spot. Him knowing nothing about boats launches without their respective plugs in place. He drives them over, gets them set up at the camp site and sets up camp. She and her family show up all is well. Ski's beached. Girlfriend says "let's go for a ride". So off they go. Things are fine until they shut off the ski's probably to fool around. Before you know it. Both ski's are pretty full of water and no longer run. Great impression for her Dad.


Image is a screen shot from a video. But you can see the water dumping out. He no longer offers to take the Jet Ski's anywhere. But he did fix them better than new.

 

Confession is good….. this is my second last stupid boater incident. I Park in front of the boat….. I parked my brand new two week old car too close. We are docking and windy as hell (for sympathy) and the wind starts kicking out the stern so jumped up and my knee hit forward gear shift …. A tiny amount. The boat leaps forward and the anchor hits my car…. Car bounces a bit before I got back there…. All within seconds.
Anyone else hit a car with their boat ?

 

Here's yer sign.

 

Changed oil and filters for the mains and gen when we first got this boat. All went well. I have always been one to pump the oil out with the on board pump and then pour it in rather than pump it in. All changed everything fired up as it should and shut all down. About a week later, come to the marina and go to fire up the gen. As soon as I let go of the switch on the main panel, it dies. After 3-4 tries, I open the hatch and have a rear bilge full of oil. I neglected to close the gen valve on the pump and left the plug in the hose only finger tight. If you leave the valve open and don’t plug the hose, it will drain out. At least it wasn’t the 5 gallons in a main.

This past spring, after changing the gen impeller, neglected to open the seacock before starting and changed it again same day….

Bennett

 

I only take my plug off to change the oil (remote drain), and I always put it back in when I'm done. Since my boat is in a high and dry it almost always gets launched before I am there. I like the staff at the high and dry, but if they miss the plug being out, the boat would sink before anyone would notice.

 

I would expect that the group of people that hit cars with a boat while in the water, let alone their own car, is pretty small...