How accidents happen.

[hack4alivin]

Yesterday on my way home from the Baltimore Yacht Club I made three stupid mistakes, all within twenty minutes. The Admiral took the car home and I took the boat so I was boating alone. Now maybe it was the fact my mind was still on the pathetic showing of a football game I was watching, but that’s the way an accident can start so no excuses here.

As I was cruising out of Middle River and lining up on my next marker I looked behind me and noticed my transom door was open, first mistake, I did not verify it closed before I left the slip. So I slowed down to idle speed and went back and closed it, but I left the boat in gear, second mistake. As I took control of the helm a shutter came over me as I realized just now very stupid that was! Not only did I leave the boat in gear, I did not have my PFD on either. I always wear my PFD if I am boating by myself, third mistake. Later that evening I could not help but reflect on just how stupid that was and just how I lucky I was that the combination of those mistakes did not result in a serious or even fatal accident.

Many lessons learned in life often come the hard way, and some have terrible consequences. I try to keep safety as my number one priority, but this time I slipped! Thinking more about a football game than focusing on my captain’s duties could have been bad.

I am sharing my stupidly here on the site hoping that everyone who reads it will benefit by thinking safety first!

 

[xravenx]

Yesterday on my way home from the Baltimore Yacht Club I made three stupid mistakes.

Only three, I counted at least 5 or 6 yesterday, thankfully the RR bridge wasn't involved. The only stupid thing I did yesterday (no, wearing those socks wasn't it) was watch the rest of the football game after you left.

After I jumped off your boat, I walked back up to the tailgating area and notice your transom door was open, by this time you were getting ready to make the right turn out of the fairway, so I didn't yell out to you..........good hanging out with you this weekend.

John

 

[kaz911]

thanks for sharing! - I have just installed one of these: http://www.coastkey.com/en/ - to make certain if something happen everything will shut down - or I can shut it down from anywhere on the boat.

A review will come later on. But is is NO substitute from thinking and not making stupid mistakes. Those I can do all day long and only blame myself. (So far this month - yanked the knee and broken a toe - all while doing boat maintenance and NOT thinking)

 

[RollerCoastr]

I would argue that you made mistakes, but dodged stupity by recognizing them. It sounds like you also had somewhat of a float plan - with people knowing where you were going and when to expect you. That's another important part of solo-boating.

 

[mwph]

Great post Bill as it got me to thinking. Which is another thing I love about this site.

Thanks for listing specifics & taking the time to post them.

 

[rcknecht]

I have done a lot of stupid things, most of which I am too embarased to post... Thanks for posting... I took out a day marker when I was distracted boating by myself... All I said was oops and hoped no one saw me....

 

[ZZ13]

Bill, I have been a Baltimore football fan my entire live (Johnny U was my childhood sports hero). I have bad news. The Ravens were 5-1 only due to circumstances. Their defense has finally done that "age overnight" thing that eventually happens to all athletes. I mean the Chiefs were easily running around Ray Lewis like he was standing still. And Joe Flacco simply is not a winner. He has not won a meaningful game nor converted a meaningful end of game drive his entire career. Check out the "deer in headlights" approach he displayed on the last possession against Philly this year. That's just him and I don't believe the team will ever make it to a super bowl with him. I don't expect them to make the playoffs this year.

Regarding your safety incident. Well, I did the exact same thing when I went out by myself Saturday. Left the transom door open and as I was trolling out of my marina, ran back and closed it with the engine in gear. Even though this only took maybe 5 seconds, when I got back to the helm I was pointed away from my destination and got that "oh Sh*t, what did I just do" feeling. It happens to all of us because we are human, but it shouldn't. And darn it, I leave the transom door open way to much - every other time I just let it slam on its own when I go to plane. I need to fix that.

Be safe this week - it will be good weather for boating in our area.

 

[Gimme Time]

Four of us on my boat were headed back to our marina around 8:30 in the dark with an ETA of 10ish with at an 8-9 knot cruise. As we were about to pick up the #1 marker for our channel we heard someone haling the boat headed into Broad Creek on Channel 16. We answered switched to channel 69 to see how we could assist.

The individual indicated he was trying to head into the same creek as us to one of the +- 10 marinas. We get quite a few transients headed south this time of the year so we weren’t shocked but did have trouble understanding the other boat. He said he was out aways behind us and we slowed down outside the inlet channel looking for him. There was little to no moon out and there were other boats out fishing in the area which did not surprise us. From what we thought we understood he was on a sailboat and having trouble finding the channel entrance. That should have been the first clue but then again assuming he might be a transient not a shocker.

Next thing we new there was a boat coming up on our stern that passed us on the Port side by about 50' as we got out of the way. Obviously it wasn't any dam blow boat and now we were suspesious about the difficulty we were having understand him.

I hollered on the radio as he passed me trying to make sure he was ok and he knew what he was doing, Another pour assumption on my part. So now he's crossed in front of my bow headed to starboard and going past the channel by 100' 45 degrees to where he should have been headed so I hollered again for him to turn back to the Port quickly as he is headed for shallow water shortly.

Meanwhile the wind is still blowing 8-12 and I am paying so much attention to the idiot that I drifted enough to the port that the next thing I saw was the Green #1 close to my port side. I made a quick port then starboard turn trying to swing the stern trying to miss the green board but it did tag the port isinglass on the rear deck. Two tiny scrape marks that will stay there to remind me that I should have paid more attention to my boat rather than trying to assist someone else. Based on our conversations on board our boat we came to the conclusion that the other boat was probably a DUI and we should have let him run aground but that’s not our nature. He did continue on into the creek and past our marina headed deeper into the creek and we should have contacted the Marine Patrol but they were not out nor did we want to follow this clown further to see whom and how bad he was so that's my lesson for the weekend.

 

[hack4alivin]

Great post Bill as it got me to thinking. Which is another thing I love about this site.

Thanks for listing specifics & taking the time to post them.

That is what it takes; think about what we are doing first. As I said in my post, I had no excuse, I knew better! I just did not think about it ahead of time. I will make a point of trying harder in the future.

 

[hack4alivin]

..........good hanging out with you this weekend.

John

Thanks for the invite John, Sandy and I had a great time, right up to the start of the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] quarter!

 

[Bob & Sue]

Great post we all have done stupid things in our boats I almost was blown into an 80' Legend Yacht leaving our marina by myself in 20+ mph winds last May trying to get to the fuel dock a mile away before they raised the price per gallon .40 In my haste to leave I did everything wrong No PFD, didn't let the boat warm up, didn't close transom door my ego said I could do it myself without asking someone from the marina to push me out. When I untied the lines and jumped in a large gust came up that started blowing me toward the bow of that yacht put it in gear and the engine died by the time it was restarted I was about 6' from its bow I cleared it by maybe 2'. I still wasn't thinking when I got to the fuel dock and came in with the wind luckily it's well padded. Coming back to the marina I had at least called ahead for some help docking. I was going to get fuel prior to a 2 day shrimp season trying to save a couple bucks almost cost thousands. I now have a departure and return checklist. Here is a pic of where I was and the yacht that's a 75' dock the bow sticks out about 5'.

 

[EdAllegro]

Although I'm a new boater, owner and Sea Ray Club member, I feel qualified to weigh in and share my opinion on "accidents" after owning 2 airplanes and 30 years of aviation experience.

Aviation has taught us that accidents are rarely the case of one error or malfunction. Generally they're an acrual of events gone wrong. When starting out with one problem or defect, adding another increases the workload. Adding more glitches doubles and triples your dilemma puttimg you and an accident on an uncorrectable collision course.

Being a newbie and making every mistake imaginable, I've started making "checklists" from start-up to shut down. and then double-checking my tasks. So far my lists have helped me avoid some common errors and allowed me to add to my list after I make uncommon ones. Just a newbie's humble posting......

 

[Dsybok]

I read through this and it definitely made me think of some similar things I have done that I should have done differently. So thanks for posting, because fundamentals are important and easily forgotten.

Not too long ago I blew a shaft seal on the port side, and after in water repairs failed the next day I had to make a run to the shipyard 6 miles away to get the boat pulled. I did that 1 hour or so run solo, while my wife drove to the shipyard on the other end to meet me there. I was running idle speed on the port side in gear, with about 200 RPM on starboard making around 7-8 knots, but never put on a PFD that I can remember.

That strikes me now as a bit stupid, I have a known leak in the boat and I still had no PFD on, and I was by myself. Granted I was behind a breakwater the entire time, at 9 AM and the harbor was smooth as glass but anything can happen.

I had to run with transom door open because I wanted to open the deck and check to see how bad the leak was at a couple points during the run. Why does everyone seem to be so focused on closing the transom door?

 

[Bob & Sue]

I read through this and it definitely made me think of some similar things I have done that I should have done differently. So thanks for posting, because fundamentals are important and easily forgotten.


I had to run with transom door open because I wanted to open the deck and check to see how bad the leak was at a couple points during the run. Why does everyone seem to be so focused on closing the transom door?

Last December while out salmon fishing with 3 crab pots soaking when it got to be time to stop fishing and pull the pots before dark I put away 1 pole when I went to remove the other pole from the rod holder on the port side where the transom door is a wake from another boat just before had rolled the boat enough for the door to open the water was like glass. Reeling the line in I leaned on what should have been the door almost went right into 50 deg water with no PFD on I had unlocked the door to get ready to install the pot puller earlier. The pic is about 20 min before this happened.

 

[Gofirstclass]

I've done my share of bonehead moves over the years but the one that stands out in my mind happened several years ago when I had my 330 Sundancer. We were supposed to have a full moon that night and the sky was clear as a bell. It was in the fall so I knew the rising moon would be a bright orange and huge. I wanted to get some pics of the moon over our lighted bridge so I decided to take the boat out....by myself...without calling anyone first....after dark.

I took the boat from my marina and cruised about 5 miles downstream and positioned the boat where I thought I'd get the best pics. The current kept moving me from where I wanted to be, and I found it hard to keep the boat in place and snap pics.

So I left the boat in gear at idle, got out on the the side walkway with the camera and started snapping pics. To keep the boat in a good position I would reach over the side windshield and steer it. I stayed out there for about 20 minutes to get the good pics, then climbed back in and headed for the marina.

Only after I got home did I think about how stupid that was....nobody knew I was out there...I didn't have a PFD on...I was standing on the walkway outside the cabin and reaching in to steer.

Had I lost my balance I probably would have been chewed up by the props and nobody would have known what happened to me until they found my boat on the rocks somewhere.

 

[bayboatersf]

Thank you for writing about your experiences. In my opinion the biggest mistake we all make is going out solo on a good size boat.
I did it once on my Sea Ray 380 and now I am thinking how stupid I was. I even walked to the bow to handle the fenders.
Although I put it on idle and neutral when I did that, there was still the risk of losing the balance and falling either on the water or on the deck with terrible consequences.