My Weekend Mistake

Rono007

Rono007

New Member
Dec 17, 2009
796
Danbury, CT
Boat Info
2001 SR 230BR Signature Series
Engines
7.4L Bravo III
Ugh. I let my brother-in-law drive my boat over the weekend.

He tells me all morning he wants to drive and how many boats he has driven in the past. I let him drive in the open water on our lake.

In unknown waters (unknown to him), he quickly gets to 35 MPH and heads towards 2 small islands. :wow: As he's approaching fast he looks at me yelling "What do those buoys say?". I yell back to slow down as I'm not familiar with this area, I don't know what they are. A couple of "what's" from him later and I yell "SANDBAR!"

He plows through the sandbar at 30 MPH or so. :smt021 I show frustration and concern, and his reaction is one of "It's no big deal." Not even an apology. :smt013

Next he started crossing large wakes head on. :wow: I knew then he's never really driven a boat and I take back over.
A mistake I willl never make again.

A while later we stopped and floated a bit for my daughters to have a snack and dangle their feet in the water to cool off (too cold for swimming). When it was time to leave, I looked over and he was sitting in the drivers seat. :lol:

Thus far I haven't noticed a big change in RPM's, water in bilge, or exessive vibrations. I will need to do a visual inspection though. I have to pull her out in a few weeks to install my custom SeaDek and add some 48LED lights, so I will then be able to see if there's any damage.

I hope there is no more to come on this subject and everything will be alright. I already told my wife, that if there's damage, he's getting the bill.
 
Sorry to hear that...you are in a "no win" situation. I think to avoid that potential problem, I'm now telling guests that my insurance requires anyone but the owner to have a CG Aux boating certificate or I'm not covered...so they can drive, but anything that happens is completely on them. That may have a chiling effect on my involvement in maritime driver's education.
 
So was the sandbar submerged? Or did the boat skip over a sandbar?

Sorry to hear your issue - I hate when people suggest they should drive the boat. I have only let 2 other people drive my boat - a friend who I drive his boat from time to time and my Dad who has had boats for 40 years. Oh and the wife, forgot that one.
 
I tell them they have to be able to dock her and they get off of MY chair pretty quick! The only one I have wanted to sit there is my Dad as he taught me a hundred years ago! BTW, not me balding, that's my brother!
 
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You know, it is a no win since he's my wife's brother. The other part is that he's moving away to Florida in a few weeks and he won't be around much longer. I thought, if he's driven before, what can it hurt.

My wife was more pissed than me. But now my wife is getting tired of hearing me whine about it - so i decided to whine here one last time.

:grin:

The sandbar was submerged by about a foot or two and my boat drafts about 3.5 feet. I'm sure we skipped over it and only dug a small amount. It sucks because I just bought this boat, spent a fortune on cleaning her up, and this was bout the 4th time we have been out on it.

Live and learn. I like the "captain pays for gas" bit. I filled it yesterday and it was $160 - that might have worked.
 
Ron,
Sorry to hear about this incident. I hope you find no residual issues as a result. I can tell you there would have NOT have been a "Next he started crossing..." after hitting the sandbar:huh:

JediJD,
I LOVE this response. I committed your words to memory before I even finished your post. Very diplomatic :smt038:smt038:smt038

Spike,
I like yours too, but I can imagine the bonehead asking to captain my vessel thinking I'm only kidding :smt021:smt021


Rono007 said:
Ugh. I let my brother-in-law drive my boat over the weekend.

He tells me all morning he wants to drive and how many boats he has driven in the past. I let him drive in the open water on our lake.

In unknown waters (unknown to him), he quickly gets to 35 MPH and heads towards 2 small islands. :wow: As he's approaching fast he looks at me yelling "What do those buoys say?". I yell back to slow down as I'm not familiar with this area, I don't know what they are. A couple of "what's" from him later and I yell "SANDBAR!"

He plows through the sandbar at 30 MPH or so. :smt021 I show frustration and concern, and his reaction is one of "It's no big deal." Not even an apology. :smt013

Next he started crossing large wakes head on. :wow: I knew then he's never really driven a boat and I take back over.
A mistake I willl never make again.

A while later we stopped and floated a bit for my daughters to have a snack and dangle their feet in the water to cool off (too cold for swimming). When it was time to leave, I looked over and he was sitting in the drivers seat. :lol:

Thus far I haven't noticed a big change in RPM's, water in bilge, or exessive vibrations. I will need to do a visual inspection though. I have to pull her out in a few weeks to install my custom SeaDek and add some 48LED lights, so I will then be able to see if there's any damage.

I hope there is no more to come on this subject and everything will be alright. I already told my wife, that if there's damage, he's getting the bill.
Click to expand...
 
I'm sure the paint on the drive will look a bit different now....doing sandbar crossings has a way of removing it.

I'd feel lucky that you didn't break the skeg off at least.
 
I hope everything is OK.. I do not let anyone but the boss (wife) drive the boat. Last boat to see other drivers was the 220BR- 4 boats ago..
 
wvsundancer said:
I hope everything is OK.. I do not let anyone but the boss (wife) drive the boat. Last boat to see other drivers was the 220BR- 4 boats ago..
Click to expand...

That's where I'm at. This is my first - a 230BR.

I'm not so much worried about the skeg, as I bought it with a piece of the skeg broken already (I sanded and repainted and left it alone for this season). I'm more worried about the gelcoat and the underside of my boat. Maybe the stainless props too.
 
Ugh.... Ron I feel sick to my stomach for U. I don't even know what to say. Crappy place to b.
 
I never let anyone drive my boat or anything else I have that can do wheelies or spin its tires. I learned my lesson 40yrs ago.
 
you didn't break the skeg off at least.
Click to expand...
Skeg? You're lucky no one was picking up their teeth and you werent cleaning blood off your carpet and wrapping fractured ribs. If the water was 8-12 inches shallower, that's what you would be doing.

On the RARE occasion that anyone drives a boat of mine, I'm right up their arse and watching them like a hawk. In the future, I may just use the old chestnut that NJ now requires a license and I'm not taking a chance on getting caught, blah blah. I've used that one before.
 
I once heard a guy ask to drive someones' boat and the owner replied, "do you know how much a boat like this costs?" and the other guy says "no" and the owner says "then thats my answer too." I've always liked that one.
 
The Admiral and I are usually the only ones that take the helm on our boats.

I have let my brother and BIL drive on occasion. I think my BIL did better than my brother, who actually lives on a lake and is a boat owner. My lil' brother got so close behind other boats that I felt the need to shake hands and do introductions to the crew of the other boat.
 
I often let others drive my boat, but I am right there next to them to keep an eye on things and it's never in an area with a lot of traffic.
 
So, after he drove over the sand bar, you let him drive some more? You didn't have the balls to take back your boat? When it was time to leave, you let him drive it again, didn't you? I don't believe for a second you will give him the bill for the repairs.

Sorry to be so blunt, but you have to stand up for yourself.

I would not even let my brother-in-law be a passenger on my boat. He may be related to your brother-in-law.
 
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Ron !!, Have a internet drink with me and all will be fine . :thumbsup:
 
I had a 26' Tolly sedan bridge a while back. We were going slow in open calm water and I had to pee so I stood up. My step-brother says "I'll drive"... I said ok and went down stairs. I went to the biffy then changed the cd and then WHAMO! The stupid arse hit a log that must have been 40' long. How he didn't see that I can't even imagine but that was it for me. No more rookie "drivers" on my boats... ever (unless I'm sitting in the seat next to them like I do with my 7 year old... he's a better driver than my step-brother btw).
If you want to know how stupid someone is, put them behind the wheel of a boat!
 
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