Blunders on the water.....what have you done?

[Augoose]

So I consider myself to be fairly experienced boater (30 years plus). I always have my required equipment, DNR inspections go without a hitch, and among my friends who have boats, the wives never worry about their kids on my boat because they know things are always kept under control and safe.

Soooooooo with that said, we are out enjoying the 4th today and its time to head to the ramp. I swim out to the boat, the wife drives the truck/trailer over to the ramp, and I intend to drive the boat over to meet her. I jump on board, toss the swim noodles, rafts, towels, goggles and other gear aside from having 4 kids running rampant all day and take off...

That's about when I hear a whack sound, almost the same sound that a nylon nuckle from a towable tube would make when it falls and hits the floor of the boat- however its already on the floor. Not realizing what was causing the sound I started inspecting the boat - lower unit, prop, tower, cabinets, everywhere trying to figure out what was making the sound. Then I see it- the line running from one of the front cleats mysteriously into the water - I forgot to bring in the anchor!:facepalm:

Seems the fluke anchor flew up and hit the bottom of the boat somewhere. As it sits on the trailer I don't see any knicks or holes in the gelcoat (that were not already there before) so I'm hoping there is not some huge hole directly above the bunk that I can't see.

Everyone makes a mistake every now and again, although I feel pretty stupid for this one. What made it worse was the fact that another boat drove by just as a recognized my mistake and they could clearly see the line running from the boat into the water....they were looking over at me smiling.....:facepalm:

 

[noclutch]

Re: Blunders on the water.....what have you done?

I did just that in 1979 with dad's boat whilst on a weekend ski trip with the boys. In a "Foghat" induced moment ( literally:drum: and figuratively :hippie I forgot all about the anchor after a relaxing for a while in a cove. I noted as we sped away "Hmmm, the boat just isn't accelerating very well"..... until the prop just cut the rope! Could have been worse for sure. DOH!

 

[minuteman62-64]

Re: Blunders on the water.....what have you done?

Last time out I put the fuel line back on the portable tank (had it out while doing some maintenance). Was in a hurry so apparently didn't push it down to the "click." Heading out the Mission Bay channel (can be a little tricky, fortunately not that day) and the motor coughed and stopped. Slight moment of panic as we drifted to the channel jetty, then figured out the fuel hose connector vibrated loose from the tank fitting. New item added to pre-launch check list.

 

[crabby captain john]

Re: Blunders on the water.....what have you done?

On the water I've been lucky for over 40 years. Came in from a 34 hour trip to the stream one evening a bit tired. Stopped to fuel-- opened gas cap, got the pump going, pumped about a gallon in the rod holder....

 

[V153]

Re: Blunders on the water.....what have you done?

Ya don't fergit the anchor. That's a priority ...

Awhile back an anchor come loose from the bow of a boat & fell in the water, attatched to about 50' of rope. Boat was movin purty good & when the slack in the line caught up the anchor came whiplashing into the cockpit from behind. Horrifically one of the flukes wound up sticking through a dudes head. Miraculously he survived, though he ain't been quite right since.

Makes my totaling a boat against a channel marker pale in comparison ...

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: Blunders on the water.....what have you done?

On the water I've been lucky for over 40 years. Came in from a 34 hour trip to the stream one evening a bit tired. Stopped to fuel-- opened gas cap, got the pump going, pumped about a gallon in the rod holder....

sry but that's funny.:laugh:

 

[crabby captain john]

Re: Blunders on the water.....what have you done?

Now yes, not when it happened. I was actually asleep and woke when a guy hollered he saw gas coming out the self bailing .... I woke up.

sry but that's funny.:laugh:

 

[IllesheimVet]

Re: Blunders on the water.....what have you done?

I normally don't attach the kill switch lanyard to myself on my WAC. Once when I did, I happened to stand up and the engine died. I spent about 30 minutes trying to find out why it wouldn't start. Felt like a total idiot!!

 

[ajax5240]

Re: Blunders on the water.....what have you done?

Was using pfd's for floats while anchored up in a cove. Had just bought a few decent ones (about $5ea). After getting out of the water, set the pfd's on the back deck to dry. Pulled anchor, got dried off and idled out of the cove (wakeless) hit the no wake line and gunned it. After cruising for a few minutes, realize that I never pulled the pfd's off the back deck, and they must have fallen off when i opened her up.

Went back to look for em, but someone had already grabbed em. Still had enough for everyone aboard, but was a kind of expensive brain fart.

 

[nimmor]

Re: Blunders on the water.....what have you done?

I have forgot to unhook my emergency bow strap when launching. At least I know it works.

 

[JoLin]

Re: Blunders on the water.....what have you done?

I turned the keys to start the engines and... nothing. Started troubleshooting, accessories all woking... hmmm. Double checked the batt switch. Opened the engine room and giot down there with my DVOM. Everything looked normal. After about 20 minutes I discovered that I'd left the shifters in reverse last time I docked. Of course, the couple in the next boat witnessed the whole thing... :facepalm:

As I get older, I realize the day will probably come when I leave the house without wearing my pants....

 

[KC8QVO]

Re: Blunders on the water.....what have you done?

Ah. I've got a real good one that will make your "forgotten anchor" a blip on the radar

We get wood of all sorts floating down our bay. It is one of the many navigational hazards we run in to daily. From docks to trees to bogs (if you've ever seen one - little mini island with trees drifting around) - we see it all.

As a curtsey to others on the lake we pick up, haul out, tow around, lots of debris when we're there so a boat doesn't go flying through the bay and end up with their boat on the bottom of the lake.

2 years ago someone in my family was doing just that - they went out to drag in a tree with the pontoon boat. It was too big for them to haul on deck so they tied the aft port side dock line to the tree. Then they docked the boat on the starboard side - and let it sit. And let it sit. And let it sit.

Next day rolls around and SOMEONE never bothered to untie the tree. Mind you, the tree is water logged and laying just under the surface - hard to see it.

We all jump in the boat for a trek up the bay and something just doesn't seem right. I wasn't driving, I started looking around trying to figure it out and looked behind the boat. There's that damn tree!

The "someone" that left the tree tied up ended up feeling like a turd but I think they learned the lesson.

 

[BRICH1260]

Re: Blunders on the water.....what have you done?

Backed my boat down the busy ramp and tried to start the engine to pull it off the trailer. I cranked and cranked the engine, opened up the engine hatch and poked and prodded. After about 20 minutes of cranking , my wife suggested the kill switch. Sure enough the lanyard had pulled off. Boy I felt like an idiot, fired right up when I reattached it.

 

[Mel Taylor]

Re: Blunders on the water.....what have you done?

I've left my bow mounted trolling motor down and took off for a new destination more than once. Water splashing over the bow usually reminds me of my error. I use six gallon portable fuel tanks and have, on a couple (maybe even three or four?) occasions connected the hose backwards. That is, with the arrow on the hose pointing toward the tank instead of the motor. Almost always happens when others are in the boat with me or nearby to witness my frustration at the motor that won't start and then watch me reverse the hose when I finally realize my mistake. If the circumstances are right when I finally correct the problem, I will say something like "well now that I've got the hose cleaned out I guess I'll go fishing" or "boy if this hose had an arrow on it like the other one did it sure would save me a lot of trouble". Anything to make me look like less of an idiot.

 

[roscoe]

Re: Blunders on the water.....what have you done?

Back in the 70's, I had my first boat, a big ole tub with a 1962 Johnson 75 hp.

Ran around the lake for the day, then, when heading into the launch area, I spotted my cousin and her husband in their boat, and decided to make a speed run along side them.

Ran out of gas, engine ALMOST died, went to change tanks and the engine got a shot of fuel and the boat surged forward then died again.

The problem was that I fell, onto the shift handle, and it slammed into reverse.
Engine kicked up so hard that it cracked the splash well, cracked the motor cowl, popped the cowl off, and smashed the GLASS carb bowls on the engine.

Long slow tow to the ramp.

 

[Bluepike]

Re: Blunders on the water.....what have you done?

It was a hot day and I felt miserable waiting for a towboat to bring me some gas. Fuel gauge said 1/2 tank when we left the dock and ten miles later it was empty, the gauge must have been stuck. An hour later, got the gas and headed in. I was in a hurry to get back in and forgot about pulling in the anchor for a full minute. Could have been pretty ugly if it had not been a soft bottom.

 

[V153]

Re: Blunders on the water.....what have you done?

Flashback to my SeaDoo days. Had a hopped up '95 XP that'd run 65 or so. Hauling butt through a narrow canal towards "Red Lake". Came around a corner & some dude had like 5 fishing lines tossed across the canal. I ducked'n avoided a couple of em but got lassoed by the rest. One in particular ricocheyed around me a couple times then the lure hooked into the back of my shoulder. Had me wrapped so tight I didn't know what to do so I bit through the line(s).

Fisherman thought that was the funniest thing he'd ever seen. He should consider himself lucky because I did in fact`have a firearm on board ...

 

[roscoe]

Re: Blunders on the water.....what have you done?

Flashback to my SeaDoo days. Had a hopped up '95 XP that'd run 65 or so. Hauling butt through a narrow canal towards "Red Lake". Came around a corner & some dude had like 5 fishing lines tossed across the canal. I ducked'n avoided a couple of em but got lassoed by the rest. One in particular ricocheyed around me a couple times then the lure hooked into the back of my shoulder. Had me wrapped so tight I didn't know what to do so I bit through the line(s).

Fisherman thought that was the funniest thing he'd ever seen. He should consider himself lucky because I did in fact`have a firearm on board ...

So did he.

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: Blunders on the water.....what have you done?

had my Johnson 25 half apart one time floating around in my inflatable that *seemed* very low on power - plugs ok, spark on both, carb bowl clean,..etc. etc.... gave up - slow trip back to the ramp. Loading the boat I noticed the bow line in a big tangle all balled up under the boat.

have also tried to get on plane with the launching wheels down- water comes up the aluminum channel and makes 2 fountains that appropriately converge at the top of my head...almost as if they designed them with that in mind.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: Blunders on the water.....what have you done?

That kill switch thing will get you ever time. After spending a few hours out at a nice beach we decided to load all of the kids back on the toon and find a shady spot and grill up some dogs, after pushing it off and sitting down and cranking and cranking and no start, I asked the wife to stand up so I could get the tools out only to notice the 3 year old pulling his truck around by the laynard making vroom vroom noises, snickers, wife thought I lost it I was laughing so much.