The DUMBEST thing you've ever done to a boat or motor??

[geaz]

Re: The DUMBEST thing you've ever done to a boat or motor??

i'll add to that, went fishing with my dad after work a while ago, had a 6hp johnson on 12 ft jon boat.... loaded boat in water and had trouble starting it..finally started but motor at full throttle was less than trolling speed ? ? then got 20 ft from ramp and turning the motor, the fuel line snagged my knee and snapped off the fuel fitting. my dad went to find a new fitting and came back empty handed while he was out though, i managed to open the cover a look it over for like 20 minutes, finally realizing that it only had ONE spark plug in it. had a spare and hooked gas line directly to the carb and went out... it was 9:30 pm. 10 minutes later, my dad caught a 40 lb. striper...that helped a lot

 

[Roger Urwin]

Re: The DUMBEST thing you've ever done to a boat or motor??

Dumbest thing I can remember doing was using my brand new 15hp Yamaha on my friends boat,who wanted to see how well 15hp went on his hull. I had the motor bolted on to my boat but we just used the outboard clamps to attach it to his boat.One of us, I blamed him, he blamed me, forget to tighten the clamps, the motor fell off the boat after hitting a wave, disappeared under water with me hanging on to the fuel line, hadn't insured it yet, middle of winter, so no divers around & a long row back to shore. Learnt a few lessons that day!

 

[davejnz]

Re: The DUMBEST thing you've ever done to a boat or motor??

I had just finished changing the gearlube on my Johnson20hp when i decided the drain plug needed to be torqued a bit more.It didn't,the threads broke though.

 

[Joey One]

Re: The DUMBEST thing you've ever done to a boat or motor??

While visiting Grand Teton National Park, a ranger pointed out an unusual black cliff across a lake.<br />Later, I rented a small aluminum boat with about a 5 HP outboard motor; and set out to get a closer look at the black cliff. After about an hout at WOT, I noticed that I had only about 1/2 tank of fuel; and the cliff was still far away. So I turned back and proceeded to th South side of the lake at half throttle. I reached the South shore with about 1/4 tank, but the entire shore was beach and trees; no marina or other signs of life.<br />When I was down to about 1/8 tank, I noticed a peice of finished lumber that I just happened to glance at on the way out. When we approached closer, there was an opening that led to the marina. And I wonder why my wife doesn't like to go boating with me.

 

[rayjay]

Re: The DUMBEST thing you've ever done to a boat or motor??

Once while trying to reinstall a distributor on a SBC the oil pump drive shaft had rotated and the dist wouldn't seat. No problem. I get my longest screw driver and stick it down the hole to rotate the shaft but the screwdriver is not really long enough and only about an inch of the handle sticks up above the gasket surface. Being very self confident I forge on. Opps. Now the top of the handle is several inches below the manifold. After much contemplation I finally come up with a workable plan. I took 2 hacksaw blades and ran a 4" or so length of wire between the two blade using the mounting holes. I then slipped the blades down the hole and worked them around the screwdriver until the wire was wrapped all the way around the shaft below the handle. After that it was a relatively simple matter to wiggle the screwdriver up out of the hole. Before I was done I had quite a group of spectators sitting around the car in lawn chairs.

 

[ehenry]

Re: The DUMBEST thing you've ever done to a boat or motor??

My dumbest thing was backing my boat back in to the drive way after a fairly good day fishing. NOt noticing the engine had come down off the tilt pin. When I backed in the the drive the skeg hit the driveway and broke the center stack of the engine and bent the drive shaft from the engine to the foot. Evinrude 4 horse.

 

[Catfish2939]

Re: The DUMBEST thing you've ever done to a boat or motor??

I'm not a outboard mechanic like many of you, so back in the 80's my 85 hp Merc wasn't running very good, so I went to Wal-Mart and bought a can of carburator cleaner. Started the motor at the ramp and proceeded to stay carb cleaner in each carb throat Washed all the oil from the cylinder walls and total scarred each piston. Since I don't rebuild engine's I just scraped the motor. Sure wish I knew about carb kits back then.

 

[Nos4r2]

Re: The DUMBEST thing you've ever done to a boat or motor??

I made the mistake of buying a 50hp merc on ebay, collecting it in person and not checking it ran.<br /><br />Got it home, checked it 2 days later and it was siezed SOLID. Even the distributor was siezed solid.It didn't even have all the spark plugs in it.I was a tad annoyed... To his credit though he gave me my money back without arguing and let me keep the wreck-which had unused quicksilver remotes on it and 2 6 gallon tanks.<br /><br />Me and the 5 mates who went to recover the money didn't even have to raise our voices.

 

[Scali]

Re: The DUMBEST thing you've ever done to a boat or motor??

Where to start,<br />I like this one, really dumb.<br />Couple weeks ago I tilted my 40 Merc { non power tilt model } without fully unlocking it.<br />The result was yanking the the latch & rivots out of my shiny black cowling, nothing like the craaacking sound of these overpriced engine covers to make your day..<br />Some marine tex, fiberglass matt, 3 SS screws & a neat SS plate later & she's better then new !

 

[McGR]

Re: The DUMBEST thing you've ever done to a boat or motor??

Was visiting a freind in northern Michigan a number of years back. Friend had to work on the last day of my visit so I decided to go fishing by myself. Decided to launch at a fairly secluded launch at a local county park. Got the boat ready for launching and backed my car down the ramp. The boat wouldn't come off so I gave it a few sharp jolts with the brakes to get it off the trailer. All of a sudden rear end of vehicle drops significantly. Decided to put the rear wheel drive vehicle in park and let off brakes and go out and take a look at the situation. As soon as I let off the brakes vehicle starts going further backward. Jumped back on the brakes. Back seat of car is now filling up with water. However, all is not lost - as long as I hold the front brakes the car stays on the ramp. Started screaming pathetically for help - no one around. Fortunatly, about five minutes later a county maintenance dump truck enters the park. The kind maintenance guy had chains in his truck - managed to hook them up and pull me to safetly. Car drained and noting seemed damaged(except my ego) . Of course... I forgot to release the winch rope. Needless to say, I canceled my solo fishing trip. I drove home the next day (8 hours), the car was fine other than wet rear seats and foggy windows for a few weeks. I'll never be that stupid again if I can help it.

 

[oceansbreeze]

Re: The DUMBEST thing you've ever done to a boat or motor??

Gotta chime in, I still have a nightmare for the dumbest thing I ever did..... and I had help! <br /><br />I had just bought and paid for my first boat, it was 1989. I had 3 boats sitting in drydock in my dad's field, that I would never ever get repaired...... if I ever wanted to be on the lake, I had to buy somethign that was working...<br /><br />Paid the seller, towed it off to the docks, and the seller was to meet me there in 20 minutes to help me launch, show me all the bells and whistles. The boat was a 1974 Glastron 17 foot, with a 1980 Merc 80HP o/b.<br /><br />So, with my friend riding shotgun, we head off to the docks, line it up, and my friend is tellign me he and his dad used to launch their boat all the time, and he knew what he was doing. Let's not wait for the seller, let's just do it!<br /><br />Off go the transom straps, the bow chain, in goes the drain plug. Now as he explained to me, we just unhook the winch cable, back it down, and slam on the brakes once we hit the water, the boat would then float back a bit where he would gleefully be holding the bow and stern lines.<br /><br />While his technique may be considered correct by some, if you have a short and low angled ramp, a carpeted trailer bed, and an aluminum hull....... thie technique does NOT work well on a steep incline, with a heavy fiberglass hull on WHEELS!!!<br /><br />I was maybe, 2/3 of the way backing down, when the boat began sliding off the trailer, and of course, realizing what was happening, I hit the brakes (it was gonna go off anyways at this point - ain't nothing was gonna stop her now)<br /><br />SCRAPE!! She caught the bottom part of the transom, and the momentum had her slide right into the water. fortunately, the only damage was a 2" 90 degree clip about 4 inches long at the bottom of the transom. I backed the trailer down, we loaded her up, and brought it out to inspect it for damage, it could have been MUCH worse.<br /><br />the seller showed up at this point, and played in shock about what we had just done...... I later found out, he had nicknamed the boat "RamBoat" as they loved to hit everythign they could with it... I still got several good years of fun out of her. My bondo/gelcoat patch job held up ratehr well considering how much water the wood soaked up in the first few hours it was in the water. It always dripped when parked on the trailer, even if the bilge was dry.<br /><br />Only other dumb thing I remember doing, was forgetting to vent the gas can, wonder why engine would start up, run for 30 secodns (get on plane) then stall.... and left the transom straps on a couple of times too.... doh!

 

[umblecumbuz]

Re: The DUMBEST thing you've ever done to a boat or motor??

Quote from McGR<br />

I'll never be that stupid again if I can help it.

Might sound a stupid question, but how do you help not being stupid?

 

[mattttt25]

Re: The DUMBEST thing you've ever done to a boat or motor??

poured the proper amount of stabil into one of my gunwale rod holders. day dreaming at the time, and must of thought it was the gas tank.<br /><br />harmless, but very dumb.

 

[McGR]

Re: The DUMBEST thing you've ever done to a boat or motor??

I can't... So, I guess my fate is sealed. There will be more encounters with stupidity in the future.

 

[Rustybuckets]

Re: The DUMBEST thing you've ever done to a boat or motor??

Relying on the little low oil level alarm on my outboard oil tank. After it didn't work, the engine started sounding like an old Chevy with a bad lifter. ( And we all know 2-strokes don't have lifters) I just now reassembling the engine after a complete bore job.

 

[TOHATSU GURU]

Re: The DUMBEST thing you've ever done to a boat or motor??

I've decided that the dumbest thing I ever did was not forgeting to put back on a headgasket. The dumbest thing I have ever done is, without a doubt, making the marine industry my career.

 

[ragincajunNitro]

Re: The DUMBEST thing you've ever done to a boat or motor??

How about not trimming the outboard up once on the trailor and dragging the foot up the launch. A noise I will never forget.

 

[Reel Poor]

Re: The DUMBEST thing you've ever done to a boat or motor??

When I was about 13/14 years old I bought a 14ft Pisces boat ("speed hull") from my uncle. It had a 65hp Mercury on it and would run in the 50 mph neighborhood. I wanted that boat to go even faster, so one day I took the motor off and all the loose stuff out of the boat, flipped it over in the yard and waxed the bottom. Got it all done and wanted to give it a test run before dark. Mom came home from work and I asked her if she would tow me to the launch (wasnt old enough to drive the car yet) so I could test the boat out. Off we went. Boat in the water and me beside myself, I came up on a larger boat throwing quite a big wake and decided to launch it over the wake as I passed. Maaaan what a feeling, flying thru the air like nobodies business. When she touched down it wobbled, left, then right, a couple of times, then all of a sudden there was an awfull noise as the motor left the back of the boat. When I turned around and looked it was hanging there on the electrical wires, steering cable, and fuel hose. When the steering cable pulled tight it broke the steering wheel assembly and the dash where it was mounted. After a phone call, made by the people on the other boat once they got to the dock (no cellphones back then) and a couple hours, dad and a friend showed up in dads big boat to get me back home. When they got there they were like, . In my hast to see how much faster it was going to go I had not bolted the motor to the transom with the bolts, (I didnt have time, it was about to get dark. Ill do that tomorrow) I had only used the wing bolts to mount it on the transom (like you would a small engine).

 

[wjeffofl]

Re: The DUMBEST thing you've ever done to a boat or motor??

I bought an '88 Custom Craft boat with a bow deck for fishing. The small 1 foot hole in the back deck turned into cutting out the console, live wells, transom, and the entire floor. I was tearing out the bow deck and it was 3/4 ply, very heavy. It was all I could do to heave it over the front of the boat. Exhausted from the heat of the day and choked from all the fiberglass and wood dust I turned to make my exit out the rear of the boat where the outboard had been removed. As usual I prepared to make my leap over the transom and just as I started to jump the bow of the boat shot up in the air (now 100 pounds lighter). My jump became more of a stumble with the floor falling away under me and I am fully decked out in a set of tyvek coveralls (crotch down where my knees are), gloves, and dust mask. I exited the boat, legs folded back behind me, to land on the driveway on my knees and tips of my feet. Uninjured I quickly jumped up to insure no one had seen this stunt. Luckily only I and a few thousand people here on these boards know about this. <br /><br />Jeff