Your most embarrising boating incident

[H2Onut]

Come on people we all have done a bonehead move before!

Wel this is kinda wierd but here goes, I met a girl, told her I had a boat, she agreed to go out wiht me (it was the boat I know it). SO decided to go to uncharted waters, end up at this nice point on a big sandbar. See a few boats around, it's earll, So anchor away. Well we go for a walk down da beach. COme back, everyone is naked, and all the same sex (male) I am going holy $#*$, Waz up wit dat. I am also thinking, take this girl out first time end up on naked gay beach. (((((Now I have no problem with gay people, black peoplem,tall people short people, long hair short hair, what ever people, Just hate Jerks and *-holes))))

So This girl has got to be thinking what's up with this guy, wierd having everyone lookin at my ass vs the girls !!!!! So I try to be a suave as possible tell her to get in. I yank the anchor, go to fire up and being an old 2.4 she wants fuel before going to fire. Tide is incomeing, I am in a swash channel between sandbar and flats (about 18 inches of water. Boat is drifting into to beach I bail out and low and behold, 2 guys with SHWING, flappin come over and assist me in pushing boat out to motor away. So get into chest deep water, go to climb in boat on stern with ladder, MY FLIPPIN SWIM SUIT CATCHES ON A SCREW rips right off of me and You should of seen the look in those 2 guys eyes, PRICELESS.

Well needless to say, never heard back from her. But married now and happy at that.

So come on, it's cold outside, give me a chuckle!!!!

It's late, screwed up, should be in general section......No right posting this in technical...MY BAD

[us1]

http://raceoutboards.com/images/Boata6.jpg

[tombrown]

Uncle. :eek:

[Laker]

uhhh
you WIN>..........
NEXT???

[Hunter]

In 1992, I lived in Puyallup, WA. I was assigned to McChord AFB but had grown up in the area and did a lot of fishing in the Puget Sound. Fulfilling a long desire, I bought a 22’ C-Dory – a semi-displacement hull built to take a beating and deliver to one passengers while operating at its 22 mph cruise speed. I got a great deal on it. The industry was down and they were more interested in keeping the molds full and not letting good employees go than making a big profit off my sale.

I’d had the boat a few months and had broken-in both engines. My in-laws were out visiting from Oklahoma and we were going to go cruise around the south part of the sound. We stored the boat at the same place we launched out of – an open-air, covered facility with a fence and security guard. Anyway, I’d pulled the boat over to the secondary launch facility as the primary one had a big line. Both sites used winch systems to project boats out making tides irrelevant but the secondary site had to go out further and forced you to drop it between a dock and a boat house – a tight, anxious fit and not too popular.

So, I set the boat down on the water. While my wife held the boat against the bumpers/dock, I brought the winch back up and moved the truck/trailer to the lot. When I came back, I was confronted by people making frantic gestures and yelling. Turns out my boat was rapidly taking on water. I had a flapper drain on the boat and never removed it so I hadn’t bothered to check it but clearly it was not installed. Picking the boat back up with the winch wasn’t an option as someone else was using it and their boat was off the trailer and in transit. My boat had taken on ten inches or so of water but I knew it couldn’t get much worse – I kept a spare plug in the cabin. I got in the boat, found the plug and went back to install it. Now on one side of the boat, there was a swim platform making access to the area below the engine impossible from that side. As I installed the plug from the other side, it seemed oddly easy to install but I did get it on. People standing around settled down and I pulled the boat forward so the guy on the winch could drop. Then I put mine back in the winch harness and picked up the stern a little and the bow a lot after removing the drain. Once empty, I wanted to rinse out the salt water before we went out boating so I put the boat back on the trailer and towed it over to the hose. As I rinsed it out, all the time I was wondering why the drain had come off and when.

I finished letting the last of the rinse water drain and went to install the drain plug. Again, it seemed oddly easy to install. It was then that I understood why. There was no kicker motor obstructing access – it was missing. The control cables had been severed by a hacksaw and the Interphase Matrix transducer cable were also damaged with some additional damage to the gelcoat. There were obvious marks where someone had attempted to get the main motor and would have if not for the locking lugs. My father-in-law summed it up when he walked around, stuck his face six inches from the transom (he’s legally blind) and said, “That ain’t supposed to be that way, is it.”

“No, it’s not Doug and I’m pretty much out of karma. Let’s go home.” No arguments.

I can’t explain why but I returned the boat to the spot where it was stored and stripped. Walking around the back, I found the hole cut in the fence through which my kicker motor was liberated. On the ground was the flapper drain plug that the Johnny-Rude freedom fighters had knocked off.

I towed the boat home and parked it in front of the house. The next day, I took it to the RV storage lot at McChord AFB where it would be guarded by 19-year-old Security Forces members with fully automatic weapons and a twisted eagerness to shoot someone.

The good part was that the insurance coverage on the boat allowed me to replace the aged 15 hp Jonathan (from a previous boat marriage) with a brand new 8 hp (more appropriate for 3 to 5 mph trolling), replace the transducer and cables, and get the C-Dory factory to clean up the gelcoat. The best part was when, in 1996 after the price of Dory’s had gone through the roof, I sold the boat for $300 less than I paid for it.

[BK]

Great story! Glad it all worked out.

I've posted my dumbest story before, but I'll tell it again in case anyone is interested....

When I was circle racing my little 10' 65mph Kober Kat, I really had only the bare necessities rigged on it at the time. One thing I didnt have was an electric start. I still was using a key ignition. I also actually had a TOGGLE switch mounted on the cockpit wall -- that was my trim switch! Seems radical now, but I was having to take one hand off the wheel to tap the toggle swtich on the side of the boat and trim up and down at every turn. Insanity. But I just didn't know any better then.

Anyway, I was having problems with my fuel line on my Yamaha 30 -- it was a clip kind and kept popping off at the most inopportune times. I was at Puddingstone and making my hot laps when the thing 'popped' off again. :( It leaned out and I went dead in the water. I got out of my seat and clipped it back in...and sat down to try and start it.

I turned the key with my ski-gloved hand -- and nothing. From my seat I could reach back and squeeze the primer bulb --- but when I did I heard a loud "PLOP" in the water beside me.

The other race boats were all milling beside me and lining up for the clock start...one of them, Rick Hoffman, came close by and gave me the look like "What's Up?" I just shrugged back.......

When I reached back down to start --- the key was completely gone.

Apparently the key had STUCK to my glove when I reached back to prime the fuel and that was the "PLOP" I heard.

The race was a 30 minute marathon. I had to sit and watch the entire race while floating near the back stretch.

I had driven to this race, 350 miles all by myself, all the way from Northern Arizona to San Dimas California --- just so I could throw my key in the water!!!

If I had known how to hot wire! I would have. By the time I got towed back to the pits, all the guys had already put their stuff away and came rushing over to help me -- and I had to explain my predicament to them.

After the group left, one good friend whispered "Val...that's really embarrassing....you should have just made something up".

LOL!!!

[AQUAholic]

Gee, and I thought forgetting to install my drain plug was a blonde moment.

Now I dont feel so bad.

Randy.

[Clint]

About 10 yrs. ago I bought my first merc, a 1982 80 hp 4 cyl. It always ran like a top, save one trip.

Had the day off and decided to go fishing. Turns out there was a local jack-pot fishing tourn. the same day but they couldn't launch for another 30 min. so I thought I'd beat all of them to the hot spots since I wasn't fishing the tourn. and bound by their start time. I hurry up to the ramp and crank the little merc and it never fires a lick. I check everything, pull back up the ramp, off comes the cowl and give everything the once over and crank some more. Had fuel but no fire (those that have done this know the reason already :D ) So here I am with my 15 yr. old Tri-hull and baby merc all stipped down and naked surounded by $30K Ranger bassboats getting cussed out of the parking lot.

Drive back home, pull out the tech book and meter and start debuging the electronics. 2 hrs. later I notice the kill switch. Nobody else new, but I felt like the bonehead of the year!!!!!

[pyro]

When I was a kid, my mom tried to gas up Dad's Baja thru the ski pylon hole. Filled the bilge up with 12 gallons of gas, peeled the carpet up, and it stunk like hell forever. We were several miles down the chain of lakes/river at the time. The marina had to pull the boat out and clean it for us. Ouch. Dad was pissed.

[BK]

Now THAT is funny!

And sounds like a good one for "Scream Toons"....

:D

[AnthonySS]

I almost forgot about this,

It was the Fall of 1992. It was the first season as the PBCC Prez and I had just put a XR2 150 on My stream . I was replacing the 90 inline that was on it so I was anxious about the speed increase. It was a “gray-rainy day” in September and me and our PBCC Secretary launched the Vision @ Rivera Park in Lindsey.

At the Park there is a long 9K (6mph) zone leading into the lake. Well I was impatient, took a look around, as there was no-one in site and decided to “give-er”.

Wow was this thing fast as I witnessed the speedo beaming over 70 mph…In the distance I could see a white boat and just assumed it was fisherman, considering the day was so crap. Well as we got closer I saw the Big Letters…”OPP” on the side of the Boat…. (Ontario Provincial Police), looked into the boat and saw an officer waving me over, with a radar gun in his hand….

“Ooops…”I brought the boat off plane and sheepishly “trolled over” too him.

Here I am the prez of PBCC “promoting Safe Boating” and I was caught doing 123 km/hr (76 mph) in a 9k (6mph) ZoneJ

…to say the least I rambled about PBCC, and how competent “I thought” I was…and the guy proceeded to give a warning, and asked us politely to refrain from speeding in the river

“Certainly Officer….WILL do!”

End of Story

[MadMat]

I got caught very similarly. What pissed me was the way he flew across the harbour at lightning speed past all the boats I'd slowed right down for. Oh, and that I didn't see him sooner so had gone into the marina. Could've headed out to sea if I saw him coming. I wrote a letter to his boss (and I quote) - "You won't catch me again". Made me laugh anyway. I always remember to salute on the way past now, maximum tilt, maximum wash to spill his coffee.

[Techno]

I think maybe finding the boat on shore like a gilligans island thing is my best. Waves washing over the stern and the seats and stuff exploded on the beach. This was during a Tall ships day with thousands of people on the beach and quite a few boats anchored off.
I was told by another boater they noticed the boat dipping lower and lower, finally it didn't reappear so a bunch of them pulled it to the beach and emptied it. I'm not really sure why they took the seats out. the fuel tanks made sense, but there was every possible thing scattered around the boat.
A few helped turn it bow out and lifted it to empty the boat part way. It floated at this point. I bailed the rest and spun it with the plugs out.
About 1/2 an hour from finding the wreckage I had the boat on plane and leaving.
It was somewhat embarrasing finding out your boat had sunk. But the looks on thier faces were worth it when I left.
I did follow thier advice and went straight back instead of playing around. The next day I seperated the fuel in the tanks. It's been awhile but I seem to remember about 50% water.
This was a 3 point hydro-'53 or '57 U-2 from the commando boat company. A direct reverse '60-'61 merc tower of power all 90 hp of it weighted the back down considerably. Would almost always start in reverse but not always in forward so I had many times of paddling back with the broom oar. (The engine rotated backwards for reverse)

The very strange part about this. This was my brothers boat. He finally donated it to get rid of the pain in the butt. 3 years after I bought my house guess what moves in 3 doors down? The very same boat with out one single change, still sporting the gray and black living room bunk rug.
It's probably still out there, paddled stealthily on moonless nights, up a dark channel with a broom.

[Flat Out]

Every spring I have the PBCC gang up to my cottage for a weekend of running around the lake. We take rides in each others boats try different props, basically hang out and have a good time. This spring my project boat sank during the week and I had severe food poisioning (not fun). So Saturday when everybody showed up there I was with a sunken boat sick as a dog. I got to thank everyone for helping get the boat up and looking after eveything when I was unable to do so. Hope I'm in better shape this year. For any one who wants to looks like it will be June 1-2 2002 for the season opener at my cottage.

[PaulO]

At about 13-14 years old I had acquired a 10 or 11 foot plywood hydro glassed over and painted jet black. Real cool looking rig. I had an old (circa. 1965) Johnson 33 hp outboard that I mounted on it. The damn thing porpoised so bad, I ended up making fixed trim tabs to cure the problem ( I thought I had invented something at the time!).

One quiet weekday, I got Dad to drop a friend and me off at the local ramp and we we headed out to spend the day on the water. We buzzed over to a popular cove on the bay side (south shore Long Island) and beached the boat. We walked over to the ocean side and spent several hours in the surf and ogling the girls.

When we got back to the boat we needed to give it a healthy push back into the water since the tide had receded somewhat. Being a weekday, the cove was occupied by only a dozen or so 25 to 45 footers anchored in various spots with families swimming or out in their floats or inflatables.

My buddy and I walked the boat out to waist depth and he held it in place while I climbed in to get it started. The old motor was a good runner with a pull start and a two lever control. I set the throttle at half as I always did and stood up to give the rope a pull. Next thing I know, I am standing up in waist deep water as the boat takes off across the cove. Obviously, I had left it in gear.

I remember the look of panic on my pal's face and I am sure mine looked the same or worse. I also remember the blood-curdling scream emanating from the mother on deck of a 30-something footer as she frantically reeled in the line connected to the rubber raft that her young daughter was floating in. My unmanned boat/torpedo narrowly missed that raft.

As you would expect, the steering cocked to one side with no one to correct it and an unladen boat at half throttle can really get some speed up. The boat headed around the perimeter of the cove and would eventually complete several laps. The boat was so light that when the prop grabbed it would fling the boat forward and to the right but also, up and partially out of the water. The prop would then loose its grip and the boat would land thus allowing the prop to grab again. This cycle repeated itself throughout the duration (which seemed like an eternity).

With boaters screaming and frantically departing, the little missle continued to complete its laps. Fortunately, the wind was blowing in towards the section of shore I was standing near and as the boat came around, it was blown closer and closer to shore and into increasingly shallow water.

As the boat would head towards me and hit bottom, the engine would sputter. I recall running out ( running in waist-deep water was just like running in a nightmare) and trying to direct the boat into shore as it slowed and sputtered and then trying to grab and close the throttle. There were a few times where I positioned myseld so that I found the boat heading directly toward me forcing me to try to run and then dive out of the way.

The boat hit bottom harder and sputtered longer with each pass before coming back to life. Finally, on one pass, it sputtered long enough for me to dart in and close the throttle.

My friend and I left the now nearly deserted cove ( for those of you who know the area it was Zach's bay) with a severly bent propeller and took the long, slow ride back to the ramp without ever uttering a syllable to each other. After we got the boat back on the trailer, we vowed never to tell anyone what happened. We were so scared and felt so bad about our irresponsibility that we never talked about it.

I still believe it was a miracle that the boat avoided hitting anyone/anything while completing a good number of flying laps.

About a year ago, I contacted my friend after losing touch for many years. I asked him if he was still interested in boating and he stated that he had never quite recovered from that incident and that boating was a little too scary for him. He also told me that he had never told anyone the story. I, however couldn't make the same claim although it did take me a bunch of years before I spilled my guts.
PaulO

[Techno]

Thats something that could have been included in Boatniks!
I'm sure it wasn't too funny to you at the time but I think it was sure funny.
I can see the boats scattering as the monster circles.

[AQUAholic]

My wife remimded me about the time she was trying to reach out from the dock to guide the boat onto the trailer.

She fell off the dock into the water with about 10 people watching.

This was early in the year so the water was cold. OOPS.

The other one I forgot was when I got a new truck with a manual transmission.

I was too stubborn to shut off the motor and put it in gear to launch the boat.

I found out that parking brakes dont hold too well in reverse on a boat ramp.

Jumped into the truck to hit the brakes just before the water got to the doors.

I'm glad there were no other people at that ramp.

Randy.



:eek:

[BK]

One of our favorite spots to boat is about 10 miles south of Laughlin Nevada on the Colorado River. If you've ever had the chance to go boating here, you'll know the water is clearer than crystal but swift - with about a 15-20mph current. The river is not very wide, and only about 6 feet deep -- but the power of the water is too fierce to wade out beyond waist height.

One day, we were cruising and went over something under the surface -- yellow and shiny -- it was a yellow inboard HYDRO! Beautiful boat -- the chrome shining back at us -- sitting flat on the bottom about six feet under.

We drifted downstream about 100 yards and found a nice sandy beach to spend the day.

About an hour later, a big pretty blue Daytona with a bimini top arrived with about 4 men inside. They were trolling around the area of the sunk hydro --- We didnt really pay attention to what they were doing, but we figured they were making a rescue attempt of some kind.

Suddenly the bow of the Daytona shot straight up -- and tons of water came rushing over the transom and into the boat -- all men jumped ship and within seconds the Daytona was DOWN! Sunk right beside the hydro! Apparently they were able to get a line on the Hydro - but that was a real tragic and dangerous mistake.

We ran to our boat and shot out chasing the massive amounts of floating debris that was headed quickly down the river. The men all made it to shore on their own ok -- so we went on a scavenger hunt, retrieving a bunch of boat cushions, ice chest, life vests, loaves of bread, some shoes, and wallets! We found THREE floating wallets in all.

When we went to the shore to drop off the lost items to the soaked crew, those poor guys told us that one of them was the Hydro owner -- and was asking help from his buddy in the Daytona to get his hydro back, avoiding paying huge fees from the salvage companies.

But they did seem to be relieved when we showed them the three wallets we found --- which had nearly ended up on a quick float trip to Needles.

As the 3 owners claimed their wallets, the 4th guy, the one helping in the retrieval, frowned and said "Don't tell me ...you only found three?" He was totally bummed and slumped down on a rock and pouted. We felt really badly. :(

Here we were, 7 miles from Bullhead City and it was 110 degrees. We asked if they wanted us to take them back into town and they said "no", they were going to WALK!

Guess they had their fill of boating for one weekend. LOL

[Danco]

About ten years ago I was runnin my Checkmate Enchanter solo on Saginaw Bay. The waves were gettin pretty big - I'd say 3 ft rollers - you know one of them fun days on the water. I was coming from the marina in Pt. Austin where I put the boat in and taking it to my summer cottage where I put the boat in a rack. We'll low and behold I pass the Perch fishing party boat loaded with fine lookin chicks!!! Don't know what they were all about but they were all waving at me. SO being the hotshot cool dude I am I swung around to make high speed pass. So here I am clippin about 60mph with the rollers and catch a rouge about 60 yards from the party boat. The wave kicked the bow high then when coming down another kicked the pad throwing the stern up. You guessed it - STUFFED. I used to run without the windshield back then - not anymore. The water that came over the bow threw me into the back seat. Luckily I was wearing my tether! So here I am swimmin in the cockpit of the boat with all these fine women gaping at me. We'll being the swave dude that I am I stand up - take a bow and yell to them - "for my next trick I will pretend that that did not hurt like a sonofabit$#!!! Lady's have a nice day". Then set to bailing! Still hurts when I think about it! LOL

[H2Onut]

THis happened lat New Years Eve. Tradition, go to sandbar, big fire and Lots of fire works...

My firend and wives doing our annual celebration, My boat was under construction, my friend offered use of both his boats. I agreed to tow the second boat, No problem, So the night went well. It's 1:45 AM New Years Day. Get the first boat loaded no problem. Go to load boat I am hauling, Back up, dunk the trailer, He loads her up, and while he is winching I feel the brake going soft. I pump the brake and it goes to the floor, quick pump again, to the floor, the whole rig is going backwards into the water. Ahhhh I panic, throw it into gear, add a little gas and saved the car from drowning. You should of seen my buddies eyes, standing on trailer tounge. Good thing is he understood what was happening and held on. So motor up, Find out brake line snapped, (Rusted through.) So he had to take boat home with load of people. come back get us and his 2nd boat. WHAT A NIGHT, then next morning call tow truck to get car and I had a parking ticket for parking where boat/trailers should only park.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Also had someone fill the pole holder with 5 gallons of fuel also, thats is messy

[Instigator]

I was'nt going to show my back side here, but all of you have made me feel so comfortable:D
One time durring a re-rig of the boat that I posted about identifying on the general board, a buddy of mine and I went balls to the wall to get together one paticular weekend.
Started on a Friday afternoon with a bare hull which I Had just painted.
We worked until 2:00 A.M. the first night, started again about 7:00 A.M. saturday, and were near exhaustion and giving up by Saturday night.
So we set a goal.
"To get the boat to run/float good enough to get us from the ramp to the beach", where everyone hung out at the time.
We made to the ramp Sunday early afternoon after working probably 30 hrs collectively to this point.
The motor (keep in mind, new wiring rigging, everything) fires instantly (which shocks me to begin with), but I can't get the boat to back off the trailer??
This is always a busy ramp and this day was as well.
So my filed on cross flow w/open exhaust is screaming its guts out through its open exhaust while everyone watchs and waits their turn for the ramp.
Problem#1. Shift linkage hooked up ass ackwards. I had it in forward!
We figure that out and then "slide" the boat off the trailer like normal and start my tuirn to to the right to exit the harbor.
The baot turns lest??
Problem #2. I hooked the steering up backwards!
I decide I'm smart enough to still be able to drive the boat.
This poor boat was either WFO or broke the whole time I had it, and we decide we needed a "real" ride after all the work we put in.
Like most good running O/B's, trim is what makes em run and this one was no different.
OK, left is right, forward is reverse, I can deal with that, pc of cake.
So we get up to about 50 and I try to run the trim up, and nothing??
Then I try the down button and the motor came up??
Ah, I see!
Problem #3. up is down and down is up.
Now I got it.
This boat had a pad about 2' wide, and went everywhere but straight until it picked up the bow and then it tried to chine walk worse than anything I have ever been in.
Try doing anti chine walk "steering chop" when the steering is reversed, oh yeah and the trim is also reversed when the boat is realy airring out, which button is down:eek:
We finally pull in a cove and reverse the steering and take the short trip (at speed of course) to the beach and spent the rest of the day sipping cold ones in the sun laughing at each other!!
Story #2. A quick one that BK will appreciate.
When I was 19 I worked for a guy in Houston Texas building racing hydroplanes.
Part of the deal was me racing one of his boats and him sponsoring me (my 15 minutes).
Anyhow we had'nt had time to build me a new boat yet so I ran my old one with his motor at the first race.
He had never seen me drive before, so I figure I'll put on a little driving exhibition durring testing.
At the time I had been running 15 cu.in. Merc that wuld run about 55 on the straightways with absolutely no acceleration (as you would expect).
This class was called 20SS. They were 22 cu.in. Japanese Yamatos.
These things would run 65 - 67 in competion form and accelerate hard out of the corners.
So its my first ride with this motor, and I am geeked!
With the little boats, your crew is in the water holding your boat while you start it.
So my new boss and his crew (he is past Natl/World Cahmapion in the Pro class) are in the water, the motor fires on the first pukll and the thing shoots on plane and accelartes harder than anything I had raced at this point.
I go into the first turn at probably 65 and let off the throttle to set the boat.
The thing proceeds to barrel roll hard!
I come up for air and the hting stiing there floating upside down and I'm thinin what the hey just happened??
I get towed to shore where my crew is waiting on me and trying to figure it out themselves.
We rool the boat over and see that I had forgotten to tie the motor down.
With those motors ther is no power trim and there is nothing to hold the motor in the water when you let off of the throttle (hence the rope).
So I let off of the throtlle while turning the boat, the motor kicks up which eleimates my steering and splash!
My boss see's this, shakes his head, and turns around and walks away w/o saying a word!!
Had this boat for sale at the time, and proceeded to destroy the 11 or 12 boat field that weekend in my first 2 heats.
3rd and final heat I had 1/2 a lap lead on the second place boat when I hit something in the water and blew a hole through the bottom.
The rules say you cannot enter the pits until the last boat finishes.
I had a full lap on the last boat when I crossed the finish line, and my boat was sinking fast!
I'm holding the motor wide open (water pooring over the motor board) while I do loops in front of my pits until the last boat finish's.
Soon as I let off the gas the boats instantly sinks!!
The race was in Laredo which is right on the Mexico border, and all the spectators around our pits are Mexicans and they went nuts when I came in.
They were my biggest fans and I had no clue what any of them said!!! (I just smiled a lot)
My vote for the funniest story is the first one about all nude gay guys on the beach!! Hillarious!!

[YoungStream]

When I was 17 I was having a party at my cottage, my folks were away for the week.

A bunch of my friends headed off to the bar, I decided to stay with my new girlfriend at the cottage, planning to rendezvous with them later.

I dropped Jess off at her cottage on an island about an hour and 1/2 later, then drove home. As I entered my bay, I could see all my friends docking at my next door neighbours place(another friend) back from the bar and ready to party some more.

The most important detail to this story was that I was real drunk...yes DUMB, I know, but I did learn my lesson.

I am driving an overpowered 13'4 Boston Whaler that does 46 mph on GPS. As my boys see me screaming into the bay the drunk crew starts hootin and hollering and stuff....show off time...I decided to use 3 closely placed objects in the bay as an obstacle/slalom course, the last turn is real tight, between our 24 ft sailboat and a swimming raft, so I trim in hard -- Let me tell you, alcohol screws with your reaction time so badly, boat caught and it was rolled over in a split second. I came up for air under the hull with the engine screaming...shut it down, then popped out from under the hull...'scared sober' - YES. My friends were frantic, but, I was calm, they were screaming for me to get out of the water, but I was saving that boat, I swam it into shore, flipped it over with the help of my buddy, winched it up, pulled the spark plugs and let her dry out. It never had a problem running.

An add on to Anthony SS's post. I got busted 70+ mph in a 9 km/h zone(indian river), by a non-marked rcmp boat. The guy wrote the wrong act on the ticket and when I went to plead my case I got off scott free from a $345 ticket.

Don't Drink and Drive.

[B.Leonard]

One time in a very tight marina with a strong wind blowing, I attempted to turn 360 deg.

I ran out of space because the wind was pushing the boat. I was trying to remain calm after I saw I didn't have enough room for the turn so I took my time to straighten the motor and hit reverse but I had forgot the Tilt lock-out valve was faulty!

I was not alarmed as the boat headed quickly for some very swanky sailboats docked along the marina edge. I knew reverse would stop the boat in the nick of time and we would motor out of the marina with ease.

WRONG! I hit reverse, the motor instantly comes out of the water spinning a stainless 3 blade prop about 2500rpm and now closing the gap even faster between me and the sailboat now that the motor is tilted full up!

I pull the throttle back to neutral and my wife runs to the back of the boat to fend off the sailboat reaching over the still spinning prop!

After she fends off the sailboat, the boat now careens to the starboard side (20 knot wind). I instinctively throw my hands up to fend off another sailboat on the starboard side and inadvertently knock the throttle to WOT! :eek:

Yes, my wife is now starring at a stainless prop inches from her face spinning at WOT! The prop misses cutting a hole in the waterline of the swanky sailboat maybe even sinking it by less than inch!

I shut the motor off, tilt it down and look around. No one saw a thing! My wife and I cannot believe how things got out of control so fast. I start the motor up and proceed to leave the marina as quickly as possible. :p

(Mike, this was O'Neil's marina)


-BL

[H2Onut]

O'neils and nobody saw you, Thats unheard of. I can picture it now, Funny now, But REAL scary then. Need to plop in at DeSoto It's free and B I G.

PS Adding another boat to the collective..............

[B.Leonard]

Man you are living the good life no doubt!

A Hydrostream for the 2.4?

-BL

[BenKeith]

This one didn't happen to me, I just witnessed it and helped. It happend in the early 70's to a person I'm not going to identify because he was a very famous professional football player that was from the same town I'm from.

When Mr.X got drafted into NFL, our home town had a special day for him in his honor. Several of the buisnesses gave him nice gift. Chevy dealer gave him a Blazer, Mercury dealer gave him a nice boat motor and trailer. The firt time he took them to the lake I was there getting ready to go fishing, he was on the ramp in front of me. He launched his boat, left it on the ramp and went to park his Blazer. Got back and found boat quickly filling up with water. Ran back, got Blazer and I helped him get it back on trailer. Let it drain, put the plug in this time and backed it back into the water again. Not sure what happened next, if he forgot to put it in park or it came out, but he jumps out to undo winch hook and Blazer goes by him into 12 feet of water. Winch still hooked to boat so pulls pulls boat under too. I quickly dropped my boat and using my Bronco and a long tow cable I kept in it, we dove down, hooked to it and pulled it out within just a few minutes. I dried out dist. pulled plugs and turned engine over to pump water out of cylinders. The dang thing started and he drove off just a cursing. Boat laying almost on its side, still full of water and water pouring out of all corners of that Blazer.

Bad day at the lake for him.

[Superdave]

My first job out of the service was at a marine dealer in Nashville,TN. Did rigging and mech work. My now brother-in-law also worked there. We married sisters. He had rigged a new Hydra-Sport with a 150 inline, including ALL wiring. We got the boats cheaper stripped down. I went with him to the lake to water test the NEW rig that the customer was picking up that evening. He got in the boat and I backed him down the ramp. He started the motor and checked everything out while it was idling on the trailer. He motioned for me to ease back to get off the trailer. He put the motor in reverse and gave it gas. Wouldn't come off. He motioned for me to back up some more so I did. Still didn't come off. I was watching in the mirror when I noticed the boat swinging back and forth with the trailer floating. LOL. We thought we forgot to unstrap the boat. Several people at the marina/dock were watching and laughing Pullled up and checked straps, not on. Backed back down and the trailer/boat floated again. Went back to the shop and started looking. Found out he had used too long of screws in the battery boxes and screwed the boat to the trailer runners. LOL. What do we do? Customer on the way and his NEW boat has 8 holes in the bottom! We raised the boat off the trailer and put Marine Seal in the holes. Never saw the customer again! Musta been happy! LOL

[DUCKY]

Well guy's, I thought I would never admit this to the public, But hell, some of you may been there. There I was at my very first Boat race. The IHBA World Finals at Firebird, October 1999. My first qualifying pass was a bit slow, but I made the cut for the class. My "crew" (brothers) and I were sitting in the pits, they were drinking their Bud-Light as I went over some last minute checks before the next round of qualifying when they called my class to the ramp. Eager to not miss a round of qualifying, I suited up in a BIG hurry as they towed me to the ramp. They backed me down and dunked me in a quick and well organized manner. I grabbed the holding rope and started pulling myself out to the starter's barge when I thought "Damn this boat feels heavy!" Well if you have seen all the stuff IHBA makes you wear, namely the helmet restraint, you know it's a little hard to move. I removed my kill lanyard, stood up and turned around to find the only part of the stern of my boat above water was the motor cowling!! You see, my Placecraft was a Mod-VP style tunnel with three drain plugs, and they were all in the toolbox in the back of my truck!! I slid across the bow to the nose in full gear and yelled for help. It took two Jetski's and three ropes to get my severely laden craft back to the ramp! Luckily there was a back up on the road around the other side of the lake to the pullout ramp, and my truck was still on the ramp. We got her on the trailer and bailed out before the next round, But not before the announcer gave my name and boat number out and the stands broke out in laughter!! I've been catching hell over this for over two years now!:eek:

[BK]

I won't give the driver's name, but when IOGP ran at Pudddingstone Lake back in the 80's, a friend of mine entered his Mod-VP. Normally, I would be there to help him test and back him in and out of the water.

But this time I had to work late on Friday, so his new girlfriend was delegated for the backing chores Sat morning.

I arrived late Sat morn to see melted manifolds laying on the ground! And was told they had become so RED with heat that they needed a fire extinguisher! I wanted to know how on earth this could happen - and this is what I was told:

It appears that the new girlfriend, when she was backing him in, saw all four tires of the tow vehicle were in water, and assumed this must be far enough and gave the signal to the boat driver that all was ready.

He fired up the motor and proceeded to do a low RPM break-in. It wasn't long before the motor seized and they realized the lower unit was high and dry the entire time! YIKES!

The sand launching area was very gradual - even though all four tires were in the lake, it did not mean the boat was!

The team was obviously not happy. They had a burnt up motor and the event was over for them.

But another driver offered to bring us a motor from home! YAY! We were able to get the new powerhead on, and once again took it to the launch ramp to test...launched DEEP this time.

But when we tried to fire the motor, it would not. By this time, John Stoker had been walking past our pit and stopped to watch. As we continued to try to fire up the motor, Mr Stoker approached the rear of our boat. "How very nice of Mr Stoker", we thought. He's going to take a look and see what he can do to help us ---- and sure enough, he did!!

He walked right up and pulled the rags out of the carbuerators, and said "OK -- NOW Try it".

Our driver's face was redder than his manifolds.

LOL!!! What a weekend ;)

[Capt.Insane-o]

I watched a guy in a 14 tin boat with a 15 johnny blow it over trying to put it onthe trailer. He did'nt back the trailer in far enough. So trying to power load a tin boat (?!)he hit the trailer bunks gives 'er all shez got, bow shoots straight up in the airand boat falls over to the left emptying every thing, fish tackle, fish , owner in waist deep cold Mid December poopy Saginaw river water. I laughed so hard i about sh*t myself!:D

[ProComp]

First ride in my new used STV with rebuilt motor. Pretty excited. I know I am suppose to break in the motor so I take it easy for about 30 seconds. Too curious. Get the boat up on plane and start driving. At about 30 mph the boat starts porposing like crazy. What the heck, I'm thinking.

Advice - never wear runners when you have a foot trim that you have never used before. I now only drive bare foot.

ProComp

[pist'n broke]

Well one fine sunday morning they send me out in my 18 foot cougar mod VP to "test" the lights. And NO this wasn't cheating.
You know,to make sure they work before they put the "fast" guys in.
Well being boat racing, everything is behind schedule and a large crowd is anxious to see some racing.
So I motor down to the start line and all is well, get lined up and they start the tree.....all is well.
About halfway down the track I get a bright idea!!!
I figure this thing turns pretty well so as soon as I cross the line I'll stuff the nose and crank it hard and shoot it right back down the other lane.
Well....it seemed like a good idea at the time.
I nail the trim down and crank it hard to the right and oops.
Next thing I know I'm lying/sitting on the floor in front of the passenger seat with the boat idling in neutral facing the start line.I jump back in the seat give a wave to all the fans watching my little show and off I go.
Note to self...turn left next time!~

[Clint]

Does it count if you're embarrassed for somebody else???? I felt so sorry for these guys; sorry they were so stupid that is.

It was late Jan. and a buddy and I were fishing a local lake when we should have been at home in my warm shop building something fast, i.e. it was very cold and local lake wind advisories in effect. We were at a local power plant lake fishing the warm water discharge by boat right up on the buoy line facing the north wind head on. These guys next to use must have surely made the "Darwin Awards List" by now as they had a navy style anchor hooked onto the buoy line like a grappling hook. They are in some kind of open bow Bayliner thing but is of pretty good size, 20' or so. Even though they are in a 20'er, the white caps are coming over their bow every third wave or so. One guy is in the front of the boat trying to whip the rope hard enough to make the anchor/grappling hook release, NO WAY PAL! The wind is blowing the boat back so hard the guy can't pull the boat up close to the buoy line to release his grappling hooks death hold, hence his effort to whip it free. Why not use the engine to power up to the line you ask. Well the anchorman's buddy is in the back of the boat with the engine cowl off (stern drive rig) pouring gas down the carb out of a one-gallon can with one hand and cranking the engine with the other. Expecting an emanate explosion we got the hell out of there!!!!! Freezing cold, taking on water, tied up solid, boat violently pitching around, all while trying to prime a cranking engine with raw fuel, dam some guys just don't get it!