I learned from this..

[benski]

What single experience made you a safer and/or better boat operator?

[Hottrucks]

seeing bad stuff happen first hand and then looking for the parts

[Tony Montana]

a picture says a thousand words and there are 13 pictures- safety equipment saves lives.

http://forums.screamandfly.com/forum...hanks+blowover

[Hottrucks]

Tony I agree that is an extreme example........but it's the littler stuff...that you never expect like a broken seat stand while in the middle of a corner that flip a guy out....( not me)

[transomstand]

Getting old

[benski]

No one else has learned anything that scared them about boating? REALLY? No near misses, bad judgement calls, "Oh, it'll be wonderfuls out there? 47,000 plus perfect boaters? My, the USCG Auxilliary is pumping out some first class students nowadays.!

[lckytrbl]

not keeping my full attention(bikinis) on the waterway in the direction im traveling,combined with complacency(75mph)and a houseboat wake from a vessel underway almost a mile away.we escaped uninjured,but seated on the floor under my vegas xt's dash.i swear it stood almost verticle for what seemed like forever,and happened so fast i dont remember it.

[benski]

Icky, thanks for posting! This thread certainly isn't aimed at bashing people, I was hoping it might point out some pitfalls out there that could be avoided without having to live through them firsthand!. Thanks again..

[lckytrbl]

those are actually L's in my user name.in my "i learned"post i omitted the fact that operating under the influence contributed to the poor judgement and my have been the primary cause of the incident(98%chemical,1%young operator,1%bikini)too add insult to near injury,my ex-wife stated many times that the girls i was looking at werent worth a second look,let alone a long,drawn out one.she was occasionally correct.

[lckytrbl]

i learned at an early age how much hull plugs could be sold for,if potential buyers happened to be inexperienced and desparate.as a kid i jumped in and installed plenty of them at a local lake.

[alxb2003]

steering arm breaking a few seconds after a high speed run.just by the grace of GOD it broke at 50 instead of 95.also that no one was lined up beside me.
since that time i have a new lifeline,helmet, and steering arms with welded gussets that are heat treated(thanks bob)

almost every time i look thru the s/f forums i learn something .thanks to the pictures and discussion of accidents i feel that i have become more safety aware.so i say thanks guys!

[Stitch King]

I have 2...

My old Cat lifting off at 80 mph because of to much trim. I learned that "flat is fast".

Driving another Cat boat and trying everything to get it to stop hopping. Cocked the wheel to put it in a shallow turn thinking that would help. Caught a sponson at 70 mph and the damn thing went hard left. Vowed to never drive that boat again.

Neither resulted in a wreck. Had to change my shorts though.

[Pro300x24LD]

See Avatar, I learned that running fast and trimmed out is fun, but not a good idea all the time.

[Slowmo]

This is a great thread..The first time driving a pickel jet,pinned the throttle and then thought i would turn left,the boat did but me and rider went for a swim..Scared the crap out of me..I was young but get some seat time in em now.

[yachter55]

carry extra batteries for the gps when you cross lake michigan 60 miles in a 14. inflatable.but my squadren classes paid off and i made the last twenty miles ok.Thru out a 75'ski rope and watched to see how straight my line was.ps dont tell the old lady cause she will scream the whole time.