Foolish Mistakes 101

This is on behalf of my then sixteen year old son.......not saying I haven't had any bloopers. I have but......
I am going out of town to a boat show. My sixteen year old son, with his new drivers license and freedom asks if he can take the 12' lake boat and motor and my truck to a lake to go fishing with some friends for the first time on his own.
Sure, I said......he's been around boats and motors all his life.
Well, as the story goes, one guy put the outboard on the transom but thought another guy tightened the clamps.
Needless to say they wern't trolling when the outboard parted company with the boat and rests today at the bottom of the lake.
My son, the poor soul, worried for hours about how I would react when I got home.
I knew he beat himself up hard over this and definately learned a valuable boater's lesson so I couldn't be upset about it.
I am sure that in his boating future he will always check and recheck to make sure the motor is secure to the boat.

Cheers, :beer
Tom
 
I didn't do it but I saw it.

A guy backs down the ramp, his 12 foot Whaler on the trailer, OB in place. Stopped, went back to push it off, didn't go so he jumps into the dingy, starts the OB and puts it into reverse, gets back into the truck and backs farther down the ramp. When the boat launched, he was in the truck, backing towards the deeper water.

The dingy backed out about 30 - 40 feet, and went into a circle, round and round. He cought it jumping form a dock, landed short, but was able to bring it under control. Think his phone got wet though.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
LOL love this thread. I come to you guys for experience and wisdom to help keep myself from making silly mistakes, and I find exactly where the experience and wisdom came from!

We (brother and I) backed Dad's lund into Lake WA on an midnight bass trip one year without the plug, learned good lesson there... pulled the boat and drained the water, took a long time to get the water out. I've since forgotten the plug on the smaller boat a few times... but so far so good on the CD.

Watched dad pull the boat out without raising the OB one year. one new prop later, mildly inexpensive lesson learned.

Watched my buddy take one of my DR balls and toss it into the puget sound thinking it was attached to the DR line. ball goes splash, line stays loose. "hey" he asks, "why isn't the line tight?". That had me rolling on the ground laughing because he spent the prior week telling me we didn't need downriggers to fish for salmon. so I told him, lucky for him, he doesn't need a downrigger fishing for salmon today! lol

First night we ever slept on any boat at all (our new C-Dory), it rained and a little water in the cock pit scared me, made me think our new boat was taking on water, so I set my alarm for every 20 minutes to check throughout the entire night.... (only trace amounts of water that I later realized rolled forward a bit when I put my weight in the birth to sleep).

we have been really fortunate so far, nothing serious, but 2014 is just starting :twisted:
 
Reminds me of a story I got from my friend who worked in statistics at the Naval Postgraduate School. Two Navy Lts at the school checked out a sailboat. Off they went in to the bay only to sink at an inconvenient distance from the shore due to lack of a plug. I wonder if they ever got promoted?

Pflash
 
when I raised fish (seahorses) I remember people said in the aquarium world "only bad things happen fast".

I used to watch people try to rush their boats in and out of the launch and make mistakes along the way. I think 1/2 the reason my dad sold his boat is because the boat launch stressed him out too much. people are jerks and tend to try to rush you out of their way. I decided a few years back I was going to take my time, walk circles around my boat before it goes into the water and I will get in and out of there at a speed which is appropriate to be safely and adequately prepared. I wont rush others and I wont let others rush me. I dont mean to be a jerk about it, but my boat is my most expensive toy and I won't risk damaging it. (and I won't ask anyone else to risk theirs!)

last year the folks at a popular launch asked me if I could pull my boat up to a different area to finish my tie down process and I said no. I told them I'd not dilly dally, I'll get out of their hair as soon as I can, but I would rather not rush myself and forget anything. They were very very respectful and said they understood 100%, take my time and be safe they said.


with that said, I'll keep a log of my 2014 mistakes (lessons) and the cost of said education/tuition for tax purposes. lol
 
So what new mistakes have I made in 2011 -2012? forgot downrigger balls in the 27 once.

Forgot the net in the sled for pinks once.

forgot oil for the dinghy motor once. Just rowed ashore.

forgot my duck calls for duck hunting once.

As long as its just once on each item I fill ok about it.

Forgot to make a head call before paddling the canoe two miles into the bay to duck hunt. Ever try to squat in waders pulled down and wrapped around your thighs while standing in water that is just above your knee's two miles from shore or anything resembling cover while you hunting partners makes wise cracks and start to paddle away???
 
starcrafttom":1h8qk755 said:
<some deletions>
Forgot to make a head call before paddling the canoe two miles into the bay to duck hunt. Ever try to squat in waders pulled down and wrapped around your thighs while standing in water that is just above your knee's two miles from shore or anything resembling cover while you hunting partners makes wise cracks and start to paddle away???
Click to expand...

Tom-

That's a cartoon waiting for an artist! :lol:

At least it was only #1! :lol:

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
Sea Wolf":2z93veqx said:
At least it was only #1!
Click to expand...
I didn't get that from reading the description...

*****

The whole thing made me (laughingly) remember youthful days in snow country all bundled up in snowmobile suits (like really comprehensive insulated coveralls, only without any flaps or etc...)
 
Sunbeam":2lqijr99 said:
Sea Wolf":2lqijr99 said:
At least it was only #1!
Click to expand...
I didn't get that from reading the description...

*****

The whole thing made me (laughingly) remember youthful days in snow country all bundled up in snowmobile suits (like really comprehensive insulated coveralls, only without any flaps or etc...)
Click to expand...

Sunbeam-

I re-read it, and I think you're right! :wink

Maybe we don't want a cartoonist's rendering of it, after all! :lol:

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
When wife was getting out of the boat dropped her truck keys in the drink. First words out of my mouth got me a look that said PLENTY even though she didn't say a word.

Going to the hardware store, buying the biggest magnet I could find, putting it on a loop to attach it to a halibut rod and spending half an hour jigging for the keys helped (after I got the keys up) but sure wish I had kept my lips closed when it happened.
 
Well, at great shame, I can admit to a mistake bigger than Harvey's. I was distracted and instead of putting the nozzle on the gas can into the fuel inlet I put it into the rod holder. Fortunately I noticed my mistake after only a cup or so of gas went into the cockpit. Talk about feeling like an idiot. It is amazing how fast one can detail a boat when you are trying to avoid anyone else realizing how stupid you are....


Karl
 
Years ago I owned sailboats; but now I am a power boater having just bought a CD25 a month or so ago. The CD is parked outside my house for now until I can complete a shed to house it. I get in and out via a relatively cheap aluminum step ladder that doesn't quite reach -- note my sailboats were never on a trailer.

Yesterday, I got in the boat late in the afternoon to do some cleaning.....got immersed and didn't leave until after dark with my hands full of junk. There was no light, but heck, I've done this maneuver dozens of times in the last month. So I step onto the swim ladder, carefully turn around and reach my foot down to that long first step.

What I hadn't done dozens of times is this maneuver in strong winds (gusting over 40). My foot just keep going down, down, down until I lost my balance and fell to the ground with gear flying everywhere (luckily the Honda 150 helped me break the fall). Once I dusted myself off, I note the upset step ladder laying on the ground where the wind had deposited it.
 
sgmfish":1p6tisva said:
Years ago I owned sailboats; but now I am a power boater having just bought a CD25 a month or so ago. The CD is parked outside my house for now until I can complete a shed to house it. I get in and out via a relatively cheap aluminum step ladder that doesn't quite reach -- note my sailboats were never on a trailer.

Yesterday, I got in the boat late in the afternoon to do some cleaning.....got immersed and didn't leave until after dark with my hands full of junk. There was no light, but heck, I've done this maneuver dozens of times in the last month. So I step onto the swim ladder, carefully turn around and reach my foot down to that long first step.

What I hadn't done dozens of times is this maneuver in strong winds (gusting over 40). My foot just keep going down, down, down until I lost my balance and fell to the ground with gear flying everywhere (luckily the Honda 150 helped me break the fall). Once I dusted myself off, I note the upset step ladder laying on the ground where the wind had deposited it.
Click to expand...

oh ouch, that sounds painful!
 
smgfish, that has to hurt. Any time hitting the motor is a good thing is a bad time.

For the record on my post. it was 2 and it was cold and if you squat to fat you get wet. 45 degree water touching your bottom is not good for the heart. At least its not the south and you have to worry about gators, snakes and banjo pickers.
 
My first mate (and only mate) were at the Rocky Island dock in the Apostle Islands in our 22 ft. sailboat. The dock has some rough cribs that are not friendly to small boats when they get up close and personal. I had deployed a small folding grapnel anchor abeam to keep us just off the dock. When a space became available on the opposite side of the dock we decide to move the boat. I think we'll just walk the boat around and the first mate says, "You're not going to just motor over?" Of course not, it'll be a piece of cake with the two of us. So with me on the bow line and the First Mate on the stern line we walk easily to the end of the dock and begin to round the corner. And then no matter what try, going-starting again, more momentum, (and who's not doing what right...), etc. it's not going well. Now I don't recall how "we" remembered that the grapnel anchor was still out but we soon discovered that it was immensely easier to move the boat when not dragging a small anchor in the sand and snagging it on the corner of the dock cribbing. After completing our task I had fine reason to inspect the under water condition of said dock while retrieving the anchor we had worked so hard to firmly set.
 
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