My wife and I decided to take the old boat out for some fishing yesterday morning. After launching the boat, when I went to pull over to the dock I discovered I had no steering. I paddled it to the dock and discovered the steering cable had broken.
Not to waste a trip to the lake, we decide for me to sit in the back and steer from the engine while my wife runs the throttle. Now it's only a 15' tri-hull with a 70 horse, but steering it by hand is not near as easy as it sounds. I will admit it was pretty funny watching the wife out of habbit turning the steering wheel though.
Anyway, we go about a mile, tie up and throw away a few lures. We thought about going a bit further out, but my wife's logic prevailed when she said "Everyone is going to read in the news about these idiots who crashed their boat trying to steer it by hand." I had to admit she was right.
Lesson learned: ALWAYS hook the emergency kill switch lanyard to you. I usually hook mine to my vest, but must admit sometimes haven't bothered. I was lucky the steering broke at the dock. It could have been pretty ugly if it had broken on the lake at full throttle.
Not to waste a trip to the lake, we decide for me to sit in the back and steer from the engine while my wife runs the throttle. Now it's only a 15' tri-hull with a 70 horse, but steering it by hand is not near as easy as it sounds. I will admit it was pretty funny watching the wife out of habbit turning the steering wheel though.
Anyway, we go about a mile, tie up and throw away a few lures. We thought about going a bit further out, but my wife's logic prevailed when she said "Everyone is going to read in the news about these idiots who crashed their boat trying to steer it by hand." I had to admit she was right.
Lesson learned: ALWAYS hook the emergency kill switch lanyard to you. I usually hook mine to my vest, but must admit sometimes haven't bothered. I was lucky the steering broke at the dock. It could have been pretty ugly if it had broken on the lake at full throttle.
