Re: Stupid Things I've Done While Boating
I only forgot once, luckily I opened up the engine cover for something and noticed the water sloshing around, turned on the bilge pump, and got her going right away, empty in no time.
I have also forgot to trim down while pulling up to the beach to pick up passengers, no damage coming in, but when I put it in reverse to back away one blade of the prop pushed a potato sized rock through the sand and deformed the blade, luckily I took a casting of a blade when it was brand new, so a little time with a rubber hammer and a bag of sand, good as new(almost).
Forgot to trim down once while pulling up a newbie wakeboarder also, but no big deal there just popped a wheelie, backed off, trimmed down and all was well.
One day a buddy of mine took us for a ride on his new to him boat, met up with someone stranded in the middle of the lake, said that the boat would hardly move, so they thought the prop was on backward, so they took it off and put it on backwards?(can this even be done?) they tried it that way and still no joy. when we got to them they had the prop off again and dropped a rubber bushing/hub(outboard), luckily Joe(the new to him boat owner) had a spare, went to pass it to the other boat, and dropped it in the lake, oh well tow home time.
We launch our boat from a little creek that runs into the lake, there is a jetty made of large boulders that runs out for a hundred feet or so after you get out of the creek, last year the water level was exeptionally high and the rocks were coverd with water.
So one morning I was having my coffee looking over the lake and saw a boat come flying in to the creek, cutting across the rocks, CRACK! he hit his prop but good. I started walking over to gauk, or render assistance or sympathy, but on my way ran into Joe again on the beach with his kids, got taling to him and he told me(Joe grew up on this lake) that not only is there only one marker for the jetty, but that it is not at the end of it, and also off to one side. He says to me, "look you can see a slight hump where the water is running over the last boulder" I said "oh yea, I see it" but I really couldn't.
Well shortly after lunch it was time to launch our boat, we have a seasonal campsite and while pulling the boat by the last trailer that has a perfect line of site to the jetty, I hear "seven". I stop and ask what he is talking about, he tells me he has seen seven boats hit the rocks today. I laugh, and say "yea you sure have to know this lake to miss all the rocks".
So off we go, launch our boat, idleing out of the creek, get obout 75 feet out on the lake, and I look up and there is one of our buddies waiting for me, cool, I trim down and start idleing over to him. Next thing I know the back of the boat is being lifted by the skeg going up the blasted rock, well I am so shocked I don't even trim up/kill the motor, I just have this shocked look on my face. As soon as my skeg cleared the rock, the prop falls on the rock, thud thud thud. Luckily I had a spare prop so the day was not lost.
I probably have a few more but thats enough for now.
Calvi
