How many boaters have you helped on the water this year??

[scipper77]

I have set a goal to find and help someone out of trouble on the water next season. Offer a tow or do what I can.

As I know the boaters here on I-boats are the most helpful in the world, I thought it would be good homework for me to hear some stories about other peoples experiences helping out. I'm sure that I will learn a lot.

P.S. instructions such as how you rigged up the boats for towing would be great as I'm hoping this thread will be both educational and entertaining.

Thanks to everyone in advance as I know there is no shortage of I-boats members helping people out on the water!!

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: How many boaters have you helped on the water this year??

Early spring first time out i saw this boat sitting there with smoke just pouring out from the engine, the guy had taken the cover off as I bee lined in towards him my wife had extinguisher in hand, we got to the guy and he said it's ok just steam nothing on fire, but he said water was comming in pretty bad, I threw him my ski rope and loop my end over the ski eye, his end I noticed he put on the bow eye, I just pulled him along at a pretty good clip under plane speed to the dock where I slowed way down and his boat pretty near slammed into me from the rear, so I did learn something there, anyhow the water in his boat had overcome the bilge and was comming up out the ski locker near the middle of the boat, man he was lucky I happened by there weren't many boaters out there in the off season, his boat would have sunk for sure. I don't know if I towed him "coast guard correct" but hey I would have tried anything he was sinking.

 

[scipper77]

Re: How many boaters have you helped on the water this year??

do you think that towing with the ski eye is better than using both rear dock cleats? how many pounds can the ski eye handle?? I would worry about the extra strain on my transom??

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: How many boaters have you helped on the water this year??

I don't know man he was sinking no time to screw around tieing off crap just threw him the rope and went for it, I figured the ski eye pulls my fat friend up it's reinforced with a plate on the inside. It's not like I was trying to pull out a stump, that boat came along without much resistance even full of water.

 

[mthieme]

Re: How many boaters have you helped on the water this year??

This was the first year the opportunity simply did not arise.
I saw one guy with his engine cover up and I stopped, but he was just tinkering making some fine adjustments. No problems.
One neighbor got caught in a really nasty squall. I was in phone contact with him the whole time...from the pier. I was about to head out to meet him four miles out at the island.
I'll take that as a good sign - noone requiring assistance.

 

[nxbusa]

Re: How many boaters have you helped on the water this year??

"I figured the ski eye pulls my fat friend up "
Thats just funny, I don't care who you are!

I towed in a small ski boat with 13 people on it! In the middle of the lake at dusk! Not one could speak good engish, but I was glad I could help. On my way in from helping them out, my driveshaft bearings went out and blew my bellhousing apart. I was lucky to get mine on the trailer in time.

 

[scipper77]

Re: How many boaters have you helped on the water this year??

I don't like stereotyping and I don't like going off topic but I have noticed on several occasions boats launching with 8-12 barely english speaking people on there bowrider. whats up with that?

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: How many boaters have you helped on the water this year??

I've heard stroies about how many cubans will fit in a boat but i'm not going to go there. I have friends that came to America from Cuba they are hard working polite and honest people, their first priority was to learn the American language, they have a son who is in the military now I respect the fact that they love America probaly more than some born American.

 

[wuttja]

Re: How many boaters have you helped on the water this year??

I helped a jet ski this year. I was pulling out and they were at the courtesy dock with a dead battery. It was their first outing of the year and didn't charge up the battery before they launched. I pulled my battery out of my boat and brought it over and jumped them. She got it started and I held it from taking off while she gave it some gas so it didn't die. Eventually got it back together and she was able to hop on and drive it around the bay while the battery charged up. I figured it's always good to help someone out, never know when you will need someone to help you.

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: How many boaters have you helped on the water this year??

I helped a jet ski this year. I was pulling out and they were at the courtesy dock with a dead battery. It was their first outing of the year and didn't charge up the battery before they launched. I pulled my battery out of my boat and brought it over and jumped them. She got it started and I held it from taking off while she gave it some gas so it didn't die. Eventually got it back together and she was able to hop on and drive it around the bay while the battery charged up. I figured it's always good to help someone out, never know when you will need someone to help you.

Key word "SHE" ha ha ha

 

[captmello]

Re: How many boaters have you helped on the water this year??

I was towed in early this summer by some kids on dads pontoon. Very helpful.

I ended up towing two boats in later in the summer 2:1 ratio not bad.

Both were pontoons. Nice ones with big outboards. One guy said his fuel gauge must not be working. He siad he was getting better than average fuel economy lately.

the other was a large extended family captained by a couple of "drunken sailors". Not sure what their problem was besides the obvious.

I always tow nice and slow to relish in the situation of being the tower, not the towee. Plus my boat is twenty years old and looks 25.

I don't know how one could pass up another boater in need. We all know what its like to drift hopelessly, even if you get it going yourself. When I first got my boat, we went out and anchored for a bit. tried to restart and nothing. After a half hour of swearing and head scratching realized I'd been leaning on the throttle control while anchored. Nuetral saftey what?

 

[ziggy]

Re: How many boaters have you helped on the water this year??

i didn't get the chance to help anyone this year either. i got helped. 1st time i've been helped too. used to have a waverunner and have helped several folks in the past. most notable was 4 quite large women in a one of them 4 place blue plastic, small, paddle boats, it high winds... w/o life jackets.. this year i got paid back. got blowed up on a beach sideways in high winds. had to call friends for help to get off. 4 adults to get it back in the water.... besides, it's cool to help others, and its also the rules. it should be. when yer sol on the water....... yer in need of help from others....

 

[Summer Fun]

Re: How many boaters have you helped on the water this year??

17 this past summer. My marina owner Ron uses my boat as the tow tug on Oneida Lake. .

 

[CrownlineTN]

Re: How many boaters have you helped on the water this year??

Two. One was a group of teens on a small fishing boat with a motor that wouldn't start, the other was a father and son on their first ride of the year with motor problems. Got them back to the ramp improvising with a ski rope. Have now learned that you want to have regular rope available for emergencies like this.

 

[642mx]

Re: How many boaters have you helped on the water this year??

I didn't get the chance to help, but I would have been glad too. I did let a girl borrow some sun-block because her back was getting burned.... I even offered to help rub it in.... ......Wife was not happy.

 

[mthieme]

Re: How many boaters have you helped on the water this year??

I didn't get the chance to help, but I would have been glad too. I did let a girl borrow some sun-block because her back was getting burned.... I even offered to help rub it in.... ......Wife was not happy.

A true Samaritan you are.
(The best I could do was some involuntary snapshots.)

 

[642mx]

Re: How many boaters have you helped on the water this year??

A true Samaritan you are.
(The best I could do was some involuntary snapshots.)

Hahaha. I always try to keep an eye out for others and there skin....

Involuntary snapshots.... I've had those too. I think I got one of the burn victim that needed the sun-block....

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: How many boaters have you helped on the water this year??

I do SAR missions for a couple of agencies in my area, so my boater assistance activities cover that realm, as well as just helping people in need when I see them.

In the past twelve months, I have been out on two multi-day SARs involving loss of life, and a number of one day searches, involving "stuck boater retrievals" (my term for broken down, out of gas, lost, etc.). I also did a mission for the USCG that involved finding a boat that had sunk and taking photos of it - see below.

I never pass a boat that is requesting assistance. At a minimum, I will make sure that everyone aboard is safe, and that some sort of assistance is enroute. If the people involved request my help, I provide it unless I think there is some danger involved in doing so.

I have my boat set up for my survival in the event of an incident, and for maximum ability to help others. I keep an extensive first aid kit aboard, as well as food (commercially available MREs), water, signalling devices, tools, etc. I also have a towing harness set up specifically for my boat. I made/spliced a Y-shaped harness, with multiple floats on it, that has heavy duty snap-gate type hooks to connect to my transom padeyes. I also have extra cleats on the boat, mounted at the 1/3 and 2/3rds point of my rails, to run lines/springlines for side towing.

For night operations, I have a couple of handheld "Q-Beam" type lights, but I don't use the ones with built in batteries. I find that those lights have a short service life per charge, and are way too heavy to use for hours at a time. I prefer the simple, 12 volt spotlights that run off of the boat's DC elecrical system. I have mounted several marine, cigarette lighter type receptacles on the boat, and just plug the spotlights into them. My boat also has two very large capacity marine batteries in it, so I can use the spots for long periods of time, without worrying about reserve battery power.

I tend to view most boaters as members of a group of people that enjoy a very special hobby. Having an opportunity to be helpful to others in this group, is something that I enjoy. Frankly, I just don't get people who think that being helpful is too much of an imposition. Aside from issues concerning the high cost of fuel over the summer, I just don't see stopping to make sure that someone is OK, to be a big deal.

 

[Boatist]

Re: How many boaters have you helped on the water this year??

We did not need to help anyone this year either but over the years have helped over 25. This year we did no boating in the spring and that is when we see so many with trouble. Only had 3 boats where we thought the Problem was life threating.

If you plan to do a lot of towing you need to set your boat up for towing. I would also Suggest you take a Coast Guard Aux Boating Class. Take the long 13 week class one day a week. "Boating Skills and Seamanship" The short class (9 weeks) does not give as much details and skip's many things.

One thing you need to do first is Make a Towing Bridle for your boat. First thing is do not use the Ski Eye. It made for pulling your fat buddy not for towing a 4000 Pound boat. If your towing a large boat with a nylon ski roap when ski eye pull off your boat and the nylon line is streached like a rubber band it shoots the ski eye at the other boat at very high speed. Even the line itself snaping back can injure people and boats.

Much better to tow with the large lifting rings on each side of the stern. They are usually put in good and solid with thru bolts and nuts. Still good Idea to checking the back side and install a backing plate.

If your towing a boat much smaller than yours then you can get by without a towing bridle but if the boat is 2 to 3 times your size then you must use a towing bridle or your will not be able to steer. You can buy then ready made or make one. Do not try to tow a planing speeds. Remember your boat is proped right for just it's load. When you add the load of the other vessel you will be lugging your engine so be easy on it 4 or 5 miles per hour. Also the boat your towing most of the time can not reach the bow eye of their boat. So you will end up towing by bow rails and bow cletes so take it slow. No need to blow your engine or pull the bow clete off their boat and have it injure someone on your boat.

We made our own bridel with 3/8 inch Double braid line. Also put large backing plates on both stern cleates on our boat. Ours is made to go thru the stern lifting rings and then up to the stern cleats on each side. It has a loop the right size for our cletes. In the center it has a Stainless steel roller attached to a float. The roller and float are made for this function. The roller allows the the tow line to glide from side to side and make it easy to turn with a heavy load. The actual tow line attaches to the other end of the float. The float just makes sure your bridle stays on top of the water to keep it out of your prop.

The tow line needs to be adjustable in length. In the Ocean you should have enough line to adjust the vessel you are towing to the same part of the swell you are on. So when your going down the swell the boat your towing is going down the next swell behind. If you adjust it to where you are going down the swell and the boat behind is going up the swell it puts a large load on the Tow Line. Also when your going up a swell and he is coming down a swell you could get slack in the line.

Even inland you need to be able to adjust the length. Example in our 21 foot runabout we towed a 28 foot by 10 or 12 wide bayliner with a flybridge and upper deck. This is the very limit of what we can TOW. We had to tow into a current of about 4 MPH and I had to start my kicker motor to really make any headway. We had them about 30 feet behind us. Once we got out of the center of the channel and headed to the their marina we shut down the kicker. We call the marina to see if it was ok to bring them straight into the guest dock if needed. They said ok but when we got into the marina there was very little wind and no current so we took them dead slow to their slip. To do this we shortened the Tow line up to about 3 to 5 feet. To allow us to control their dirrection. With the aid of fenders their boat hook out boat hook and a slip neibor we got then in their slip without even bumping the dock. It was just the guy and his wife and myself and my wife.

While they still had a bad day and engine or something blew up it ended a lot better than when we came on seen. When we arrived we saw the wife with her life jacket on standing on the bow but outside the bow rail getting ready to jump into 50 degree water. The guy was in the back of the boat where black smoke was pooring out of the boat. I called the Coast Guard station which was about 5 miles away and they said do not get too close. The guy was opening all the hatches looking for a fire but all he found was smoke and oil everywhere.

 

[marine4003]

Re: How many boaters have you helped on the water this year??

There's lots of boat rental places around where i live,and alot of folks who rent don't know about this bizarre phenomenon called "TIDE" these folks are set free on pontoon boats & jetskis with the minimum of instruction,where they migrate to our local hotspot - Bird Island. The boat is beached..off they go on some adventure , and before you know it, there boat is 10 ft from the water, so a posse is rounded up to push the boat back into the water,with the wife trying not to be embarrassed by her "know-it-all husband,and were having a grand time pushing boats...then theirs the guys who crap-out on The Ditch, who stare at me when i cruise by in the Scarab ,twin 502's rumbling ...but when i ask if i can help,those cold stares turn to gratitude, pulled a 24' SeaRay back to the ramp,helped him load and when he pulled off,he said -"I'll never say another bad word about GO-FAST'S again"
Changing public opinion one boat at a time......