SigSaurP229
Commander
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2008
- Messages
- 2,123
I have in the last 10 years learned some very valuable lessons as to why it is smart to be a safety conscience boater. Sometimes we learn very valuable lessons the hard way. Such as make sure your equipment is in top notch shape at all times.
So as a Follow up
Lesson #1 Never spit in the wind.
Lesson #2 Dad ALWAYS gets the last laugh
Lesson #3
Sometimes that little piece of rotten wood and a late teenager really don't mix. It was great having a boat and using it all the time great bass fishing and sometimes it was really hard to bring myself back from the lake and go to work. Since my house was 3.5 miles to the lake was great the fact that work was 1.5 miles past the lake and had a parking lot big enough to park boat truck and trailer was probably even a worse thing. Especially when the smallmouth were biting. It was on in Early April I had only had the boat since February and it had been kind of cold so I hadn't really started on the rennovations yet, just hadn't had the time, and the motor was running great the hull floor and transom was solid. That was good enough for me I had a life jacket (at least smart enough for that). I never really thought about the tether that my granddad always attached to himself. I had gotten up at 0500 to go do some early morning fishing. I knew I had plenty of time to get to work since I didn't have to be there until 1400. Well the weather warmed up to about 70 and there was a great little breeze and I was cruising down the lake about 1/4 throttle on my third trip out. About 4 miles from my launch, when I looked at my watch and HOLY CRAP it is 13:00. I had never handled a boat that small with that big of a motor before so I never really opened it up until now. When I decided that it would be VERY conducive to get myself into work ASAP. I decided to do a VERY abrupt port side about face while hammering on the throttle. I found out that old evinrude had a whole lot of life left in her. When I hammered it that little piece of rotten wood that I found on the bottom of the seat didn't like that little manuver gave up. I fell right in the middle of the floor except now my boat is running in very tight circles at about 50Mph. I smacked my head on the passenger seat when I went down and it took me a minute or two fully understand exactly what was happening here while getting extremely dizzy. I finally recovered and learned that had I made that move to the starboard side. I could have had a drastically different result.
So Lesson three A little rotten wood is a very big deal and a dead mans tether is a VERY important thing to have.
PS I made it to work on time
So as a Follow up
Lesson #1 Never spit in the wind.
Lesson #2 Dad ALWAYS gets the last laugh
Lesson #3
Sometimes that little piece of rotten wood and a late teenager really don't mix. It was great having a boat and using it all the time great bass fishing and sometimes it was really hard to bring myself back from the lake and go to work. Since my house was 3.5 miles to the lake was great the fact that work was 1.5 miles past the lake and had a parking lot big enough to park boat truck and trailer was probably even a worse thing. Especially when the smallmouth were biting. It was on in Early April I had only had the boat since February and it had been kind of cold so I hadn't really started on the rennovations yet, just hadn't had the time, and the motor was running great the hull floor and transom was solid. That was good enough for me I had a life jacket (at least smart enough for that). I never really thought about the tether that my granddad always attached to himself. I had gotten up at 0500 to go do some early morning fishing. I knew I had plenty of time to get to work since I didn't have to be there until 1400. Well the weather warmed up to about 70 and there was a great little breeze and I was cruising down the lake about 1/4 throttle on my third trip out. About 4 miles from my launch, when I looked at my watch and HOLY CRAP it is 13:00. I had never handled a boat that small with that big of a motor before so I never really opened it up until now. When I decided that it would be VERY conducive to get myself into work ASAP. I decided to do a VERY abrupt port side about face while hammering on the throttle. I found out that old evinrude had a whole lot of life left in her. When I hammered it that little piece of rotten wood that I found on the bottom of the seat didn't like that little manuver gave up. I fell right in the middle of the floor except now my boat is running in very tight circles at about 50Mph. I smacked my head on the passenger seat when I went down and it took me a minute or two fully understand exactly what was happening here while getting extremely dizzy. I finally recovered and learned that had I made that move to the starboard side. I could have had a drastically different result.
So Lesson three A little rotten wood is a very big deal and a dead mans tether is a VERY important thing to have.
PS I made it to work on time