I once had a neighbor who didn't know the stem from the stern of a boat. He came home one day with a brand new 15ft runabout with an 85hp motor on it. He knew I had fished a lot and had a boat of my own so he twisted my arm enough so I finally agreed to go with him to Sneads Ferry, N.C. to try it out. We get the boat in the water and he starts the motor up and asks me which way is the New River inlet. While my finger is still pointing and I'm still standing he guns it WOT straight as an arrow towards the inlet. I fell backwards and hit the bench seat so hard it almost winded me. I'm clawing and trying to get up to mention channel markers, etc. but the force is holding me on the seat. Having put in at this boat ramp several times, I know you need to stay in the ramp channel for about 100yds to avoid old pilings from old piers and other underwater hazards that might rip the transom off if you hit them at great speed. My whole life flashed across my mind, knowing how dangerous this was. After what seemed like an eternity, and the boat planed out I somehow managed to get up beside him and looked at the speedometer which was sitting dead on 55mph. At this time we were crossing the inland waterway and there was this huge yacht on a collision course with us throwing about a 4ft wave. My neighbor had that look on his face like a Nascar driver on the last lap. He turned at the last minute to go behind the yacht and when we hit that wave the boat went airborne. At this time I was opening my mouth but, no words would come out and I was holding on for dear life. At the mouth of the inlet, just before going in the ocean the channel makes a sharp starboard turn. You guessed it. He went straight and when we hit the shoals we went about 100yds before the engine screamed for mercy and and the boat came to a screeching halt. We spent the next hour or so throwing the anchor( yes he had one), towards the channel and pulling the boat until it floated. How I kept my cool, I will never know. When we finally got the boat back in deep water I asked "mind if I drive a while"? This was back in the 70's and to this day I can not figure out why we are still alive. On the way back in I didn't get over 25mph. The tide was going out and when we got back to the ramp channel I could see several old pilings that we should have hit on the way out. Somebody up there was looking out for us. Needless to say that was my first and last time on that boat.
