What boating mistakes have you made?

[lexer440]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

I read the post title and I thought, It would take me all day to list them lolol

 

[Ryan50]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

While I have run out of gas, broken bow light on dock, lost nice Citizen Ecodrive the best mistake has to be by my dad and stepmom. I wasn't there but I've heard this story enough to tell it. So mom and dad were camping somewhere in NC mountains several years ago. Since they both enjoy fishing, they decided to rent a small aluminum fishing boat with tiller steer OB on Fontana Lake. The rental place gives them a quick orientation and off they go. Apparently, this lake is very deep in areas. The anchor provided was about an 8" x 8" cube of solid steel with an eye welded to it. Dad said it was the heaviest darn anchor he has ever seen. They find a nice spot and dad decides to drop anchor. As soon as he lets it go he realizes that he has no idea how deep the water is or how much anchor line is attached. Scared that the rope will run out before anchor hits bottom and capsize the boat, he has no choice but to sit in floor, with feet on rail and try and grab the rope and stop the anchor. He managed to stop it about 100 ft down. It burned all the skin off of his palms and fingers and then he had to pull the heavy darn anchor in. Needless to say, the rest of the camping trip sucked. They arrived home 3 days later and there he is with both hands bandaged and so sore that he can barely feed himself. They have not gone camping since. I think I would have just untied or cut the anchor line and let that anchor go.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

Keep the stories coming. These are great.

just put the boats away last weekend for a couple months, though I have one I'll run every other week, so I have managed to limit my exposure somewhat--no boating, no mistakes!

My most recent gape was the weekend before when i was changing my water seperator. I had just topped off the tank, parked and raised the bow. The base came loose but that's no problem, I thought, until gas kept pouring out when I got the cannister loose! I was by myself, thinjking it would stop and catching it in a bowl, trying to release pressure if it was coming back from the engine, worried about sparks, all going on in the tiny compartment in the stern, what a mess! In the heat of it I couldn't figure it out; later when I moved the boat to hose it out, I figured it out:

The boat is a "bay boat" with low freeboard, flat bottom and a belly tank that goes up to the bow. I was parked on a hill with the bow up (for drainage). So the top of the tank at the bow was higher than the filter bracket on the deck. i I could have stopped it by raising the bracket, lowering bow, etc but with gas going everywhere you just don't think.

 

[River_Lizard]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

1. Forgot to install the plug numerous times of course
2. Let go of the steering wheel at close to WOT (long story)
3. Pulled overboard in the dead of winter when I tossed the rear anchor out and the rope wrapped around my arm (another long story)
4. Close to being beached in a canal. Had my depth finder set to warn me of shallow water but that doesn't help when you're going 50 mph and the bottom comes up in 10-20 ft. distance. My boat slid and was almost to a complete stop (partner was yelling "Don't slow down!" Like I was trying to!) Lucky for me the back-wash came up from the rear, picked the boat up and slid it off the sandbar, had it not, we would have been there for a very long time, the Corp was releasing water from the lake and you could see if flowing out of the cypress trees along the edge of the canal.

Fishin' partener's boat.
1. Forgot to take the hold down straps off when launching
2. Of course forgot to put the plug in.
3. Boat frozen to trailer bunks at launch time.
4. Boat was swamped overnight due to 2 things. 1. beached at too sharp of an angle on shore 2. someone coming into the cove late at night making a huge wake in a No Wake Zone.

 

[jdlough]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

My boat's on a lift. I usually run thru a checklist before departing. This time, I didn't.

Me and a noob headed out into the Tangier Sound. The boat seemed sluggish, didn't plane too well. We stop, and at about 4 miles from shore I notice that the sea is about 2" from my transom top at the splashwell. Little waves are breaking over the transom. I open the hatch to look in the bilge, and HOLY %&*&^$!!!

Apparently, last time out, I forgot to remove the bilge plug, and the bilge pump failed due to an obstruction. Rain water completely filled the bilge, over the battery tops and over the oil container. I was now seriously in danger of sinking. Noob had no clue, and I didn't tell him.

I still don't know how the motor started, with water over the battery tops, which should have shorted everything out.

Anyway, I got back to my lift, removed the plug, and drained the boat for about an hour.

My next shock was realizing that my boat was on that lift, with an extra several thousand pounds of water in it for a few weeks. I am lucky that the lift didn't break and dump my boat.

I use that checklist all the time now, both starting and ending my boat trips.

 

[jdlough]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

... but with gas going everywhere you just don't think.

You just reminded me of another one....

Ever since I got my new used boat, the gas gauge was stuck at 1/4. I dragged a lot of 5 gal gas cans down to my pier, to be sure I never ran out.

I figured my tank was about 1/4 full when I finally got around to replacing the fuel sender on top of the tank. I unscrewed the old sender, and pulled it off. Several gallons of gas bubbled out over the top of the tank, out into the boat bilge. Apparently, it was full all the way up to the top of the filler hose.

I'm now imagining a spark, burning my boat, and destroying my pier.

I carefully put on that new sender, thinking, "NO SPARK, please no spark, don't make a f#%ing spark. I promise I'll be good from now on, as long as no spark!"

So, there was no spark, I didn't die in a ball o'flames, and I spent the next few hours flushing out the entire bilge area.

 

[jdlough]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

One I forgot to mention.

I was on a fishing bender, from dawn to dusk for 5 days in a row. Around 1pm on day five I anchored in this little cove out of the wind to eat my lunch and watch the eagles in their nest 100 feet overhead. I was feeling run down and my back was aching so I figured Id stretch out on my bow seats and rest my bones with my ham & swiss. Next thing I know its 5:15pm and Im sunburned so bad I cant even move. My left arm is so red it looks like it should have Coca-Cola imprinted on it.

I get up and get my bearings, still feeling hungry. I remember taking 2 bites out of my ham and swiss, but cant find it anywhere. Not in my bow seats, not in the water, not on the floor, gone.

Then I look up at the eagles.... Theyre eating my sandwich!! I can spot a fat ham & swiss with spicy mustard from 100 yards. I have to assume I was 12 inches from the most revered (and pain inducing Im sure) bird in the country and I missed it. AND they ate my sandwich right off my boat!!

I grab my dinky bag of doritos and motor off to the dock to get to bed. After I locate some burn creme and make a fresh ham & swiss....

OK, I think you win...

This reminds me of the guy resurfacing my driveway in Nanticoke, MD. He said, just on the road in front of my house, he saw a bald eagle drop a fish on the road. The odd thing is, the fish was FROZEN.

See, there's a fish processing place about 1/2 mile down the road, and we figure the eagle stole that fish!

 

[Rockmere1]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

Ive been boating awhile, I know the channel I have to stay in, due to the Allegheny River being gravel, took a stainless steel prop, trying to impress some girls on canoes....LOL:facepalm:

 

[sutor623]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

Went on a fishing trip without A) a bilge pump and B) a backup-kicker motor.....

 

[sutor623]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

My boat's on a lift. I usually run thru a checklist before departing. This time, I didn't.

Me and a noob headed out into the Tangier Sound. The boat seemed sluggish, didn't plane too well. We stop, and at about 4 miles from shore I notice that the sea is about 2" from my transom top at the splashwell. Little waves are breaking over the transom. I open the hatch to look in the bilge, and HOLY %&*&^$!!!

Apparently, last time out, I forgot to remove the bilge plug, and the bilge pump failed due to an obstruction. Rain water completely filled the bilge, over the battery tops and over the oil container. I was now seriously in danger of sinking. Noob had no clue, and I didn't tell him.

I still don't know how the motor started, with water over the battery tops, which should have shorted everything out.

Anyway, I got back to my lift, removed the plug, and drained the boat for about an hour.

My next shock was realizing that my boat was on that lift, with an extra several thousand pounds of water in it for a few weeks. I am lucky that the lift didn't break and dump my boat.

I use that checklist all the time now, both starting and ending my boat trips.

I have decided not to go boating with noobs anymore. If things start going south, all they seem to do is fish on the way back to shore.

 

[sutor623]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

First Boating Mistake- (You guys are gonna laugh)

First time with a boat and just bought it, 28 Ft at that w/ twin engines. Out for my Introduction drive and I have my Fiance, the Owner, the owner's Wife, and my friend's father.

Heading south on the Hudson at Full throttle, we see a barge coming through, owner says don't worry about it and I say should I slow down. He says No, not till we pass then you can bring it down to cruise speed and trim it out. "The waves from that are not usually big at all" So we are going, going, going, BOOM... Apparently it's not a barge it was just a BIG ship cruising fast. Waves literally sent the boat up in air for what felt like 5 seconds and slammed down which is when I throttled back as fast as I could. Owner looks at me and says... Wow those didn't look that big mean while I am having a heart attack thinking what the hell did I do to the bottom of the boat and is everyone still in the boat... lol

Anyways, we get back I look over everything and nothing is broke thankfully and this is all thanks to my big wonderful mouth because earlier I said well we don't have anything to worry about because since we slip the boat for the season I never have to worry about forgetting the drain plug.... HA Karma sucks. :facepalm:

Dude, this is one of the things that I have learned from experiences like this. First of all, when you are driving, you do what YOU think is safe. Second, if you own the boat, and someone else tries to tell you what to do, you do what YOU think is safe. Don't you love it when you are out on your boat with some friends that don't know JACK about boating, that try and guide you and give you a boaters lesson?

 

[River_Lizard]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

Another one came to mind (I'm sure there's going to be more) I was fishing on the James River one Spring night and next to my pontoon was a friend anchor'd along side of me (about 10-12 ft away) so we could shoot the S...while we were fishing. Just to give you a quick back ground on the James River in the area I was fishing, it's rather narrow about 50 yds wide and it sees it's share of barge traffic on it. Anyway, here we are sitting on the right side of the center of the channel fishing and we see a large spotlight down river from us coming our way. The Captain of the barge blows his horn and my friend asked me if we were going to be in the way, I told him that he definitely needed to move since he was closer to the center of the channel. He had 10 rods out so he was reelin' like a mad man trying to get them all in and pull anchor. While he was doing that he asked me if I was going to move and I said, I think I should be fine, I'm closer to the shore and it looks like he has plenty of room to get by me. So my friend fires up his motor and moves across the river next to the shore and anchor's up. Meanwhile, the Captain of the barge keeps the spotlight directly in my eyes the whole time so I can't even see what he's pushing up the river so I can get an idea of how wide it is. So here I am at the back corner of my pontoon boat trying to block the light and look for the barge........when the corner of barge shows up about 2 ft from my face!!! HOLY S..... and the captain gets on the PA and says " Thanks for getting out of the F...K channel A. H. !!!! " Oops! That had to be the widest barge I'd ever seen in that section of the river.
After that experience I started keeping my VHF on 13 and when I hear of any barges coming up or down the river in my area, I radio the Captain and ask him to let me know if I'm in his way or not, so I can move if I am. It's worked out great, most of the time they say I'm fine where I'm anchor'd and there's been several times that they even slowed down to reduce their wake coming by me (I think they did that because I radio'd them asking if I needed to move) Never have had a problem with them ever since that one night.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

I have a lot of friends who are harbor pilots and they can tell a lot of stories like that, from the other side.

 

[sutor623]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

Another one came to mind (I'm sure there's going to be more) I was fishing on the James River one Spring night and next to my pontoon was a friend anchor'd along side of me (about 10-12 ft away) so we could shoot the S...while we were fishing. Just to give you a quick back ground on the James River in the area I was fishing, it's rather narrow about 50 yds wide and it sees it's share of barge traffic on it. Anyway, here we are sitting on the right side of the center of the channel fishing and we see a large spotlight down river from us coming our way. The Captain of the barge blows his horn and my friend asked me if we were going to be in the way, I told him that he definitely needed to move since he was closer to the center of the channel. He had 10 rods out so he was reelin' like a mad man trying to get them all in and pull anchor. While he was doing that he asked me if I was going to move and I said, I think I should be fine, I'm closer to the shore and it looks like he has plenty of room to get by me. So my friend fires up his motor and moves across the river next to the shore and anchor's up. Meanwhile, the Captain of the barge keeps the spotlight directly in my eyes the whole time so I can't even see what he's pushing up the river so I can get an idea of how wide it is. So here I am at the back corner of my pontoon boat trying to block the light and look for the barge........when the corner of barge shows up about 2 ft from my face!!! HOLY S..... and the captain gets on the PA and says " Thanks for getting out of the F...K channel A. H. !!!! " Oops! That had to be the widest barge I'd ever seen in that section of the river.
After that experience I started keeping my VHF on 13 and when I hear of any barges coming up or down the river in my area, I radio the Captain and ask him to let me know if I'm in his way or not, so I can move if I am. It's worked out great, most of the time they say I'm fine where I'm anchor'd and there's been several times that they even slowed down to reduce their wake coming by me (I think they did that because I radio'd them asking if I needed to move) Never have had a problem with them ever since that one night.

Hey my man, you talking about in Hopewell? Man I have seen some HUGE house sized barges come through there. Anyways, I go out there a few times a year, but mostly out to lake anna. I live between Charlottesville and Richmond. Cool to see someone on here that lives so close!

 

[River_Lizard]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

Sutor,
I fish up river from Hopewell most of the time and the above story was from up by the Richmond Ship Docks.
It would be a lot closer for you to hit Anna vs the Lower James but it all depends on what you're fishing for and which one would be the best to go to, but I guess that all depends on whether you're fishing or just pleasure boating at either place.

 

[sutor623]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

Yeah either way, it is nice to have some fresh water bodies close-by! I have motors that I run in salt or fresh, and then one motor that I will only, ONLY run in fresh.

 

[smallboatlover]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

Well seeing i'm only 15 i haven't had enough time to make all the mistakes you guys have made but ive made a few. First buy a boat thats older then my parents lol. Also putting a deck in the wrong way and not doing the transom while i was at it. But in boating problems i put my sailboat on the beach on a rock and put a bad scratch that let water in. Also going into reverse on my motor boat and not having the motor locked down and it poping up out of the water. Putting the motor down on the ramp and have the prop chip on the ramp. thats pretty much it.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

well at least it sounds like (finally) you are learning from the mistakes.

And you are still 15? I thought you were 15 when you joined in Dec. 2010.

Anyway there's nothing wrong with making mistakes; it proves you're active. Not learning from them is the problem.

 

[cribber]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

Well seeing i'm only 15

So you joined the forum when you were 13 ish? Cool that ya got two boats to work and play on!

 

[Mel Taylor]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

Well seeing i'm only 15 i haven't had enough time to make all the mistakes you guys have made but ive made a few. First buy a boat thats older then my parents lol. Also putting a deck in the wrong way and not doing the transom while i was at it. But in boating problems i put my sailboat on the beach on a rock and put a bad scratch that let water in. Also going into reverse on my motor boat and not having the motor locked down and it poping up out of the water. Putting the motor down on the ramp and have the prop chip on the ramp. thats pretty much it.

I'm going to give you the same advice I gave you back in December at:

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=526810&p=3576122#post3576122

And, that advice would be "to take a deep breath, push your chair back, stand up, go outside and actually do something instead of just asking questions over and over. I'm beginning to doubt whether you even own a boat or a motor. Looks to me like you just spend all your time trying to keep people talking to you as long as you can."

I have no idea how old you really are, but after reviewing your posting history, you look suspiciously like a BS artist to me.