What boating mistakes have you made?

[2 Eagles]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

Selling my boat! The withdrawal symptoms are killing me everyday.

TII

I know those symptoms. I had 2 boats stolen. Hope you get a new one soon.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

Well my years has started off right. Nothing major. After doing a lot of work to my motor over the winter took it out to put it on the slip for the season, and it wouldn't start, it had been drum ran a week ago, so after pulling it back up the ramp to check the plugs when I stepped up to the controller to turn it over and look at spark, I noticed the lanyard was off, I had removed the controller to work on it and didn't put the lanyard back on. At least I have got that out of the way.

 

[Triton II]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

hopefully you can find and or afford another one in the future

I know those symptoms. I had 2 boats stolen. Hope you get a new one soon.

Thanks guys. It's painful! And believe me, I'm looking but the weather here has been rain, wind, floods, plagues of frogs (well, cane-toads at least) etc. The good thing is the prices are dropping as we go into our cooler season here so Christmas 2013 is my deadline for something to reacquaint myself with the ocean. Cheers...

TII

 

[KrisKastel]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

How many of you have forgot to put the bung plug in the boat before launching it off the trailer into the water?

heheh

 

[Gibbles]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

You know the other day while at the parts shop, I noticed a nice little keychain floaty in the shape of a plug, big letters "Remember the Plug?"

I'm buying a few of those...

 

[littlerayray]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

well i must say thanks to this thread i have a predeparture checklist and a launch checklist

 

[sightsrv]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

Put a 47 year old chinese wife has never been on anything
but a bycicle on the boat while you go park. Some reason
she tries to drive at the ramp. A few folks on the ramp heard
her screaming wheres the brake? She dont know little gas
all she thought was push lever forward you go. Boat went
dang near stright up and hit the wood dock. Slams it in
reverse and winds up 60 feet from the dock before I got
there screaming "turn the key to the left". A fellow
boater gave me a ride out to get it. On a lake so it
wont going down stream. She was crying her butt off.
Had about 2 inches of water in it and trolling motor
mount was kinda bent. Got it on the trailer and saw
some nice scrap marks on the bottom. She is crazy.
She has a learners permit to drive a car and is hell
on wheels. She said when we got home "I did good
I think can get my drivers license now". As god and
about 10 other boaters are my witness this is true.
This woman will never be able to drive anything
with a motor. Please be carefull who you leave in
your boat.

 

[brnschoneck]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

No plug
forgot straps
trailer too deep
drug skeg(twice)
hit a sand bar
Beached boat while camping/cut water to the river overnight(luckly 6-7 guys there).
left gas cap off(too many times to count) and coated the road with some gas.
bought my first boat with a rotted out deck

Thank god I got a cheap used boat as my first. I learned alot and now can do all my own and pretty knowledgeable when it comes to boats.
I gave up on boat ownership a year ago(poor gas mileage/storing issues) and its been painful every since(shopping now).

sounds like me first boat rotted floor after fixing it i think i went 4 mnths then had to buy another one lol

 

[richard.prince]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

1. left motor down when loading and tore up skeg.....once
2. forgot to put plug in.......lesson learned and I now double check and launch with sundeck open and check to see if taking on water before i unhook winch line and back off trailer.

when i bought my Winner Intrigue it needed a new interior so no big deal me and a buddy put new wood, foam and vinyl. One time when i took it out i didn't have a cooler with me so i used one of the front comparments not thinking about the fact that the boat had sat under a tree and leaves had gotten into that compartment. so when the water drained the leaves went into the bilge. well we went out one weekend and were on the opposite side of the lake and decided to go swimming. after swimming for about an hour or two with 5 people geting in and out of the water to get a drink, smoke, check the gauges to make sure the low voltage warning light was not on due to the radio being on the whole time we decided to leave. As I am stowing the anchor and rode into the ski locker i notice there is a considerable amount of water in there. No big deal I fire the boat up and turn the bilge pump on but nothing comes out so i am thinking must not be much water in there. I open the sundeck hatch and the water is up to the top of the battery tray. now i know the bilge pump works because it is part of my check list to flip the switch and make sure i can hear it run. so now i have to drive the boat all the way across the lake full of water (about 10MPH top speed). pray to the lake gods that my truck has enough power to pull this heavy boat full of water far enough up the ramp to get it out of the water because i am not completely convinced at this point that all that water was only from us getting in and out of the boat and that we are not indeed taking on water. we get the boat on the trailer and about a foot up the ramp so i can pull the plug and watch this thing drain for like 5 mins. flip the switch on the bilge pump and it has power, pull the hose and try to blow in it and i cant. stick my mouth on the outlet on side of boat and blow backwards in it and it shoots out a huge glob of wet leaves.

Then one of the people with me has the nerve to ask "so are we putting the boat back in the water so we can go tubing now" my reply was "HELL NO DO YOU NOT REALIZE WE ALMOST FREAKING SANK ABOUT 15 MINS AGO"

 

[MaleficentArmy]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

I don't know if this counts as an accident since it was an experiment but I wondered if a large-ball trailer will stay put on a small ball, pulling out of the water. Won't. But the chains hold. This is why I always hook up chains even just to launch from a dry slip 50' from the ramp.

Here's my view on boating--you learn something new every time you go out. If you don't, you're not paying attention, and you missed it.

it will work, you just gotta tighten up the nut that hold the ball underneath the tongue.

 

[mpl006]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

Well I can say that I have now done two major mistakes when it comes to boats. I watched boat launching fails on youtube and read this entire thread. :doh: :facepalm:

On whit the actual mistakes:
I have dipped the boat in the water and remembered "PLUG!" I even have a key chain that says "Don't forget the plug."

This past weekend the wife and I were launching the boat. I had just replaced almost all of the fuel lines and rebuilt the fuel pump and cleaned the tank out so I wanted to see if that fixed the problem I was having. Remembered the plug as I was backing down to the ramp. Was so excited to get out and see if she ran, I ended up flooding the engine. No problem I'll just pull up and let it sit for a while. Wife was in the truck and I told her to go and then it dawned on me, lift the motor. I yelled to stop and she did right before the back of the boat came out of the water. PHEW!

One time when I was launching the boat by myself, I was trying to pull up to the dock on the port side of the boat, which is where the trolling motor was sticking out past the boat and as I was coming in too much, not "hot" but just not "floating." This was maybe my third time out in a boat that I was driving ever and froze. I don't know if you guys know this but there aren't any breaks per se on a boat. Hit the dock with the top of the trolling motor and the top of the plastic housing flies off straight at me. It stays in the boat so I go fishing and use the line to the fish finder as my guide to which direction it is pointing. I was planning on duct taping it back on when I got home. Well on my way back to load up the boat, I hear a noise and look over as the top hits the back deck and bounces out of the boat.

ETA: I do have to say the best part about watching the videos on you tube is now when I back down to launch the boat, I make sure the truck is in 4 wheel drive and the brake is as far in as it will go and the truck is in park before I get out. I also will use both the brake and gas to pull the boat out of the water, again in 4 wheel drive. Kind of overkill for a 15' fiberglass boat but I'm not taking any chances! LOL:lol:

 

[ryanskeeter]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

Hit floating Log= Spun and Bent Prop.

Anchore Let loose = Got stuck in Shallow Water.

Scrap Boat on Dock = A slight Mark on Boat but was able to remove.

Left Depth Finder turned on = Dead Battery

Used Lower than recommended Octane fuel by mistake = Didn't seem to bother the motor.

Ran motor on Muffs with the Drive Up = Boat shook some be was ok after lowering.



This was during the First Year of owning my Boat. We will see what year two brings.

my biggest mistake was to assume that an alligator would not try to get in my boat with me about 2 years back .the other mistake was calling DNR after i shot em.they wouldnt even let me keep and eat em lol .didnt write me a fine thou so i cant complain

 

[sutor623]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

my biggest mistake was to assume that an alligator would not try to get in my boat with me about 2 years back .the other mistake was calling DNR after i shot em.they wouldnt even let me keep and eat em lol .didnt write me a fine thou so i cant complain

You must be from Alabama. :lol:

 

[ryanskeeter]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

You must be from Alabama. :lol:

nope South Carolina and we have a few waterways around here that are flooded with big gators and the only issue a few gator huntin tags by a basic lottery system here.

 

[Blacksting]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

bought a boat and trailer for myself .
found a freebee/project boat and trailer for my son on CL .
found a boat and trailer w/ a motor for $200 on CL .
found another freebee Starcraft and motor and trailer in the next town .
scrapped boat #3 and put that motor on the starcraft .
let a friend store his boat and trailer in my yard (corner property) .
Sandy blew boat #2 off the trailer .
boat #1 is on the driveway.
now i have a boat junkyard and nowhere to park my car .

 

[agallant80]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

I have a new one. A few weeks ago I took the boat out, got a break in the winter weather so decided to hit the lake and break in the new boat. Boat started drifting from the dock, reached over and fell in to the lake.

 

[sasto]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

Good stuff here.....I have some more catching up on some of the posts.


Try to make a long story short. I took a couple from the marina whom own a large boat out for a little cruise and watch the sunset. They brought along a cooler full of beer and a couple bottles of wine. They were really livin' it up! We returned after sunset, I put Baccala on the lift, raised her up a little bit, and walked the dock. Stopped and talked to several boaters along the way. My time for a beer, or two, three, I don't know.

I had a knock on the door in the morning. Island security asking me if I owned Baccala. Yup...I do! She floated off the lift bunks during high tide that night. She floated past a dozen boats, across the lagoon, into a narrow canal, and just sat there.....'bout 600 yards away. A sheriff was there and ask me if I was Michael, the owner. Yup....that's me!

He was 'bout to call Coast Guard if security didn't find me, which can be difficult at times. My cell phone and wallet was on the table... and a whole trash bag full of wine bottles and beer cans in the cabin. The Sheriff shook my hand and told me how glad he was to see me. They thought I was overboard.

This was the second time she went for a ride without me. My friend...and iboaters friend....veritas honus was with me. That time she just floated a few feet foreward and went beam to against the seawall. :facepalm::facepalm:

 

[kfa4303]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

whew! All's well that ends well, I guess. Is there anyway to raise the bunks, or was it just an unusually high tide? Love the name btw.

 

[sasto]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

whew! All's well that ends well, I guess. Is there anyway to raise the bunks, or was it just an unusually high tide? Love the name btw.

Raise the bunks? Sure, kfa! With a switch.

I have learned the hard way. I always tied up or anchored a boat for the night, double check, tripple check......then sit back and enjoy a couple brews and chit-chat.

With the lift, I would just pick her up enough to clear the chine. If guests are onboard, especially drinking adult beverages, they can easily enter and exit.

I left my boat my boat lowered, tide came in, and Mother Nature took care of her....both times! :cheerful:

 

[Biggredd]

Re: What boating mistakes have you made?

Bought first boat at end of last season. Used it about 8 times. In that time I....

*missed a buoy and beached the boat in the middle of lake on a sandbar (end of season, low water)
*forgot to put engine up when done and dragged it on the ramp for about 100'
*went to launch boat, just unstrapped the crank strap and was about to push the boat out when a small wave came and lifted the back end of the boat. my hand was on the point of the front of the boat and got squished against the crank wheel. My wedding ring dug into my finger and my fingers were all bruised. That was not pleasant.
*We were coming into dock so I could go get the truck and I asked my buddy to tie the rope when we approached. He thought the area was shallow and instead of waiting for the boat to get to the dock and just step out of the boat he jumped off and went way way down in the water. Was a bit of a shock for everyone since it was unexpected and way deeper than he thought. Luckily we were just floating/coasting in.
*forgot the mighty plug. Parked the truck, came back to launch and then had to sprint back to the truck, pull the boat out and make a bunch of people wait a couple minutes while I drained it all out.

Lets see what a full season brings starting here in about a month.