Just to make me feel better... what stupid thing did you do last boating season?

[TN888]

For 2015 I think I'll make a checklist and keep it in my truck before pulling out.

 

[cane.mba]

Well Sunday I realized I winterized the boat, cleaned the hull, etc. but I forgot to remove the carpet, life jackets, etc. so first thing I did was plug in the batteries... Then started cleaning out slightly mildewed carpet and life jackets, not nearly as bad as I expected. After that I figured I should remove the skis and other toys from the ski locker. When I opened the door, I found a layer of 1-2" of ice and 30 gallons of water sitting there. After cleaning out the ice and everything else, and shop vac'ing the water out I realized the water was entering the ski locker from the drain plug. Apparently my cover wasn't snapped to the pass through window so rain was allowed to enter. The other issue is due to my driveway, it slopes down to the road, so my bow slopes down not allowing the water to drain through the drain plug.

So this was my biggest oops since we bought the boat three years ago...

 

[mrmeaniemeateaterman]

As a first time boat owner, where do I begin. In no particular order:
1) Hit someone else's trailer with my trailer while parking. Was very slow speed, no damage, & I left a note on his windshield. Never heard anything about it.
2) Left transom straps on, but luckily guy his pulling boat out hollered at me before I hit the water.
3) Forgot to put plugs in, and was in total panic for about 5 min as to why boat sounded funny and wouldn't accelerate.
4) Tied off to a neighbors buoy as a storm was fast approaching. Once wind kicked up it wasn't long before boat was set free (very old rope on his buoy). At least wind was blowing parallel to the shore. I have never swam so far, so fast in my life, during a thunderstorm no less. Once I got to boat conditions were so bad I just had to ride it out in the boat until storm passed. My wife thought I had drowned.
5) The one and only time I beached my boat, I then proceeded to jump off of the bow. One foot hit sand, the other a stump. Walked funny for a week. Nobody allowed to jump off boat now when beached.
6) Wife's first time driving the boat totally by herself was with me and kids on tube. Went fine (lots of open water on a weekday) until we fell off. Took her at least 20 minutes to get back to us. Tube has a tendency to invert and act like an anchor at a certain speed. Have to stay very slow or just pull it in. Well she couldn't figure that out and was too far away to hear me. Funny now that I think back about it, not funny at the time.
7) I always forget about the bumpers after launching, but the sound of them banging as you reach plane is always a good reminder. (you would think I would learn after a while)
8) Learned the hard way not to pull kids through the no wake zone on tube. Dumped them out in a fairly busy tight channel and had to retrieve them. Yeah I'll admit it, I was that guy once. Never again.
9) Didn't realize gas mileage on truck was going to go to single digits pulling the boat.
10) Coming out of Port Terminal boat dock on the Tar River there is a huge sandbar. Having never navigated this I misread the buoys and proceeded over the sandbar. Buoys are very close to the banks in a big rectangle. Well I have learned you have to hug the bank (and buoys) very tight to get out..I thought buoys meant stay away, thus I went through the damn middle. Depth said 1 foot and was alarming. Somehow I didn't hit bottom. There was a crowd watching me. I'm sure they were all amazed how I didn't hit bottom. I was too. I'm sure I would have trashed any other boat.
11) On my very first outing in the tar river (#10 had just happened 5 min prior) someone had purposely beached their boat but then couldn't get it off. A guy in a fairly large center console was trying to pull them off. He had a long rope and was taking up most of the passable part of river. As I was slowly going by they asked if I could help. What was I to say. "Of course" I said. They wanted me to drive back and forth to kick up a wake. At this point I had 1 outing under my belt (maybe 2 hours on the boat) on a wide open lake, during a weekday. Now I'm in a tight river, on a busy Saturday, in a blind curve, trying to create an optimal wake to dislodge another boat. I eventually figured out what they wanted me to do and how to do it, but it took me a lot of passes and a lot of instruction/yelling from them. I'm pretty sure that after a few passes they probably thought I was a retarded lottery winner.

There's more but the others are just too embarrassing.

 

[KXCam22]

Showed up at the launch with a boatload of teens and a dead battery. Cam.

 

[Ronnie]

Showed up at the launch with a boatload of teens and a dead battery. Cam.

Ouch! How did you address the problem?

 

[KXCam22]

Tried jump starting one engine and then backing the boat in but I was too slow and the engine overheated and stopped 5' from the water. The fix was to connect the battery to a running truck and have a beer, let the truck system charge the boat battery. It only took 15 minutes to get the battery charged enough to start one engine. The scary part was that the 2 yami engines could not really charge up the size 27 battery much more, even after a full day boating. Cam.

 

[HawkTX]

Nothing last summer, but the one before that was mostly docking incidents, which left a few scratches. LOL!

 

[Shuck Water]

Had to abort an approach on the fuel dock as the wind behind me was too strong (25mph) and I was coming in too fast. Thought I had cleared the dock but when I finally pulled in and started to fill up I noticed six inches above the gas cap a 3 inch chunk of gel coat and fiber glass was missing. It was my second time taking the boat out and was on my birthday.

 

[buckbuck]

I want to thank you guys for making me feel like I am part of the family.

 

[ToddW850]

These were great and cracking me up.

Of course I got into a hurry leaving Crab Island and freaking forgot to pull up my box anchor. Who does that???!!! (other than the two that already posted in here doing the same thing). To top it off, my box anchor was trying to tell me something by restricting the movement of my boat while at idle speed. I was thinking the current was strong so I gave it more gas. The anchor again tried to yell for help when the line broke and made a popping noise. I thought maybe I was just to shallow and hit the bottom, but looked and didn't see any sand being kicked up. Oh well, must of been nothing so I continued to the boat ramp. We get to the ramp and my daughter asks me about the broken anchor line hanging off the front of the boat. DOH!!! My anchor is still out there somewhere calling for me.....

 

[txav8r]

How could I have forgotten this one! You reminded me @ToddW850 . The reason I ever designed an anchor to fit my 230 in the first place. We had friends out with us on a glorious summer day, not too hot, no wind and just a light breeze to keep your skin cool. It was around 5PM when we reached the anchorage. I had used my original Slide Box Anchor maybe 5 times. And it wouldn't fit in my anchor locker assembled so I had it stored assembled in the port side seat compartment in the bow. I had a carabiner on the anchor rode to just hook up and throw it. I did, I did, and it went...without the carabiner and anchor rode...right to the bottom in 34' of water. I fished for that anchor all summer, using my danforth anchor for awhile. I decided that the whole reason this happened is that it didn't fit where it should. So I took the box anchor measurements, my anchor locker measurements, and make an anchor that would fit in the locker. I called her dirty nellie because it was a butt ugly thing that weighed 25#'s. It was my first prototype to the fixed box anchor I built for myself and a few of my friends. But I still remember watching that $150 box anchor on the way down and disappear from my sight into the abyss. Use a fixed shackle on any anchor line, and don't ever use a quick attachment like a carabiner!

 

[ToddW850]

Haha good one @txav8r sorry to laugh but I could totally picture this with your description.

I also searched for 2 or 3 different days trying to find mine. Thought for sure I could locate it with the clear water here. That was the best anchor.

 

[MikeyL]

I offer 2 considerations for your pleasure - Neither 1 of which am I particularly proud of.

A) The rear boarding ladder: For some wierd reason, when I leave the "sand bar" (local gathering place to hang out on the lake and swim, etc), I am normally the LAST person in the boat. For some strange reason, I can never seem to remember to re-attach the boarding ladder. So off I go, leaving, full throttle, with the ladder all bouncing around as I look like a fool to everyone watching. This is not "all over" yet - I feel there will be more "episodes" this summer. LOL !

B) My favorite though its this: I used to hate WHERE Yamaha placed the dual battery switches in our 242 Ltd S. So to be SMART, I always left the switches "on." And then didn't use the boat for a couple of weeks. But then we would invite friends and their kids to come visit, and boat & swim with us. and made a BIG deal about the boating. So, as usual, I waited UNTIL they had arrived to go get the boat ready. You know the rest. DEAD batteries. Twice they were so "dead" they had to re-charge overnight. This is one of the many reasons I installed a dual-bank Minn-Kota 20-amp charging system wired with a ParkPower/Marinco input AC Receptacle. Now all I do when thru boating is to plug in an AC extension cord. Problem solved. But it sure made for two BAD memories with good friends of ours last year who did not get out on the lake, due to my stupidity.

Hey ... Y'all play nicely now. Y'hear ? !!! LOL !@ Mikey Lulejian - Lake Oconee, GA

 

[jcyamahariders wife]

I placed the keys for the boat on the trailer as I helped get the towing cover on. After an hour and a half drive home I remembered what I did ! Lucky our friend @mattschepker lived close and him and his son searched that afternoon and found one set covered in the gravel parking lot and the other set down the road in a ditch. So so greatful because we did not have a backup set and our registration was in the keychain. After that my husband has never trusted me with the keys ! @jcyamaharider

 

[MikeyL]

After that my husband has never trusted me with the keys ! @jcyamaharider

LOL !@ It's all ok however ....... Barbie STILL does NOT trust me with her keys to HER Miss B'Haven .......... LOL !

 

[Jackew]

1st day of a 7 days vacation in Florida - after making sure everyone was safely off my boat I pulled into the boat lift, did a compelete clean up on the boat - flushed the motors then..... Grabbed my iPhone, iPad and supply bag then did a knee plant on the dock and a roll over into the water with electronics and all! A big splash grabbed everyone's attention. LoL. I was luckly but did have two banged up knees for serval months . It didn't stop my vacation - amazing power of Margritas

 

[Speedling]

Just unwrapped my boat from all winter and found all the beach towels and a bag full of trip supplies. Luckily no food!

 

[Ronnie]

1st day of a 7 days vacation in Florida - Grabbed my iPhone, iPad and supply bag then did a knee plant on the dock and a roll over into the water with electronics and all!

Sounds like a potentially very expensive slip and fall.
Did your iPhone and iPad survive the swim?

 

[Jackew]

Nope - to the iPhone died. iPad was in a lifeloc case. All the cables and access and bag just needed some drying out @Ronnie. I did go to after hour emergency care 7 days later then one official doctor office visit a month later - all in all a $500 knee plant lol

 

[spaz1868]

Not last season, but 2 seasons ago, I asked my wife to throw out the anchor. So she did...rope and all!

Last season, just the typical stuff like leaving boat keys at home, leaving cleanout plugs out, boat in neutral (all just happened once).