Let's hear your boating related 'near miss' stories

[GoVols01]

I’d like to start a “near miss” thread where we novice sailors can share our stories of how we (or our friends) nearly maimed or killed our boats, ourselves, or others. These stories, while hopefully harmless, can serve as lessons to others as well as an entertaining thread to follow. I’ll start us off!

In July ’14, I traded a 2004 model Regal 1800LSR for a new Regal 1900ES. The boat is beautiful with a solid bright blue hull and special 2 tone interior and I was on cloud 9 on our maiden voyage. The wife, 2 kids, and I cruised the lake for a good bit and decided to anchor down to swim for a while. I pulled into a quiet cove, threw out the anchor in about 30’ of water, and turned the kids loose in the water. They had a blast jumping off the new big swim platform and then swimming all around the boat while I chased after them. After a while, it was time to head back to land, so I loaded the kids back in the boat, deflated the inner tube and tucked it back into the locker, pulled up the swim later, fired up the boat, and engaged the tranny to get us underway. The boat quickly popped up on plane when all of a sudden a big jolt shook the whole boat hard, accompanied by a loud slap noise. Instantly, I figured I just hit something with my new boat, but before another thought could enter my mind, MY ANCHOR landed with a loud thud inside the boat between me and my wife!! In all my haste, I forgot to pull the anchor back up before leaving the cove!! The big jolt and loud slap was the anchor rope being yank hard against the hull of the boat causing the anchor to be sling shot inside the boat. Thankfully, the kids were sitting in the bow, where they always sit. If anyone was sitting the back seat, the anchor surely would have struck them on its flight back into the boat. Amazingly, there wasn’t even a scratch on the boat after all that. Ever since then, I pay much closer attention to my anchor.

 

[Scuba_ref]

WOW!

 

[spaz944]

Wow! Amazing.
Ok I'm guilty I'll fall for this.

Wife and I went out to the lake Bimini top down and through the culvert we went. We had a great day on the water. Time to head home. 2 boats and a jet ski looked at us as we approached the culvert with the Bimini top UP! No one said a thing!! So we putt through and then I hear bang bang bang bang! I look up and see the frame bent. I was pissed!! So I told my wife to take the controls and I pushed up on the culvert to give us the 2" clearance we needed to get on through. We loaded the boat. Strapped the frame and material down and went home! I was able to used a bender to fix the frame and she mended the top. It's a constant reminder of that trip. Oh how we love boating! Hope you enjoy this story. I laugh now but that was not a good ending to a great day on the lake.

 

[John McLaughlin]

OK I will also bite as I am relatively new to the Forum and jet boats. I picked up our boat on Tuesday of last week and due to other commitments like doctors appointments and bad weather could not put it in until today. So I go through the checklist: blower ,bilge pumps, drain plugs and of course ensuring the plugs are locked down properly. Good to go right NOT. I unhooked the safety chain in the front, loosen the bow chains, backed trailer in to get the boards wet, drove the truck back out the water then back in hitting the brakes at the proper time to let the boat float off, Nothing happens, did it again hitting the brakes and still nothing happens. One more time nothing happens so I get out the truck and then I noticed I forgot to untie the tie down straps. Quick fix and then we were on our way. Oh Well we live an learn

 

[malibu Dan]

OK... a few weeks ago a buddy took me out fishing on 1 of the local reservoirs on his new 20 ft aluminum fishing boat... I backed him down the ramp and he throttled off the trailer no problem... I went and parked the truck/trailer (a little ways away)... came walking back and as I start walking down the dock I can see him waving his hands and shouting.. As I get closer I finally hear him..." go get the trailer I forgot the drain plugs"... needless to say after a sprint to the truck and fastest back up in history , we stood there for 15 minutes waiting for all the water to drain out.. plug in and continued with our fishing trip ... last thing I said to him before he got in the boat the first time.. "did u remember the plug?"...

 

[mdwarchichoke]

Not a bad one, but pulled the boat off the trailer thinking something does not feel right. Not much power. Push off from the dock and and it still does not feel right. Left the clean out plugs out of the pumps. Sure makes a difference. No harm other than a little pride!

 

[Ilmmct]

Day one new to me 2013 242 LS. Dealer delivers it 600 miles to me.

It is a stormy day but driver wants to get back home, so we meet up at the ramp that is 12 miles from my home and my lift that I will put the boat on. Pshaw ... what can happen in a quick 20 minute ride home?

Well I meet the driver at the ramp and start my
mental checklist. He's in a hurry ... "the skys are about to open up ... Sir you don't need to do a checkout I prepped everything before we left the dealer 8 hours ago."

So off I go. Well what do you know the sky opens up 5 minutes in, wind is intense and the boat starts lumbering. Hmmm must be those plugs ... it's soooo windy I can't stop the engine without drifting quickly to the shoreline (ICW - approximately 700' wide) ... wonder if there is an anchor on this thing? So I go as far to the opposite shoreline without running aground to give me plenty of drift to see if there is an anchor so I can check the plugs. Fortunately there is anchor and I can properly insert the plugs.

Another 5 minutes raining buckets, distant lightning, but boat is still working too hard and feeling sloppy. Out goes the anchor again to check the engine bay. Wow water is up to the motor mounts. Wonder what the ski locker looks like. Hmmm it's full of water. In comes the call from my wife ... "where are you, you should be at the dock by now" ... me "it's all good just going slow because of the rain".

I wonder what I have on the boat to bale this water. Ah-ha, my wife left a large Target shopping bag that we used to carry the ropes, radio, vests etc. It's big and my scoops and the bilge remove the water about 15 minutes. It's pouring, lightening picking up and I'm starting to wonder if my insurance policy covers me abandoning the boat and heading for cover on terrafirma.

But, before I take off again (after the excess water is removed) I decide to call the boat delivery driver's cell phone and ask why there is so much water everywhere. "Oh gosh sir I guess with the main plug in and because I just drove through 6 hours of rain ... I must have left you with a boat that was full of water when you pulled it off the trailer.

Made it home with no further issues ... note-to-self #1: Always perform your own pre-cruise checklist. Note-to-self #2: watch the radar even if you are planning a short run.

 

[skrip345]

Crazy! Guardian angels were on the boat that day!

I had one a few years ago that taught me a valuable lesson, so Ill admit my stupidity and contribute:

We were buzzing around late one night, my part of LOZ is pretty quiet, no bars that stay open late etc. We try not to wear out my parents and lake neighbors, so when we want to stay up a little later and crank up the stereo, we will cruise to other parts of the lake. On a particularly dark night, no star or moonlight, we decided to go see some friends down the lake. I am very very familiar with the lake there, so as long as I can see the shoreline, and we go slow, I can navigate fine. I made the stupid decision to turn off my front nav lights, because there were night blinding me. We continued slowly, I figured I could snap them on if I saw a boat in the distance. Long story short we had a very near miss with another boat. He was going fast, probably watching some kind of navigator screen, and I didn't see him before he was nearly on top of us. By the time either of us had time to react it was already over. Could have been very very bad, just a few feet from disaster. Always no matter what will have my lights on at night, no matter how empty the lake seems.

 

[Noko]

I’d like to start a “near miss” thread where we novice sailors can share our stories of how we (or our friends) nearly

Glad no one was hurt. But now you got an awesome boat trick to show your friends. "Hey, watch this!"

 

[Noko]

Crazy! Guardian angels were on the boat that day!

I had one a few years ago that taught me a valuable lesson, so Ill admit my stupidity and contribute:

I've had my boat out once at night, it was fun. But I've seen people hauling butt well after sunset. I'm just not the comfortable being out at night. What I do have is a super bright hand held light that will light up the lake. Easy to have and it makes you easy to see.

 

[GiddYupJoe]

OK... a few weeks ago a buddy took me out fishing on 1 of the local reservoirs on his new 20 ft aluminum fishing boat... I backed him down the ramp and he throttled off the trailer no problem... I went and parked the truck/trailer (a little ways away)... came walking back and as I start walking down the dock I can see him waving his hands and shouting.. As I get closer I finally hear him..." go get the trailer I forgot the drain plugs"... needless to say after a sprint to the truck and fastest back up in history , we stood there for 15 minutes waiting for all the water to drain out.. plug in and continued with our fishing trip ... last thing I said to him before he got in the boat the first time.. "did u remember the plug?"...

Second time I went out with the boat this exact same thing happened to me... well actually I did it to myself. Never put the boat on the trailer quicker than that day! Haven't forgot since, 4 years later.

 

[robert843]

I had a similar experience as @skrip345 but to the opposite extent. We boat down the ICW to dinner about 30 miles away pretty regularly but usually try to leave with enough time to make it most of the way back to our home Marina with a little tiny bit of light. Well one night the restaurant we were at took longer then normal and we ventured on out 30 mile ride home in the dark. No big deal we have done it plenty of times and the ICW has lit channel markers with red and green lights. Worst part was there was a ton of debris from recent heavy rains so in the dark we found our selves weaving through floating trees and other stuff. Off in the distance we saw some large debris so we started moving port side to avoid it but it appeared the current had started to pull it that way we turned to starboard a little and now it was drifting that way as we cruised along at about 25 mph we realized this object was heading toward us no matter what we did next thing I know I hear an engine it was a jon boat cruising at about 35 mph with no lights at the very last second we both turn hard to the left and missed each other by feet. Best I can figure it was some drunk idiot who thought my front running lights were the next red and green channel markers and kept coming towards them as no matter which way we turned he just kept coming directly at us. Ever since then we avoid night boating and anytime we are stuck out at night I will admit I'm overly cautious.

 

[captras]

I’d like to start a “near miss” thread where we novice sailors can share our stories of how we (or our friends) nearly maimed or killed our boats, ourselves, or others. These stories, while hopefully harmless, can serve as lessons to others as well as an entertaining thread to follow. I’ll start us off!

In July ’14, I traded a 2004 model Regal 1800LSR for a new Regal 1900ES. The boat is beautiful with a solid bright blue hull and special 2 tone interior and I was on cloud 9 on our maiden voyage. The wife, 2 kids, and I cruised the lake for a good bit and decided to anchor down to swim for a while. I pulled into a quiet cove, threw out the anchor in about 30’ of water, and turned the kids loose in the water. They had a blast jumping off the new big swim platform and then swimming all around the boat while I chased after them. After a while, it was time to head back to land, so I loaded the kids back in the boat, deflated the inner tube and tucked it back into the locker, pulled up the swim later, fired up the boat, and engaged the tranny to get us underway. The boat quickly popped up on plane when all of a sudden a big jolt shook the whole boat hard, accompanied by a loud slap noise. Instantly, I figured I just hit something with my new boat, but before another thought could enter my mind, MY ANCHOR landed with a loud thud inside the boat between me and my wife!! In all my haste, I forgot to pull the anchor back up before leaving the cove!! The big jolt and loud slap was the anchor rope being yank hard against the hull of the boat causing the anchor to be sling shot inside the boat. Thankfully, the kids were sitting in the bow, where they always sit. If anyone was sitting the back seat, the anchor surely would have struck them on its flight back into the boat. Amazingly, there wasn’t even a scratch on the boat after all that. Ever since then, I pay much closer attention to my anchor.

I have seen that happen to experienced, knowledgeable boaters! BTW...Good thread!

 

[Peelz]

the day I bought my boat, the owner took me for spin. I wanted to see the engine run under load. It wasnt planing well, so I thought i should probably bail. But I Open compartment to have a look.

ME: "Is there always this much water in your bilge?"

he had asked his wife to put in the plug. always check.

so far, the close calls havent been too bad, But being aware could prevent them. things like:

-If a jet ski crosses in front of you, pull to either side, when jet skis die, they die immediately. Almost hit a kid.(his fault, but still)
-Use depth finder even if you know a certain water area well, the level may have gone down quickly. (our reservoir drained 5 ft overnight expected floodwater from north)
-not everyone shares your level of respect, give big boats room. (cabin cruisers make enormous wakes that can eat a 17' boat)

 

[scokill]

This not a boat near miss, but certainly very, very lucky. So my son in college had been complaining about the belt squealing in his Chevy Colorado. It's a 2006 and has about 100K miles. Been a good truck. We had replaced the serpentine belt over a break and I just chalked it up to the tensioner being bad or just making noise. He check the power steering fluid and pump so I said just drive it and we'll check when you get home. So he drove home on Thursday....about 5 hour drive from San Marcos to Dallas in bad traffic. The next morning I see huge puddle of coolant. I start the truck and see that the water pump is leaking and is wobbling horribly. The pump has almost disintegrated. I make to the repair shop about 2 miles away and it's already 3/4 up the temperature guage.

My mechanic replaces the water pump and no harm, no foul. So, so lucky for him to make it home without overheating and burning up the engine....but more importantly breaking down on I35 with the construction traffic would have been so, so dangerous. Very thankful.

 

[Emilio22]

1 AM last Fourth of July cruising down the Dania Beach Canal on the way back to the marina after the fire works. Right as I'm about to pass under a bridge 2 kids jump right in front of me. Not a second later I hear another splash just off the starboard bow. Another kid had jumped. Very lucky they did not hit/land in the boat as we had the bow cushions in and my kids were sleeping there. Could have been a tragedy for all.

 

[NewBoater]

1 AM last Fourth of July cruising down the Dania Beach Canal on the way back to the marina after the fire works. Right as I'm about to pass under a bridge 2 kids jump right in front of me. Not a second later I hear another splash just off the starboard bow. Another kid had jumped. Very lucky they did not hit/land in the boat as we had the bow cushions in and my kids were sleeping there. Could have been a tragedy for all.

Scary stuff, glad all turned out well

 

[VONCE]

I have a few. I'll try to keep them as short as possible.

First: Senior year of high school, me and a few friends went to my Dad's place at Brookville lake. We had the ol' Baretta out all day, then we trailered it back to the property. When we get there, our girlfriends are there waiting for us (they didn't have as much "senioritis" as we had, so they went to class and came after), and they want to take a boat ride. So we gas up the boat, and head back to the lake for an evening boat ride. Shortly after launching, I hear my friend say "Hey man I'm getting wet back here!" I didn't think anything of it. They had never been on a boat before. So I say "Yeah you're on a boat, get used to it." More slow idling through the no wake zone, and we are finally almost to the main lake. Same friend says "my feet are SOAKED!" and I hear them splashing their feet. I turn around and the whole rear of the boat is sitting very low and there is enough water to cover the stern passengers' feet. Whoops, forgot to put the plug in. 2 people actually bailed out of the boat LOL, but I told everyone to calm down and I hammered the throttle hoping to plane (when you plane the drain is above water), but there was too much weight so I headed straight to the ramp. We went and got the truck and had to pull it on the trailer to drain. It would have been a lot worse in just a few more minutes.

Another: We rented a houseboat at Dale Hollow a few years ago. I planned the trip. Everything was on my credit card, so I had to sign the forms and all that. We are at the marina, and I have 12 hungry and anxious friends asking me what they need to do and bugging me about stuff. So I assign some tasks to people. One group had to go launch my boat (the Dynasty, I didn't have the Yamaha at that time). I am inside signing paperwork and I hear an unusual thud noise, followed by some grinding noises. I couldn't see out of the windows, so I didn't know what it was. Here comes my wife storming into the marina. "Ummm, they just completely f***ed up the boat." "Huh??" Well, she over-reacted to say the least. But my friends had unhooked the boat from the winch and safety chain prior to backing into the water. We usually do that at the lakes we go to. Then one person is in the boat, and one person is driving the truck. The boat slides right off when the bunks get wet and the boat is deep enough. The same wasn't true for that launch ramp at Dale Hollow. The ramp was much steeper. The boat came off prior to hitting the water. The driver of the truck freaked and drove forward, causing the outdrive to drag. Once he stopped, they winched it back on the trailer and any further crisis was averted. Luckily, aside from some outdrive scratches, nothing was damaged.

Another: We stopped renting houseboats and we now rent a lakehouse at Norris instead. Last year my friend decided he wanted to take a night ride (once again, on the Dynasty, not the Yamaha). I was a few sheets to the wind, so I told him he would have to drive and asked if he was comfortable. He was actually more than comfortable, he was thrilled. So me, my wife, him, and a few others went down to the dock and hopped in. I sat in the passenger seat, but was also helping him navigate (somewhat blindly) with the GPS. We couldn't see much. We were going 20-25 MPH and trying to navigate with our eyes, as well as using the GPS. It was a little foggy that night, so the GPS was very helpful. I was looking ahead, trying to use my hand in front of me to block the nav lighting and dash lighting to see in the distance better. Out of nowhere, we are heading straight towards the side of a cliff - probably 20 or so yards away. According to the GPS we were in the middle of the lake. I screamed at him to slow and turn towards the left. Luckily his response time was very quick and the crisis was averted, but only by a second or two, or just a few feet. You can't always rely on the GPS!

Needless to say, nowadays (I hope I don't jinx myself), the drain plug gets checked every time, the boat stays winched until the trailer is submerged, and night rides are handled a little differently (you can only no-wake in Ohio lakes!).

 

[captras]

I have a few. I'll try to keep them as short as possible.

First: Senior year of high school, me and a few friends went to my Dad's place at Brookville lake. We had the ol' Baretta out all day, then we trailered it back to the property. When we get there, our girlfriends are there waiting for us (they didn't have as much "senioritis" as we had, so they went to class and came after), and they want to take a boat ride. So we gas up the boat, and head back to the lake for an evening boat ride. Shortly after launching, I hear my friend say "Hey man I'm getting wet back here!" I didn't think anything of it. They had never been on a boat before. So I say "Yeah you're on a boat, get used to it." More slow idling through the no wake zone, and we are finally almost to the main lake. Same friend says "my feet are SOAKED!" and I hear them splashing their feet. I turn around and the whole rear of the boat is sitting very low and there is enough water to cover the stern passengers' feet. Whoops, forgot to put the plug in. 2 people actually bailed out of the boat LOL, but I told everyone to calm down and I hammered the throttle hoping to plane (when you plane the drain is above water), but there was too much weight so I headed straight to the ramp. We went and got the truck and had to pull it on the trailer to drain. It would have been a lot worse in just a few more minutes.

Another: We rented a houseboat at Dale Hollow a few years ago. I planned the trip. Everything was on my credit card, so I had to sign the forms and all that. We are at the marina, and I have 12 hungry and anxious friends asking me what they need to do and bugging me about stuff. So I assign some tasks to people. One group had to go launch my boat (the Dynasty, I didn't have the Yamaha at that time). I am inside signing paperwork and I hear an unusual thud noise, followed by some grinding noises. I couldn't see out of the windows, so I didn't know what it was. Here comes my wife storming into the marina. "Ummm, they just completely f***ed up the boat." "Huh??" Well, she over-reacted to say the least. But my friends had unhooked the boat from the winch and safety chain prior to backing into the water. We usually do that at the lakes we go to. Then one person is in the boat, and one person is driving the truck. The boat slides right off when the bunks get wet and the boat is deep enough. The same wasn't true for that launch ramp at Dale Hollow. The ramp was much steeper. The boat came off prior to hitting the water. The driver of the truck freaked and drove forward, causing the outdrive to drag. Once he stopped, they winched it back on the trailer and any further crisis was averted. Luckily, aside from some outdrive scratches, nothing was damaged.

Another: We stopped renting houseboats and we now rent a lakehouse at Norris instead. Last year my friend decided he wanted to take a night ride (once again, on the Dynasty, not the Yamaha). I was a few sheets to the wind, so I told him he would have to drive and asked if he was comfortable. He was actually more than comfortable, he was thrilled. So me, my wife, him, and a few others went down to the dock and hopped in. I sat in the passenger seat, but was also helping him navigate (somewhat blindly) with the GPS. We couldn't see much. We were going 20-25 MPH and trying to navigate with our eyes, as well as using the GPS. It was a little foggy that night, so the GPS was very helpful. I was looking ahead, trying to use my hand in front of me to block the nav lighting and dash lighting to see in the distance better. Out of nowhere, we are heading straight towards the side of a cliff - probably 20 or so yards away. According to the GPS we were in the middle of the lake. I screamed at him to slow and turn towards the left. Luckily his response time was very quick and the crisis was averted, but only by a second or two, or just a few feet. You can't always rely on the GPS!

Needless to say, nowadays (I hope I don't jinx myself), the drain plug gets checked every time, the boat stays winched until the trailer is submerged, and night rides are handled a little differently (you can only no-wake in Ohio lakes!).

3 great lessons I take from this:

1. Always do my walk around before I launch.
2. I don't let other people launch my boat. ....I don't want to put them in an uncomfortable situation, and if anything happens is my responsibility.
3. I usually avoid night rides if visibility is not great, and try to never go faster than what I can see.

Great post we can all learn from and all examples of things that could have been catastrophic! Glad they all worked out well for you!

 

[Shuck Water]

It will be 9 years ago this summer. My wife and I purchased a Four Winns and we trying to perfect our wake boarding skillz. Usually we went out with a group of people, but it was a week day afternoon/evening and we knew the lake wouldn't be crowded, so no issue with just the two of us. I was in the middle of pulling her using my little crappy suction cup mirror, with the sun setting behind me, to check on her every few seconds and all looked fine. Little did I know that she dropped the handle which snagged the front corner of her board causing me to drag her board first behind the boat. The whole incident lasted less than 10 seconds but it took me turning fully around to realize what had happened. Luckily she escaped with only a sprained ankle and a bruised pride. However, I don't care what the law says, never do any water sports without a spotter!! And a better mirror...