TOPIC: Embarrassing Moments!? C'mon, share yours.

I decided to take the Starflite out Sunday to Lake Sinclair to test drive the "new" E'rude. (My home lake 'Jackson' is still 7' low, too dangerous for me!) Test ran the motor in the driveway (on 3 month old gas) before leaving home as usual, everything fine. Stopped at the local gas station that offers Ethanol Free gas (at $4.19 per gal!) and filled the 12 gal tank and switched the fuel line over, saving the older gas as "emergency back up".

Launched the boat, got several hundred yards from the ramp and guess what!? Yup, she coughs, sputters, and dies. After about an hour of troubleshooting, diagnosing, and frustration, I hooked the fuel line back up to the "reserve" tank. She fired up and limped back to the ramp. It would seem the "fresh" gas is somehow bad, my fuel filter/water separator is full of crap! (Now comes the embarrassing part)

Since she wasn't running well powering onto the trailer just wasn't an option. I eased her up to the trailer, stepped over the bow onto the rear trailer cross member to climb out. Can anybody guess where this is going? Yup, foot slipped and into the lake I went! Luckily the only thing injured was my pride, and cel phone. (Why the h@%* can't they make those things waterproof?!?!?) Anyway, popped back up out of the water and looked around to see if anybody saw what happened. (Human nature I think, anybody know what I mean?) A group of people eating lunch on the bank started hooting and hollering, a few applauded and smiled....

Phone is shot, wallet is still drying out, and my ego will recover eventually. Gotta love it. Still beats a "good" day at work anytime.

After trailering the boat behind our pick up [equipt with steel contractor racks], i hurriedly jumped up onto the trucks' step bumper and banged my head solidly on the steel cross bar. Only my brother was there to laugh at me, but the lump on my forehead was there for everyone to comment on for days.
Thinking back, I'm surprised I didnt knock myself out, or split my head wide open.

Not one to advocate clicking away from fiberglassics for any reason, but folks who enjoy these stories may want to chek on "stupid human tricks wile boating" forum category on iboats.com.

I bought a new Whaler back in 2001, a 16 footer... Nice rig, with a 90 HP Mercury on it. The first time I went to use it, I neglected to tilt the outboard up, and pulled the boat out at the ramp that way. Of course, it was a busy day there, so there were plenty of people around to witness, hear the grinding, and give me a good round of applause.

Luckily, I didn't drag it too far this way, and the damage was minimal, just shaved a tiny bit of aluminum off the skeg, and left a little furrow in the ramp...

The boat may have been unsinkable, but my pride wasn't that day

I now use a mental 'checklist' when I'm ramp launching or retrieving, since I don't do it too often... Plug? Check. Straps off? Check. Motor up? Check. Saves a lot of embarrassment!

Took a date up to a nearby lake with the Custom Craft to go for a ride. Got the boat launched and all set, with a big audience (it does attract attention) and the motor wouldn't start, no matter what I tried. Ended up red faced having to pull the boat and headed back home. Problem: I had the hose from the fuel tank hooked up backwards.

Bailing out my boat when it had just a few inches left above water with people launching 5 feet away. It seems if you don't put the plug in water will come in.Who would ever thought! It would not have sunk to the bottom if I had not stopped to talk.

Got my boat out of storage and last month and was excited to put it in the first time to make sure everything ran well. My buddy backed me in and she started up without a hitch. I backed her off the trailer and puttered out into the lake to wait for him to park.

I fiddled around with the stereo and picked up the clutter. I turned around to see water coming up above the floor. Yep I forgot to put the plug in. I nailed the throttle to head for shore and hopefully loose a little water but it died.

There I was in the middle of the lake and its sinking. I found a plug in the jocky box and looked at the water temp on my fish finder, 41 degrees!! But I took off my shirt and jumped in and swam under to put in the plug. I was able to get her started and limped in back to my friend laughing at the dock as I shivered

I took one of the crestliners out to the lake on a wednesday and it ran perfect all day long.Got it on the trailer and made it home no problem. So I decide to take the wife out on it on thursday. She has been complaining about the boats and the money and hasn't been in one on the water yet. S o down we go to the lake. Got the boat launched at the busyest ramp. That day there is about a dozen boats there.There is never any boats there on a thursday any other time. Get some nice coments about the boat, talk to afew people about it, all is good. Jump in boat do mental checklist, plug in, fuel in tank, vent open,life jackets, paddle, muzzle for wife, check, its all there. Turns the key, nothing, hmmm lets try that again. nope nothing. Ok run to truck and grap the booster box. Hook it up and hit the key. Box is dead.Everone on the ramp is laughing or offering advice. Wife is not happy.Backon the trailer and home. Turns out the rectifier was shot. Wife tell all her co workers about it. Can't go to the shop where the wife works anymore because they are all females working there. They just have to ask hows the boat running.

Look them DEAD in the eye and say GREAT just like me, care for a ride? They will get red and shut up or take you up on the offer to go out on the boat.

My most embarrassing moment can be seen the drain plug thread.

However my dad's most embarrassing moment involved a 22' Westerly Nomad Sailboat sitting flat in the middle of the highway.

The Westerly is a tri-keel boat made for sitting on shore when the tide goes out. It is a large sail boat but draws only 30" of water. This boat belonged to acquaintance who had an identical boat to ours. My dad and Vern always helped each other load the boats because they are so odd to load. However....Vern went for Cheap when building the trailer for his boat. Our trailer was made at my grandfather's (now my) shop and could haul the Uss Enterprise. (no skimping by my dad when it came to boats) Anyway, the springs on Vern's trailer were weaker and the trailer angled back at a slight decline to the rear. The boat weighed so much that it was standard practice to just let the weight hold the boat on the trailer sitting on the 3 keels. No ropes.

It was fall, Halloween. The keels were coated with scum from a long summer in the water. It was late and there had been a big line to load up boats. Finally Vern's boat was on the trailer and My dad and Vern headed out onto Minnetonka Boulevard. Up the hill and after turning toward highway 7, they hit a small bump and felt a slight jerk. My dad looked in the rear view mirror and noticed the boat getting smaller. Vern, white as a Halloween ghost, said "the boat fell off" in a soft tone of disbelief.


Part 2.....after lunch.....

Backed up to the trailer, REMEMBERED THE DRAIN PLUG, got out of the truck, grabbed it and put it in, walked around to make sure I didn't forget tools, paddle, etc., we got in and took off... and stopped when I realized the boat wasn't hitched up. Only moved ten feet, but the fam made it seem like miles... all the way to and from the lake.

Ok, so I'm going to take my uncle out on the Wagemaker. He hadn't seen it since my dad owned it. He use to ride in it with his dad and hadn't been in it or drove it for at least over 20 years. Went through the whole thing, tanks full, plug in, beer and water in cooler, license, paperwork etc. Drive to the boat ramp, launch the boat, park the truck.. Uncle's got the boat tied to pier, get there, get in check hose is connected, pump bulb. Climb through to sit down and start motor and DOH, where's the darn keys!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!? Holy crap left them at the house!

Thank goodness I only live 3 minutes from the ramp. Run to truck back out drive home and hear funny noise after getting to street the house is on. Look at back of trailer and see the transom clamp dragging down the road!!!!!!!!!!! Ground off a layer or two of rubber dip coating. Hook it back over the trailer and get back with key. Rest of the day went uneventful and lots of grins on Uncle's face when i let him drive her. Quite embarrassing in front of uncle and the questions he got while I went and got the keys.

Bob

About 25 years ago, I went to pull my 20' boat out of the saltwater at a downtown marina... fairly steep ramp... it was getting dark, but lots of people around. As I just got back in my truck, it ran out of gas (too little gas, too steep of a ramp). Tide was coming in. Waded into the water, climbed up on the fender and got the kicker gas tank. Had to make a funnel out of cardboard and fought to get a few gallons in the truck... no start... used the rest of the gas to try to prime the engine... lots of lookers but no helpers... through all of this I managed to crank the battery flat...(sigh)... now the water is up to the rear bumper! Made my way back to the boat (which by now is trying to float off the trailer). Dug the battery out of the boat and as I was climbing back out with battery in hand... splash! with a battery in my hand... I went completely under... got up and walked back to the front of the truck and swapped batteries... by now the water was well over the rear bumper and the front wheels were now wet... boat was definately floating... poured in a little more gas down the carb and cranked it... it fired and kept running... I rev'd up the engine... dumped the clutch and flew out of there. It was by far, my worst boating day.

considering i bought my first boat only 4 months ago and have only had it out once, i am kinda limited on embarassing moments, BUT...

got the boat in the water. buddy headed up the ramp with the truck. i'd made sure to put the plug in after reading the horror stories on here. i'd ran the motor in a barrel the day before, so i knew i had no problems. everything was a go. hit the key and the motor fired up right away. then died. cranked and cranked and cranked. no go. busy ramp with 2 boats behind me waiting to get out of the water. holding up traffic. tried and tried and tried. no go on getting it to stay running. one person has opted to have me help them around myself to get their boat out of the water. decided to try the other gas tank, just in case. turns out the gasket on the top of that tank was shot and gas squirted out all inside of the boat. buddy is now back and holding the lines to keep me from drifting off. he's impatient and embarassed as hell, just like me. squeeze the bulb on the fuel line a few more times and it firmed up again. lady behind me was leaning off of the bow of her boat trying to offer helpful advise. manually held the throttle open and hit the pull starter. engine roared to life, spewing smoke all in her face. she started coughing and saying "it's smoky!" and all i could thnk to say was "it IS a two-stroke." classy, i know. i must also now mention that my motor calls for 50:1, but i was burning up the last of the gas that i had in the tank, which was mixed somewhere around 20:1. lots of smoke!

anyway, one of the clamps on the fuel line turned out to me loose enough to let the fuel pump suck air in. not sure why this didn't cause issues in the driveway, but oh well. cranked it down tight and didn't have any further issues. i managed to figure it out before getting fed up and pulling the boat out of the water!

1965 or so, I backed my totally restored, sharp looking 1950 2-Dr Ford down the steep river ramp and loaded my 10-ft racing Hydro on the trailer.

Got in the car, dropped it in low gear (standard shift), and decided to burn tires going up the ramp!!! Yea, I floor-boarded it, and promptly broke a rear axle!!!! NO EMERGENCY BRAKES that worked, gears cannot hold it!!!!

I sat in the car, holding the brake pedal down, for near 2 hours!!! No one was around to help me!!

Finally, a guy I knew came down the river fishing and I called him. He paddled over to me and I told him my situation. He found some scrap concrete chunks in the weeds by the ramp and chocked all four wheels of the car!! Then I got out and WALKED over a mile to a friends house to get him to go with me and pull the Ford up the ramp, boat and all, and towed it home!!!

I fixed the emergency brakes before I even put in a new axle!!!

That taught me not to try "burning rubber" on anymore boat ramps too!!!

Part 2

So there the boat sat in the middle of a lane squarely atop the RR bridge of Minnetonka Boulevard. An APB went out to locate a fork lift, but none in the area were large enough to lift the boat. No towing company had a rig with a boom long enough or strong enough to lift the boat either. The police insisted that the boat be moved from the road.

All the keels are steel or cast iron comprising 80% of the weight of the boat. It was decided to tie a rope around the keels and drag the boat into a near by parking lot where the embarrassment of blocking the highway would be eliminated. This process worked well and produced the desired result. However Vern was still edgy about what would happen to his boat if left unattended on Halloween.

My dad had boat launching skills none of us are ever likely to develop. He owned a 20' cruiser in the mid 1950s when a boat ramp might just be a low spot on a beach. He had encountered every situation imaginable, including lifting a boat off the ground and back onto a trailer. It was for this reason, that what seemed like and impossible feat to Vern, was nothing more than a bothersome, time consuming activity for my father. My dad returned to our house, told the story up to this point and left with every piece of wood we had from 6x6 beams to chunks of plywood. He took all the jacks in the garage, most of the rope, and a large block and tackle. He did not take bug repentant which was a huge oversight.

I had to go trick or treating with my mom, which as we all know, is not as fun as going with dad, but it was fun just the same. By midnight the boat was lifted board by board, inch by inch to a height where the trailer would fit under. Shortly after, Vern, my dad, and the boat were all home and fast asleep. Vern sent my dad gifts for years after that.

4th July fireworks here in our waterfront park. Went back to the boat in the slip, (20 foot Bayliner/125 Force OB). Putting cover on..(damn seagulls!)Putting on the motor cover. Slipped and wedged my dumbazz in between the motor, and side wetwell. Could NOT find any part the lower to push my butt back in. Oh well, one other option. Flipped my az over and in the water, swim back the the swim step, back in soaking wet, said the hell with it, and went home.

A couple of years ago over the Christmas shutdown I went to launch my boat by my lonesome. I tied the bowline to the floating dock and Backed the trailer in Like I normaly do and hit the brakes to launch boat launched beautifully, I got out of the car to pull it in to the dock but the boat is ten feet from the dock and pulling away with no bow line. The bow line had come off of the cleat on the bow. The Boat was now underway with no one in it and 40 degree water. If it had been summer I would have swam for it. The only ones around were some teenagers fishing from the banks and they were laughing there rearends off.
I looked around and could see nobody else on the lake so I followed the boat from the shoreline (after I Parked the car and trailer) Finally a fisherman in a small fishing boat saw me and the boat and towed it back to the dock.

A couple of years ago over the Christmas shutdown I went to launch my boat by my lonesome. I tied the bowline to the floating dock and Backed the trailer in Like I normaly do and hit the brakes to launch boat launched beautifully, I got out of the car to pull it in to the dock but the boat is ten feet from the dock and pulling away with no bow line. The bow line had come off of the cleat on the bow. The Boat was now underway with no one in it and 40 degree water. If it had been summer I would have swam for it. The only ones around were some teenagers fishing from the banks and they were laughing there rearends off.
I looked around and could see nobody else on the lake so I followed the boat from the shoreline (after I Parked the car and trailer) Finally a fisherman in a small fishing boat saw me and the boat and towed it back to the dock.

i of course have never done anything wrong ,lol,lol.
but when we were at raystown lake in pa. with the fiberglassics crew years ago for project x,the boat ramp was full of animals fighting for the ramp,one of them a younger fella with a nice speed boat kept trying to back up as fast as he could then hit the brakes trying to get his boat to float off the trailer,we kept yelling at him to unstrap the transom 1st,lol,lol.
as a side note his trailer does float with a boat attached.

ok,i lied,lol,i do alot wrong,but this should remind you to always shut your vent in your portable gas tank,and buy a water separator,lol.
when i had my seaking 1964 cabin cruiser,i took my father in law and my nephew out to go do some fishing,we made it about a 10th of a mile and motor just quit running,we soon found out i had water in the gas tank,the tank was way back under the splashwell,so i never closed the vent,i know ..pretty dumb.
the worst part was trying to use the trolling motor to get back to the dock,the areas on the splashwell that i could put the trolling motor on were sloped,so it kept falling off,after about an hour to get it back to dock,i had the privilege of meeting one of our boat and fish wardens who gave my papers and boat a very thorough look over.

If you have a large inboard fuel tank, don't dump in a bunch of oil and then add gas. The Super Sea Horse, will not run on just oil drawn from the bottom of the tank.

john-gibson wrote:

i of course have never done anything wrong ,lol,lol.
but when we were at raystown lake in pa. with the fiberglassics crew years ago for project x,the boat ramp was full of animals fighting for the ramp,one of them a younger fella with a nice speed boat kept trying to back up as fast as he could then hit the brakes trying to get his boat to float off the trailer,we kept yelling at him to unstrap the transom 1st,lol,lol.
as a side note his trailer does float with a boat attached.

:
don't know how i missed that one!

i think you and sue were already on the lake,houston was there.

speaking of houston???

Guess how the mailbox got taken out?