TOPIC: funny thing happened on the way to the lake.

well i was out priming the bow of the boat today and my buddy from across the street came over. he had a little grin on his face. and was asking about my prop on my motor. i dont have one yet, til i get it in the water i wont know what to use. he said he was going out for a run after replacing seals in his lower unit . rebuilt it no problem everything works and he was going out yesterday. another friend that lives behind him went with him. this is a funny story so hang in there. he is telling me they backed the boat down in the water and rick our other friend was parking the truck. troy the guy with the boat, was just playing around and picked up rick and off they went. about twenty minutes , umm into running up stream they started to slow down. engine rpm was good just no forward movement . he thought the linkage was off under the cowl. he pulled the cowl and rick was moving the controls .
he was thinking he had forgot to do something and now it is broke.
while hanging off the back of the boat with a handful of motor he looked down and realized the prop had run off the shaft. the whole prop was gone nothing but the shaft was spinning feverishly trying to propel the boat. thinking back he broke the cotter pin taking it out and i was there when he threaded the nut on the shaft and moved it back to put the pin it. never did. i am not telling you this to make fun of troy, but there is always someone out there we can say yep dont feel alone been there done that kinda thing. we all need to add that to the check list for our preflight walk around. oh and troy threw the little trolling motor in at the last minute since he rebuild the lower end. enjoy. the prop was beat up anyway.

2 years ago when the lake were real low here I was walking it near the lake house. One of the places that many people go fishing at we were finding all kind of things...poles, old tackle boxes etc.

I saw some sticking out of the mus and it was a prop. It was so new when it was lost it still had all the paint on the tips and the plastic sticker reading checked OK was still in tact.

I am of thinking that the owner did the same thing, and this was the first place that he put it in reverse and the prop spun off.

It's always a a great thing if you can learn from someone else's mistake. A normal person learns from there mistakes a smart man learns from others! Thanks for the tip. That is a minor mistake compared to some I te bonehead moves I have done like putting 16 or so screws through the bottom of my boat to put a temporary floor in!! I was very politely telling the police officer doing a courtesy inspection to get the hell out of my way before my boat sank!! I also forgot te plug that day . DON'T FORGET THE PLUG!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sure no body here has ever done anything stupid like that. That is like no putting your plug in only to come back after launching and talking to a friend for twenty minutes only to find your boat sitting as far as it could go at the launch. Luckily the water was not deep enough for it to come over the side. No nobody would do that.

Absolutely, No one on his forum would launch, park the trailer only to find the boat with water over the floorboard. You only see something like that on youtube.

When I had my Switzer XS Merc, at the lake house backed the boat in our launch and soon noticed something wrong in the back. Like WATER! One and hopefully last time I forgot the plug! BUT?

Dumbest was going to the lake late Friday night. I had the boat with me, as needed some work during the week. Well cars all over, boats gone, launch blocked. Got the GF in the car, went to the marina close us and in a rush to hit the water, and out. Put the SS (expensive) prop on, the nut, and got distracted. We launch, nail it, trim up and the rooster tail is proud and tall! Laid off the hot foot for traffic, and all of a sudden I got a bunch on "neutrals". Went back and reached down (boat had trim only, race rams, no tilt) Well, NO PROP! Forgot to tighten the nut!$300 prop then in the 70's, and probably still there somewhere the Illinois Chain of Lakes.

Ever since I ALWAYS slow down, double check everything! Anytime ya get in a rush, ya forget something!

I have considered making a laminated check list for taking the trailer to the dock and for launching. I hooked up the trailer wrong once thankfully I was in a parking lot when it came unhooked and barely escaped it smashing the tailgate of my truck!

Let me guess...didn't lock the ball hitch down.

One time I went fishing about 3 am in the dark. I drove half a mile before I realized that the battery charger was still hooked up. I stopped and looked and the charger, a large floor mounted unit was being dragged down the road. It pulled the cord right out of the unit. I still got the charger, a little banged up but still works.

That made me think of another one. I pulled my boat into the rafters of the garage to work on my trailer and put new tires on years ago. After installing the new tires the wheel would spin instead of tightening up because of the very light weight of the trailer. I told my self when I put the boat back on I'd would tighten them. Well time passed and first trip out for the year I was driving down the road and noticed my boat and trailer doing a little Bose-nova dance in back of the truck. Upon investigation it seems some idiot forgot to tighten the lugs nuts. Now I had three lug nuts between two wheels. I got started back and was driving slow and easy. I spotted two of them on the way home. Screwed up my whole day.

I do not understand why I had a double post so I altered this one.

Not nearly as bad as not putting the plug in( which I have done but it's been a while). I can't seem to go a year without launching at least once without unplugging my trailer lights. Never going to sink anything but sure is iffy getting that rig to the closest gas station to get a couple more 1157's ( just bought two more last night).

I switched to LED's. I love them.

On forgetting to lock the ball hitch? What about this story!
Backed my big boat up my slight inclined driveway in front, under the canopy. (In the avatar..big boat far right). Chock the trailer, pull the safety chains, hitch lever up. Back in the van, rocked it forward and back a touch. Out and start cranking the jack wheel. "POP"! Trailer off! AND so is the van! There it goes down the drive, across the street, into the far ditch! Damn, I left the van in neutral! Now its ALWAYS park, and EM brake on!

On a hitch lever up? Friend mine picked up his 23 foot Chriscraft from the shop, drove miles down the Freeway, and almost home right it front my house, I'm in the shop. Hear a crash. Walk out and the speed bump near me bounced the hitch off, he hit the brake to hard, and a real nice hole in the new rig he just bought! Yep, lever never was put down!
Chit happens!

hahahaa i think im going to the lake this weekend. not with a boat but a video camera. sit next to the launch ramp and let it roll. these stories all have a common theme, we remember the big stuff and let the little things sneak by. i have pulled the drop cord out of the outlet a number of times when pulling the safe trailer. i always snap the lock down and try to find something to put through the hole. a piece of wire one day. nothing else tie a nut and bolt to a piece of string not to loose the bolt. but all in all when the time comes we remember the important things. we can laugh now. i may have a solution for the trailer light problem. let me work on it for a few days and i will get back to you guys. a fool proof fix. later

we should make a book with these stories, I think it would sell very good. I am still laughing, even that I would not have any stories in it as I never have done stupid things at the lake. lol greg

The latch was down but it was not fully seated on the ball. As for you mr.frog there is hope we finally found a "perfect" boater. Remember when you think you are the worst boater in the world check these clowns out.

ok Seymour, I seem to remember a time that I forgot to set the parking brake on my truck at the ramp, by the time I got back into the truck I had water in the cab. I,m telling you this cuz I,m not the perfect boater either. but do me a favor and do not tell anybody else, ok. lol greg

You secret is safe with me. Although I must admit I am shocked to learn such a thing. Thanks for the laugh its always good to be able to poke fun at your self and others at the mistakes we all make.