Geez, are brains in short supply?

[shemandr]

We were hanging around in our favorite cove this afternoon, just watching the goings on. Soon my wife spied an inflatable speeding into the waves out of the cove and called my attention to the amount the bow was rising in the waves it was hitting. She said "That idiot is going to go head over heels (Not a nautical term)." And sure enough, within 30 seconds, the subject actually flew the bow over the transom and ended upside down. He swam out from under the inflatable. And, while my view was obscured by other boats, they righted the inflatable. They were last seen by us trying to start the outboard while drifting towards shore. I guess the point of my post is how stupid does someone have to be to fly the bow of an inflatable over the transom? I think the only reason the outboard didn't cut him up is that it was facing skyward while he was under the boat. Geez...

 

[Allan12210]

Not stupid, just a decision made in lieu of the thought process.

 

[Kermit]

He's lucky he didn't win a Darwin Award.

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

LOL- common sense isn't all that common it would seem

But he probably had little to worry about from the prop. I'd bet that the instant the power head went under water, the engine choked on water ingestion. I'd be surprised if it isn't toast.

 

[Gene Neill]

He's lucky he didn't win a Darwin Award.

LOL ... vague thoughts about Darwin were the first thing that came to my mind as well.

 

[agprice22]

Ouch... Hydrolocked engine? "Toast" is right! I have seen people approach rollers in the Boca Raton inlet and either go too fast and swamp by plunging over one wave and nosing under the next or going too slow and having one break over the stern. Treacherous game for small boats. We swamped the cockpit of a 46ft Bertram coming in once. Just glad I had the salon doors closed! It groaned as it bore the weight, then we motored on as it cleared. Engine room was dry when we docked.

It is nice of the zodiac drivers to provide entertainment and education! Glad they weren't hurt.

Thanks,

Andrew

 

[Steve L22188]

No shortage of this kind of entertainment in the BVIs

Inflatables horribly overloaded....going too fast..."captained" by kids that look to be about 12...speeding about in the dark with no light anywhere...all common behavior in our three trips to the BVIs.

If you wait long enough - something will happen. And it's likely to be something bad.

 

[Salt Water Cowboy]

We saw the same thing when we were there. The worst was at Jost Vandyke. People leaving Foxy's were crazy.

 

[Delezynski]

At least he was "drifting towards shore"!!!!!!!

I have heard stories about drifting out to sea. VERY BAD, not just $ down.

We ALWAYS have a small ASB in the dink.

On one occasion we heard an outboard heading out in the surf, then a louder whine, like the prop was out of the water, then a deafening SILENCE. Deflatable floating just fine, in the surf line, with 2 people in it, but NO engine on it!!!

Greg

 

[hewebb]

Not sure the engine is toast. Many-Many years ago I flipped a small hydroplane and had the engine running again in a few hours. You are correct in the thoughtless operation of a boat. Darwin is very alive and well on the water.

 

[Chris Patterson]

Last year on one of my sea trials part of this signing off entailed launching and trailing a rubber hard floored dink w/a 25 hp Suchanuki or something back there. I was alarmed at how fast that silly thing would run. I mean damn, how fast does a dink need to go?

Most that have read me here know that little fears me. Done some incredible things in my life. Maybe it is because of that, but my little 4'X 8' hard shell with a 3.5 goes way fast at half throttle.

Do sailors get bored and secretly miss the speed boat thrills? Something. I know I have 'old fartitis', but that's a tad too much excitement for me..

 

[DougM]

It appears that all of the legislation enacted over the last several decades in the name of consumer protection has finally succeeded in dropping the gene pool to an extremely shallow level. You just can't legislate common sense...

 

[bbowman294]

You can't fix STUPID!!! Or drunk!!! We ALL need to be responsible and SAFE boaters out there. Too easy to get hurt or die.

 

[IainB]

We saw the same thing when we were there. The worst was at Jost Vandyke. People leaving Foxy's were crazy.

They were most likely drunk which is not a good mixture with any boat.

 

[Scooter2368]

At least 11 people in this one. This was in St. Vincent so vacations don't count? We were waiting to see a splash.

 

[Delezynski]

It appears that all of the legislation enacted over the last several decades in the name of consumer protection has finally succeeded in dropping the gene pool to an extremely shallow level. You just can't legislate common sense...

Have you seen the movie "Idiocracy"?
If not, GO OUT OF YOUR WAY AND SEE IT!!!!!

It enplanes a LOT.

Greg

 

[capta]

Inflatables horribly overloaded....going too fast..."captained" by kids that look to be about 12...speeding about in the dark with no light anywhere...all common behavior in our three trips to the BVIs.
If you wait long enough - something will happen. And it's likely to be something bad.

I live and sail the Antilles year round and a very few of us would get by a coastie in our dinghies unscathed. No lights, no lifejackets, anchors or whatever, and you know what? Even with all the policing in the states, we have fewer per capita injuries and/or fatalities down this way.
I do agree that quite often common sense is in short supply, and the inexperienced bareboater does give us a great deal of comic relief on a daily basis, in season. But somehow, it all seems to work itself out, the idiots do persevere and most have a lot of fun, so really, I do not see this "something bad" as any more likely down here, as up there.

 

[Bob Cronin]

Knowing the limits is often the result of exceeding them and experiencing the consequences. It strikes me as a freak accident with a little too much air under the bow, a little too high an oncoming wave, and a little too much speed. I sure most people remember the first time their car went into a skid on the snow. It never happened before the first time. If you survived you got a lesson on the limits. I have seen 18 ft power boats flip bow over transom. It happens ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[justsomeguy]

Knowing the limits is often the result of exceeding them and experiencing the consequences. It strikes me as a freak accident with a little too much air under the bow, a little too high an oncoming wave, and a little too much speed. I sure most people remember the first time their car went into a skid on the snow. It never happened before the first time. If you survived you got a lesson on the limits. I have seen 18 ft power boats flip bow over transom. It happens ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ayup.
"Good judgement comes from experience, but a lot of experience comes from bad judgement."

 

[B473]

I see you are in Greenport I love that town..In fact I work for STIDD Systems. I am in the diving division so I work primarily away from LI.
I have seen the events you describe many many times..I have been an operator of small inflatables for years..like since 1977. I have traveled many miles, day and night, through all kinds of weather..through surf and stormy sea! There could be a song in there!
No matter where I am in the world I can't help but mentally critique peoples boat handling. It's a curse. You can't pick a stereotype poor boat operator they come in all ages and genders..The best you can hope for is to not fall victim to one these morons and hope you don't have to witness a real catastrophe.