I ran over a nun, and almost killed a runabout.

Brian D

Brian D

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Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
This morning I headed over to the boatyard for some minor work. On the way back, I put myself in the center of the channel and was playing around with my GPS. All of the sudden I hear this loud bang. I look up and see nothing, until a red nun drifted by. No damage to the bow of the boat.

Then I arrive at my finger pier and start my entrance procedures by powering down and lining up. Just as I enter the fairway hugging the port side to assist in my turn, a runabout backs out. The operator didn't even look to see if there was any traffic. I yelled but he didn't hear me. I put the motor in neutral, then slammed it into reverse. I could feel the boat trying to stop and back up but it just kept creeping forward. About that time the guy saw me, well better yet, saw my bow and pulpit over his gunnel. My boat stopped and started to back up. Didn't hit his boat but sure was close.

Anyway, the guy in the runabout was a sailing instructor. I wanted to, but didn't report the incident to the harbor master. No damage done but I am sure he will look before reversing next time.
 
Rick D

Rick D

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Jun 14, 2008
7,178
Hunter Legend 40.5 Shoreline Marina Long Beach CA
Well, your experience(s) are memorable. But maybe not as much as a Brazilian couple who had the boat next to ours many years ago and who got a little frisky on the way to Catalina on auto pilot. They went below and managed while they were below to hit a traffic separation buoy. Not much damage though. One can only imaging how that sounded in the v-berth. I suspect there was some interuptus. Neither of them were at all shy, so I don't know why they left the cockpit in the first place. :biggrin:
 
Jackdaw

Jackdaw

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Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
No harm, no damage. Why on earth report this to the harbormaster??
 
walt

walt

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Jun 1, 2007
3,531
Macgregor 26S Hobie TI Ridgway Colorado
Sailing instructor.. LOL.. When I did a lot of scuba diving, I found some of the most unsafe divers were the ones who dove all the time because they got so used to routine. A friend of mine did a dive and noticed that he forgot his buoyancy compensater (BC) after jumping off the dive boat. He still did the dive, I guess he figured he could drop his weight belt if needed. One clown I know was out in the ocean and released air out of the BC to drop and when he got down a couple feet, realized he still was using the snorkel.. not the regulator. Had to find the regulator in a hurry.. Oh wait.. that clown was me.. I had probably dove over 100 times that year.
 
J

jeepbluetj

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Jan 18, 2016
782
Catalina 387 Dana Point
Rick D said:
Well, your experience(s) are memorable. But maybe not as much as a Brazilian couple who had the boat next to ours many years ago and who got a little frisky on the way to Catalina on auto pilot. They went below and managed while they were below to hit a traffic separation buoy. Not much damage though. One can only imaging how that sounded in the v-berth. I suspect there was some interuptus. Neither of them were at all shy, so I don't know why they left the cockpit in the first place. :biggrin:
Click to expand
Lol....

Was coming back from Catalina a while back, about 3 miles from Dana Point. Was pretty close to a Catalina 27 that was being sailed quite poorly (luffing, then too far down, lather, rinse, repeat).

Once we could see the cockpit, it was obvious why the dude on the tiller was having trouble. The chick on top of him was significantly more interesting. Wife pops out the binocs, I ask for a turn but wife says "She's not all that hot - you're not missing much."

I think wife was fibbing, as without the binocs it all looked pretty interesting to me.

Oh, and if you're gonna be nekked in the cockpit, get off the rhumb line to the island. Unless you wish to give a show to the 100 or so folks on the Express. (Ferry to those not well versed with socal)
 
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Brian D

Brian D

.
Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
justsomeguy said:
Three hail Mary's. :biggrin: Sounds like the nun was adrift?
Glad no damage was done.
Click to expand
Actually, it was I who drifted way to the right side of the channel. LOL had I not hit the nun, I might have gone aground. Silly me. Too engrossed with the GPS. LOL
 
Rich Stidger

Rich Stidger

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Feb 10, 2004
4,069
Hunter 40.5 Warwick, RI
Rick D said:
Well, your experience(s) are memorable. But maybe not as much as a Brazilian couple who had the boat next to ours many years ago and who got a little frisky on the way to Catalina on auto pilot. They went below and managed while they were below to hit a traffic separation buoy. Not much damage though. One can only imaging how that sounded in the v-berth. I suspect there was some interuptus. Neither of them were at all shy, so I don't know why they left the cockpit in the first place. :biggrin:
Click to expand
Moral of the story: Always drop your anchor before you drop your drawers.
 
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shemandr

shemandr

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Jan 1, 2006
7,384
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
Rick D said:
Well, your experience(s) are memorable. But maybe not as much as a Brazilian couple who had the boat next to ours many years ago and who got a little frisky on the way to Catalina on auto pilot. They went below and managed while they were below to hit a traffic separation buoy. :biggrin:
Click to expand
We had a SeaRay/Wellcraft run up on Horton's Point a few years ago. The boat was on autopilot while the guy and gal were "Not on deck." You can speculate about their activities. Anyway they hit the beach at 20 plus knots. It is a very rocky beach and I'm actually surprised they didn't hit one of the numerous rocks underwater off the beach. They weren't injured seriously - although you can imagine some spine compression. Their insurance company was alleged to be on the hook for restoring the beach rocks to their original position as well as the removal of the boat, and repair of hull (Which wasn't as damaged as you might think). Evidently there is not clause about being engaged in coitus while operating a M/V. Beautiful.
 
kimelmore

kimelmore

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Dec 28, 2010
462
Catalina 380 san pedro
While all of this is quite hilarious...it isn't always so funny. A couple of years ago a couple was headed out at night from LA light (Angels gate to the locals) in a powerboat headed to Two Harbors on the north end of Catalina. They put the boat on Autopilot and headed below for some horizontal exercise. Their course took them between the tug and the huge barge it was towing. Sadly they didn't survive. The scrape marks along the tow cable and the paint the boat left behind on the bow of the barge told the story along with an examination of the wreck and where they found the 'unclothed' bodies up in the vee berth. Just as sad was that the Dog they had with them also failed to survive. Lesson learned, even on autopilot one must be aware of your surroundings and that includes not getting 'lost' in the GPS screen. :oops: As a side note, is it just me or is it incredible that here on the local radio stations they are playing advertisements about the dangers of playing Pokémon while driving? And warning folks not to walk out into the street while participating in the same activity? Using hand held devices is already against the law, do they really need to tell people this? I guess so since they are flooding the air waves with the ads. Sheesh!:hijack:
 
Meriachee

Meriachee

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Aug 1, 2011
3,972
Catalina 270 255 Wabamun. Welcome to the marina
(This is not funny, we watched it on the news on the island last week. In fact it's quite stupid)
 
uncledom

uncledom

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Jun 11, 2011
1,243
Hunter 41 Lewes
So let's see, an idiot in a small power boat turned incorrectly across the bow of a freighter and the cargo ship is the rammer???
 
Brian D

Brian D

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Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
Would it sound better if it said, "motorboat rams cargo ship! film at 11"? LOL
 
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woodster

woodster

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Sep 15, 2009
6,243
S2 9.2a Fairhope Al
shemandr said:
Evidently there is not clause about being engaged in coitus while operating a M/V. Beautiful.
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what would the clause be called....... no High Did-a-Didle or maybe no Low-Did-a-Didle.....
 
Meriachee

Meriachee

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Aug 1, 2011
3,972
Catalina 270 255 Wabamun. Welcome to the marina
The bubbly news anchor stated it in such a way that it was a much closer crossing than it was. It doesn't make it any less foolish.
 
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