What's the silliest (dumbest) boat related thing you ever saw?

[agprice22]

I pulled our little 16 ft Wahoo up to the ramp one day. I was waiting for the boater ahead of me to finish launching his 20 ft boat. His family waited on the dock. I pulled our boat alongside the seawall to wait. While he was finishing, I went and got my truck and trailer. I waited as he pulled his truck up the ramp, and I backed mine down the ramp, waiting for him to move his boat, so I could take mine out.
He returned to his boat, loadedhis family onboard. He started his engine and tried to back away. He seemed to be having some trouble, so I asked if he needed a push to turn his bow. He said yes. Standing in about 1 1/2 feet of water, I gave his bow a show. That boat just started to move. Then I heard his wife exclaim, "honey, there is a lot of water back here."
He looked back to see water filling the aft end of the boat. He looked at me and said, "pull me back!" I grabbed his bow, but the boat was hard to stop, and it dragged me deeper til I got its momentum changed. Then he said, "pull me up on your trailer!" I jumped to my trailer, grabbed the snaphook for the strap and snapped it on his bow eye. Luckily, I extend my winch strap before backing the trailer down the ramp, and I snap it to an eye bolt I have mounted atop my trailer guide.
I winched him halfway onto the trailer and held him there while his boat drained. Luckily, no water reached his starteror alternator.
He drained it, put the plug in, and eventually got the nerve to back out and go motoring.
My good deed done, I pulled my boat out, parked it, and returned to my sailboat to spend the rest of the day lounging with a beer in our slip, having sailed earlier. I decided to take a picture of the really nice boom tent my wife had sewn, and it was then I realized the cost of my good deed! My iPhone was on my belt! Bummer. I had already turned it on, and that sucker was fried! Oh well.
Maybe not the silliest thing I ever saw, but it was memorable.

 

[Brian D]

A little OT here, but I understand that if you submerge your phone you can put the phone in a bag of rice. Apparently the rice will suck the moister of the phone. I have never done this, although I do have a phone or two at the bottom of San Diego bay. It might work, then again, it might not.

 

[dscribner]

So, we pulled into the Harraseeket River, past most of the moorings and anchored on the side of the narrow channel, not far from the shoals. My wife was dying to visit Wolf's Neck park just across the water so we dinghied over and climbed the hill. I had made sure to mention that low tide was coming so I might have to push the dinghy a ways to water. Upon our return, I found the dinghy 100 feet from any kind of water, mired in muck. I said gallantly "You stand on that rock over there and I'll pick you up." Well, there was about 2 inches of water for 1/4 mile, or an hour of pushing, cursing, pushing. mucking, bickering, cursing and pushing, for both of us. Finally, we got enough water to go . 30 feet later, we repeated the process for another 100 feet. Then, blessed reprieve, it went to a foot or more and we got back to the boat, filthy, smelly and mucky. The tide was still falling. At dead low, we had about 4 feet so I thought we were fine. It was a very romantic full moon that night. (dress that comment any way you like). I fell asleep in the cockpit so the admiral threw a blanket over me and left me to the bugs. Morning came to find my wife in the bunk on the port side, as was I. Uncharacteristically, we both snapped awake at the same time. She said "Is the boat LEANING???" My goodness, she may have been right. So she went to the starboard side just to be sure. I took an oar and tested the depth off the side . . . 18". We need 30" to float so my 3rd grade math says I'm 12" deep in the muck. Well, for the next couple of hours, as we cooked breakfast from opposite sides of the cockpit, we watched all the other boats slowly turn to face the incoming tide. Well, all but one. After another hour, as I was attempting to nap, the shadows suddenly began to flow across my face. "We're free!" I glanced at the town dock and swear I saw one old salt glance at his watch then hand a fiver to his buddy. We promptly slipped bags over our heads and motored past Pound of Tea.

 

[MrBill_FLL]

I had a 20' dolphin skiff, that I tried to launch with the stern straps connected.

had my gf back the boat and the trailer into the ramp, and the boat stern started to fill with water. lucky for me she pulled us out when I finally realized I forgot to undo the straps.

-that was the only boat I owned that had rear straps to the trailer, all the others had 1 long strap over the back of the boat...

I was happy nobody at the ramp really noticed my bonehead move, but my gf.

 

[Kermit]

A little OT here, but I understand that if you submerge your phone you can put the phone in a bag of rice. Apparently the rice will suck the moister of the phone. I have never done this, although I do have a phone or two at the bottom of San Diego bay. It might work, then again, it might not.

Our nephew used that technique. After 4 days he ended up with a perfectly-working iPhone by buying a new one.

 

[Meriachee]

I thought about score cards after the bounce the iPhone exhibited off the coaming. It was a well executed one and a half.

 

[kimelmore]

As a teenager we took a little powerboat to the local lake for some water skiing. Skipped school to do it. Took the girlfriends with us. Ran the boat out of gas. Paddled back to the boat launch. Car runs out of gas on the ramp as we are winching the boat back onto the trailer. Of course we had remembered to take the plug out of the transom. Take the gas can and run/walk 5 or so miles to the only nearby gas station to get gas. Return to find everyone sleeping on the grass next to the ramp and the boat floating at the end of the cable sunk up to the gunwales. Lots of sweat and work to get the boat back onto the trailer and emptied of water. Went swimming after the ski's, cushions and life vests etc. Lots of dirty looks from the girls for making them late getting home. 3 of us worked at a local restaurant and I was the only one brave enough to go in late and get yelled at but I did keep the job, just not the girl. The next time we went we had plenty of gas but broke a king pin on the car on the way home. Miracles of miracles we didn't hit anything as we spun off the road. We all walked away and even the boat had barely a scratch. Ahhhhh...those were the days

 

[jssailem]

pontoon-boat-renting preacher

Here is my favorite story about preachers, pontoon boats and adventure....

 

[JamesG161]

I learned that the kill switch will NOT start the engine. No matter how hard you push it.

Funny thing, I lost a girl friend the same way.

Jim...

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

ok, one more

In the early 80's I was cruising on my Cross 35, and pulled into CrackerBoys in Fort Pierce.

Got work redoing a bulkhead in a big power boat. Right next to me a couple of guys were putting a new sole on a boat sitting on a trailer, screwing in to the stringers. Got all done, sole painted, and moved it to the travel lift to launch. Picked up boat, and trailer came with it.
Turns out they had run the outboard screws through the hull and into the bunks on the trailer- like about 25 on each side.
!!

 

[Kermit]

Funny thing, I lost a girl friend the same way.

Jim...

Oh snap!

 

[agprice22]

A little OT here, but I understand that if you submerge your phone you can put the phone in a bag of rice. Apparently the rice will suck the moister of the phone. I have never done this, although I do have a phone or two at the bottom of San Diego bay. It might work, then again, it might not.

True... BUT... you cannot turn it on before you dry it in rice... I turned mine on. I shook all the water out, sat it in rice for a few days, but it was bricked!

 

[microsnout]

A mildly amusing incident - a few years ago there was an accident prone boater on my dock who when backing out of his slip bumped another boat causing some very slight cosmetic damage. He later went to the other boat to apologize but finding no-one there he wrote an apology on a yellow post-it note and placed it prominently in the middle of some freshly varnished brightwork. It was found later, stuck much better than 3M intended.

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

How NOT to launch a boat....
I saw this guy getting ready -- Noted he was wearing flip flops, and that there was a vulnerable guy in the way at the bottom of the ramp in a kayak. I thought "this could end badly", and was immediately faced with a moral dilemma: Should I step in and advise the guy that this isn't a good idea because his ~1000 pound Whaler/trailer could easily get away from him and hurt that guy below? (And probably damage the boat, too?)
OR?
Should I whip out my phone and start recording?
As you see, the guy launching the boat wasn't the only one who had a lapse of judgment..... Note the red sign at the top of the ramp. It couldn't have been more appropriate.

 

[Kermit]

How NOT to launch a boat....
I saw this guy getting ready -- Noted he was wearing flip flops, and that there was a vulnerable guy in the way at the bottom of the ramp in a kayak. I thought "this could end badly", and was immediately faced with a moral dilemma: Should I step in and advise the guy that this isn't a good idea because his ~1000 pound Whaler/trailer could easily get away from him and hurt that guy below? (And probably damage the boat, too?)
OR?
Should I whip out my phone and start recording?
As you see, the guy launching the boat wasn't the only one who had a lapse of judgment..... Note the red sign at the top of the ramp. It couldn't have been more appropriate.

By hand? Seriously, why would he even think of launching a boat by hand? Did he pull it to the ramp by hand, too?
Your story reminds me of an ethics class we took in photography school. One of the final exam questions said," While hiking you come across a mountain climber hanging from a cliff about to fall to his death. You are faced with the choice of saving his life or winning a Pulitzer Prize. What film do you choose? Plus-X or Tri-X?"

 

[Brian D]

Tri-x, better contrast. Why even ask?

 

[Richard19068]

Tri-x, better contrast. Why even ask?

Too grainy. Go with the Pan-X.

 

[Boomer54]

Aperature priority, shutter priority or full manual?

 

[dlochner]

Depends, do you want to catch a good image of the fall? Then shutter priority with a fast shutter speed.

 

[agprice22]

...or 10,000 fps hi-def, so you can see your evil grin reflected in his eyes as he recedes into the abyss...