{splash} !@#$%^ &*!!!

Phil Herring

Alien
Mar 25, 1997
4,918
- - Bainbridge Island
What's the most infuriating thing you've lost overboard? (Yes, people count, too.)

We're looking for a full account of (a) how it went over the side, (b) why it was historically inconvenient, frustrating, or catastrophic, and (c) were you able to bring it back aboard?

If everyone posts at once no one will be embarrassed.

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  • Like
Likes: Simon Sexton
Jul 7, 2004
8,402
Hunter 30T Cheney, KS
screwdrivers, pliers, wrenches. What's infuriating was my clumsiness. :cuss:
I did lose a Blackberry once. It was tucked in my pocket but found its way out while I was working on the boat. Not on the dock, right into the water.
 
Jul 6, 2013
221
Catalina 30TR, Atomic 4 2480 Milwaukee
I have 2 cellphones on the bottom of the Milwaukee harbor
The first one I knocked off my belt trying to start the outboard.
The second slipped out of an unzipped gear bag while boarding.
 

dLj

.
Mar 23, 2017
3,373
Belliure 41 Sailing back to the Chesapeake
Small delicate parts from a winch I was working on. And believe it or not, I actually was able to retrieve them!

Lost an entire anchor, chain and line once. The sinking feeling you get when you realize the line was not tied to anything as it disappears into the water is indescribable. I actually hired a scuba diver to retrieve that one....

Lots of tools, not retreived...

dj
 
  • Like
Likes: Will Gilmore
Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
Car keys and cell phone which were in my pocket when I took a long walk off a short pier. Also my battery operated drill when I was up at the spreaders hanging flag halyards.
 
Oct 24, 2010
2,405
Hunter 30 Everett, WA
Glasses, more than one pair. I wear cheap readers so it isn't the cost. I keep spares onboard because they often go swimming.
Ken
 
  • Like
Likes: danstanford
May 17, 2004
5,032
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
Lost an iPhone in my slip once. In hindsight it probably wasn't a great idea to multitask and have a conversation while pinching the phone between my ear and shoulder. Worked fine until I forgot the phone was still pinched there.

Came back the next day with a big net and tried dredging for it, after I saw I could still trade it in, even non-functioning, for a few hundred dollars. Sadly it was too lost in the mud to recover.
 
Jul 7, 2013
35
Catalina 34 856 hamilton
lost a heat gun over the side. was in the top of a box of wire i was carrying off the boat after a job well done. i stumbled and then the unmistakable sound, bloop, bye bye...
 

LloydB

.
Jan 15, 2006
806
Macgregor 22 Silverton
Lucky souvenir loved hat the current took under the dock. Thought I could get it on the other side no problem but it went too deep to reach. Ran and got a boat hook but it sank deeper as it floated under the third finger when I chased it. Had secured everything, keys glasses phone before I took my first step on that dock- certain that nothing could go wrong now.
 
Feb 21, 2008
408
Hunter 33 Metedeconk River
Last week lost my favorite 25 year old cap. Approaching the marina and stopped to furl the sails and a gust of wind came along and blew it right into the water. It sank by the time I got the hook and tried to retrieve it. Usually I use a hat clip but the wind was so light I didn't think I needed it. The cap joins an untold number of eyeglasses, one prescription and many readers that I now use on the boat that fall off my collar when I bend down.
Oh, one hearing aid too. Is there a lost and found at the bottom of the bay?
 
Dec 27, 2012
587
Precision Precision 28 St Augustine
I lost 3 cellphones overboard in 1 season. I’ve since wizened up and keep it in the cabin. Another season on a new boat I deployed the anchor in 100 feet of water. I assumed the rope end was tied off in a eye within the anchor locker. A bad assumption on my part. Last season I attempted to service the winches while docked. I lost a few parts over the side. Non of the above items where recovered.
 
Jan 27, 2008
3,045
ODay 35 Beaufort, NC
One of the frame pieces to my Bimini. It wintered in place and was recovered the following year in time for a cruise, still in use over a decade later
 
  • Like
Likes: LloydB
Oct 22, 2014
20,995
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
I had a hat from a visit to Pinehurst. It was purchased to remember the day I played the iconic Donald Ross #2 course.

A gust just picked it up and swept it off my head while maneuvering my Montgomery 15 near a bridge. My first thought was to reach out and grab the hat as it floated just out of arms reach. And I almost let go of the tiller to attempt the rescue. But my consideration of my boat the wind gust and river currents trying to sweep me into a peril beneath the low bridge woke me from my misplaced focus.

I tacked and turned away from the hat which float there for a moment and then sank beneath the surface.

At that moment I realized my love for sailing had replaced golf in my list of preferred hobby activities.
 

rsafr

.
Apr 19, 2010
8
S2 5.5 Grand Slam Lake Allatoona
My rudder. I had it in place and went forward to hank on the jib. A wake came in, the boat bumped in to the dock vand my rudder popped up and was gone. 25' depth. Lesson learned $$$
 

DougM

.
Jul 24, 2005
2,242
Beneteau 323 Manistee, MI
Lost a non- locking winch handle over the side. Amazing to watch as the sheet caught it and launched it on a slow motion tumble just out of reach into 75 feet of water...
Countless numbers of “gimme hats” during my racing days blown off and floated away.
Clevis pins that either got dropped or rolled off the deck at inconvenient times. No big loss, I now keep a case with several different sizes on the boat.
 
Jul 5, 2011
702
Oday 28 Madison, CT
Honda 2 HP outboard. Smacked another boat's bow pulpit just enough to swipe the OB off my stern pulpit. No damage to other guy. Dove for it a few times, but no joy. New OB is secured with cable.
 
Aug 2, 2005
1,155
Pearson 33-2 & Typhoon 18 Seneca Lake
What did we lose? Parts of a dead chicken! I'm not much of a chef, so the dinner guests were not too concerned and pizza was ordered. The rail clamp on the grill was not up to the task and we watched in horror as the grill tilted over the stern and the meal hit the water. If the rest of you are honest about this you also lost a dinner or two from the Magna Grill that you never really wanted on your stern rail. Or, maybe this loss is so common that no one even mentions it anymore.
 

RussC

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Sep 11, 2015
1,578
Merit 22- Oregon lakes
We've been pretty fortunate with phones and glasses, but over the past 2-3 years I've had to cut loose 2 really nice anchors. one Rocna and one Delta. I'm hoping to get the Delta back once the water level drops in the lake (I marked it with my gps), but the Rocna is in way too deep to ever see again. the problem is those da^# stumps that were left when the lake was filled back in the 60s. the dirt has eroded away and exposed the roots, which makes for a great anchor trap. you never know where they are out in the lake :(.
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No more expensive new anchors for me however. I'm building my own from now on and they work great. At about $15.oo each I can more afford to loose a few. the last one I built I'm trying out a theory with a "root preventer bar" welded in the nose. maybe it won't get hooked so easily. worked for three days on the lake last week, and still set well in the mostly mud bottom, but time will tell :D .

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