The dumbest thing I've done

Oct 19, 2017
7,732
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
Repeat the process with the jib halyard, don't forget the downhaul, add a spring gate carabiner such that it catches the main halyard when pulled up tight to it. Pull both halyards down at the same time.
It will be tricky, but some duct tape and hanger wire might hold the bener in the right position.

-Will (Dragonfly)
 
Nov 26, 2012
1,653
Hunter 34 Berkeley
Great thread. I tried hooking up a garden hose to my raw water pump to flush out cooling system. I did this with the engine off because I read that is how you do it. It filled the engine up with water until it spilled out of the air intake. After flushing out the water and changing the oil three times I immediately did the exact same thing again. Not my best day.
 
Dec 29, 2008
805
Treworgy 65' LOA Custom Steel Pilothouse Staysail Ketch St. Croix, Virgin Islands
When we bought the boat it had been modified by the PO to add a skeg on the bottom of the full keel, into which he poured 15,000 pounds of molten lead. The result was the stern sitting about 14” lower in the water! That’s how it was when we bought her. The boat is steel.

Over the next 5 years we cut holes in the skeg and melted out lead- totaling 4000 pounds removed over the 4 years. To get at the lead, I had to cut through outer trim skin of 3/8” steel to expose the trough which contained the lead. The trough was welded to the full keel, and the trim skin welded to the bottom of the trough and the edge of the keel. The last time I made the cut through the trim skin, I got too close to the keel. Now, out keel holds water tanks, fuel tanks, and coolant tanks. It want bad enough that I made a horizontal cut too close to the bottom of the keel, but I managed to just cut into the bottom of not just the main 200 gallon fuel tank, but also the 200 gallon coolant tank behind it. Right across the bulkhead that separated the two tanks.

Out starts seeping coolant and diesel fuel. Being the environmentally conscious sailor that I am, I put a 5 gallon bucket under it to capture the mixture, swapping out the buckets as they filled up and dumping them in the marina’s huge old oil tank. Thanks s was a slow process, which continued for 60 hours straight until both tanks were empty.. I measured how long it took to fill the buckets and started setting an alarm so I could take naps while the bucket filled.

After getting the tanks - and their common bulkhead - welded, I had to refill the coolant tank with a 50/50 mixture of antifreeze. Our main engine is cooled by circulating the antifreeze through the tank and dissipating the heat through the skin of the keel.

Do you know how much 100 gallons of antifreeze costs?
 
Last edited:
Dec 25, 2000
5,702
Hunter Passage 42 Shelter Bay, WA
The normal procedure when entering our slip is to aim for the finger cleat that lines up with our mid ship cleat, stop the boat, step off and first secure the mid ship cleat line followed by the bow line. A bit of wind was pushing Belle-Vie away from the finger and towards our slip neighbor, so in a hurry I do a quick wrap of the mid ship line, then sprint to secure the bow line. Meanwhile, wind pressure has undone the crappy wrapped mid ship line and the boat is swinging towards our slip neighbor.

I sprint back to grab the life line at mid ship in hopes of stopping her drift. Yup, easy peasy stopping 35,000 pounds adrift in the wind. Refusing to let go of the life line for fear of falling into the water, I hang on as Belle-vie pulls me off the dock, dragging me fat ass into the water. Does anyone know how hard it is to pull themselves up out of the water and back onto the boat, a boat with a toe rail that is four plus feet above the waterline? Arghhh!

Fortunately, it was just a soft bump, no mark no harm, and no one was around to witness this monkey drill clown. Finally did manage to properly put Belle-Vie to rest in her slip. Me thinks I learned a lesson here and never to let it happen again, period, exclamation mark, exclamation mark.
 
Jun 21, 2004
2,532
Beneteau 343 Slidell, LA
The normal procedure when entering our slip is to aim for the finger cleat that lines up with our mid ship cleat, stop the boat, step off and first secure the mid ship cleat line followed by the bow line.

I hang on as Belle-vie pulls me off the dock, dragging me fat ass into the water. Does anyone know how hard it is to pull themselves up out of the water and back onto the boat, a boat with a toe rail that is four plus feet above the waterline? Arghhh.
Terry,
That could have had a bad outcome, broken bones or worse.
Assuming that you are docking bow first, why not setup a premeasured aft spring line off the dock. When you pull into the slip all you have to do is pickup the spring and drop the eyesplice onto your midship cleat. Walk back to the helm. When the boat pulls the spring tight, power up in forward with the wheel turned away from the dock on which the spring is attached. The boat will “walk” right up to the finger pier. Let the engine remain in forward and you can then take your time tying off the remaining lines. There is really no need for jumping off the boat and trying to manhandle all of that weight. Great when when single handling or short on crew. Be safe!
 
Oct 19, 2017
7,732
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
Fortunately, it was just a soft bump, no mark no harm, and no one was around to witness this monkey drill clown.
You mean, "fortunately... no one was around to record this monkey drill clown."
Something like that happens, there's always someone around to witness. They just didn't have their camera phone and weren't close enough to tease you about it, so they kept quiet. As my wife, the compliance officer says, "if it wasn't recorded, it didn't happen." That's why nurses document and why accountants shred. ;)

-Will (Dragonfly)
 
Last edited:

DougM

.
Jul 24, 2005
2,242
Beneteau 323 Manistee, MI
At my home dock I remove the helm so that it is easier to walk around the cockpit. Makes loading the boat simpler. Engine warming up, PFD on, VHF on, handheld radio on, shore power disconnected, chart plotter on, spring lines cast off, bow lines cast off, stern lines cast off, all lines clear, shift to forward, breeze pushes bow to starboard...it is amazing how fast I can grab the helm, remove the keeper nut on the shaft, insert the key into the key way, slide the helm onto the shaft and refasten the keeper nut. Getting pretty good at it having done it twice. The looks from the crew were, yes, priceless.
One of the very experienced yard workers did that on a spring launching of my boat.
The bad part of it was that being a Beneteau with a Goiot wheel, things were made worse by the fact that the wheel was stored in the v-berth, and its held onto the pedestal by a hub wih 5 Metric allen bolts. Of course he didn’t have the allen wrench. I do know that he never did that again on my boat at least.
(As if I have never done anthing really stupid on my own...I could probably write a book)
 
Sep 24, 2018
2,549
O'Day 25 Chicago
One of the first times I pulled into a slip I accidentally pulled into someone elses slip and then ran into their dock box. Thankfully there was no damage to the box or bow pulpit
 
  • Like
Likes: Will Gilmore
May 23, 2016
1,024
Catalina 22 #12502 BSC
non-sailing related, the Pamela thing for sure, same name in fact, (altho the kids turned out great)

sailing related, raising the main in stiff wind with the boom pig-tail still attached (more than once)!
 
Last edited:

Sailm8

.
Feb 21, 2008
1,746
Hunter 29.5 Punta Gorda
Dumb things too many to list so here is the most recent. The form in our mattress was old and broken down so we decided to replace it with an 8 inch memory foam we found on line. The box was about a foot square and about 4 and a half feet tall. It weighed a ton. The mailman just dropped it in the porch, rang the bell and ran.

I started to cut the box open and in doing so broke my wife’s paring knife. The mattress was very tightly wrapped in thick plastic.


After removing the old foam which was no easy task since foam does not slide on fiberglass, I shoved it into place a carefully slit the plastic. Now the rear berth on a Hunter 29.5 is a full sized bed that lies athwartship with a low tapering ceiling. As the foam sprang out of the plastic it began to expand and I could see it had a top and bottom. Naturally, the bottom was on top. I managed to fold it in half while it was expanding but now it was against the ceiling and the fiberglass deck and would not slide. I managed to get behind it, put my feet against bottom half and pull the top half. Slowly it unfolded but with me trapped under it. To make it worse it was still “growing” and I was in the narrowest part of the berth. I was totally trapped. I couldn’t lift it off since it was against the roof.


As I lay there I wondered how long it would be before my wife missed. I figure probably happy hour. It took me about 30 minutes inch worming on my back to get free.
 

DArcy

.
Feb 11, 2017
1,690
Islander Freeport 36 Ottawa
As I lay there I wondered how long it would be before my wife missed. I figure probably happy hour.
And that is why I carry my phone with me when working on the boat. I've even placed it somewhere I can reach it if I get stuck. Several times I've got myself into a position when working on some hard to get at area and thought, how am I going to get out of this. I should do more yoga.
 
  • Like
Likes: shemandr

DaveJ

.
Apr 2, 2013
449
Catalina 310 Niagara-on-the-Lake
Dumbest thing? Not sure, but here is one of my top 10....
The ice was starting to accumulate in the fridge/freezer, instead of turning it off, waiting a day for it to melt, I decided to chip some of it off with a knife. My wife said 'don't do that, you might hurt yourself'. No way I was going to hurt myself...and I didn't. But I hurt the freezer coil when I punched a hole in it and released the magic gas that's inside.
Very expensive replacement, so I repaired the damage....sanded the area around the puncture, applied JB Weld much larger that the hole, and it is still working 3 years later! Luckily a good friend is an A/C mechanic, only cost a few beers and an afternoon sail.
Cheers
dj
 
May 23, 2016
1,024
Catalina 22 #12502 BSC
Non-sailing related...back in the day, used my prized NEW Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme hood as the "other" sawhorse when cutting a sheet of plywood. The cutoff was successful, including the front fender of the car. I filled and touched it up successfully.

A few weeks later, my young son, in an effort to help Dad out, went out to the garage and successfully "touched up" the car, stem to stern, with 3 cans of white de-rusto spray paint (on the brown car). No drips, no runs...
 
  • Like
Likes: DrJudyB
Mar 1, 2012
2,182
1961 Rhodes Meridian 25 Texas coast
well, Trying to stop a 41 foot sailboat from crunching the dock in Puerto Moreles. The owner was coming in too fast, so i hopped off and snubbed a line. But the bow was winging in and was gonna it the dock- so I pushed. 160 pound man vs 41 foot Tartan- no match
got to tour the airports of Cancun, Dallas, and Corpus in a wheel chair. Then eventual back surgery, from which I'm till recovering

Be careful of your back- takes 10 seconds to screw it up, and years to get over
 

Ward H

.
Nov 7, 2011
3,645
Catalina 30 Mk II Barnegat, NJ
Back in 2011 we bought our first boat, a Newport 17 and worked on it over the winter.
On May 26, 2012 I went for my first sail.
Got to the lake, went to raise the mast. Where was the hinge pin? There it was, in the bottom of the boat. Forgot to put it back in last week when I practiced putting up the mast. At least it dropped in the boat and not on the road. Put up the boom and hanked on the jib.

Hung the outboard and tried to plug in the line from the portable tank. Gas sprayed everywhere! Over the motor, back of boat and me. Whoops, forget to let the pressure off the tank.

Cleaned up that mess and backed down the ramp. Got the boat off the trailer and tied to the dock. Put the truck away and went on the boat to get out cushions and make ready to sail.

"What's that water doing in the bottom of the boat?" By the time I found the drain plug and pulled the stern over to the ramp where I could reach down and install it, I had 2 - 3" of water in the bilge. Do I go get the trailer and pull it out to drain? By now four bass boats were lining up for dock space. Decided I could pump it out if needed while out on the lake.

Motored out to the middle of the lake, headed into the wind and raised the mainsail. Whoops. It was tangled. Brought it back down, straightened the boltrope and tried again. Still tangled! Got that straightened and raised it again. Now tangled in the spreaders.
Finally got the mainsail up. Shut down the outboard and tried to raise it. Didn't have the strength! (The stock bracket was not built for a 4hp, 4 stroke motor)

Oh well, I was finally moving under sail. Time to raise the jib. I was so beat all I could do was sail on a beam reach under the mainsail. The jib just would add more work so that could wait also.

After about half an hour I got my breath back, my chest stopped thumping and I was ready for more action so I raised the jib. This was more like it. I was tacking back and forth across the lake for about 1 1/2 hours. Boat didn't handle that well due to the water in the bilge and the motor being down but I was sailing and finally relaxing a bit. Glad I had the windex because the wind was shifty. Wait a minute. It's not moving. Got stuck. OK, I can watch the water for the wind.

Felt good, got used to heeling 15 degrees and moving pretty good! Eventually I lost the wind so I decided to douse the sails and motor back. Dousing line for the jib worked well. No sail ties so mainsail was in the cockpit all the way back but I worked around it.

With the extra water the boat was sitting lower in the water and tougher to get back on the trailer. Drove up off the ramp and out of the way so I could stow away the sails, mast, so forth. Pulled the drain plug and drained the water. Boy was I beat. Took awhile but finally had everything stowed and the water had drained out. Boy, the boat was sitting crooked. Decided to back down the ramp, float it and line it up better. No problem now the water was gone. Pulled it up the ramp a bit and stopped to put on the waist strap.

"Excuse me, Sir! Can I see your ramp permit?" Turned around to find the DFW officer was talking to me. Sign, what sign? Oh that big one over there. He took my license, instructed me that it was ramp ettique not to work on the boat while on the ramp. I was too winded to try to explain anything so I followed instructions to meet him in the parking lot.

He advised me that DFW violations mandated court appearance and fines could run up to $1500. He took pity on me and told me to get my permit and fax it to him within a week and he wouldn't write it up. We talked a bit, he looked over my trailer and hitch set up and sent me on my way.

I was half way home when I noticed the boat bouncing quite a bit. I got out of the truck and put the waist strap on.:)

This was the first of many dumb things I have done since.
 
Last edited:
Jan 1, 2006
7,039
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
Be careful of your back- takes 10 seconds to screw it up, and years to get over
Shoulders and ankles don't heal much faster. It took a quarter of a second to ruin my shoulder. It's pretty good now after surgery and tincture of time. I broke my ankle 10 years ago. And I was limping around 2 days last week.
My mantra for my 60's is "Don't do dumb s**t!" Going down the companionway steps with the cabin floorboards removed is "Dumb s**t."
 
Oct 29, 2016
1,915
Hunter 41 DS Port Huron
One of the first things I mention to crew, especially new crew, don't attempt to stop this boat, that is the captains job, fend when I ask but never put yourself between anything and the boat, never!
 
  • Like
Likes: NotCook