If you never .............

[Brian D]

Does walking off the dock count?

LOL...

Not off a boat but off a dock, yes. Just walked off like it was no bodies business. Funny as hell.

 

[sailortonyb Allied Mistress 39]

Brian, LOL

Thats exactly what happened to me, I was not paying attention, just walking and talking, turned around and walked right off.

Tony B

 

[RAD]

Have done both

When I was restoring my Chris Craft Connie in the 80's I would tie the boat tight in the marina's travel lift slip so you could just step on to the deck without thinking about it and while working with tools and stuff,well at the end of the day I would loosen the lines and leave but one night I forgot something and went back onto the boat but wasn't thinking when I stepped off cause I stepped right betwwen the boat and the dock lost both shoes and what ever I was holding and it was in April and the water was ice cold! *yks
I removed all my clothes in the parking lot and drove home with a blanket around me with no shoes and the heater full blast.
And I just ran aground for the first time with my 32 ODAy on my way to cruise the Hudson river,thought I bent the rudder but just jammed it up to the bottom of the hull

 

[Y.B.NORMAL]

Ever run aground? SURE

Have I ever run aground? Sure. Lake Winnebago is basically a VERY WIDE spot in the Fox River in NE Wisconsin (6x30 miles, max. depth 35'). There are any number of reefs and bars.
The second time I ran aground was on my San Juan 21. After reading on the owners' website about the horrors of not pinning down the swing keel, I locked it down and promptly hit a shallow area. The Admiral didn't like the fact that we were leaning over about 20 degrees, or that I had to lean out at the end of the boom get the keel off the bottom. After that, I only pinned down the keel when the winds picked up. I also bought a depth finder as the charts aren't always accurate.

The first time I ran aground was when I worked at a marina near the mouth of the Fox River. It was the end of October, we had to move all the boats from the Pioneer Marina around the point and into the river. Since there was a drawbridge what we needed to signal and it was 40 degrees out, I kept the hand held freon horn inside my jacket with the bell pointed down toward the upper part of my leg.
Each time I moved a boat into the river, I cut the corner a little closer, until on one trip I ran aground in the silt. When the boat stopped, I didn't.
As I went forward, I hit the button on the freon horn, which set it off. The cold freon almost froze my @#@%* off. It took several months for the freeze scar to go away.

 

[william]

Good fun

Ran aground low spring tide inside the channel off red brook harbor, sandy bottom, after unsuccessful reverse, unfurled genny and spun free. Well-dressed to impress in Newport harbor, stepped off friends dinghy (drunk) and straight in the water, shoes, cell phone, wallet and all. Friend told ladies on board, "oh, Bill does this all the time, helps him stay alert!"

 

[Wanderer138]

Done both

The waters around here are pretty skinny, so it happens from time to time. My boat draws just about 2-1/2 ft (actualy a precise depth, known as "nut-deep") so the usual fix is to climb overboard. The loss of my weight floats the boat, then I jusk walk it back to deeper water. I don't do it in lakes because the bottom is often soft and my lardass would sink to the armpits in a heartbeat.

The last time I fell overboard I had just come to a stop in the slip after a singlehanded night sail. I stepped backward off the rail to tie up, missed the dock and ended up in the drink. Burned the skin off four fingers too, stupidly clutching at the shrouds on the way down.

Peter
H23 "Raven"

 

[Lee Scott]

Great stories!

I've laughed my ass of at some of these!

When I was a teenager, we had a small aluminum fishing boat with a 35 horse motor. Well, one day, it just wouldn't stay running. I'd go back and pull the starting cord, and it would fire up, but it would die every time as soon as I got back up to the helm and put it in gear.

Since you can only open the throttle so far in neutral, I decided that I'd try starting it already in gear, so I could give it a little more throttle and maybe then it would stay running. That did the trick. Only problem was I had given it a little too much throttle. As the engine started up, the boat took off, and I went flying over the engine and out the back of the boat. I tried for a second to hang onto the boat, but quickly realized that was just going to put me face down in the water up against the spinning prop. So out I went.

The boat took off across the lake and ran up on the shore on the other side, where it sat, engine running with the prop out of water, until I could swim over and shut it off.

Decided not to do that again.

 

[oldiesrocker2001]

Hit bottom plenty of times

While I've neve fallen overboard - except on dry land when I forgot the newer boat and trailer setup would tip up as soon as you stepped aboard if not attached to the tow vehicle or jackstands were in place. Definetly put the "I" in idiot that time!! Lake sailors like me run aground on a regular basis, though.