Stupid move in the dinghy

[SV_Harbinger]

Had one of those moments last night getting back on the boat, after partaking in "libations" at the local watering hole. It was flat calm as I approached the boat in the dinghy (Walker Bay 10, with a little Tohatsu 2.5)

I made it along side and got the dinghy tied up on the starboard quarter just like I always do( 2 lines, one from the dinks bow to the midship cleat, and another off the stern to a cockpit cleat) unloaded all the stuff I had in the dink and now it was my turn. I climb myself aboard and figure I'll just let the dinghy bob astern for the night as I'll be needing it in the morning, so I untie the stern line and go to move forward and release the bow line so I can move it back to the cockpit cleat, and no sooner did I untie it I trip on some of the crap I unloaded about 3 minutes previous and drop the darn bow line in the water, then waste time trying to reach for it over the side with my little T-Rex arms, obliviously I couldn't grab it despite doing a sort of a combat crawl along the toerail when DING the light goes off in my head, that I have a wonderful tool onboard for just such an occasion. So I go and grab the boat hook and it's just barely not long enough now as the dinghy has drifted further away by now, so naturally I try really leaning out while holding on to the backstay in one hand and the boat hook in the other, still no good...it's about 2330 and now my damn dinghy is taking an un-approved excursion without me.

Fortunately the wind took it only maybe about 100yds before it went up on the beach. So off go my shirt shoes and pants and in the water I go, swim ashore fire up the ob and come back to the boat again, this time a little wetter...

[SV_Harbinger]

So I was wondering if anyone else would care to share one of the shining moments of mental lapse?

[NCGunDude]

It could have been so much worse. This past Memorial Day I had one job, untie the line and jump on the boat. Instead I put one foot on the boat, one on the dock, and committed too late, as I lost my balance and fell backwards over the bow, my hand caught a cleat and as I fell, physics continued to be uniformly applied. Hanging from the bow, half in the water, thankfully, I unhooked my hand, fell in the water, and proceeded to be driven to the home dock, and then to the emergency room, where 3 hours, 15 stitches, and 3 office visits later, it only hurts when I think about it. No permanent damage except maybe to my pride.

The attached picture is not for the squeamish!

Don't feel too bad

[SV_Harbinger]

Damn, sir physics bit you hard on that one, I've been lucky so far and I'm glad no lasting effects for you, though that couldn't have been fun.
Another of my momentary lapses in mental ability comes from when I was in the Navy. We had just pulled into Bangor WA and were hooking up shore services. I was hauling in on the line to bring across one of the black water discharge hoses (heavy buggers those) and was trying to bring the last few feet aboard by walking back with the line when I flat out ran out of deck, and splash. Haven't lived that down yet ...

[SV Bacchus]

Fortunately, at least to date, the worst my son and I have done, he is 13, is launch the dinghy without the plug in place. That's what happens with a two man crew and minimal communication, after all he is 13!

One time our Black Lab, who wasn't going to shore with us on this particular trip, tried to board by putting his front paws on the bow of the dinghy while his rear remained on the Sugar Scoop. As the dinghy drifted his stance got wider and wider until.. Plop, in the water he went! I swear to all who will listen that just before falling in he looked up at me and I could read it on his face "What the heck is happening, Help Me!"

[ArmyDaveNY]

I used to have a party at my slip for the Fourth of July when the fireworks were on the Hudson River. I used my Magma Grill, mounted on the boat, from the dock, but I failed to tighten the mounts enough. Well into the cooking the grill tipped and two of the three grates went into the water. Well, I changed into my old shorts and a T-shirt and into the "fine" waters of the Hudson I went. Luckily it was low tide and I actually managed to find both of them. This was followed by a thorough hosing down.


I now have baling wire on each grill grate keeping them from going in again.

[Valmika]

La Vagabond actually tied a bad knot coming home a bit inebriated early on in their adventure and the dingy took a field trip out of sight by the time they woke up in the morning.


Personally I have had a few friends roll of the bow of the dinghy as we bump the boat returning after a night out.

[Peregrine1983]

A friend of mine said it best the first time he came for a sail, "Man... there are a lot of ways to get hurt on this thing."

[NirvanaBob]

So, here’s one I watched occur. A couple and their large french poodle come ashore (beach landing) in moderate surf. No problem. Now its time to return to their vessel which anchored relatively far offshore. They get themselves and the dog in the dinghy and start to go out through the surf. Dog gets spooked and jumps out and goes back to the beach, running up and down the shore. Back to shore, chase the dog down and back into the dink and head out. Dog jumps out again. This occurs several times and then comes the time when chasing the dog down, the dinghy leaves by itself in the offshore breeze and sets out on its own excursion. The man plunges into the pond to swim after the dinghy, which becomes an olympic freestyle event...with the finish line always slightly out of reach. He finally gets the dinghy, now totally exhausted and nanoseconds from going under. Now he’s too exhausted to get into the dinghy. By the way, this is in SoCal pacific waters which are quite chilly, so by now hypothermia has also become a factor in this saga. Fortunately he was eventually able to get back in the dink, restore his evergy, return to shore through the surf, and after tying the dog into the dink, they finally made their way out through the surf and back to their vessel. There were no other vessels in the anchorage to lend any assistance, and had he not made it to the dink, this could have turned out much for the worse.

[roland stockham]

Last time I had to swim ashore it was in a city habour, I counted at least 3 condoms - I kept my head up and moth closed!

[Peregrine1983]

Originally Posted by roland stockham

Last time I had to swim ashore it was in a city habour, I counted at least 3 condoms - I kept my head up and moth closed!

Where I come from they call them Coney Island Whitefish

[toddster8]

I watched this one happen from the beach. Friends of mine used to have a 8' Boston Whaler dinghy. I suppose it must have had a saturated core or something, because it always seemed unreasonably heavy for what it was. Anyway, grocery run at the end of a long day of diving, two guys, couple sacks of groceries and two cases of beer pile into the dinghy. Um, no thanks, I don't care what the capacity plate says, the boat is pretty low in the water and I'll wait for the next run. No real surf, since it's the San Juans, but a 3-footish wave rises up about fifty yards out and they motor straight in to it. Literally. The boat just goes down like a submarine and assumes a stable depth about a foot below the surface.

Personally... there was that one time I took off in my Hobie 16 on a nice day. After about the second tack, I was trying to figure out why it was acting so sluggish. Then couldn't remember screwing the plugs into the hulls. I ran it up on the nearest beach, about a mile away, and slowly dragged it up an incline to drain the water out. I wonder if deliberately partially flooding the hulls would actually help with stability, if caught out in a blow? Of course, inverting it makes it REALLy stable. Don't ask how I know...

[passthetuna]

In SE AK went to pull crab pots with my 4 year old daughter in an V-hull aluminum Lund with tiller outboard. These type boats work perfect with the extreme tides and tromping around hunting etc.. Ride across was a bit choppy until you round a point where it smooths out all the way to the pots. We pull the pots and get dinner and renew the bait. Drop the pots again. When we leave to go back we round the point and the swells were worse and the wind on our bow had picked up as well. We proceeded at reduced speed, but the wind at the top of the swells would catch the front of the boat and slew us to the side, sometime into the side of oncoming waves. At times the wind would kick the front of the boat straight up. I struggled to put as much weight forward as possible and even moved my daughter forward to try and keep the bow on track. It was then that I saw her crossing her hands and praying. God spoke to me. I went into full retreat mode. Turned tail and ran for cover to sit it out until we could get across safely. Yes, I am a dumbass. Slow to learn. Have to get hit by a 2x4 a few times to get the point.

[Goodall_M1]

I remember a night in Carriacou in Grenada when I was single-handing on a flotilla.
(OK Sunsail had one of their guys sail with me during the day after the other three members of my crew cancelled their bookings (they chickened out as there were three hurricanes loose in the Atlantic)), but I was on my own once we had anchored for the night.

Anyway I had been snorkeling during the day and took my camera ashore to show my photos to the other crews. I got back to the boat OK and tied the dinghy on, no problem (N.B. I only used one line!).

I then tried to get from the dink to the yacht and the dink went away from the sugar-scoop and I went for an impromptu swim. No real problem, I dropped the swim ladder and climbed aboard (N.B. always have your swim ladder set up so that you can release it from the water).

Unfortunately I had taken the camera out of its dive housing so that I could show the footage to the other crews, and had it around my neck so that it wouldn't get wet in the dink.....

Digital cameras don't like unexpected immersions in water! One Minolta drowned that evening! Good side though was that the SD card dried out and I still had the photos I had taken, but they were the last for that trip.

Note to self: In future always tie the dink on with two lines, (fore and aft) if returning to the boat single handed!

[Jaqun]

While doing Bow for a regatta the captain called for a quick Jibe just after the upwind mark. Had just gotten the jib down which was covering the forward hatch...which I had yet to close. Went right down inside the hatch with one leg. I think it was like 6 stitches.