The stupidest/funniest mistakes you've made?

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Yes, there's "aground"; and, there's "aground requiring outside assistance". Bad me.

Ann

No where near as bad as "aground and buy another boat" though!
Sort of like flying - any landing you can walk away from is a successful one!

[JPA Cate]

^^^^
Yes, realized that after I posted. It's unthinkable.

Ann

[edexter]

I took up sailing again a few years ago, when I met my new spouse and she came with an old Rhodes 22 Continental. I helped her get it back in the water. One day we were going out of Frogmortar Creek, off Middle River, MD, into a nice headwind, and forgot to watch the stream of water out of the 1981 Evinrude 9.9 2 stroke; the intake got blocked with weeds which were thick that year, and promptly overheated, stalling her. Well we started to drift over into the mast exclusion zone at the end of the runway at Martin State Airport - for some reason the pilots of !10s and commercial aircraft that fly out of there don't like tall aluminum poles randomly sticking up in front of their planes, so you have to keep back a bit. Well I figured Homeland Security would be around to "help out" pretty quick if we didn't get out of there. It was a holiday weekend, and there were a lot of power boaters anchored nearby who offered help, but I figured that with the stiff breeze, at least we can sail back to the slip. I prepared to jump ship and push the head around - she's a little boat - but the Captain forbade it: "We just washed this boat. You're not getting that muck all over the deck. Think of something else." So, I remembered kedging, and threw the anchor to port and hauled the head around, much to the amazement of some of the onlookers who apparently had never heard of that. So, off we went, with the furling main out only about 1/3rd of the way because of the breezy conditions, but still making about 2-3 knots. We had just entered the lane to our slip when it occurred to me that without the motor, we had 1) no reverse, and therefore 2) no brakes.

Now, our marina has a T of floating docks, and once in the lane, we have the shore lined with rocks to starboard, and boats that are much more expensive than ours lined up anchors out to port, with a solid dock forming the base of the T dead ahead. I doused the main to littel effect on our speed, so I screamed to the Captain, who was on the foredeck to catch the dock lines on the dolphins, "Throw Out the Anchor!!"
"What?"
"Throw out the anchor! Quick!"
"Which side?"
"IT DOESN'T MATTER!! THROW OUT THE ANCHOR!!"
She did, and that brought the head around, and after catching our breath we were able to crab over to the slip next to ours headfirst, and then the friendly powerboaters who are always around because they can't afford the gas to go out, and like to watch us come in because it's always an amusing show, helped us warp her into our slip. Whew, time for day-drinking.

Now we have a nice new Yamaha 9.9 extra-long-shaft 4 stroke, and I watch the cooling water a LOT.

[MicHughV]

my first engine install.....

I had the shaft in the coupler and the coupler bolted to the engine flange, but forgot to insert the little bolt holding the shaft to the coupler.

Started the engine, and flipped the gear lever back and forth to see if everything was working.

When I flipped to reverse, watched in disbelief, as I saw my prop shaft exit the flange and exit the boat only to be replaced a by a giant spout of water.

A frantic dive over the side saw the shaft hanging by a scant inch inside the rear cutlass bearing.

I managed, thru' dumb luck, to push the shaft back into the boat in one go, thereby averting a tragedy.

First thing I always do now, check the shaft coupler connection on any boat I'm on.

[SFer]

When preparing a boat for a day charter I was in the saloon with my daughter. I decided to test the air horn in the saloon. It worked fine - my daughter never forgave me.

On a cat charter I decided to reposition the boat. To avoid getting the dingy line tangled in the prop I tied the dingy up alongside. As I was sorting out the new spot, my daughter asked, "why is the dingy full of water?" I had positioned the dingy right under the engine exhaust outlet, turning the dingy into a hot tub.

On another cat charter on a Lagoon 450, while trying to grab a mooring, my son dropped the boat hook. I yelled to get the dingy deployed. He lowered it only to discover we hadn't put the drainage plug back in so the dingy was filling with water. More yellling. I was up on the flybridge and when I turned quickly to go help I tripped over the hump in the flybridge deck and fell flat on my face. As I picked my self up I noticed a tourist dive boat motoring right by us with about 25 people staring at us.

[swordds]

Shortly after buying my “new to me” 1973 Alberg 30 I ordered a Rocna anchor from the local chandler. This was the first “modern” and most expensive anchor I have ever purchased. Because there was no suitable arrangement for storing the anchor at the bow I decided to store it in the starboard cockpit locker, my plan being that when it came time for use I would simply walk the end of the anchor rode back from the bow chock (being careful to go outside of the shrouds, etc.) to the cockpit, connect the anchor rode to the anchor chain lead, and then drop the anchor over the side. As a singlehanded sailor this storage location and process actually works very well for me. Of course, the first time I used my new, expensive anchor I simply reached into the locker, hoisted out the anchor, tossed it over the side and then watched in disbelief as it disappeared into the murky water - attached to nothing. Duh!!

[J. Greg]

This did not happen to me, but to a very close friend. He was moving his power boat from Ventura to San Francisco. His first port of call would be Port San Luis. It was night as he approached and he could see the lights in the distance. For some yet to be explained reason he switched off his GPS and headed for the lights. Upon arrival he dropped the hook, broke out the BBQ had dinner and all went to bed. Shortly thereafter they were awakened by spotlights and a loudhailer declaring "This is the US Coast Guard everyone on deck with your hands in plain sight". They had overshot Port San Luis and anchored in the forebay of the Diablo Nuclear Power Plant. This being shortly after 9/11, one can only imagine the tension. After all was sorted out and it was determined that this was a mistake and not a terrorist attack , my friend asked the boarding officer " it took you guys over 2 hours to get here, what would you have done if we were terrorists?" His response was "there have been weapons trained on your vessel the entire time"

[jamhass]

Originally Posted by AiniA

So many ...
Leaving the dock with that big yellow wire thing still plugged in comes to mind.

We refer to ours as the "yellow spring line"

[svmariane]

My wife and I were cruising in Turkey. Had invited another married couple, longtime friends, to join us for a few weeks. The guy knew nothing of boats but was enthusiastic to learn. Tying knots were a problem, though. I tried and tried, demonstrated over and over, but he just couldn't seem to get the bowline.

So we anchored in this cove. Steep drop off for the bottom so we brought a line ashore from the stern. Two lines, actually, for extra length, held together with bowlines. That I had tied.

Dinnertime, we're in the cockpit, food on the table, nice bottle of red just opened. First gust of offshore evening wind and.... Yup, one of MY knots came loose and we swung round every so nicely.

Scramble mode before the anchor drags and out to sea we go. Friends thought it funny. Wife not pleased - and unleashed a long tirade of interesting German curse words.

First opportunity, my wife buys a 200 mtr line for future stern tie ups. Takes the money from my beer budget.

[LauraleeG]

Ohhhhhhh those are reefing lines?!!

[slug]

Fog

Delivery Bermuda to Maine

Racing yacht , no radar , pre gps only a loran , compass and a depth finder

Last 24. Hours of the approach to the coast was pea soup fog , zero visibility

Very tiring , slow going , burning eyes , listening for ship propellers and horns

We located the entrance of the kennebunk and slipped into the harbour around midnight , under dense fog

Came alongside a pontoon , tied up and crashed into our bunks exhausted

In the morning we rallied together and walked into town , in dense fog , to get some breakfast

After breakfast we are walking back to the boat , the fog was starting to burn off , the harbour came into view and ....**** !

The boat was tied to the dock and her sails were still hoisted !!

Oops

[BVLew]

Been sailing for 50+ years. I'll skip the docklines all off except the spring line, skip the year I forgot to add oil to the 2-stroke outboard fuel....


We had towed the Daysailer down a narrow windy steep dirt road to the tree-surrounded cabin we'd rented for the week. Backed up all the way to the beach, stepped the mast, had a lovely week of sailing. Hitched up the trailer, backed down to the beach, sailed right up onto the trailer, tied the boat down tight, put the minivan in gear -- and pulled the still-standing mast hard into the trees overhanging the beach.


The person who eventually bought the minivan never asked why there were deep scratches on the rear hatch a couple of feet above the trailer hitch.

[sagablu]

I did think it a good idea to leave the dingy tied to the stern cleat while trying to start an unreliable outboard. It was windy and I didn't want to drift further downwind should I have to row. So for once the motor started on the first pull! However I left the outboard in forward, so the dink promptly swung around the painter which was now acting as a spring and the bow of the dink decided to burrow under the boat. I managed to grab the toe rail and pull myself back on the boat as no part of the dink remained above water. Still have that outboard though.

[IanTrail]

My wife and I sailed the Atlantic from the Cap Verdes to Barbados. 17 days, 3 hours on, 3 hours off overnight. On watch there was nothing to see, just dark, watching for lights. One night I saw a light on the horizon so I took a bearing of it. A few minutes later I took another bearing and it was the same; a few minutes later it was still the same, and a few minutes later again. Oh dear; collision course.

Then I noticed that when taking the bearings, my hand-bearing compass was gradually pointing higher and higher above the horizon. It was not a ship; it was a bright rising star!

(We did see one real ship in 17 days)

[Asmodeane]

Was on a longish single handed day passage out in the Finnish Archipelago Sea, already about 16 hours in, and decided to take a shortcut. Must have been tired, so missed a tiny little detail, namely that there was a bridge with an air draft of less than 5m at the end of a 20 mile strait I decided to take. My mast drew 10m. So that little mistake added 8 extra hours to the passage, I remember being quite beat towards the end, helming non-stop for over 24 hours. This was back in 2006 or 2007, and I still recall it to this day.