Dumb Mistakes

[Calif.Ted]

Of course I made all the "compulsory" screw-ups early on:
1. Launch a trailerable boat without benefit of the transom drain plug.
2. Try to leave a dock with shorepower still plugged in.
3. Been perplexed that engine won't restart after fueling when the "stop engine" handle is clearly in the "stop" position.
I'd doubt the veracity of anyone who denied doing any of those.

[captjcook]

I bought an inexpensive boat that needed fixing...

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[Tayana42]

I try not to make the same dumb mistake more than once...or twice...or three times.


S/V B'Shert

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by Calif.Ted

3. Been perplexed that engine won't restart after fueling when the "stop engine" handle is clearly in the "stop" position.

Not the first two, but on my first fueling on this boat I did just that, 18 years ago. I still remember it, and make it a point to have everyone who shuts off the engine push the damn cable lever down!!! Including me!

[Teknishn]

Dumb boating mistakes....Firearms and boats.

So there I was, all of 14 years old in a Oauchita flatbottom in Black Bayou Swamp near Monroe, Louisiana with my 12-year old brother handling the 9 HP Yamaha outboard. We're 'gator hunting. I have a 10-gauge shotgun with a slug barrel and my brother has a 12-gauge loaded with No. 6 bird shot.

So we go creeping in amongst the Cypress in the shallows and find us a gator. Maybe 7-feet long. Me, (stupid mistake number one) I stand up in a boat and point a 10-gauge nearly straight down and pulled the trigger. Recoil kicked me over the other side of the boat into the water....with a gator nearby (I did hit it but didn't kill it). Scrambled back aboard being laughed at by my little brother. Lost the shotgun as well....I got a severe a$$ whuppin' for that later.

So, we're creeping back out of the shalllows and the Cypress trees when we bumped into some low hanging Spanish moss and a Cottonmouth drops out of the tree into the boat between the middle benches and goes ballistic (as one would imagine). Dumb mistake number two.....Little brother pumps a round into his shotgun and tries to kill the snake. Not once mind you, but three times.....all right through the bottom of the boat! Snake finally made it over the side on its own.

We eventually made it home thanks to the flotation cells inside the boat's benches keeping it afloat. But boy, my rear-end still stings remembering the "conversation" with my father afterwards.

[sailorboy1]

I ask questions on forums, that frequently becomes a dumb mistake.

[vjm]

These are great stories! Makes me feel better about the steep learning curve in boat ownership.

I had a good one today. My boat is at a yard two hours one way from my house. I have been trying to finding what absolutely has to be done before relaunching her and putting her in a marina five minutes from my house. I can only work on it on the weekends.

I have one last thing to do-service all the seacocks (lapping paste and lube) and install one new seacock. After much research I decided how I want to do this, made a step by step list, got all the tools together, put everything in a box so I wouldn't lose things in the car, and arrived at the yard at 8:00 am.

Only to discover I left the box at home. Sigh.

Yes, I will be driving up there again tomorrow.

[senormechanico]

We went out just for a quick overnight to a local anchorage.
When we got anchored, I turned on the diesel furnace because it was getting chilly.
Wife asked where I put the new bed linens and blankets.????????????????????







"Uh, they're neatly folded on top of the clothes dryer at home."

We slept (if you can call it that) in our clothes with anything we could find to keep warm, even with the furnace running, it wasn't enough to be comfortable.

NEVER AGAIN !!

[robwilk37]

in a panic once i tied off the main halyard tail to the anchor rode thinking it was the spare rode. as we drifted back the main self hoisted, making our problems that much worse. took a minute to figure out what was going on...

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by robwilk37

in a panic once i tied off the main halyard tail to the anchor rode thinking it was the spare rode. as we drifted back the main self hoisted, making our problems that much worse. took a minute to figure out what was going on...

That's a good one, sounds like a Charlie Chaplin movie.
I am not too certain of many things, but making a dumb mistake (occasionally!), I am pretty certain of that.

[groundtackle]

We were working on the bow roller and head fitting and had the forestay disconnected and tied to the dock. When we went to end for end the boat on the dock (can't remember why we needed to do that) it took us a minute to figure out why the boat just didn't want to move. Oh. Duh.....
I'm just glad we didn't untie and start the engine and try to actually leave the dock. We probably would have left the rig behind.
Nick


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[gts1544]

On a vacation trip to Glacier Park, while stowing some groceries into the trunk of our rental car (We lived in Puerto Rico then), I locked the only set of keys in the closed trunk. After working for several minutes and trying to think about how to retrieve the keys, a young deputy sheriff pulls up and asks what the problem is. I explain and he goes to work trying to help me break into the trunk. After about 30 minutes of diligent effort on both of our parts, the look on his face changed and he inquired " Do you have any identification?" I was so preoccupied with trying to retrieve my keys that I never considered what it must have looked like and it hadn't occurred to Barney Fife for about 30 minutes either. Needless to say, I showed him my DL and the rental contract and all was well except the trunk still possessed my keys. We finally got it open though I don't remember how we did it.

[senormechanico]

Took out the back seat upper?

[Kenomac]

I've met many people who've done this one, fortunately not me.

Called the auto club or tow truck to unlock the car when the car key unlock button fails to unlock the door.








They're holding the key in their hand.

[Cap Erict3]

Not checking the oil and coolant every day before cranking the engine.

Not checking the bilge pumps and alarm.

Forgetting that a stitch in time...........