Why I Have a New Cell Phone or How I Fell Off the Pier

[Cowboy Sailer]

I was carrying the freshly washed and dried laundry back to the boat the other night. It was dark and I stumbled while going down the steps to our finger pier. I somehow fell between the boat and the pier and took the clean and folded clothes with me. My wife, Denver, heard a loud bang on the boat hull (my head?) followed by a loud splash. It was me going for a swim! The water in Mobile Bay is cold in January.

The neighbors also heard my cries for help and came very quickly. One of them went back to his boat and brought his boarding ladder to my boat. After he installed it on our port bow I was able to climb out. Then I remembered the clothes. I went back down the ladder and found a lot of the clothes and got them up to the men waiting on deck. I took my cell phone out of my pocket (it was still on) and gave it to a man who removed the battery.

Denver sent me to the showers. My fun and games were over. After a hot shower I put antibiotic cream on the strawberry on my knee and got warm.

I remember how hard it was to swim while dressed for cold weather. I just did not think that I could make it to the stern of our boat where our boarding ladder is mounted. I did manage to reach up and grab the pier and hold on while I caught my breath. One of my shoes came off and somebody retrieved it with a boat hook. I later used our boot hook to fish out a disk towel that floated to the surface.

The next day I was very stiff and sore from the intense exertion of staying afloat and hanging by my finger tips. I just turned 71.

[Cheechako]

Wow, Things happen on a boat when you least expect it. Did the cell phone survive? I bvroke my wrist once just stepping off the boat onto the pier. Tripped on the bulwark and did a face plant breaking my fall with the broken wrist. Not sure why... I only stepped off a thousand times before!

[Cowboy Sailer]

I frankly don't know if the cell phone is going to survive. It is still drying out after I rinsed it out in fresh water and hung it in front of the heater outlet.

[hellosailor]

Jerry, be patient with the cell phone and avoid the temptation to put the battery back in before it has had a chance to totally dry out. Sometimes they can really surprise you and come back to life--but if there's any dampness, power from the battery causes a lot of damage.

There are a couple of waterproof cell phones on the market, from Verizon and Casio mainly, but oddly enough damn few of them. A cynic might say that the companies would all prefer you to just ruin the phone and have to buy a new one, because the phones DO exist but no one makes a big deal of offering them. And if you've ever had to use a phone in the rain...it isn't so odd to want a waterproof one.

[tager]

Use deionized water, or at the very least, distilled water, rinse thoroughly, pat dry, put in a bag of rice for a week, remove, install battery, should work.

[Ex-Calif]

Wow, Cowboy! Be careful. Screw the phone. Glad you only got bruised.

[skipmac]

I read the title of the thread and laughed until I read the post, then it wasn't so funny any more.

Glad it was no worse.

[bobconnie]

Glad your OK !! isn't it cold down here in the winter!! well at least the water !! almost as cold as the water in pnw in the summer LOL took a header last yr behind the house into the bayou, was really suprised how cold it was !! got to watch it at our age LOL we bruise easy, and it don't heal overnight anymore !! Bob and Connie

[Pelagic]

Glad to hear you tell the story and as Dan said……screw the phone!


Do you remember the first time you ever tripped and fell into the water….?
I bet it wasn’t the other night….


The message isn’t about your age but about doing normal daily things we all become complacent about……. until a cold wakeup sends you a survivor’s text message.
Thanks for the reminder!

[mrm]

Originally Posted by tager

Use deionized water, or at the very least, distilled water, rinse thoroughly, pat dry, put in a bag of rice for a week, remove, install battery, should work.

Or, a rinse in isopropyl alcohol (IPA) would be even better.
As others have said, glad you are able to tell the story.

[GordMay]

Whether or not your cell phone survives; we’re all pleased that you have/will.

[casual]

Very sorry about your mishap.I,have a Samsung cell phone PLAIN VANILA version,sold as water resistent dropped out of my motorcycle tank bag on I 95 doing more than I shoud have retrived it all ok.When returning home from a Bike trip it went thru the washing machine in my Jeans,Still OK.All Happened 2 plus years ago,my main reason for buying it was the Large display numbers can read them without glasses.

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Glad to hear you tell the story and as Dan said……screw the phone!

Do you remember the first time you ever tripped and fell into the water….?
I bet it wasn’t the other night….

The message isn’t about your age but about doing normal daily things we all become complacent about……. until a cold wakeup sends you a survivor’s text message.
Thanks for the reminder!

No but I remember the last time.

Three nights ago coming down the stairs from the "lofted" bedroom of the hotel room (residence inn) I am in. I was reading a text, missed the last freakin' step and ended up in a bundle on the floor. Banged my knee, got quite a bruise and thought, "Oh, crap. Now I am falling down stairs for no damn reason and I am not even drunk."

Sheesh. It s also a PITA that a fall off one step can actually do any damage at all. When did that phenomena start?

[pjop]

Assuming you're on Dog River, I'm living aboard on the south side. I don't have a mate or any neighbors and wonder when the same may happen to me. The thought of getting knocked unconscious on the way down is somewhat disturbing. I'm glad to hear that your fall wasn't so injurious. Also, Tager has it right on the rice. I dunked my iphone in glass of tea (don't ask) and it went completely nuts. Placed it in a bag of rice for a week and it works like a charm, at least for now.

Pete

[B26Trimaran]

Just watched a news show that said a company has a special water proof dip that all cell phones pc boards will be dipped into making the phone 100% water proof. It will be about a year before this will happen.