Has your wife ever surprised you with boat skills?

[Malibuzer]

My wife always takes an hour or two to get refreshed in the spring. But after that she can do anything. Load, unload, tow, back up the truck. Clean, make the mess, and then make me clean up the mess!. She can do it all as well my 17 year old can now as well. Backing up is still a bit weak, but shes getting better.

[Afun]

I think everybody on this thread is full of it.....so what I said it

Edited August 24, 2015 by Afun

[ahurtinalbertan]

My wife blew me right out of the water this season. We have always co-shared my parents MC PS205 and Holly has always refused to drive it because she was always really concerned about wrecking the thing.

Well, this year we bought a 1999 Malibu Response LX and the first day out on the lake after some tootling- she offered to take me for a ski- "because you should be the first person to ski behind your boat". Really she has been around boats enough, she knows all the rules- but to take the wheel and throttle with only the instructions- "about 34MPH and pull me out hard" and about 15 minutes time driving this boat- well way to go love!!

The next weekend she docked it first try bang on straight. She got cheers at the ramp (lots of sunbathers)- even after teasing the crowd to taunt her becasue it was going to be her first time.

So proud of my wife-

Oh and she also lost like 30 lbs to get her , in her words, "boat body". (Not like it made a difference to me either way- I've always been happy in that dept).

But seriuously best thing i ever did was buy this boat!!

[Kmart25]

fiance` drives, I'm best at being 200lbs and 12ounces of ballast.

[Falko]

My wife is scared to operate the trailer.

She is too scared to pull the boat on the trailer (last time she did it she cried).

My wife yells at me a bunch.

It's been about 3 weeks since last she cooked.

Hmmm.....

[Molarbu]

My wife is scared to operate the trailer.

She is too scared to pull the boat on the trailer (last time she did it she cried).

My wife yells at me a bunch.

It's been about 3 weeks since last she cooked.

Hmmm.....

So there's this Ashley Madison website you may want to check out, it' s very popular these days!

[DarkSide]

My wife doesn't back the trailer, doesn't park the truck, doesn't wakeboard, doesn't surf, and doesn't complain about me going to the lake EVERY Saturday. She does go with me more this year than ever before. She does have a great time on the water. So i am calling it a win.

[LS-One]

My wife always amazed me with her houseboat driving skills. Pulling up to the mooring ball in a shifting wind with a 20 foot wide houseboat and a Bu tied along side. My job was to lean over the front of the house boat and hook a safety chain onto the mooring ball. It has to be done at a speed slow enough that I can catch it and fast enough to stay in control. Reverse at the last minute was not effective with weight of the houseboat in forward motion versus the small out drive. Its not pretty when you run over a huge steel mooring ball.Typically there were houseboats on either side on their mooring balls shifting the wind. She is a rock star and the envy of many of my house boat buddies that have seen her in action.

[RTS]

My wife surprised me allright. First weekend we owned the boat she promised she would let me teach her to drive. I threw a life jacket in the water and said 'pretend that's me and come pick me up'.

Spent the next hour under the boat with a knife and goggles digging said life jacket out of the prop.

So yes, I was surprised anyone (male or female) could be so clueless as to the operation of a boat.

Backing trailer was never even discussed....but hey, she's a pharma rep with the paycheck and looks that comes with that, so I have kept her around.

[Malibuzer]

My wife surprised me allright. First weekend we owned the boat she promised she would let me teach her to drive. I threw a life jacket in the water and said 'pretend that's me and come pick me up'.

Spent the next hour under the boat with a knife and goggles digging said life jacket out of the prop.

So yes, I was surprised anyone (male or female) could be so clueless as to the operation of a boat.

Backing trailer was never even discussed....but hey, she's a pharma rep with the paycheck and looks that comes with that, so I have kept her around.

Do you think she ran the jacket over to send a message?

[greg2vlx]

Every time we go out...It's actually rare that I even drive the boat anymore! She's even turned into a little bit of a bully if I'm riding and won't give up the line were on ...it's kind of nice!

[MalibuTime]

My wife surprised me allright. First weekend we owned the boat she promised she would let me teach her to drive. I threw a life jacket in the water and said 'pretend that's me and come pick me up'.

Spent the next hour under the boat with a knife and goggles digging said life jacket out of the prop.

So yes, I was surprised anyone (male or female) could be so clueless as to the operation of a boat.

Backing trailer was never even discussed....but hey, she's a pharma rep with the paycheck and looks that comes with that, so I have kept her around.

You two must throw some great parties! You know, free samples n all.?

[MalibuTime]

My wife drives the boat, I have trailer duty. She never drives the tow vehicle. When I am with my pals I make them drive the tow rig and I drive the boat.

[ibelonginprison]

My wife is the best first mate ever. Knows how the boat should ride, knows it's noises and functions, and knows about wind, current etc.
... but she doesn't like to drive it. I'm sure she would be a good captain, but she prefers to leave that to me.

[Pnwrider]

I keep meaning to wife swap with my buddy that owns a bu. I figure if I teach someone else's wife there would be less yelling and stress on all parties involved. Same for backing a trailer. I have a skiff on a single axle that is perfect for learning on. Just need to find the time.

[Dodger40]

My wife hates to dock the boat so she backs the trailer and I drive the boat. A few days ago we were pulling our boat out we saw a husband and wife team struggling to put their I/O on the trailer.

The wife had Jack knifed the trailer and was visibly upset. She had never backed the trailer and we were all in a hurry to get our boats out because of the fires in Chelan. My wife politely asked if she needed help, left our trailer and helped her get her husband and boat on. Luckily it was early and no one was waiting to launch. She always stays calm no matter how busy or intense the ramp can get.

[Lance B. Johnson]

And it's all in the approach. My wife doesn't back the trailer but on a slow day at the ramp I garauntee that we would have some laughs. There wouldn't be any stress etc.... Busy day though wouldn't be the day to teach my wife.

[burider]

Funny to see this - just this weekend my wife was complaining about some lady at the ramp hold the bow of a boat by a dock line as it floated around while she effortlessly loaded the 247 onto the trailer. She loads and unloads, I handle the trailer. We've even gotten a thumbs up from the audience at the ramp.

[isellacuras]

My wife is a great crew mate. She doesn't like driving the boat off, but she does it if she has to. She doesn't like parking the trailer, but she does it if she has to. Usually, she has to choose between doing one or the other. As far as her pulling me, She doesn't like to, but she knows she has to and she does a perfect job most of the time. She doesn't give herself enough credit. I always tell her she does a great job and she really does. In fact, there is only one person that does a better job than her (thanks Jalama) out of all of my regular crew. She's a champ, she just doesn't have the nerves or the confidence she needs to do it comfortably.

[brgrcru]

My wife has pulled me for the last 30 years. We lived on a ski lake and etiquette was the #1 rule. She drives like a pro. But won't pull up to the gas dock or trailer the boat. Backs trailer down with no problem. 2 out of 4.

[Stevo]

My wife does a great job launching and loading the boat off the trailer. Quite amazed sometimes during breezy afternoons. One of our frequent launch sites,(discovery bay) has 2 ramps boxed in by about 40-50 yards of dock, so when the wind picks up you can get sideways easily. About 2 months ago I'm waiting to drop the trailer to pick up and the guys in front of us managed to put some dock rash on the side of their newer x-star when they aborted their first load attempt . Once the loaded up, she dropped a dime and barely bumped the guide poles. I was having heart palpitations on approach but she nailed it..

she he does make it clear I suck as a rider with all my minor adjustment requests.

Edited August 25, 2015 by Stevo

[ibelonginprison]

I back down, then hop out and climb on the boat and she hops in the drivers seat. Backs me a few yards into the water, I start the boat, check the vitals, she puts me a little further into the water and I back off the trailer, she pulls out and parks. Takes us less than 2 minutes to launch the boat.

Loading is a little longer. I pull up to the dock, hop out, she holds it, I grab the truck, back down and soak the trailer - then I go back to the boat, line it up , bunk it, hook it - and she pulls it out. About 5 minutes. But I'm waaaay faster at backing the trailer than she is.

Thankfully we dry stack most if the year. So it's gassed up and iced up and tied to the dock when I arrive. Lol

[Porkfight]

Negative Ghostrider

This.

Although, this is our first year with an inboard and we're taking it out for the first time at the end of the week. I'm hoping she feels more confident driving this than our last boat.

Edited August 25, 2015 by Porkfight

[Michigan boarder]

My girl is a heck of a driver for everything - ski, board, surf. She is terrible at pulling a tuber, cuts too hard like we still own an I/O. The last time we were tubing she did it again and as soon as I saw the slack in the rope I grabbed my kid and pulled us both off the tube. She came back around and we got in the boat. "You are literally going to kill someone babe". But otherwise she is great at it. Good snowmobiler too, back when we had them.

Truck and trailer are a whole nother story, she does not attempt it. Our boat is on a lift, but when we do take it elsewhere and launch she has the bow rope and holds the boat from the dock while I drop it in. She knows when it's good and shouts to me when to pull forward. I park, jog back, and we are off. Same with loading back up, she holds it in place and I drive up under, but then I crank it up too. Good team effort.

Overall she really doesn't like our little boat, and wants a larger I/O that can handle big lake chop better. I told her the only way that will happen is when I destroy my back or knees and am done with the water sports. Until then, it's all inboards. But when we do make the change it will be a Donzi or Powerquest or something like that with twin V8's and a small cuddy. And she'll be good at driving that too.

[rennis]

Really common theme I see here is the ladies aren't so keen on operating the truck and trailer. My wife can do it but backing a trailer down a ramp is not her favorite thing to do, so I'm almost always the one to drive the tow vehicle and she the one to get the boat off and on to the trailer. She's very adept at that operation, but she's pretty good with most motorized things - drives a 6 speed manual M3, stuff like that.

A buddy of mine who has a boat (and a wife who isn't as good with the boat skills) sometimes asks me if I comfortable with little mistakes she sometimes makes (which aren't frequent) and I always say it's easier to let it be and let her figure it out on her own time/terms than get upset over it. Not worth the fight! And if she really screws up one day...well, that's what insurance is for.

Edited August 25, 2015 by rennis