New boat sob stories.....

[jetskipro550]

After hearing a few stories about people going over the dams I feel sort of bad for this guy we used to go boating with who had a HUGE FEAR of dams. We knew he was freaked of them so whenever he was tubing my friend would drive him right by the dam and try to dump him. The damn had saftey lines, logs, etc...but still. I would never do that to someone after hearing these stories.

FYI- there was NO danger to him at any time while we were doing this so don't think we were trying to get him hurt...we were just trying to give him a little scare.

[mrothwell]

advise, when in doubt back off and you never can go so slow, if you have some one who can help have them stand on the rear slides of the trailer , between the guides and catch you as you come in,SLOWLY. do that a few times till you get a few more pull-outs under your belt

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This sounds very dangerous. It would be too easy for a throttle to be bumped and pin the guy between the boat and the trailer. Best thing to do is practice with someone who knows how to load and in calm water/weather.

[joey_durgin]

im new to the site and a new owner of a 1995 malibu sunsetter. I upgraded from a 1994 chris craft. i to have a sob story. the lakes here in texas are far from being full. i was out on lake conroe near houston the second weekend that i had the boat. i had been out on the lake for about an hr. when i tough i would cruise over to where i usually ski. i know the lkaes are really low so i had to be carefull so i stay about 200 yards from the shore. i was cruising about 35 mph when the water went from 17 ft. to 1ft. in the snap of a finger. usually you can tell when it is getting shallow but you couldnt really tell at this spot. i cam to a complete stop and luckly no one got thrown or was hurt. so there i was stuck in the mud. i had sat there for about three hrs until boat recovery could get there to put airbags underneath to float it out of the mud and back to shore. we got it back and on the trailer and everyting under the boat was f/ up. i took it to the malibu dealership and they had to replace the strut, shaft, prop, finns, and do some fiberglass work.

i was with out the boat for a month and a half. just thank god for insurance. it cost $3000 for the recovery and another $3000 for the repairs. i am now more carefull about where i go.

i also love the bu. it will be the last brand that i will buy

[WakeGirl]

Sorry to hear that Joey, but it sounds like you're all fixed up. Welcome to the site.

[stewart]

Don't get me started on sob stories......

[Big Dubya]

We even lost a skier over the dam one time. (very scary). He lived, but I think I lost a few years off my life with worry.

DETAILS, DETAILS, DETAILS!!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It was about 15 years ago and the very first day of my very first boat. We put in at the launch which was just above the dam on the Fox river. I had my wife (afraid of water), my two year old and my one year old in the boat. I took a friend to help show me how to drive as this was my first boat.

He jumped in the water to ski. He took the handle into the water with him. Somehow the rope did not get connected to the boat hook on the back properly and he and the whole rope started floating down stream. I tried to back up to get the rope but it sank. I was trying to maneuver the boat and my wife was holding onto the kids. We all were now very close to the top of the dam. My wife was screaming, the babies were screaming and he was heading for the top of the dam.

Just then, he hit the first pillar of the dam and was sucked under the gates and disappeared. I raced back to the launch, only about 50 yards away and dropped off the wife and babies. Raced the boat back to the dam screaming for help. My wife called 911 from shore. The rescue boats started searching downstream for him (or the body).

As I stated in the beginning, HE LIVED. When he went underwater he crossed his legs in front of him like starting out in a barefoot run. His body was tossed around and smashed into many rocks at the bottom of the dam, but thankfully shot out rather than being held in the undercurrent. They found him about a quarter mile down river.

The very next week four kids died when their whole boat went over that same dam. They were new to boating as well. When they recovered the boat, it had the gear shift in gear. The boat would not start because the gear was not in neutral and they went over from the river current.

After that time, they have put up large warning buoys and steel cables to keep any boat traffic from that spot.

It was the most terrified I have ever been in my life. Since that time I have taken every safety class availabe. Coast Guard, Power Squadrons, DNR. My kids are now teenagers and have both passed the DNR boating classes. I took it along with them both. You can never have to much boating safety training.

I am a strong believer that EVERYONE should be REQUIRED to take safety training before being allowed to operate a motorboat.

I was about to write a note to self never to ride with summerfun...

but if those details are correct... it looks like there was a real safety issue with that waterway that was just begging for more accidents.

an open launch ramp that close to an open/operating dam is just ridiculous

[aneal000]

First boat we owned, first time out after I launch I'm pulling over to the shore to pick up buddy who parked the truck. (no docks at that ramp) And yep, you guessed it, I nailed a big rock with the prop.

Keep these two points in mind as a new boat owner, they will prevent you future headaches:

1) ALWAYS check to make sure the (all) plugs are in the boat before launching.

2) Make sure you pull up the anchor before driving aways from a spot where you were anchored.

[Big Dubya]

2) Make sure you pull up the anchor before driving aways from a spot where you were anchored.

I was in a buddy's boat one time, and he did this:

boat full of people, we pull away from shore (5-zone) messing with stereo, gear, etc...

edge of 5-zone he hits it, but the boat is not getting up on plane.

i look over and say "what's up?"

he says "not sure, i've never had this many people on-board before"

I say "man, i didn't expect it would take this long for a Mastercraft to get on plane... full of people"

about 20 seconds later the boat JUMPS up on plane in a decent lurch

i look over at him and the look on his face was priceless

he was staring at the front piece of his anchor-buddy that had flung-up into the bow of the boat - still attached to the bow-eye, with the end frayed.

wooooops

[Polock]

2) Make sure you pull up the anchor before driving aways from a spot where you were anchored.

I wish you would have posted this in the beginning of summer...

We were camping with the boat mored and were starting a run from the site. When I got up to speed the boat stated to porpoise and I turned around to see what might be wrong. Just then the little yellow bouy popped up right in front of my friend . The look on his face was priceless as he knew there was a 20lb box anchor not far from him on the bungy line!!! I got lucky and the line didn't get tangled or cut. Everyone was calling me the "rookie" the rest of rookie weekend (memorial day) and I still hear about it.

[aneal000]

I had a feeling that one might generate some stories, after all I didn't think I was the only idiot to ever do that! ...boat had a very hard time planing - wtf??? a few seconds later about 15 feet behind the boat the anchor (mushroom) comes flying out of the water like a fish - the rope comes up the drivers side of the boat so we knew what was going on at that point. When it lands the pressure pops the metal hook and the rope/hook comes flying back at the boat and hits the fiberglass swimplatform and takes a chunk out of the gel coat. Luckily no one was injured.

[ilovetrains]

Just to ease your misery, car not boat.

This spring we bought my wife a brand new Jeep Commander. One of the first on the dealer lot, she was very excited. It was missing the skid plate group, but rather than try and find another, the dealer decided to just install the option at cost. Fair enough. We picked it up on Thursday night, and then dropped it off Sunday night so they could do the install Monday. BTW - we were leaving the following Friday for Easter in Chicago - 8 hour drive.

Monday afternoon get call from dealer, there has been a problem, DC bought back the Jeep and htey are looking for another. WTF? I go over and find the service guy I know. When he sees me he turns white. Says he was all done with the install, started it up, and the HEMI shot a rod through the bottom of the pan. He was sure he was fired. The dealer called DC who stated it was not possible. Dealer got into it with DC, who had the Jeep shipped out flatbed before anyone could see it.

The dealer located another one, had all the stuff moved over to it (must have litterally taken 20 hours labor) and got it to me late Thursday night. We went on our trip, all was good (except the MPG, wow that HEMI is thirsty!)

Fast forward three weeks. My wife pulls into QT to get gas. She is talking to my daughter in the backseat and puts in nuetral instead of drive. She is about to cuss out the lady whom she believs just hit her when she notices the gas pump moved forward about 15 feet. Oops.

That weekend. I go to get something out of the back, shut the tailgate. I thought I did. Monday morning my wife goes out, hits the garage door, goes halfway up, sticks. The tailgate was not shut, and is now wedged in the garage door. Oops.

Take it to get fixed, get it back, not right, fixed again, sort of right, finally fixed.

Leave on Monday morning for business trip. Car in front of me throws a tire tread. Grill, headlights, hood etc. gone.

10K miles, and over 10K in repairs so far.

I think we should just trade it.

[BillFooter]

Years ago a neighbor with a jet boat took off and forgot to pull in the anchor. It flew into the boat and hit a girl in the head. She had to have a few stitches but was not seriously hurt.

[Baddog]

Some more years ago before that one I was riding in a friend's jet boat. . . . .

They lived on the side of the lake that was VERY shallow to the point where you had to paddle out about 100 yards before starting up and moving under its own power. Kind of a pain in the butt but what are you going to do?

They figured out that when returning to shore you could skip the paddling part if you just came at the shoreline at ~40 m.p.h then slammed it into reverse 100 feet from shore . . . . only this time, for some unkown reason he forgot to slam it into reverse. Ended up with the boat 50' on the shore right between two very large and immovable oaks. New shorts time for sure.

[chathamsolutions]

I had some interesting first couple of days on the boat:

2nd day out:

http://www.wakesiderides.com/forums/index....st&p=110196

4th day out (first real scare and scratch):

http://www.wakesiderides.com/forums/index....st&p=111934

[Sasquatch]

My wife and I are at the lake on our very first day out with our brand new Sunsetter VLX. I shout out to my wife to get ready to throw out the anchor, anchor buddy and long line of rope connected to the stern with a spring clip. Waiting at the throttle and steering wheel to get close enough to shore so I could shut down the engine, jump out and take the bow line into shore I call for her to toss the anchor. She hesitates... I say toss it..she hesitates and says oh well and tosses the anchor, anchor buddy and stern line into the drink without the clip attached. Down goes $100 worth of new anchor equipment right to the bottom of the lake. How the clip became unclipped is still a mystery to me because I remember clipping the thing to the stern.

I'd made this maneuver may times before without a mishap but with old equipment. Maybe there's a new equipment fairy out there looking for a laugh.

Sorry to hear of your sad tale of woe but looks like we all have them.

SAS

[BillFooter]

Down goes $100 worth of new anchor equipment right to the bottom of the lake. How the clip became unclipped is still a mystery to me because I remember clipping the thing to the stern.

SAS

I did the same thing. I clipped the anchor buddy line to the rear eye, threw the anchor over, and then watched as the the clip popped open losing the anchor and line to the bottom. Two weeks later I am anchored with a new anchor and 1/4" anchor line. My puppy is laying on the back deck. I walk to the back of the boat to see what he is doing just as he chews the rope in half. I jumped in the water trying to catch the rope as it was sinking but was not quick enough. The next spring I am anchored and while pulling the anchor in the knot came untied! Three anchors in a REAL short time!

[NorCaliBu]

Down goes $100 worth of new anchor equipment right to the bottom of the lake.

Put a mooring bouy on the end of the line with the carbiner clip.

[Ronnie]

I lost an anchor, anchor buddy and chain like that too. I hooked the spring clip to the bow eye and tossed the anchor overboard. Sat back in the boat to listen to some music and floated away. The clip somehow came off the bow eye and it all went to the bottom. I was waiting offshore for the wife and some friends to take care of some business and had to idle around until they got back in the boat. When I headed to the dock to pick them up about 150 yards down the lake, I noticed a dirty old ski rope floating in about 40' of water. I went over to check it out and it was attached to an anchor. This was in an area where boats don't normally anchor as it was in a lane where people ski/wakeboard every day. I figure I traded anchors that day but I got took on the rope/anchor buddy trade.

[Faceplant409]

Title is new boat sob stories...

I take delivery of our '04 in Feb '04. Get it home and it starts to rain. No biggie, pull it into the garage and beginn stereo install. Next weekend---rain like HE!!. The following weekend was the best since summer!!! 70* and no wind, blue skies. Pull the boat to The Delta for some break in hours passing the dealer on the freeway. Had a wonderful day 6hrs on the boat with just me and the Ipod... Going home I call the dealer just before I'm going to pass and tell him he made me a happy man. I call him back 10 minutes later not so happy.... A caliper bolt had come loose and the caliper was hitting the wheel, severely flatspotting the tire and destroying the caliper, roter and wheel. I pulled the wheel off and limped home on 3 wheels. Thank god for torsion axles... All was taken care of no prob.

Pat

[Baddog]

My wife and I are at the lake on our very first day out with our brand new Sunsetter VLX. I shout out to my wife to get ready to throw out the anchor, anchor buddy and long line of rope connected to the stern with a spring clip. Waiting at the throttle and steering wheel to get close enough to shore so I could shut down the engine, jump out and take the bow line into shore I call for her to toss the anchor. She hesitates... I say toss it..she hesitates and says oh well and tosses the anchor, anchor buddy and stern line into the drink without the clip attached. Down goes $100 worth of new anchor equipment right to the bottom of the lake. How the clip became unclipped is still a mystery to me because I remember clipping the thing to the stern.

I'd made this maneuver may times before without a mishap but with old equipment. Maybe there's a new equipment fairy out there looking for a laugh.

Sorry to hear of your sad tale of woe but looks like we all have them.

SAS

Did you dive in and get it?

or better yet, did she?

[Headhunter 2317]

My wife and I are at the lake on our very first day out with our brand new Sunsetter VLX. I shout out to my wife to get ready to throw out the anchor, anchor buddy and long line of rope connected to the stern with a spring clip. Waiting at the throttle and steering wheel to get close enough to shore so I could shut down the engine, jump out and take the bow line into shore I call for her to toss the anchor. She hesitates... I say toss it..she hesitates and says oh well and tosses the anchor, anchor buddy and stern line into the drink without the clip attached. Down goes $100 worth of new anchor equipment right to the bottom of the lake. How the clip became unclipped is still a mystery to me because I remember clipping the thing to the stern.

I'd made this maneuver may times before without a mishap but with old equipment. Maybe there's a new equipment fairy out there looking for a laugh.

Sorry to hear of your sad tale of woe but looks like we all have them.

SAS

I lost 2 anchors and anchor buddys that way. Somehow they snap off.....

[NorCaliBu]

How the clip became unclipped is still a mystery to me because I remember clipping the thing to the stern.

I lost 2 anchors and anchor buddys that way. Somehow they snap off.....

Doesn't anyone outside of Nor Cal use a mooring bouy?

[Baddog]

How the clip became unclipped is still a mystery to me because I remember clipping the thing to the stern.

I lost 2 anchors and anchor buddys that way. Somehow they snap off.....

Doesn't anyone outside of Nor Cal use a mooring bouy?

Don't know about anybody else, but I tie up to a dock.

[Ronnie]

How the clip became unclipped is still a mystery to me because I remember clipping the thing to the stern.

I lost 2 anchors and anchor buddys that way. Somehow they snap off.....

Doesn't anyone outside of Nor Cal use a mooring bouy?

I've got one, never use it.

[mrothwell]

My wife and I are at the lake on our very first day out with our brand new Sunsetter VLX. I shout out to my wife to get ready to throw out the anchor, anchor buddy and long line of rope connected to the stern with a spring clip. Waiting at the throttle and steering wheel to get close enough to shore so I could shut down the engine, jump out and take the bow line into shore I call for her to toss the anchor. She hesitates... I say toss it..she hesitates and says oh well and tosses the anchor, anchor buddy and stern line into the drink without the clip attached. Down goes $100 worth of new anchor equipment right to the bottom of the lake. How the clip became unclipped is still a mystery to me because I remember clipping the thing to the stern.

I'd made this maneuver may times before without a mishap but with old equipment. Maybe there's a new equipment fairy out there looking for a laugh.

Sorry to hear of your sad tale of woe but looks like we all have them.

SAS

If I'm not mistaken, that's how the S.S. Minnow got marooned on the Island.