10 dumbest boating things I have seen

[Baddog]

Okay, one more dumb thing that I have witnessed and been a part of. Pre BU days, I owned a boat with a 150 hp Mercury outboard. After a day of skiing I trailered the boat and pulled it up on the ramp a bit. There was no one in line to get in or out of the water so I started pulling stuff from my boat, checking the trailer, etc. I handed my buddy a large flat screwdriver and asked him to pull the plug from the back of the boat to let the water drain (had the old screw type nylon plug). A couple of minutes went by and he asked, "what is this brown milky looking stuff coming out?" I went back and found that he had removed the oil drain plug from the lower unit. No real harm as the engine wasn't running and I could add more oil, but I learned not to assume that everyone knows what they are doing around boats.....not even the simplest of things.

Actually, quite a few people have no clue what they are doing around boats, if the idiots at my lake are any indication.

[wienrdog]

How about hauling down a river type lake on a Saturday afternoon at between 80 & 90 MPH. It wasn't too crowded that we couldn't tube, but things happen so fast & running that fast just makes them happen faster.

[The Garslayer]

Ok...here is mine and I have pics but I will need to load them up later...

Both involve power turns

- towing 3 kneeboarders at once in a busy cove. 1 rider falls; the driver power turns to go get the fallen rider...leaving the 2 other riders flying thru the air.

- towing tubers with 2 - 3 ppl on board; lose 1 rider. Power turn, 2nd rider falls...now u have 2 in the water, major wakes in both directions. Driver chili dips the bow...blah blah blah...

generally for me it is unsafe practices and stupidity on the water. Some folks are just not educated about boating etiquette and safety; and while others simply do not care. Sometimes it is funny and sometimes it scares the heck out of me...

[krward]

Think this post has been beat to death but I will add one more. Allowing an inexperienced boat driver to drop an inexperienced skier off by the house boat at powell. The skier WAS my neighbor and he signaled to the driver he was done skiing (why he didn't let go when he was tired is the question we all want to know). Driver headed back towards shore line and the house boat. Driver figured he needed to speed up to make sure the skier got close enough. The boat driver cut way to close to the house boat doing at least 30+ mph. Skier let go way too late and slammed into the side of the house boat. He was dead before anyone on shore could even get to him.

Even as an experienced skier doing this type of stuff just isn't worth it.

Edited June 12, 2007 by krward

[srud]

Think this post has been beat to death but I will add one more. Allowing an inexperienced boat driver to drop an inexperienced skier off by the house boat at powell. The skier WAS my neighbor and he signaled to the driver he was done skiing (why he didn't let go when he was tired is the question we all want to know). Driver headed back towards shore line and the house boat. Driver figured he needed to speed up to make sure the skier got close enough. The boat driver cut way to close to the house boat doing at least 30+ mph. Skier let go way too late and slammed into the side of the house boat. He was dead before anyone on shore could even get to him.

Even as an experienced skier doing this type of stuff just isn't worth it.

OMG!

[The Garslayer]

Think this post has been beat to death but I will add one more. Allowing an inexperienced boat driver to drop an inexperienced skier off by the house boat at powell. The skier WAS my neighbor and he signaled to the driver he was done skiing (why he didn't let go when he was tired is the question we all want to know). Driver headed back towards shore line and the house boat. Driver figured he needed to speed up to make sure the skier got close enough. The boat driver cut way to close to the house boat doing at least 30+ mph. Skier let go way too late and slammed into the side of the house boat. He was dead before anyone on shore could even get to him.

Even as an experienced skier doing this type of stuff just isn't worth it.

OMG, that is horrible...

[jpk]

Worst thing I've ever seen is moron boaters crossing between a fallen rider and their tow boat. Maybe the occaisional boat pulling a rider in a completely careless or reckless pattern.

But jeez, some of these stories are crazy scary. Yet given what any one of us observes on the water on any major holiday, none actually seem far fetched. I think I'm going to make a new resolution to avoid the water on major holidays and never board if I do happen to be out on one of these days. This thread now has me officially scared sh--less of novice drunk boaters and those types seem to be in the majority on holidays and weekends.

[CLOUT1]

Along the same lines as the gas & pay sea-doo idiot...there was a piece on the news last summer that some guy in Boston Harbor/Cape, I forget where put $300+ of gas in his boat so he thought...how about your rod holder on the side of your boat. HAZMAT was called in to clean up the situation!!!!!! Nice work buddy...

[mtodd]

I was reminded by my better half of an accident that happened on you guessed it a holiday weekend. 4 14-16 year olds were on 2 jet skis and were riding around with each other. Both were out for the first time, spent time jumping boat wakes etc. Then they had the great idea of jumping each other. 1 died the other was paralyzed and the other two have to live the rest of their life with that one.

This memorial day we also picked up 2 people who had fallen off of a jetski. The wind had picked up and it started to rain. They couldn't catch up to their jet ski which was downwind. So they had the brilliant idea of taking off their life vest so they could swim faster. They were lucky we came by, the girl was struggling and was halfway between the boyfriend and the jetski (approx 40 yds) and we picked her up, then we got him out of the water, he was holding both life vest and the key for the jet ski. I asked if she made it back to the jet ski how was she going to get back to him since he had the key? Got this look in response

[tgaugh]

I have witnessed some of the following:

#1) Driver had two little girls sharing a tube, one fell off and driver power turned like mad to get back causing the other one to fly out in the lake.

#2) Driver launched boat without releasing winch strap from bow eye, could not figure out why the boat would not move.

#3) Driver got hit head on by another boat at closed throttle (not other boat) then proceeded to exit boat from transom to beat up other boat all the while not watching where drivers boat was going after slamming into the guardrail of channel.

#4) Driver chased other boat down to beat up driver for being unsafe, then proceeded to film other boat taking pictures of driver and swerved after them so they could get hull id all the while laughing at other boat trying to flag down help.

#5) Driver launched boat without plug, proceeded to sink boat at cove outside launch.

[88Skier]

I'm on a big lake, and always see boats with bow rails, cruising along pretty fast, with kids on sitting on the deck with their feet hanging over the side, and holding onto the bow rail. I guess that's why bow riders were invented.

[vlxjeff]

I didn't see this one, but it happened yesterday.

Link to the story

Man run over by jet ski at Bidwell Marina

BY PAULA M. FELIPE/Public Safety Reporter

Oroville Mercury Register

Article Launched:06/13/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT

A man riding an inner tube being pulled by a motorboat was run over by a jet ski that was following him on Monday.

At about 4:30 p.m. a 9-1-1 call to the Emergency Command Center reported a jet ski accident occurred at the Bidwell Marina near the Loafer Creek swim area.

California State Parks and Recreation Officer Taylor and CAL FIRE/Butte County Fire's firefighters/emergency medical technicians from Station 64 in Kelly Ridge responded to the scene.

Two vessels led by Officer Taylor and Aquatics Ranger Selbo from California State Parks and Recreation ferried the rescuers to the injured man in the water, who was located next to the 5 mph signs near swim areas.

He was wearing a life vest and rescuers took him into their the State Parks and Recreation boat and transported him to the Bidwell Marina.

Emergency rescue personnel from CAL FIRE's Engine 55 and the Oroville City Fire Department met the patient and rescuers at the Marina dock.

The patient was taken in an ambulance to the parking lot next door at the Bidwell Marina which served as a landing zone for the FlightCare helicopter.

The trauma team at Enloe Medical Center was activated and the patient was flown to the hospital in Chico with major injuries.

"We see a sigificant spike in water-related injuries and outdoor activities during the beginning of hot weather this time of year," said CAL FIRE's Janet Upton.

The man riding in the inner tube behind the boat fell off the tube and the jet skier behind him was following too close, said Officer Taylor.

"This is considered a 'reckless and negligent' operation of the jet ski, which is covered in the Harbor and Navigations Code 655," he said.

"Jet skis do not have any brakes and cannot stop quickly. It's important for people to get some training and education about safety on the lake before going out in their boats and jet skis on the lake," Taylor said.

[naughty girl]

one chick i know was on vacation in hawaii a few years back and she was riding doubles on a jet ski. she got thrown off the back and the driver who she was riding with didn't notice . she went down into the water and as she bobbed back up, another jet skiier hit her full force from the back. she suffered skull fractures and fell into a coma and was hospitalized for over a month in hawaii before they could even transport her back to the mainland. when she woke up, she had the brain function of a two year old. she's since recovered but goes to show you the effects of alcohol in all parties involved.

[Chia]

i did not witness this but my daughter and her friend did, from the beach. a guy on a jet ski ran into the side of a boat just offshore a ways, the boat was going too fast for being so close to shore and same with the jet ski. A little girl who was riding in front of the driver was killed by the impact of the driver crushing her against the steering/dash.

I hate seeing little kids riding in front of the driver.

[MalibuBuzz]

Ok I have seen this one on more than one occasion...jet ski drives over rope and sucks the rope up the impeller....niiiiiice, huh?!

[Baddog]

I'm a jet ski rider (shh, don't tell anyone) and it saddens me to see so many pure idiots on them. Jet skis have NO business being anywhere near other boats, skiers, tubers, boaders or shore. Period. I hate to see needless legislation against jet skis, but somehow we need to weed out the idiots that ride them insanely.