32 replies to this topic

[tiggerman]

Forget the batteries and the drain plug, make sure the beer cooler is operational!!

[secord]

Too cold to put skis in the ski locker anyways, however it wouldn't be right to let it go empty...just wasted space unless we fill it up.

[tiggerman]

Exactly......

[tda3]

I'll revive this thread with a tale.

Several years back I went on a vacation trip to Florida with my now Ex and we had taken with us our SeaDoo GTX 3-seater.

Now....I've been around boats just about all my life, taken a couple of boating safety courses and advance navigation classes. I consider myself to have very good seamanship skills in both power & sailing. That is, until that day.....

The first day we take the GTX out, I go thru my normal pre-launch routine; straps off, disconnect winch strap, ensure all gear is loaded, fire the engine & pull the safety lanyard, etc. I then back the GTX into the water, take it off the trailer, fire the engine and tell the Ex to park the truck/trailer. She comes back to the ramp, I get on, then she gets on, and we start to idle away. The GTX is handling a bit odd and is listing one way then the other. Knowing how clutsy the Ex is, I ask her what the h*ll she's doing back there and to quit moving back & forth. She barks back that she's not doing anything. By now we're out of the no wake zone, so I (try to) throttle up and the GTX is acting like a pig. My analytical brain goes into high gear trying to figure out what in blue blazes is wrong.

And then it hits me. OH SH*T!! THE PLUGS!!

I turn the GTX around and praying I make it back to the ramp. The ditz behind me is frantically asking, "What's wrong? What's wrong? Are we gonna be ok?" Being the nice guy I am, I yell back, "Shut the h*ll up! We're sinking!!"

I manage to get the wallowing GTX pig back to the ramp and beach it. Get it back on the trailer, lift the seat, and it's damn near full of water. How it didn't go down is beyond me. But you know what? None of that was as bad as the crow I had to eat when the Ex opens her pie-hole and says, "See mister know-it-all. I wasn't doing anything wrong. You just forgot to put the plugs in."

I hate that.

[Kevin Leclair]

Geez thanks for the laugh, that was quite funny!

[tda3]

Geez thanks for the laugh, that was quite funny!

Thanks.

I think.

As long as I've been around boats, I've got plenty of bonehead tales either I've been responsible for or have seen.

I've often told folks that if they ever get bored on a Saturday afternoon and want some entertainment, just head on down to their local launch ramp around 6:00pm or so. Watching folks load out can be very enjoyable. And if they've been out enjoying several beers, it's even more funny.

Launching and retrieving a boat is also an excellent test of how strong a marriage is.

[Kevin Leclair]

Watching folks load out can be very enjoyable. And if they've been out enjoying several beers, it's even more funny.

Very true, we saw a guy sink his boat one day. They had a rope tied the the tow hook on the front of the bow and they were trying to pull it up with a truck. It was quite amusing.

[cAn'T sWim]

I've often told folks that if they ever get bored on a Saturday afternoon and want some entertainment, just head on down to their local launch ramp around 6:00pm or so.

too funny....I don't know how many times I have said that to people that come out on my boat or I am teaching how to launch etc....

I actually had the opportunity to do this myself one day...waiting for a bud to bring the key to my boat since I forgot it at home..... Anyway, you see some crazy Sh@! that goes on, even people that are sober. I watched some dumb arse try to get a boat going that looked like it should have been thrown into a Bonfire.....He started the stupid thing up and the throttle must have been stuck wide open or something because it shot up the boat ramp and into a Brand New F150. It opened the side of the box up like a can of Soup!!! Boy was the owner mad!!! Then we find out that he cut him off earlier in the day and they guy warned him that he was going to hurt someone!!! BONEHEAD!!!!!

[Kevin Leclair]

Bumping this topic back to the top, we need some more good stories...let's hear them!

[keviseeb]

Bumping this topic back to the top, we need some more good stories...let's hear them!

A few years ago I took a customer out in a Speedster 160 with the 240 HP EFI engine. He wanted to use the boat primarily for fishing but he also said he wanted to see if the boat really had "brakes". Naturally I told him these boats were not designed for fishing but the "brakes" worked great. We went out into the channel after waiting for a tugboat to pass by. This was about 4 o'clock on a Saturday just after a bass fishing tournament ended next door. As luck would have it I misjudged the size of the rollers the tugboat had left behind. The nose of the boat buried itself under the next roller, there must have been 18" of water coming in over the bow along with 4 dead bass discarded after the tournament. The customer acted like nothing happened, looked over at me, looked down at the 4 floating fish and quietly said, "I thought you said this thing wasn't good for fishing. Hell, I don't even need to bring a pole"!

Kevin Seeber
Kingsland Marine

[Kevin Leclair]

Wow, that is too funny!

[Frayed Knot]

A Weekend on Lake Oconee
Jun 23,2003 9:01:49 AM

Well I took my Speedster out this weekend on Lake Oconee and what a blast it was. I had been debating if I wanted to try the sub-doo move and I finally did it. I wasn't going to do it because my girlfriend was on the boat and she said "do not do it with me on here". Then one of my buddies in the back was like quit being a ***** and just do it so I was like alright here we go. First attempt got up to about 20 mph then threw it in reverse, gave it some gas and nothing really. Went back for round 2, this time took it to 30 mph then threw it in reverse, gave it some gas and sub-doo!!! Everyone was soaked, we had towels in the boat....all soaked, they were taking the towels slinging them around splashing the water that was in the boat. Took about 5 minutes of running around the lake to let the bilge pump the water out. What a blast! My girlfriend loved it after she saw how smooth it was! Well that was the funest part of my weekend on the lake, now for the bad part of my weekend.

I was out riding my buddies Yamaha Waveblaster and my buddy was down in the water so I was buzzing by him splashing him so that he couldn't get back onto his ski. Then about 10 minutes later on our ways back to the dock, DNR pulls up with the blue lights. Calls my buddy and I over to the boat and called one more guy that was with us over to the boat (he had his girl on the back of his so he wasn't really riding like we were). DNR issued us all tickets, told my buddy and I that we were in violation of the 100 ft law from one another. Then he told the other guy that he was in violation of the 100 ft law by going to fast by the dock. Now my buddies and mine were legit becasue we were really in violation but the other guys was horse crap because DNR had to have been watching us with binoculars because we didn't see them anywhere in sight while we were riding. So my question is how in the hell could they judge how far a 100 ft from the dock was when they weren't even in sight? Called this morning to check on how much the ticket is, 90 freakin' dollars.....man was I pissed! I mean I know I was in the wrong but 90 dollars, good lord I think that is a bit outrageous. DNR on Lake Oconee has nothing better to do than mess with people, I have been pulled over everyday that I have gone out there on my Speedster for safety checks or something of another. This was my first encounter of actually getting a ticket and I wasn't even on my own watercraft.

Girlfriend got pulled over for check, Then I got pulled over twice, all by the same officers in less than 2 hours. I didn't care really because I don't drink and boat and always have all my safety gear. When playing with the boat I make sure I am in the middle of the lake and no one else is nearby. The middle of the lake is safe and I'm not annoying other cottagers and boaters.

[Kevin Leclair]

Wow that is a lot of checks within that short period of time!