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I know boats - 2

Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 2:42 pm
by nomad
I am in the market for a boat upgrade and have been looking around for a month or so.

I had looked at several boats and had a test drive of one. Today was my turn to test drive another new one as a comparison

To protect the innocent, the names have been changed. The driver will be called Flipper
All else is legit as it happened. Remember, I wasn’t driving :twisted:


Arrived at the dealers at the prearranged time. All the safety gear was loaded on board and off we wnet to East Arm ramp to launch the unit.

Did the usual checks and we were off. Warmed up the motor and went out thru the channel near the island

We were about 1.5 kms from the ramp I said it looks like it’s a bit bow high.
‘Driver’ said “It might just be the height of the motor. If it’s too high we just lower it a bit. Ill check it”
Me “How do you test that “
‘Driver’ “Just give it a hard turn and if it cavitates, it’s too high”
MC “Ok give it to her’ I grabbed the rails in anticipation
There was a small chop - nothing to write home about
The ‘Driver’ lowered the speed and did a tight turn, although not full lock – the side rail/chine dug in as we his a bit of chop.
The boat went up on its side and ‘Driver’ then turned further into the turn instead of correcting the ‘oversteer’ :bonk:

‘Fuggin Hell’ I thought. Fark.
As quick as a flash, ‘Driver’ went straight over the gunnel quickly followed by yours truly.
My swan dive was a 1 1/2 twist with 1/2 pike thrown in. Level of difficulty 8 out of 10

All happened seemingly in slow motion

We were both in the drink. :titanic:
‘Driver’ bobbed up first and I followed soon after a few m away
‘Ohhh fu$@’ we both said in unison .
Next thing the boat roared back into life again, farted and cavitated till the prop got traction and quickly disappeared in a straight line into the distance. :(

I remember thinking to myself “gee, from this angle that thing rides really well ” then reality kicked it – Ah fugg, Im not in it!!!! Life jackets etc. are safely on board.

Ok we are now both alone in the water, in the middle of the harbour with the tide running out! I couldnt find anything with which to stab the former driver :hunting:

So we decided to swim for a marker buoy around 500m away. Slowly treading water and aiming at the buoy but it was getting further away as the tide was taking us out

The former ‘Driver’ says “Fu$&, we’re not going to make it, I cant swim that far” he says.
Me “we’ll be ok, just tread water and the tide will take us close to the wharf” (all the time I’m shitting myself about the bitey/stingy/spikey things I've seen in the harbour) :croc:

Then I saw the boat (formerly occupied by 2 people) started to do a big turn and headed back towards us. I thought ‘that would be right, survived this only to be smashed by the boat and chopped up by the prop”

We saw a couple of boats around a km away but they kept going, oblivious to our plight.

After what seemed like hours (probably ½ hr), a boat loomed in the distance a boat was getting bigger and bigger. We could only see the splashes coming from the hull. My hat had floated when we went over.
We waved our hats around and then the new boat turned and headed directly towards us.
They picked us up and we went looking for the test boat.

Along the way, I asked how they knew to look for us. She told us that they were fishing away on a spot a few kms away and this ‘fugging lunatic was coming straight at us full noise”
The boss said to her hubby, geez I hope they turn soon. Then the boat went past them they could see there was no one on board so they started looking for the MOB,

After a short trip, we found the boat beached about 10 m out of the water up a mud beach.
They dropped us off with some water and headed back fishing.
‘Driver’ says sorry etc..
I said “oh that’s ok, it’s not your fault. Hang on, it was your fault” (just to make him feel good)

A big thanks to Duckey and Mrs Duckey for picking us up. (the driver owes you a few beers)
8) :drinking8:
The tide was about an hr from dead low so we waited a few hrs for it to turn and give us some water under us.
Another boat came past and asked if we were ok. “Got any water” – they gave us a few litres and headed off. As they left they told us to keep away from water because there was a ‘fugging big croc’ just around the corner. He had smashed up their crab post and chased them while they were fishing, so they moved spots.

A few ph calls later (the driver's phone was still on the boat along with all of the other safety gear) the dealer came to our rescue and we managed to skull drag the stranded boat back into the water.

Absolutely no damage to the hull because it was still on the plane when it hit the mud/sand. It just left a small keel mark up the sand. Small ding on the prop was all that was visible

Finally got the boat going again and got to do my test drive -After 5 hrs in the harbour
I was back on dry land.

In 30 odd years of boating, I've never worn a lanyard cut off but this was a wake up
If the driver was wearing his lanyard, the boat would have stopped a few metres away and we could have climbed back on and kept going.

This could have ended entirely differently but I can laugh about it now


So - who wears a lanyard?

Re: I know boats - 2

Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 3:22 pm
by Agent86
geez mate, bit scary!!!

Used to wear a lanyard all the time down south in the rougher seas off WA and Rottnest etc, but havn't worn it much up here,
Might be a good thing to teach the kids though!!

Re: I know boats - 2

Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 3:35 pm
by sheps
i do from now on

Re: I know boats - 2

Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 4:01 pm
by DOUG
Real lucky no one was killed bye a speeding boat luckily the people who seen it picked up on no one on board probably good thing it headed away from the wharf area how did it happen was it a tiler steer or what ?? And the throttle didn't snap back or was it a steering wheel jobby ?? It would be hard to be thrown out holding a steering wheel I would have thought ??? So did you buy the boat ??

Re: I know boats - 2

Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 6:47 pm
by GoodLookinPete
I have one of those glove clips you buy from safety gear shops, just clip it to the back of my pants, never gets in the way.

Re: I know boats - 2

Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 7:12 pm
by steele
Brother and i used to fish commercial live trout out of mackay and his tiller came off at full noise in a gutter out on the hard line..Saw his dory doing doughnuts on the way back to the main boat and went to investigate and found him bobbing about 1km away being pushed outside. He was pretty shook up but glad i found him. We rammed the dory n he climbed aboard and we went back to the main boat. Pretty scary...I always wear a lanyard offshore now as does he.

Re: I know boats - 2

Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 7:20 pm
by nikoniko
I figure if you are wearing one you wont need it :bonk:

Re: I know boats - 2

Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 7:40 pm
by cjgp
Lucky days mate, lucky days. Glad you survived it.

Did the motor go bang when it ran itself dry sitting up a mud bank going half noise? Ir is there some gizmo in them that turns them off when its got no water?

I will now (when I get a boat) start wearing a lanyard!

Chris

Re: I know boats - 2

Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 8:36 pm
by cjgp
Lucky days mate, lucky days. Glad you survived it.

Did the motor go bang when it ran itself dry sitting up a mud bank going half noise? Ir is there some gizmo in them that turns them off when its got no water?

I will now (when I get a boat) start wearing a lanyard!

Chris

Re: I know boats - 2

Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 9:23 pm
by Pecheur
Gee Nomad,

You must have been happy when you saw the boat coming to rescue you guys...
Did you ask the dealer how much of a discount he was going to give you for not telling any names?
:wink: :lol:

Have a good day,
Pecheur

Re: I know boats - 2

Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 10:22 pm
by olfart
always have it clipped to me shirt pocket buttonhole while under way. Did the'nomad'years ago, but motor was hard over and she was doin slow donuts so i managed to get back on again. Lesson learned.. Why didn't the throttle go to idle when he let go??

Re: I know boats - 2

Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 8:41 am
by maxpower
bl..dy hell I bet youre not so interested in spending your hard earned at that dealer now. If they reckon they know enough about boats to take a buyer for a test drive then they should know how to drive one. Sounds like a bulshit artist came unstuck to me. Lucky for you things didn't end up worse. I should start using that little clip....

Did the motor shut itself off before it cooked?

Re: I know boats - 2

Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 11:05 am
by nomad
I realise that i am very very lucky and yes Im glad that I can tell the story and now laugh about it.
When the boat first took off it started heading for the big Paspaley mothership in the creeks.
I was worried about the boat crashing into someone but my concerns soon shifted to my plight.
I was hoping it wouldnt hit anyone and it didnt

The engine has a cut off when it runs dry but I dont know how long it took for it to stop as i wasnt there :lol:
. It fired up ok when we finally got it back into the water.
The prop was slightly dinged but not mark on the engine.

I was amazed that the hull had no damage. Probably because it was sitting on the plane and when it ran up the mud/sand beach, there was just a small skid mark in the beach where it went up on the keel
To be honest, I was impressed that the hull suffered no damage. I dont think it was a sudden jolting stop but a rapidly decrease in speed when it hit the beach.
I am getting that boat hull but they are putting a new motor on (which is what i;m paying for)

I haven't named the dealer brand or driver for obvious reasons.
The boat was a steering wheel job, not tiller

Im so glad I am alive to tell the story. :clap:
None of my mates believed me until I told them who the driver was :lol: :lol: :lol:

The dealer has been good. I think they have changed their procedures since then :bonk:

Im picking it up nest week.
Now I just have to think of a name
nomadless?
beached
Fuggin-lucky-carns :D
Gone swimmin

Re: I know boats - 2

Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 11:27 am
by Faulksy
Scary stuff, be easy to get thrown out if you hit a log or similar in one of the big rivers. Might sart wearing one I reckon

Re: I know boats - 2

Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 1:19 pm
by DOUG
Make sure you post a photo of the rigg the day you pick it up