So let's hear your stupidist/funniest/bizarre boating stories. I am quite positive we all have them. I have several from my childhood that are funny memories though one is my favorite.
My dad had a 17' bowrider for many years when i was a kid. Matter of fact, we had it since before i was born and used it in the water up until when i was about 16 when it finally gave up the ghost. Prior to fully giving up the ghost, she started having a lot of problems with rot. It had wooden stringers, etc. and the quality of the fiberglass job was not all there so we started seeing some rot problems. The wood floor (had astroturf on top of it) was rotting in several places and very soft. So, one winter Dad decides he and i will fix her up right. Right! I basically tore everything out and installed a new "subfloor" of marine grade plywood, new flooring, etc. We were pretty impressed with ourselves. Last step was putting the new screws in to put the chairs back in. That summer we take her out for a spin. We stop, drop an anchor, hop in and swim for a while. Later on we get back in and motor around. Dad happens to lift the storage compartment hatch in the middle of the boat and sees a bunch of water. We thought we had fixed all the leaks but there was a good bit in there. We were pros at this point in our boating career with that boat on how to drain her...get her about 1/2 throttle where the bow goes up to it's highest point, which pushes the water to the back, pull the drain plug while NOT slowing down the boat, and the water will quickly drain out. So we go through that usual routine and get her all drained. We stop a bit later to go swimming again. Dad decides to get a spong while we swim and reach under the boat and clean it off a bit. It was then he discovered what was causing the leak. Those new screws for the chairs...they were too long...they went right through the hull!!! When we put her back on the trailer that afternoon we found about a half dozen screws poking through the hull!! I fear that was the final nail on the coffin for that old boat...she never really saw much water time after that and was eventually carted away by some garbage hauler. She was the boat that first showed me the joys of being on the water though!!
Ok, what are your stories??!
My dad had a 17' bowrider for many years when i was a kid. Matter of fact, we had it since before i was born and used it in the water up until when i was about 16 when it finally gave up the ghost. Prior to fully giving up the ghost, she started having a lot of problems with rot. It had wooden stringers, etc. and the quality of the fiberglass job was not all there so we started seeing some rot problems. The wood floor (had astroturf on top of it) was rotting in several places and very soft. So, one winter Dad decides he and i will fix her up right. Right! I basically tore everything out and installed a new "subfloor" of marine grade plywood, new flooring, etc. We were pretty impressed with ourselves. Last step was putting the new screws in to put the chairs back in. That summer we take her out for a spin. We stop, drop an anchor, hop in and swim for a while. Later on we get back in and motor around. Dad happens to lift the storage compartment hatch in the middle of the boat and sees a bunch of water. We thought we had fixed all the leaks but there was a good bit in there. We were pros at this point in our boating career with that boat on how to drain her...get her about 1/2 throttle where the bow goes up to it's highest point, which pushes the water to the back, pull the drain plug while NOT slowing down the boat, and the water will quickly drain out. So we go through that usual routine and get her all drained. We stop a bit later to go swimming again. Dad decides to get a spong while we swim and reach under the boat and clean it off a bit. It was then he discovered what was causing the leak. Those new screws for the chairs...they were too long...they went right through the hull!!! When we put her back on the trailer that afternoon we found about a half dozen screws poking through the hull!! I fear that was the final nail on the coffin for that old boat...she never really saw much water time after that and was eventually carted away by some garbage hauler. She was the boat that first showed me the joys of being on the water though!!
Ok, what are your stories??!