Biggest Mistake You've Made With Your Boat ?

[SkiTundra]

Thinking about the new guy post below... Thought about posting my list here first but it's rather long and maybe others will post the same mistakes I've made saving me the embarrassment and bruise to my fragile ego of posting that I've done it.

[crowland]

RE: Biggest Mistake You

A few years ago I thought it would be a good idea to save some time and not empty the water out of the fat sacks before trailering the boat home. Results - broke leaf spring, bent axle, a flat tire and some gel coat damage. Luckily this was before i purchased my nautique.

[snowboardcorey]

I sold my boat (78' Ski Tique) to a buddy who did some "fixing" on it. He calls me up and we take the boat out to see how she runs. I drive the boat off the trailer, he jumps in and we motor out under the bridge and into the lake when I notice the temp guage is pegged, I tell him and he goes white, he yells "get to shore, fast"

I end up beaching the boat in someones back yard and feel water all around my feet.

Turns out he disconnect the hose from the through hull when he was "fixing" the boat and he never hooked it back up. Almost seized the engine AND sank it!

[BPSKI]

Out surfing last year and hit a shallow spot we didn't know about. Sheared off the rudder and bent all the blades on the prop in half. Luckily we were going slow enough that there was no strut or fiberglass damage. It made a sound that I will never forget.

[jpduster]

Only a minor mishap, but a friend learned that its best to attach the anchor to the boat if you want it to work or have any chance of retrieving it. ha ha

[niagararob]

One of the first times winterizing I forgot about the importance of the transmission cooler ( wasn't going to be shifting from forward into reverse anyway ) and hooked up the hose feeding the impeller, downline from the tranny rad, ( because it was easier ) . Half way through next summer, reverse was slipping a little. Had to have it rebuilt that winter for 600$.

[Andrew]

i know i'm not the only one that has forgotten to put the plug in right? lol
in my defense, i had passed the responsibility on to a passenger, but as the owner i feel obligated to take full responsibility for adding lots of unwanted ballast

[SkiTower]

i know i'm not the only one that has forgotten to put the plug in right? lol
in my defense, i had passed the responsibility on to a passenger, but as the owner i feel obligated to take full responsibility for adding lots of unwanted ballast

a buddy was selling a MC and the ONLY time he forgot the plug was on the demo drive with the eventual buyer!

[DWhitt]

I somehow forgot to close the engine hatch before pulling out of the garage. It caught the door and snapped it off. Fortunately I only had to replace the gas shocks and some screws. I felt pretty dumb.

[AuMDLST]

The clamshell in our 2005 206 TE had those rubber "tie downs" inside the engine area. Never thought about it but the entire cover and floor piece connected to it came out on the highway. Poor guy in the brand new ford following us - looked like he drove into a wall. $1800

[Teleman]

Murky water with the depth finder not installed yet. Mother-in-law says, "Can we go to shore so I can pee?". Like a nice son-in-law I do......Go till you hear the bang....Okay, you'll have to swin from here, I said. I was able to bend things back but vowed to never do that again. Even for mother-in-law.

[2gofaster]

2 weeks ago we were out on Lake Conroe and had our boats beached. I had my big sand anchor tied to the stern and anchored out on a 35 lead rope behind the boat to keep the boat from being slid sidways by the waves. When we decided to leave I pulled it in and set it on the platform and then the people in the water next to me said something and I forgot to bring it into the boat. So my friends take off and I jump in the driver's seat and haul *** after them. I accelerate up into their wake about 150 feet back and the PP sets the speed at 34 and I see my friends in the boat ahead of me pointing. That's when I look over my shoulder and see that big *** sand anchor 35 feet up in the air swinging on the downward side of a big arc. **** thing lands in the water about 3 feet to the side of me and before I can pull power off, the rope tightens and it shoots out of the water again and is 35 feet above my head coming back down. I yank the power back and steer hard left and it fell harmlessly in front and to the right of the boat this time. But ****, that was close!

[SkiTundra]

First day on the water in our new 211 and on a lake I was only mildly familiar with. I had 3 lake maps to make sure I knew where any underwater danger was. Cruising around, been on the lake about 30 minutes, crunch, crackle, shutter (boat and me). We'd hit a pile of rocks. They weren't on either of the 2 maps I'd just been looking at. Yep, they were on the 3rd that I hadn't been paying much attention to since it was a small undetailed fisherman's map. Fortunately it was just the prop that was damaged and every boater needs a spare anyway...

[Teleman]

That's scary!!!!......I did almost the same thing with my boat. The anchor didn' fall off the platform though. When I remembered it, my stomech went to my throught. I went to the back of the boat and pulled it in. Never to do that again. When you pull the anchor in.....PULL THE ANCHOR IN.

[Quinner]

This summer handed my car keys to my unnamed buddy, he was jumping into TRBenj's boat going to shore and was going to bring my trailer around, as TR pulled along side knuckles reached for his boat and dropped my keys, DOHH. Lucky GM cuts key's from VIN #'s, had a new key less then an hour later. And yes, the key was on a float along with a remote, gas and hatch keys, too much weight so they sank.