Boating lessons......(no smiley for "know it all greenhorn":lol:

[Wayne in BC]

By the mid 60's my experience with boating had taken a big step up from borrowed, rented, or salvaged and also leaky rowboats when our family acquired a 14-1/2 ft aluminum with an actual windshield and a 35 HP Chrysler, WOW! It would actually pull a waterskier which i quickly attempted to become.
Not real difficult to learn if you could get by being dragged a 1/4 mile half out of the water! I believe the only reason we could learn was that many of the ski's in those days were as wide as a snowboard is now! Once i got by that and tried to deal with the typical inferiority complex that came from watching people with money rip around in bigger boats that had huge 60+ HP motors it was time to step up.

I had gotten to be a pretty good hand at boat driving, heck nothing to this! Two foot itus had me still firmly in its grip though and after working a few months way up north in the oil patch, the money was barely there so my folks and i cooperated on purchasing a 16 ft fiberglass with a (drumroll!) 55 HP Chrysler! Now we were a force to be reckoned with on the lake, pulling not one but TWO skiers! Ok, one was my little sister who weighed maybe 80 lbs and it still took some dragging

What was really in my mind though was fishing, not just out on the lake but "up north" on a certain special lake that had only one road to it where there was a public beach well used by locals. The really exciting part about this lake, some 20 miles long was that the far end had a couple small rivers entering it, that at their mouths provided awesome Walleye and Pike fishing not found at the near end, sound familiar?

Well now that we had a boat that could take rougher water, in my mind at least, it was time to go slay some of those big fish. My buddy Grant had been there years before and attested to the quality of the fishing, i was hooked, lets go! We agreed that a hundred mile drive, 40 of it on poorish gravel roads was not going to give us much fishing time in a day, so we would camp there for a couple days. Plans were made and we left on a friday night, round about 9 pm. Yep "night", ever try to set up a big old heavy canvas tent at 3 am after 6 hours of being lost for half the time? We were young and that was a minor setback.....

We were up bright and early (two hours later) to launch the boat. That done i carried gear and food to the boat while Grant parked the car and trailer. I got one last load of food and goodies to the boat to see Grant standing by it with an amused look on his face....it took only a moment for me to see what he was smirking about, the boat was sitting mighty low with the water darn close to being over the stern! As i began kinda running in circles and panicking, he said, did you forget the plug?
Plug? What plug? Said i, and he explained that there was a plug that went in the stern that looked like a thermos stopper.....then i remembered! I have no idea why it went out of my mind but it did, i had left it out to drain the rainwater when it sat at home.

So, now what to do? The boat would not sink further as it was tied to the dock and no way we could move it back on the trailer. I got in gingerly and felt around in a foot or so of water under the rear seats, found the plug and inserted it then started bailing while several other people at the dock laughed behind their hands It is darn tough to bail out a boat that has a closed in rear area and was taking time when Grant said, OK fire her up and lets go! I said no way! We will sink! He said nah just trust me, we will get going and i will pull the plug. Well i sure argued with that idea and he explained that the water would go out on its own when we got some speed up, i reluctantly agreed and started the motor although i sure hated to take off the dock lines cause with both of us and gear, that boat was mighty low in the water still

It took the better part of a 1/2 mile to get up to even 7 or 8 mph with the motor wide open and the nose in the air while i sweated and worried! When Grant reached under the back to pull the plug i was quietly panicking but in a very long minute the boat began to pick up speed and soon was roaring along empty of water. Relief! Grant put the plug back in and we were going fishing but i knew this incident would not be soon forgotten, thats 40 years ago now and he still mentions it occasionally

We were back with several big Walleye, a couple nearly 8 lbs, by 2 pm, we would have been back sooner but a wind blew up and the 40 minute trip up the lake took 2 1/2 hours of splash crash coming back! Contrary to what i thought, that darn boat just wasn't big enough.....none of them ever are, still......
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[Ron J]

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[Rob/Windsor Ont.]

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[Royal]

I had a buddy years ago, Dallas Adkins was his name. He lived on a local lake and the water at the end of his dock was about fifteen feet deep. He was like a lot of fools and when water skiing he would just keep the plug out to keep the boat drained from the splashing and such. He was stupid that way I guess.

He had been out with his boat and came in for lunch. They tied the bow to the end of the dock and went in the house. They came out later and the boat was gone! They walked out on the dock and there it was. About two feet of rope and a little of the bow. The other end was setting on the bottom.

When you were telling the story I just knew what was gonna happen, but I was wrong.

I thought it was what happened to me one time.

My first wife and my inlaws and I were on a fishing trip to upper Michigan in the early 60's. We drove back to this wonderful bass lake. At least it had been when my mother in law grew up in the area.

We were fishing from shore and not catching diddly. Man I walked around half that dang lake and cast my arm off and came up with nothing.

I was working my way back and saw a guy wandering down to the lake on an interception course.

He said, "Hows the fishing? Any luck?" I told him the fishing sucked. He told me that the fishing will be better in the next few days. I asked why he said that?

He said that they had poisoned the lake out and were gonna restock the thing the next day or so, I can't rememeber which

 

[Micheal_R]

Was going out to the Race for a dive and remembered 1/2 way that the plug was out. However, we were up and planing so my but put it in for me.

calm seas

M

 

[Sunny]

we did the same thing the very first time we put it in the water. I think Scott remembered before we had actually had it off the trailer!

I loved to water ski when I was younger, and still would today if not for the arthritis. I did get to teach all three of my girls, and two of my grandsons. I am not one just to boat ride, but I do love that fishing!

Funny story Wayner!

 

[Wayne in BC]

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[Dan-MO]

Although I have never admitted it till this moment!

At least you caught some good fish!

 

[Royal]

it seems that it would have been easier to use your hand though

The make a valve that just shoves in, in place of the stopper though and that is what I eventually bought. It would drain any water when you were under way but is one way.

 

[VT Dave]

left the plug out again Those are the trips that burn themselves into the ole memory bank. Thanks for opening the vault!

Dave

 

[Wayne in BC]

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[Royal]

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[Wayne in BC]

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[Terry B]

Back in '89 My wife and I had just bought our first brand new boat - a 20' Baretta V-8 fish/ski open bow. First big outing was a camping trip to Trinity lake west of Redding, CA. All went well the day we arrived, but it rained heavily all night long, and next day the boat was real sluggish and wouldn't blast out of the water up on plane at all. Several tries and nothing. This thing normally leaped out on plane in just a couple of seconds, so I knew something was amiss.

My wife suggested checking for water in the bottom, and presto, we had a swimming pool down there. The bilge pump worked quite a while to drain it. The ugly part was looking down in the water next to our boat that morning to see someone else's laying on the bottom. When we came in for lunch, they were just loading it on their trailer. They looked really tired from fighting with it all morning. I forgot the plug only once, and caught it before things got serious. However, forgetting to raise the outdrive before pulling out can be embarrassing also. And forgetting to lower the outdrive before gassing it will point the bow at the moon and throw water eveywhere at first.

Terry B

 

[Wayne in BC]

there are a bunch of railbirds leaning over the dock coaching

 

[Sunny]

into the water to either launch it, or load it back up. I have watched this site many many times over the years, all the yelling and carrying on (from the man of course).

We girls cannot help it if we are not good at backing up trailers. I have tried and tried, and no matter what I do, I just don't get the hang of it! My daughter rides horses, and can it very well since she messes with the horse trailer all the time!

Anyway, just something else that just doesn't click with me!

 

[Terry B]

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