Anyone else admit to an OOPSIE!

Not 'tin' but my skiff is! Man oh' man ... I sure got LUCKY on this one! Now THIS will wake you up ... !

Now I have never set an 'anchor alarm' whilst staying on a 'known' mooring in the 50+ years of running my own boats (at least those with cabins for sleeping), even though GPS Chart Plotters haven't been in use for all that time.

Last FRI night I ran down river in the dark @ 8pm, picked up a friend's mooring that he has set out for his 40' Grand Banks trawler (which had been moored out there ALL this past season!!!), and went to sleep early to get up to head offshore fishing @ 5am. I have a good 6 to 8-mile run downriver - tide dependent (9+ foot tides here) - so here I was closer to the bay entrance, < a mile away, further down rivah.

Sometime during the night the mooring tackle to the mooring broke/let go ... and adrift I was! Thank God I had 1st floated back up-rivah a few hundred yards on the incoming tide, where a very slight breeze pushed me in towards shore - where it is all mud banks and sea grass/marsh. Somehow I ended up being left 'bow 1st' in this tiny creek, pushed there with the then switched falling out-going tide.

I still cannot believe that I settled up there PERFECTLY centered in that tiny creek that was only 2-3' wide by the motor. It is shown trimmed up here, but she was left trimmed down for the night., in case of emergencies, yada yada. It was 5am when I woke up - a rude awakening - but no one was hurt and ZERO damage ... and no one took pictures, LOL !!!! , less me. And according to my SmartWatch, I had the best night's sleep score ever! Never heard or felt a thing and a light sleeper I am ...

Thankfully the afternoon high tide was a good foot higher and I easily floated back off just after noontime, just by using a stern anchor that I had set out 40' to the stern, off the port-side cleat.

Somewhat embarrassing, but I thought the Crew here would enjoy the photos!







Show above with with the tide ~3/4 of the way up …

For perspective, that 'little hump' or island you see over the stern out in the entrance of the bigger inlet was about 8' across and 7-8' tall, about the size of a new 4-door Jeep CJ! At dead low there was a good 20' of mud all around it.

It is a lifetime of "oops" that make us wise men when we are older! Sometimes I wonder how old that is?

Glad everything worked out.

Look at the bright side, you are smarter now. You have learned not to trust the mooring tackle.

The river God's were with you that is a very skinny creek and to see how mother nature put you there, well count your blessings, Dude!
We all learn from our "oops" I'm touching 71 now and while contemplating my life fishing I sometimes wonder just how I survived those "oops" tight lines and great story / read.

I’ll admit to someone else’s oops. A buddy pulled his 28’ cruiser out of a large local lake with the outdrive down. When he noticed that it wasn’t setting level he backed down the ramp to better center it. It broke the outdrive off and ripped a huge hole in the hull.

He isn’t new to boating, just had major brain fart.

I have more than a few "oops" in my fishing life, the one that stands out the most is when my wife and I took our boat out for some fishing and I forgot to put the plug in the boat, heard the bilge pump running so I looked and the back end was down with water almost over the fuel tank; well I grabbed the plug went overboard and put it in as this boat only accepted plugs from the back end of the boat. Embarrassed me to say the least that I could have put her in jeopardy because of my oversight, has never happened again, I guess I learned a great lesson and was lucky I had the plug with me!
It happens to us all I guess!

Admitting to your mistakes is a freeing experience. You just have to be careful WHO you admit them to, as some people aren't worth confiding in.

Glad you were able to float off without issue.

HEY, a good night's sleep is worth it!

thill said:

Admitting to your mistakes is a freeing experience. You just have to be careful WHO you admit them to, as some people aren't worth confiding in.

Glad you were able to float off without issue.

HEY, a good night's sleep is worth it!

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well, it was back in 1984 and has never happened since, I got rid of that boat because it only took plugs on the outside and now I have a boat where I can put plug from inside and outside for double the fun, lol
Feels much safer having 2 boat plugs in the hull... I also use 2 bilge pumps; one automatic / float and another manual operated as I fish off shore a lot of the time so extra precautions are in my opinion needed!

Stopped counting my woopsies many years back, to much strain on my old brain.....however I have learned a bunch by making them !!

FYI, I found some top-rated “Anchor Alarm” apps for iPhones, where one of the best is FREE!

Set it for say a 100’ radius zone (I’ll need for tidal saltwaters … ) & if your phone goes outside that zone - your phone alarm goes off - sweet!

Does actually taking possession of a boat count as an "oopsie"?

Roger

David Atkins said:

I have more than a few "oops" in my fishing life, the one that stands out the most is when my wife and I took our boat out for some fishing and I forgot to put the plug in the boat, heard the bilge pump running so I looked and the back end was down with water almost over the fuel tank; well I grabbed the plug went overboard and put it in as this boat only accepted plugs from the back end of the boat. Embarrassed me to say the least that I could have put her in jeopardy because of my oversight, has never happened again, I guess I learned a great lesson and was lucky I had the plug with me!
It happens to us all I guess!

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Happened to me just a few years ago. Been boating or involved with boats since I was a kid. So nearly 40 years at the time.

I was also a USCG licensed marine engineer.

Launched without putting the plug in. Never left dock, thankfully, but water was over the batteries before I parked and came back.

airshot said:

Stopped counting my woopsies many years back, to much strain on my old brain.....however I have learned a bunch by making them !!

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Amen, me as well; makes us better and safer while we are fishing!

David Atkins said:

I have more than a few "oops" in my fishing life, the one that stands out the most is when my wife and I took our boat out for some fishing and I forgot to put the plug in the boat, heard the bilge pump running so I looked and the back end was down with water almost over the fuel tank; well I grabbed the plug went overboard and put it in as this boat only accepted plugs from the back end of the boat. Embarrassed me to say the least that I could have put her in jeopardy because of my oversight, has never happened again, I guess I learned a great lesson and was lucky I had the plug with me!
It happens to us all I guess!

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And I’ll bet that you still hear about from time to time. Women never forget that type of thing.

Still Afloat said:

And I’ll bet that you still hear about from time to time. Women never forget that type of thing.

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Nope, never said a word after that day!

I had a 10' hydroplane with a 25 merc on the back. One day went out with a buddy jumping wakes and forgot to tighten the motor mounts. The prop caught while the engine was turned to port and bam, the engine was 6' deep only hanging on by the steering cable and fuel line. We managed to get the engine back on the boat and get a tow home. With a little embow action I got the engine running again. But that was an oppsie for sure!

Did you ever notice that it takes twice as long for the water to drain back out than it did for it to fill the boat when you forget the drain plug(s). I figured I would test that theory one day. I was wondering why the boat was struggling to get on plane, the extra water weight really bogs it down! Just last Sunday someone at the ramp forgot their plug and had to drain the boat as other people started showing up.

If you can get your boat moving, it will suck that water out pretty quick ! Especially if the bilge pump is running as well....I have tested that on more than one ocassion !

Had a fellow ask me today where I learned so much about boats and boating. Told him I came by it the hard way, that my family started boating about the time I was born, 14ft wooden runabout, and over the many decades we have made just about every mistake you can make short of completely sinking or hitting another boat at speed.