Life lesson learned, please read boaters.

[Bowhunter1661]

Some may read this and call me a moron or and ***** or whatever they please. By all rights, I deserve it. I made a stupid mistake that everyone here can learn from.

I went out yesterday to test my motor on the local river system. 1988 Johnson 25 on a Lowe 1440. Had made a few adjustments to the motor to test the drivability. One was changing the tilt angle. I moved the motor closer to the transom. When I took off from the launch area I got up in plane and was cruising at 30 mph. I never even felt the torque steer generated from tilting the motor in........

Then, right as the boat got to full speed I went to adjust my grip on the tiller. When I did that, my grip was loose enough to rip the handle out of my hand. The boat violently turned to the right. Then the only thing I remember is seeing the sky as I flipped over backwards into the water. I was holding my phone with one hand during the incident. Somehow I managed to hold onto my phone and also grabbed onto the side of the boat.

When I realized what had happened I was dragging in the water next to my running boat motor which was still near wot. I FORGOT TO ATTACH MY KILL LANYARD! Some how, and I have no idea how, I managed to keep my legs out of the prop as they dragged behind the speeding boat. As I came to my senses I reached up with phone still in hand and hit the kill button.

I am still shaken up. I could have been killed, dismembered, or paralyzed. I am thanking the lord above for sparing me of any injury other than a sore body and some scratches.

Please fellows, please wear you PFD, please wear your kill lanyard. Like all, I NEVER thought anything like this could happen to me. I thought to myself before, how do people get in those situations where they are run over by their boats. Now I know, things happen incredibly fast and I am extremely fortunate. I just hope someone can take something away from my experience here and not just look down on me as a fool for not following safe boating practices.

I can tell you from now on, I will always wear my PFD and kill lanyard. No matter if I am only making a short run or running full throttle for miles.

 

[nguye569]

glad you're ok! I had a similar experience this past weekend as well when I leaned over to grab something that was flopping. my brother was sitting at the bow and nearly flipped out when the steering wheel slipped outta my hand. He's not a strong swimmer, so I'm glad nothing happened as serious as your situation.

 

[Johnny]

how do people get in those situations where they are run over by their boats??
In the blink of an eye, that's how. In the blink of an eye.


GGEEEEZZZEEEEEEE dude !! this is the very same post I posted
a few weeks ago !!! Only the guy was killed. Happens so frequently
in Florida that it is becoming a serious problem with the water patrol people.


you are BLESSED !!!! Hope it saves someone elses life as well.



no, not necessarily a moron or ***** . . . this falls into the same category
as fastening the seatbelt in your car..... the wreck only happens to other people.
u n t i l - - - it is YOUR turn.

you are BLESSED - hug your family and loved ones more often

 

[overboard]

Strange how quickly things like that can happen; glad you are ok-----lesson learned!

 

[Bowhunter1661]

Yes, extremely fortunate. I just cannot even believe I was able to hold onto the boat and not get hit. All I though when I hit the water was "hold onto the boat, oh f*** keep your legs away from the motor." And by the grace of god I was able to.

My fiancé is a nurse, she was working last night at the hospital right near there. I can only image what would have happened if I had been injured or killed. Her hospital would have been the one I would be taken to.

 

[JMichael]

Wow, glad to hear you weren't injured. It's amazing how fast things like that happen. I was thrown out of my own boat earlier this year when my "friend" was running my boat as we left the ramp area and he let go of the tiller at the same time he was shifting his weight around. Luckily for me we were in a no wake zone, so we going slow, and the water was only 4' deep.

 

[earl60446]

Glad you are ok, probably not a good idea to be messing with a phone while operating the boat either. I can see IL enacting a law like that fairly soon. I am also guilty of not wearing my PFD or attaching lanyard when I should.
Tim

 

[Bowhunter1661]

Agree, I had the phone on using the GPS app for speed. Not texting and boating or anything. But either way. Looking back. I will be making a mount or buying a Ram mount for cell phones. That way when underway I can use the app and not have to hold it.

 

[Johnny]

Texting while driving ANYTHING is not good.

leaning over the stern to take a photo of the prop wash is also not a good idea.

so many situations of falling out of a boat mostly have a good outcome.
then again, others you hear about on the 6 o'clock news.

My mind still reflects on your fiance' in the ER cutting your pants off to evaluate
your mangled limbs. . . . . or worse, lifting the sheet to identify what was recovered.

so glad you had the quick wit to HANG ON !!! AND glad that you can still enjoy boating
with a much safer mindset - and to educate others how to boat safe.

 

[jasper60103]

Bowhunter1661, thanks for posting.
I go WOT sometimes in my small tiller boat.
Fortunately, the tiller never slipped out of my hand.
This servers a reminder of what could happen to anyone.
Although I always wear my PFD, I should also wear my lanyard.

I imagine you'll be shaken up for a long time.
Thankfully you survived with some minor scrapes.
You're probably feeling more embarrassed than anything else.

I assume your boat and motor were retrieved OK?

Thanks again for posting.

jasper

 

[Bowhunter1661]

Yes all, wear the lanyard. I always do. But I had gone to the river for a quick 1/2 mile run to test the motor and totally forgot. It certainly is embarrassing, however I am the type person that believes you are never to good to not admit your mistakes. If one person actually listens and thinks twice next time they get into their boat, then I am a happy man.

When the accident happened all I could do is sit in the bottom of my boat reflecting on the severity of what had just occurred and how fortunate I was to have no injuries. Checking your legs for gashes is never a good feeling. I have never been so scared in my life and I have been in some precarious situations.

Also, me being a 24 year old fit man helped in this situation. Throw an older or not so fit person into the mix and you have a serious problem. I don't even know how I was quick enough to grab the rail and hold on let alone do it with one arm and a phone in the other.

 

[lovedr79]

glad you are alright!

 

[boguesounder]

Yikes! Glad you're all good. Scary. Not many can shame you for not having your lanyard on. I rarely see anyone on any size boat with one on in my waters. I will dig mine out.

 

[Clc]

Not boating but I had a near death experience while driving with my mother not long ago. Just as you described I have no idea how I was able to maintain control of the vehicle and avoid the traffic. We really should have hit the vehicle in front of us at highway speeds. Life is a crazy thing....

 

[JMichael]

In my situation (mentioned in my earlier post) where I was thrown out, I was the passenger and not the driver so a lanyard wouldn't have helped in that case. The PO of my motor opted to replace the failed lanyard switch with a push button kill switch instead of another lanyard type. The more I think about what happened to you, the more I think I should replace that push button with the proper lanyard type switch and use it.

 

[Bowhunter1661]

Well JMichael, I would suggest swapping that out for the proper lanyard type switch. All it takes is one mistake. I'm still freaking out about it. If I had lost my grip I would have been run over. I fell off the left side and the boat was making a hard right. Not a good combination.....

 

[Jim]

Bottom line is your OK and no one got hurt!

Some may ridicule you, but telling your story helps burn a story in peoples minds. It will make me think about it going forward for sure.


On another note for another thread, did I ever tell you the story of jumping out of my truck at the ramp to unhook my boat and how I forgot to put it in park in my excitement to get on the water?

 

[Bowhunter1661]

"On another note for another thread, did I ever tell you the story of jumping out of my truck at the ramp to unhook my boat and how I forgot to put it in park in my excitement to get on the water?"

Jim, not sure I have heard that one. I know I have seen photos of others doing it and the subsequent sinking of their truck!

Anytime I back down a ramp it is a ritual for me to always first stop, apply the parking brake, then put the truck in park. If anyone knows a thing or two about an automatic transmission you know exactly what holds your beloved truck and boat on the incline of a ramp. Only a small parking pawl!

That not a risk I am willing to take. Wether I have insurance or not lol

 

[JMichael]

On another note for another thread, did I ever tell you the story of jumping out of my truck at the ramp to unhook my boat and how I forgot to put it in park in my excitement to get on the water?

No you didn't, would you care to elaborate? :lol: On the other hand, did I tell you about the time 3 of us were in a ski boat pulling a skier and the next thing I know, the 3 of us are in the water and the boat is circling us at full throttle like indians after a wagon train? It didn't have a happy ending. :shock:

 

[PSG-1]

I may have told this one to you guys before, but can't remember.

Anyhow, it was about 10 years ago on the Waccamaw River near Sandy island. We came upon several boats. One of them was circling out of control. Another boat was working to try to contain or corral it toward the shoreline. Finally, as the boat got close to the shoreline, the lower unit found some cypress knees and it came to an abrupt stop.

Came to find out that the operator had fallen overboard and the boat was circling him, getting really close to chopping him up. A nearby boater was able to get in there and pull him onto their boat before that happened. So, even if he had been wearing a PFD, it would not have saved him from being hit by the prop. He was not wearing a PFD, and the area where this happened is at the confluence of Thorofare Creek, so, it's probably about 30 feet deep there, and the river is close to 600 feet wide, black water with alligators. In other words, if things had gone the other way, they may or may not have found his body.

Any time you're running a boat, you should be wearing a kill switch, but ESPECIALLY so with tiller handles, as they always tend to swing to the side and lock in the corner, where they will run circles.

If you are on the inside of the circle, the stern is swinging away from you as it passes, and if you are strong, fast, and lucky enough, you might be able to grab the gunwale and pull yourself back in. But on the outside of the swing, the transom is swinging into you as it passes each time, so, if you make an attempt to re-board, and slip back in, it's highly likely you will be struck by the prop.

PLEASE be careful out there, guys!