So my buddy bought a boat and is going to slip it down at the small boat harbor. We go down there to pick out his slip and get some fenders in place when all of a sudden we hear some people yelling help. We see a bow of a boat picking up in the air so we run over. There was a lady screaming for help since she couldn’t swim so me and my buddy pull her out of the water and then get her husband.
He said his throttle stuck open when coming into the slip and it ramped him up in the air and water started to come in from the back of the boat.
Didn’t really smell anything but he did say that he was surprised the coast guard didn’t get him a sobriety test (The NFTA or Erie county Sheriff’s might have when they got there though)
they were a older couple (Mid 50’s) and the boat was either a 20 or 21 foot probably a early 90’s model. So nothing really that nice but still a decent boat.
I had the throttle get stuck on when I was in the middle of docking at a slip once (in reverse no less). In my situation the boat started hauling in reverse towards the other boats in the slips behind us. Lucky for me I reacted quick enough and shut it down. I then had to run to the back to act as a buffer between the boats we almost slammed into.
Obviously it would seem logical that you would turn off the boat immediatly, however sometimes you don’t think like you should in a panic situation like that.
On another note why wasn’t the woman wearing a life jacket if she couldn’t swim…
i saw a drunk back his trailer into the water at the hamburg harbor to grab his boat…didn’t realize he left his door open. door hit the pier and bent backwords. Truck filled with water and continued to go down the slope as it filled with water. Truck was about 1ft from being completely under water when it stopped.
That’s why I mentioned booze. You don’t use much throttle when docking, and it takes a good amount of throttle to drive a boat high enough onto a dock like that to get water coming over the stern and swamp it.
And as long as this is heading into an, “I once saw” thread, lets not forget about this picture I took last summer…
My uncle almost had this happen. the cable for the throttle started to shear which he didnt know went to slow down and it got caught. was able to screw with the throttle lever just in time to throw it in reverse and miss landing on land.
