Escaped Major Boat/Motor Damage Last Week

Ahhh yes...the infamous 15' painter on a 12' boat trick. We went about 4 miles when all of the sudden the motor clunked and stopped. Put in neutral,started, in gear, clunk and stop.After about 6 of these "expecting something different" attempts, Bezubic hits the tilt...grrrr...grrrrr...grrrr...WTH? He leaned over the back with a flashlight to see what was the matter and say's " weeds are wadded on the prop" then he asks if I pulled the painter in when we launched...why of course I did and reached for the coil to show him...hmmm where did I put that? Had to cut the brand new 1/2" poly line off the bow cleat cause it was tighter than the skinny string on a guitar..twang! Luckily that was about 4:30 am and we made 6:30 shooting time with at least 2 minutes to spare.
 
Carl

I'll do you one better. Let the line be too long and then get it caught in the prop while backing up. I did this once and could not raise the motor to clear the prop becasue the line was taught and couldn't unclip the bowline either. Shifting to forward didn't help. Had to paddle to the bank and work it loose underwater.
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I did this one time and had to cut the rope out of the prop...

painter: common term among canoe folks. refreshing to see it used here!
 
Rick:
That IS funny! I was in the locks at Lake Mendota in Madison and as the gate closed behind me it caught and tore off a metal corner piece from my transom dropping it into the deep water. The locks were lined with people fishing, white and black, as the water kept rising I pealed off to shorts and did a header down to retrieve the bracket. As I came up with it, with the gate opening I was able to get into my boat and received a rousing roar with clapping from the gathered crowd as I started my engine and roared out of there still in my shorts.
wis boz
 
I did something similar with my DHII - last season i was coming in from a local lake at night after hunting by myself. Got the boat on the trailer and started pulling it up the ramp. Now i had the thing latched on at the winch, but had not put the straps across the back yet AND my trailer doesn't have any side bunks...
so i'm coming up the ramp, right trailer tire goes into a pothole and pops back up... tosses the whole rig on its side (still attached at the winch/eye).
Not only was the boat loaded, I was running a 13 hp mud motor on it (read HEAVY). I thought for sure i had cracked the transom seams if not ripped it right off.....

so here i am by myself, at night on a gravel ramp with 600lbs of boat and gear laying on its side on the ground NEXT to my trailer and 20yds from the water. I got the boat off the winch, and resting flat on the ground.. a elderly man who lived by the ramp was walking his dog and was nice enough to offer to help.. he fortunately had a 3/4 piece of plywood by his house so we made a ramp onto my trailer and i winched the whole boat (across the gravel) back onto the trailer - wincing constantly at the sound of gravel scraping fiberglass and plywood! Fortunately i used Flexsteel epoxy on the bottom of the hull and there was suprisingly little scratching or damage... the rubrail took the brunt of the damage with some pretty significant road-rash but other than nothing a power sander and epoxy couldn't fix....

so now i always put the straps on the back even if it means pulling up the ramp 3' so i can get to the back!
 
These stories about boats floating off and generally making us humble reminds me of one a few years back. I was hunting a local lake during the early goose season. I heard a boat approaching and stood up to see a conservation officer heading right for me. He got within a few yards of me and shut his motor off and stepped out of the boat. Why?? I don't know but have heard other duck hunters tell the same story. Anyone out there notice the same behavior from CO's? Anyhow he waded over to me to check license. I showed him mine and then was digging for my early goose permit that I had bought the night before and not put with my license. I looked over his shoulder and asked if the had ahold of the "painter" from his boat. The look on his face was worth the price of admission. I asked if he wanted to see my permit. "No but would you get my boat". Made a new best friend that day.
 
CO's are crazy around here. Some I should say not all. I was riding in the boat with my two boys in the summer and a warden ( co) flagged me to check my hunting license, I didn't have a stitch of gear for anything. No fishing equip, or hunting gear. I was legal but it was still the point. He didn't even check the boat for fire ext. or whistle. I was quite frankly bewildered he had the balls to ask for hunting license in June. On the deer club I was on befroe duckhunting took over one warden (in standard green attire) comes walking through the woods facing us while doing a man drive! We were joking later and talked to guys at the cabin and they had told him we were pushing in that block. Can i say deathwish? I think their job is too stressful or something, because good judgement doesn't seem to follow all the time.
 
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