Good Idea To Check Your Safety Equipment

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

I was out prefishing Sunday and going from one of the rivers on Anna all the way to the dam...long run.....I was running WFO when my keelshield hat decided to take a swim, I came off plane, followed my bubble trail back and found it (I don't have a real good record finding swimming hats). Put it on my throttle and preceded to crank the old rig up for the rest of the run. Lake was empty...no boats in sight, then I see a big cabin cruiser sitting out in the middle of the lake with a fair amount of white smoke coming out the back....I thought to my self that there was a lot of smoke for an I/O and that he must have flooded it real good before cranking it up. Just as I was passing by, and out of the side of my eye, I see a mushroom cloud of black smoke envelope the boat.....Holy Sh!it I thought, that boats on FIRE!! I throttled the old NITRO to the boards and made a very sharp cut and was at the boat just as a father/daughter and dog were getting ready to jump in the lake....smoke was everywhere!! It smelled like it was electrical and yelled for the daughter (12 at most) to jump into my boat, then the father tossed the dog in. Got out the fire extinguisher and pulled open the engine cover and you coulda roasted weenies in there!! Got the fire out, yanked off a battery cable and told dad to get back on the boat and I would tow them in. If you could have seen the fear in that little girl's eyes, it took me about a half hour to get her settled down (in-between her ralphing over the side of the boat from the smoke). I towed them to a cove where they own a house and the ramp was situated such that there wasn't enough room for 2 boats (docks on either side poking out into the lake....bad design!!) so I throttled in hard, cut to the left and ran my rig up on the shore while the big boat coasted up to the ramp and his waiting wife with a truck and trailer. At least I know my keelshield works!!



Moral of the story.....Make sure your fire extinguisher is charged, carry a strong tow rope, and put a KeelShield on your boat!!:lol::lol:



TOXIC

 

[Bill Hamilton]

Tox - Boy are you the good samaritan. Most would have just run by the problem. Now don't forget to recharge or replace your used fire extinguisher.

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

You woulda done the same thing Bill.....If I had taken time to really think before I acted, I should have probably just snagged them off the barge and let it burn. I didn't even think about the fire hitting the gas tank and going up like the 4th of July!!



TOXIC

 

[TritonGlenn]

Thank you Tox, for taking care of that predicament. You should be extremely proud of a job well done. And you are right about safety equipment - I know a lot of people that never check their emergency flares, fire extinguishers, etc... until they need them, only to find out they don't work.



Bill,

Although Tox is a great person, and I knowing him, I would have expected this from him, I don't think "most would have just run by the problem". A boat on fire draws in a crowd quickly. I know if I see smoke, I'm going in to check it out / render assistance. I've seen jet skiers / power boaters / skiers / fishermen / pleasure cruisers all stop to render assistance if they see someone in trouble. I think boaters are more likely to stop and help each other than motorist on a highway.



All the best,

Glenn

 

[Larry Harp]

I think boaters are more likely to stop and help each other than motorist on a highway.

Very true. I can't think of how many times that I've just been sitting tying on a fresh bait or having a sandwich or a cup of coffee and another boater will come by and ask if everything is OK.



I'll never forget the very first day I had my Tracker PT-185. I took it out to the local city lake just to get to know it. I was out there with my son and daughter running around the lake giving everybody a turn at the wheel when I saw the guy who lived across the street from me in his big ol' 23' I/O running a Chevy 350 that had seen some pretty good performance modifacations. He saw me and we stopped and talked. He was a young single guy and you could tell he was sort of looking down his nose at my little tin boat with it's little dinky 50 horse outboard. Anyway, when he took off he really dropped the hammer to show off and we hear a very nasty POP!! noise and the big ol' hot rod stopped like it had dropped anchor. Turned out he had blown something like a U-joint that connected the motor to the drive unit. Anyway I circiled back around and he threw me a line and I hauled his slightly more humble arse back to the ramp where he and his buddy had a hellava time loading that boat without power of any kind. That was good times.



Harpo

 

[cq]

You are a Great Person!

cq

 

[Bruce Moore]

 

[Bruce Moore]

Good job Tox. I'm sure the little girl will remember what you did for a long time.



BruceM

 

[Bill Hutchison]

YOU D MAN

 

[Ken Sabin]

Genuine hero stuff here guys !



Makes me proud just to be able to say "Hey, I know that guy !"

 

[William H. (Bill) Barham]

Way to go Toxic...

 

[Mini]

Good job Tox...

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Holy Shnikies Toxic! Glad everyone came out allright.

Bet that got the pump workin'

 

[Greg Meyer]

Tox ol buddy... you did good... Proud to call you friend.

 

[Brian Ingersoll]

Good thing you were there and no one got hurt.

I hope that little girl isn't to scared to go boating again.

 

[Jim B]

Tox, great story. Thankfully you were there to help them and nobody got hurt. Its a darn good possibility that you might have saved lives on Sunday. Like Ken S said, Genuine hero stuff! The world needs more people like you





I agree with Bill that most people would have just driven right on by. Maybe not the ones right here on this forum but most pleasure boaters i think would have just kept on going. I dont know how it is anywhere else but up here in New England nobody wants to get involved. I cant even count how many times i have seen people waving for help on the side of the road or on the water and everybody just keeps going, nobody cares. I honestly think people are aftaid to get sued so instead of risk it they just choose not to get involved.



I have never had anyone stop and ask me if everything was ok like what Harpo mentioned either. When i grenaded my old Rude i was floating in the middle of Lake Winnipesaukee with the motor cowling off looking at the motor and nobody ever stopped. Hundreds of boats just motored on by, i had to trolling motor my way to the nearest ramp(where i put in was 15 miles plus away) and call a taxi to get my truck.



The few times i have seen someone in distress i have done everything i could to help them, One just needed some help with her broken boat the other could have died. I dont want to hijack Tox's post but if anyone wants me too ill post the stories.

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Not that it matters to me but isn't there a law that states when on the water you have to render assistance to a boat in distress?????????



I stopped a couple of years ago and helped a couple of girls who ran out of gas on a jetski. Boats kept passing them by and they were trying to swim the rig into the marina. When I pulled up I told them they could either ride the jetski or get in the boat....they opted for the boat. Imagine my surprize when they climbed aboard and pulled off the lifejackets......Yesseriree bob.....2 college girls in thong bikinis:lol::lol: There is a little payback on the spot!!!! AND.....they didn't have any $$ so I loaned them 5 bucks and followed them back to one of their parents house where daddy (who was mighty well off) came out and we had a nip of 12 year old scotch and a cuban cigar before I went back to fishing. :lol::lol::lol:



TOXIC

 

[Brian Ingersoll]

The second story is just as appealling, but in a different way:blink: