Thread: Rookie mistakes

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  1. Member
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    #261
    Howdy y'all,,I just got a 86 Procraft 1650 V 2 fish finders, foot control trolling motor, Evinrude 115

  2. Member
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    #262
    My rookie mistake was backing the boat in water, plug wasn't in. 15 years ago ,,

  3. Member CigarBasser's Avatar
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    #263
    C’mon, let’s hear them...
    2001 Ranger 518DVX Comanche / Mercury 200 Opti (OT306368)

  4. Member
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    #264
    I guess I have a few...

    1) I have a 1957 16ft seaking with a 35hp Johnson. I was in the lake fishing and dropped a 10lb mushroom anchor off the stern. It was tied to the tie down brackets on the transom. Anywho, my fishing buddy called me because he just arrived at the dock. I pulled the trolling motor up and fired up the outboard. I cranked full throttle and felt the boat jerking left and right. I let off the throttle and rolled on again. Same thing happened. At this point I called my buddy and told him I thought something was wrong with the motor. I pulled the cowl off and searched for anything suspect. I then trimmed the motor up to look at the prop. It was then when I saw the anchor line behind me. The jerking I was feeling was the anchor bouncing off the bottom.

    I pulled the anchor in and told my friend I fixed the motor problem.

    2). Same boat as above. I was still new to boating and had some "opportunities" with my trailer backing skills. I was at a busy lake and was waiting for my turn to put it. I had the boat prepped and ready to splash. My turn to put in arrives. There's a row of people behind me looking to put in or take out. There's boats lined up in the water waiting to come in to be trailered. There's people fishing from shore. I was SUPER STRESSED. I felt everyone was watching me. It's a fairly narrow concrete pad with a wooden post on either side. I start to back up... I'm looking in my mirrors trying to judge the distance... My head's whipping left, right, going mirror to mirror. BAM! I backed into the wooden post.

    I put the truck in drive and drove out from the launch area to the main parking area around the corner. I secured the boat and when home in shame...

    3). Same boat (this boat and I had some great times). I wanted to fish a marsh. The one I wanted to fish was probably closer to a swamp than a marsh. It really was a car topper launch. Appropriate for a kayak or canoe, that's about it. I back the trailer in. It's SUPER muddy and weedy. I feel some resistance when the trailer is close to deep enough for the boat to float of. I give it a little gas.... Still won't quite go....a little more gas... Still nothing... I'm smart so I figure the solution is more gas. "CRACK!". WTF WAS THAT?? I pulled the trailer out. I snapped the drivers side trailer leaf and BENT the main tongue of the trailer.

    F&$k me. I took the batteries and outboard off the boat. I then heaved the boat into the bed of the truck followed by the out and batteries. I drove those home. Went back with tools to remove the axle from the trailer. Threw the disassembled trailer in the truck.

    I learned how to rebuilt a karavan trailer. Would you believe I broke the axle 2 other times putting in at the same place? You better believe it!!! In my defense, I caught my personal best LM there @ 6lb 13oz. I pulled more 5 lbers out of there than any other place. Worth it.

    4). Last one. Same boat. She's a dammed champion. I was fishing with 2 friends on a river. We weren't having much luck so we decided to run up river. I haven't been on this part of the river before so I SHOULD have proceeded with caution. NOPE. Stupid young me figures we'll get there faster at full throttle. We're cruising along at maybe 20mph. That's all she'll get when what had to be overloaded. The winds in our hair, suns shining down, birds are chirping, might even have been a double rainbow with a leprechaun and a pot of gold around. We were conquering the world that day. SMASH!!!!!! DEAD STOP FROM 20MPH!!! I fall forward off the bench and slam on the floor. My 2 friends go flying off their benches and are all twisted around in the boat. The motor is SCREAMING at full RPM and water is raining down on us. I the "kill" button to stop the motor. The lower of the OB nailed a rock a few inches under the water. The tilt let go and allowed the motor to flip up.

    We were young and dumb. We LAUGHED SO HARD FOR SO LONG while we were all twisted on the floor. It's an absolute miracle none of us were hurt or the motor didn't flip into the boat at full throttle RPM. Kill switch kiddies, it's your friend.

    I still have this boat by the way. I bought it off the side of a road for $300 maybe 13 years ago. I had more dammed fun in this thing than anything else. It is absolutely bulletproof. I don't have the heart to get rid of her. She's a part of me. The skeg is half gone from rocks and inexperience (and stupidity). The prop is absolutely mangled and out of balance. I've never changed the lower oil. Ever. Never changed the water pump. She purrs like a kitten with one or 2 pulls each time. The rivets weep a little but with what she's been through thats ok. I rebuilt the wooden decking twice, replaced the wooden transom board once (just 2x12 screwed to the aluminum). She's been on Winnipesaukee during high boat traffic and winds that absolutely should have sunk her. She is unsinkable. In nuclear war, two things would survive. Cockroaches and that boat. My fishing buddies and I who shared these experiences affectionately call her "Poppin Rivets". When I die I want a viking funeral in that boat.

    As far as lessons to be learned, there are more than a few good ones in there!

    Edit:. A few pics of my beloved. 20130601_050544.jpg20130727_181834.jpg20160813_153238.jpg20160909_095854.jpg
    Last edited by jprovencher80; 09-05-2018 at 03:15 PM. Reason: Have, not had
    2004 Tracker Avalanche with 150 Mercury XR6

  5. Member Hez's Avatar
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    #265
    Quote Originally Posted by jprovencher80 View Post
    I guess I have a few...

    1) I have a 1957 16ft seaking with a 35hp Johnson. I was in the lake fishing and dropped a 10lb mushroom anchor off the stern. It was tied to the tie down brackets on the transom. Anywho, my fishing buddy called me because he just arrived at the dock. I pulled the trolling motor up and fired up the outboard. I cranked full throttle and felt the boat jerking left and right. I let off the throttle and rolled on again. Same thing happened. At this point I called my buddy and told him I thought something was wrong with the motor. I pulled the cowl off and searched for anything suspect. I then trimmed the motor up to look at the prop. It was then when I saw the anchor line behind me. The jerking I was feeling was the anchor bouncing off the bottom.

    I pulled the anchor in and told my friend I fixed the motor problem.

    2). Same boat as above. I was still new to boating and had some "opportunities" with my trailer backing skills. I was at a busy lake and was waiting for my turn to put it. I had the boat prepped and ready to splash. My turn to put in arrives. There's a row of people behind me looking to put in or take out. There's boats lined up in the water waiting to come in to be trailered. There's people fishing from shore. I was SUPER STRESSED. I felt everyone was watching me. It's a fairly narrow concrete pad with a wooden post on either side. I start to back up... I'm looking in my mirrors trying to judge the distance... My head's whipping left, right, going mirror to mirror. BAM! I backed into the wooden post.

    I put the truck in drive and drove out from the launch area to the main parking area around the corner. I secured the boat and when home in shame...

    3). Same boat (this boat and I had some great times). I wanted to fish a marsh. The one I wanted to fish was probably closer to a swamp than a marsh. It really was a car topper launch. Appropriate for a kayak or canoe, that's about it. I back the trailer in. It's SUPER muddy and weedy. I feel some resistance when the trailer is close to deep enough for the boat to float of. I give it a little gas.... Still won't quite go....a little more gas... Still nothing... I'm smart so I figure the solution is more gas. "CRACK!". WTF WAS THAT?? I pulled the trailer out. I snapped the drivers side trailer leaf and BENT the main tongue of the trailer.

    F&$k me. I took the batteries and outboard off the boat. I then heaved the boat into the bed of the truck followed by the out and batteries. I drove those home. Went back with tools to remove the axle from the trailer. Threw the disassembled trailer in the truck.

    I learned how to rebuilt a karavan trailer. Would you believe I broke the axle 2 other times putting in at the same place? You better believe it!!! In my defense, I caught my personal best LM there @ 6lb 13oz. I pulled more 5 lbers out of there than any other place. Worth it.

    4). Last one. Same boat. She's a dammed champion. I was fishing with 2 friends on a river. We weren't having much luck so we decided to run up river. I haven't been on this part of the river before so I SHOULD have proceeded with caution. NOPE. Stupid young me figures we'll get there faster at full throttle. We're cruising along at maybe 20mph. That's all she'll get when what had to be overloaded. The winds in our hair, suns shining down, birds are chirping, might even have been a double rainbow with a leprechaun and a pot of gold around. We were conquering the world that day. SMASH!!!!!! DEAD STOP FROM 20MPH!!! I fall forward off the bench and slam on the floor. My 2 friends go flying off their benches and are all twisted around in the boat. The motor is SCREAMING at full RPM and water is raining down on us. I the "kill" button to stop the motor. The lower of the OB nailed a rock a few inches under the water. The tilt let go and allowed the motor to flip up.

    We were young and dumb. We LAUGHED SO HARD FOR SO LONG while we were all twisted on the floor. It's an absolute miracle none of us were hurt or the motor didn't flip into the boat at full throttle RPM. Kill switch kiddies, it's your friend.

    I still have this boat by the way. I bought it off the side of a road for $300 maybe 13 years ago. I had more dammed fun in this thing than anything else. It is absolutely bulletproof. I don't have the heart to get rid of her. She's a part of me. The skeg is half gone from rocks and inexperience (and stupidity). The prop is absolutely mangled and out of balance. I've never changed the lower oil. Ever. Never changed the water pump. She purrs like a kitten with one or 2 pulls each time. The rivets weep a little but with what she's been through thats ok. I rebuilt the wooden decking twice, replaced the wooden transom board once (just 2x12 screwed to the aluminum). She's been on Winnipesaukee during high boat traffic and winds that absolutely should have sunk her. She is unsinkable. In nuclear war, two things would survive. Cockroaches and that boat. My fishing buddies and I who shared these experiences affectionately call her "Poppin Rivets". When I die I want a viking funeral in that boat.

    As far as lessons to be learned, there are more than a few good ones in there!
    Great read!

    Wishin' I was fishin'...


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  6. Member
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    #266
    Thanks!!
    2004 Tracker Avalanche with 150 Mercury XR6

  7. Member
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    #267
    That's a great read!! Actually made me LOL!

  8. Member
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    #268
    Thanks! All true stories. I'll try to post a picture of Ole' Rivets
    2004 Tracker Avalanche with 150 Mercury XR6

  9. Member
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    #269
    Loved it @jprovencher80 !

  10. Member
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    #270
    Thanks for reading!
    2004 Tracker Avalanche with 150 Mercury XR6

  11. Better Lucky Than Good! Casslaw's Avatar
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    #271
    I’ll share 2 stories from the same boat ramp on Lake Panasofkee...I was 13-14 so this was 1988 or 89. My dad had a Rajun Cagun,,,17 footer with the round 1150 Mercury on it. Lake Panasofkee seemed like it was hours away when I was a kid, in actuality it’s less than an hour from my house.

    So the first big mess up was when I apparently did everything right...except take the stern strap off...whoops! My dad was yelling at me to pull the boat off the trailer and all I remember was the boat keeping the trailer afloat and it moving downstream...I was terrified but that was about it.

    The one I really remember was the time I forgot to unhook the winch strap and since the winch had forward and reverse,,,no neutral setting, the winch handle was just hauling butt as the boat was coming off the trailer. In my infinite wisdom as a 13 year old I decided to grab the winch to make it stop!

    Yeah my hand got whipped 5-10 times by the time I was able to pull my hand back out of the way. It felt to me like that whirling winch handle was literally holding my hand in there and I couldn’t pull it away...funny how a couple seconds can feel like forever.

    So so glad I’m older and wiser now...well I’m older anyway!
    2006 Triton SP-185, 2006 Evinrude Etec 90, PowerTech NRS3, Garmin Echomap Plus 73CV & 93SV

  12. Member
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    #272
    Well I'm 59 years old, don't really consider myself a rookie but I've done LOTS of things. :)
    This past Labor Day weekend has to be one of my best oops moments.
    I was anchored, trout fishing on Lake Taneycomo in Branson, MO. It started raining (pouring actually), pulled in the stringer with the fish. I've been having trouble with the starter on the 150 Merc, so I had to do some cable disconnecting and rehooking to get it started, all while getting soaked. Anyway, got the motor running, WOT towards the dock, the boat is doing some really weird "movement" then I caught something out the corner o my eye, fly up out of water..........the15 lb anchor hit me on my right shoulder, left a pretty good scratch. I had it tied off on the starboard bow, water was about 7-8 ft deep, I forgot to pull it in when I "got in a hurry to leave".

  13. Member
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    #273
    Ouch! That makes me cringe thinking how easily that could have been your head. Glad your ok man.

  14. Member
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    #274
    Quote Originally Posted by Noassumptionsplease. View Post
    Ouch! That makes me cringe thinking how easily that could have been your head. Glad your ok man.

    Yeah thanks. I was thinking the same thing.

  15. Member
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    #275
    Had a moment myself today...found VERY rotten stringers in my boat a week ago, so it's parked on the side of the house semi-permanently while I look for another boat. Got the itch today, and said the heck with it, I'll just fish from shore. Oh hey, perfect opportunity to try that baitcaster I picked up last year and never used! Filled the spool with fresh braid, and headed out. Got to the lake, found some brush in a cove that looked ripe for some hiding bass, hiked down to the shore, tied on a brand new, never-before-used Zara Spook. First cast - right smack over the brush poking up out of the water....yep, reeled it back in and got it hung up in the brush....I went home without my brand new Spook.

  16. Member bdda9yh's Avatar
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    #276
    Quote Originally Posted by chaseerry View Post
    While the lake was down, the wife backs the trailer in so far the wheels fall off the back of the ramp. Go swimming to get the trailer free using my boat's eye hook and a ratchet strap. Oh and it's the first time you've taken your new boat out. What a day that was!

    Luckily it was summer time.
    Been there done that a long time ago (Bass Tracker days). had no idea why the trailer wouldn't move.
    Pulled so hard it bent the bumper hitch. Brother had to dive in to attach the ratchet transom straps to raise the trailer.
    Assumed all ramps went to the bottom of the lake (WRONG !!!).

  17. Member
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    #277
    I had a 1st for me the other day.

    Coming in to the dock to go home. I step off the boat onto the dock and "tie on" to one of the dock cleats. I forgot my keys in the boat, so I step back on the boat to get them out of storage. There was a cross wind so had to pull on the rope to get my boat back closer to the dock. As i pull on the rope, the rope just continues to pull around the dock cleat. I pull on the rope hoping it will catch (by some miracle). It does not. With the wind (~15mph) i was drifting near some some rocks near the ramp, so i jumped in about chest height water to stop the drift and pushed the boat to the dock. When tying on to a boat cleat make sure you actually wrap the rope under.

    Hindsight 20/20, i could've dropped the TM real quick and got back to the dock, but I was drifting pretty fast and did the 1st thing that came to mind.

  18. Member
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    #278
    Alright I got one.

    Just bought an old Stratos 278 with an Evinrude 150, my first real boat. I had to replace the starter in the engine. Once I got that hooked up took it out for a spin. First time started up right away and the engine ran perfectly. Go to turn the key the second time and nothing happens. When I say nothing not a thing turned over. Complete panic set in, as I tried everything I could think of. Was messing around in the engine for about 3 hours trying to see if I had hooked up the starter wrong.

    As it turns out, when you hook up your batteries make sure you tighten it down all the way.

  19. Scraps
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    #279
    Trying, trying and trying to push the boat off the trailer while still strapped down. I'm talking feet on the truck tailgate and pushing.
    2017 Phoenix 819
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  20. Member
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    #280
    Bought my 1st boat - Stratos 273/'rude 115 - didn't have the opportunity to water test the boat, but we ran it on muffs for good long time. shifted it in/out of gear a few times, etc. Did the deal, price was right, etc....

    got sick, and had a snafu with the trailer registration, weather all kept me from getting it to the water for a few weeks. Finally get it wet, idle down the bayou to the river, hearing a tapping when in gear. Ran it around some, still hearing the noise, finally head back home and decide to investigate the lower unit.

    Here's my lower drain plug magnet:


    Numerous chunks like this:


    Memo to myself - won't buy used again without pulling the LU plugs and checking.

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