What's the worst thing you forgot to do ?

Portofino

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Turn the tank cocks on after the winter .
We flew in late Sunday two mates and I to do the annual .Lift booked nearby @9 am next day .
A few too many in the “ Irish bar “ and hitting the bunks @ 2 am clouded by judgement.
I turned the sight glasses cocks on instead of the actual engine cocks .

100 m or 10 mins ( ticking over ) outside the marina entrance , the engines conked out one by one .
I immediately knew what I had NOT done .
We dropped the anchor and with a size 10 mm spanner I went in and bled the air etc 6 filters .
A bit of excessive starter motor turning to clear the injection pump and they spluttered back to life .

Arrived , got lifted and while they were jet washing / blocking off etc we sobered up in a cafe .


Same trip as reward to my mates we razed over to St Trop to “ sea trial “ it , arrived tied up on the visitors berths .
Newby mate pulled up a bow line , him and the other guy semi experienced did the bow , while I did the helm and chucked a line ashore .
Next day time to go , briefing , all lines dropped .
First click to get moving .
Little did I know the lads had crossed the bow lines and when release one fouled the stb prop .It did not sink .
So as we moved it rapidly wrapped itself round the prop / P bracket ,
Noticed at tick over speed the boat handled differently and a mate shouted as the line at the stern started to surface .
So without any more to do I quietly reversed back and we re berthed , fenders back out etc .
Yes we had a audience of boaters and public .
Donned my shorty , bottle and with a hacksaw and knife went in and cut it all off ,Boy was it fast but I got it .
Calmly climbed up the swim ladder and then we repeated the berth exist .
Thought about contacting the marina office = diver = bill / fine .Nah !
 

Orthop

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I forgot to set the anchor alarm on the Garmin plotter for the night. We woke up at totally different place in. the bay than we drop the anchor. There was a little wind in the night we didn't mentioned...
 

russ

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A very costly starting the engine whilst the outdrive was up in trailer mode.

My engine started overheating whilst on the Thames so I decided to intermittently switch off the engine and let the river flow carry us along. I would then restart for steerage when needed. After a few stop and starts I then lost ignition power. We managed to glide towards the river bank and grab overhead branches to help guide us to a clearing.
After a long walk to and back from the marina to see if we could get a tow. It then dawned on me that I had left the throttle in gear and hence no power. Grrr! IDIOT.

The more common than I thought, moving off whilst stern line was still attached.

There are a couple more but I am just too embarrassed to share them with you.
 

Homer J

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I forgot to drain down the hot water tank at home and isolate the water supply before removing the immersion heater.
let me tell you it makes quite a mess.
 

Montemar

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I had filled both fuel tanks up and needle on fuel gauge not quite on the full mark so I adjusted it until it was.
Some days later an engine stopped when 100 yards out of Weymouth harbour then 2 minutes later the other stopped. Both fuel gauges showed one third full.
I then adjusted both gauges so they accurately read empty.
On refill I was able to accurately calibrate needle position against fuel quantity.
 

rafiki_

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Our first Mobo was a Searay Cuddy. We took it down to Newhaven for a day on the water. All ready to launch. All straps off. Tractor hooked up to push us in. No keys. Left them at my Mums. Quick 30 min dash to collect. Never confessed to this before.
 

Bouba

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This thread has given me the heebie jeebies. I’m in a panic in case I forget to remove the shore power. It’s not been a problem before but now you’ve got me putting reminder notes on my dashboard ????‍♂️??‍♂️
 

Bouba

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I managed to pull away without dragging the port’s electrical supply into the sea! Phew!
 

kashurst

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Moored up at Rothesay on the Isle of Bute. Nice little marina, floating pontoons to go up and down with the tide. I picked a spot closest to the shore. All well until about 9-00pm when I realised I hadn't checked how much water was under the boat when we tied up. Checked the chart and panicked as low water springs would put my props on the rocks at my mooring. Had I picked the other side of the pontoon all would have been well. Couldn't move as a big catamaran had come in behind me blocking the exit and the owners had gone out.

Had a very tense 3 hours until low water at midnight when fortunately we had @ 1 foot under the boat.

I have also done the "forgot to unplug the shore power lead". Got away with that one as the socket was pointing inline with my departure. We didn't realise until a marinero pointed it out.

Snapped a med style "slime line" - I thought that it would be a good idea to help keep it clean and less slimy would be to tie it to the rails with the tail end of a fender rope. Works really well. Except when you forget and set of with it still tied to the boat. Made one hell of a bang when it snapped.
 

Leighb

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Funniest thing I witnessed was a yacht that had come alongside the old pier at Woolverstone to dry out on the slipway for a scrub. When all was done and the tide had returned and all (he thought) lines had been released he set off to motor out. Pandemonium on board as the boat failed to move in the expected direction but was heeling over quite dramatically! After lots of shouting from bystanders he realised that he had failed to remove the end of the main halyard which he had secured to the railing on the pier to make sure he leaned the right way.
 

Scubadoo

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Many years ago, I watched a yacht trying to get into a berth by the bridge at Dartmouth Marina, he went astern heading towards the bridge which he hadn't notice, I shouted bridge and never seen someone move so quick to go forwards, he had something like a few feet left before taking his mast down.
 

markspark7

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Forgot to check tidal flow on fast flowing Ouse, untied bow line first instead of stern to stand and watch 40ft flybridge do a very big arch into the middle of the river.
SHWMBO stood on cockpit looking very frightened as captain still stood on pontoon at the side of the river, frantically pulling on stern line to get the boat back within reach to board to start the engines.
Always check wind and tide before removing lines lol......;)
 
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