Admissions - Silly mistakes

[scottie]

For several years we have been parked in the first bay in on our pontoon usual procedure is reverse out hard over to starboard forward gear and out into the fairway.
This year 2nd bay in reverse starboard and then straight in to the next bay 40 yanmar horses and kiwi 3 blade prop accompanied by frenzied shouting saved the day when I turned round to put the mooring lines in the anchor well and saw the pontoon across our path 20ft ahead. Change of trousers and laugh but glad I was not driving not even one that we kid on about so must have been bad.

 

[Poignard]

I had just bought a brand new outboard motor in Fareham for my dinghy but I had no petrol for it. I arrived at Hardway S/C pontoon, prepared to row out to the yacht, where I did have some petrol.

At the pontoon was another man, unsuccessfully trying to start his outboard. "No problem", quoth I, "give me some of your petrol to put in my new outboard and I will tow you out to your yacht."

This was done but my brand new outboard also would not start.

Reason: the petrol in the other man's can was filthy.

 

[Aries]

Leaving Eastbourne. 7am. Wind behind us as we entered lock. Bow line picked up from floating pontoon OK, but I missed picking up the stern line. Bow attached, stern blows out.
Did a 180 deg, then motored back out into the marina, turned and carefuy returned to try again, this time getting it right. Fortunately nobody else around to see the "faux pas" and no comment from the lock keeper.

 

[stevebrassett]

Set off back to the boat after a run ashore and cursing the outboard for not starting. Then remembered that the kill cord was in my pocket!! Doh!

Done that one! Sober, as well.

 

[Whiskey Bravo]

I once had a guy on board make the same mistake. I suspect his wife did everything for him at home. I was so pleased he got off the boat that night because inside I was fuming and considered that someone who made that sort of mistake was a liability to have on board. Equally I had someone who put a plastic melanine plate in the oven.

And your mistakes are??

Even the best can make mistakes. Chay Blyth recently broke his leg after slippimg on early morning dew on the deck of a friends yacht whilst moored up. Would you consider him to be a liability?

 

[exfinnsailor]

Last December we visited Shotey on our way to Burnham. We left Ipswich with no wind but freezing cold so did not bother lowering the keel. We went into the lock the following morning to head out towards Burnham but it was very low springs. Down and down and down we went. Then the lock keeper looks over the rail and asks ' Still afloat are we SIR '. He picked the wrong boat that day

 

[PLEIAS]

What? Noone has let anchor plus 30 mtrs of chain and another 10 warp in his own dinghie while reversing towards the dock and expecting the boat to stop as the anchor would hold?
You 're all a bunch of profesionals...

 

[Seajet]

You 're all a bunch of profesionals...

Far from it, chum; it's just I / we avoided that particular 'Gotcha', please don't ask about the others !

 

[markjc]

Forgot the bungs in the clinker dinghy. Lowered it into the water, and then asked mother in law to get in and sit down.

She was not amused.

Haha that was not a mistake that was intentional! Admit it! haha

 

[Nostrodamus]

Where to start?

1) Jumpmed of boat, pontoon shattered and I ended halfway through, like a duck with legs in the water, body above the pontoon.
2) Cast of from a trot at low water and the boat would not go in gear. Anchors are wonderful things.
3) backed out of the pontoon when the boat vered 45%. Note to self, remove all mooring lines.
4) Jumped out of dingy wearing self inflating life jacket into what looked like shallow water. I don't think I need to say the rest but the life jacket worked fine.
5)forgot to get new chart plotter card and did no realised it ran out down the Ile du Fore (France).
6) Spent a fortune and a good few hours trying to repair a bow thruster. Now I know where the on/ off switch is hidden.
7) Did a nice very long 18 hour passage plan to a marina. Note to self, check the marina is not closed as it is being rebuilt.

And believe me, the list goes on.....and on...... and on.......

 

[CalicoJack]

This summer, thought I'd check the oil in the gear box before we left Shotley. Didn't realise that I had trodden on the gear cable and bent it so that it would not allow reverse to be engaged. 99 times out of a 100 I try reverse before leaving the pontoon... Oh what fun as we entered the lock and tried to stop! Oh how we laughed.....

 

[Duffer]

I once had a guy on board make the same mistake. I suspect his wife did everything for him at home. I was so pleased he got off the boat that night because inside I was fuming and considered that someone who made that sort of mistake was a liability to have on board.

Calm down dear! It was only a pizza! If it had said "remove all packaging including polystyrene disk" instead of "remove all packaging" then I would have known. It doesn't seem very bright to turn a pizza over to check there is no more packaging as all the toppings fall off... I think SWMBO is quite lucky that this is my worst mistake for many years when my list could be as long as Nostradamus's!

 

[Talulah]

Calm down dear! It was only a pizza! If it had said "remove all packaging including polystyrene disk" instead of "remove all packaging" then I would have known. It doesn't seem very bright to turn a pizza over to check there is no more packaging as all the toppings fall off... I think SWMBO is quite lucky that this is my worst mistake for many years when my list could be as long as Nostradamus's!

Except my guy saw the polystyrene and thought it was oven proof!

 

[westernman]

Haha that was not a mistake that was intentional! Admit it! haha

I plead the 5th amendment.

 

[davidej]

I once said to SWMBO that we never use the oven so why don't we get one of those supermarket pizzas and heat it up on board. Said pizza was duly purchased and I carefully removed the cardboard packaging and the cellophane wrapping. How was I to know there was a slim disk of polystyrene underneath as well? There was a smell of burnt plastic for weeks!

(When SWMBO brings this up I point out that at least I've never hit Plymouth Breakwater...)

Not boaty but we went to stay with our daughter.

Swmbo put the kettle on - on the gas hob.

Only it was an electric kettle and plastic at that.

Flames, black smoke, and molten plastic everywhere!

 

[oldgitofthewest]

Motored wife and two toddlers onto isolated deserted beach in dinghy.
Realised I had left oars on boat 200m off beach but as soon as I left beach to get them-
Broke shear pin on weed - could not remove old pin.
How to get back to boat in F5 offshore wind?
Left toddlers on shore with re-assurances but little else.
Carefully positioned dinghy on beach directly upwind.
Two small pieces of driftwood for course adjustment.
It worked but left two little girls mentally scarred (according to them).

 

[reginaldon]

Not boaty but we went to stay with our daughter.

Swmbo put the kettle on - on the gas hob.

Only it was an electric kettle and plastic at that.

Flames, black smoke, and molten plastic everywhere!

Been down that road four times - Alzheimers is cruel - now have an electric hob with child lock.

 

[BlueSkyNick]

I'll fess up.

Sailing singlehanded in the SOlent on a lovely sunny day back in February. On autohelm while drinking coffee, made an assumption that I couldn't possibly hit a little 6ft wide PHM with all that water around, Turned away about 50yds off but insufficient wind to accelerate the boat forward, so drifted sideways in 3+ kts of tide.


What's that adage? Assumptions are the mother of all ***k ups.

 

[alahol2]

Normally run the engine on the mooring to recharge batteries while I tidy away. Created a warm bath in the dinghy when wind and tide conspired to sit it directly under the exhaust outlet. Very nearly sank it, had to bail out from a distance with saucepan on the end of the boathook.

 

[prv]

Created a warm bath in the dinghy when wind and tide conspired to sit it directly under the exhaust outlet. Very nearly sank it, had to bail out from a distance with saucepan on the end of the boathook.

Speaking of dinghies and pans, I once chartered a boat in the Solent which turned out to have no oars for the dinghy. We paddled ashore from a mooring at Itchenor using the frying pan.

Pete