So what's the worse thing you have dropped and where did you drop it ?

[William_H]

I used to have SCUBA gear and was often called to club to dive for things. Bunch of keys on one occasion. On another occasion friend had jib sheets soaking in water in a bucket. When rigging up a crew emptied the bucket along with the sheets. They sank straight to the bottom about 6 metres deep. Found them fairly easily. From my own boat recently a favorite pair of scissors went over board while repairing main sail in situ. A bit hard to find at first as they were in the mud point first. About 3m of water snorkel and free dive only. An iron rowlock on another occasion also found. Screw driver again found near mooring. I get a bit obsessive about finding lost things. But of course winch handles are a lost cause. 3 that I can remember. On the other hand I have a range of knives and mask and snorkels all found that I did not lose. I do like swimming with mask and snorkel. ol'will

 

[Refueler]

I keep thinking about getting a Sea Searcher magnet ...

 

[michael_w]

What about things deliberately jettisoned?

When I gave up smoking about 500 miles off Bermuda on the way to the Azores, my faithful Zippo lighter and an ashtray that had been on family boats for decades, went swimming, No chance of recovery from the abyssal plain.

 

[Mister E]

Not me but I saw somebody drop their wife in the marina as she was trying to attach the boat and he powered forward.

 

[Bouba]

Not me but I saw somebody drop their wife in the marina as she was trying to attach the boat and he powered forward.

Bet that was the end of his boating life

 

[Refueler]

What about things deliberately jettisoned?

When I gave up smoking about 500 miles off Bermuda on the way to the Azores, my faithful Zippo lighter and an ashtray that had been on family boats for decades, went swimming, No chance of recovery from the abyssal plain.

I was a seriously heavy smoker for years ..... 60 sticks a day ....

Was 2nd Mate on a RoRo ship, mid 1980's - Miami to Central America .... I had often tried giving up - but one evening I decided enough was enough. I got up for midnight watch ... refrained from my usual ciggy before leaving cabin. Put the pack and Lighter in pocket ...

Onto bridge - relieved the 3/O and decided I would go 1 hour without lighting up. Did that - so decided 2 hours ... At end of watch at 0400 ... went to the bar as usual to have a beer before back to bed ... 3/Eng as usual there ... both had a beer .. I went off ...
It was actually days later that others noticed I wasn't smoking .. I had not told anyone ...
It was about a week after making the decision that I stood on the aft 1/4 and took that same packet out of my pocket along with the expensive lighter and gave them a burial in the Caribbean ....
I have never smoked since.

 

[Refueler]

Not me but I saw somebody drop their wife in the marina as she was trying to attach the boat and he powered forward.

HYCO .... coming into berth ... so many times I had told wife NOT to jump or long step to pontoon finger ....

Those pontoon fingers - if no boat on other side of it can be lethal ! She of course tries a long step onto it ... falls in.
I have now job to stop boat hitting her .. need to get a rope secured so I can help her.
I shout to her hold on - she's yelling at me !! clinging onto pontoon finger ...

I make boat secure and onto pontoon .... she's reckoning she's going to do all sorts of horrendous things to me !!

I try a straight lift ... no way. So its survival course theory ..... PUSH casualty down into water to get the bouyancy aid to help ... WOW - I didn't know she knew so many bad english words !!
It took two of us to get her lifted .. and she's only about 55kg ... + the wet clothes of course.

 

[Snowgoose-1]

Assorted winch handles and associated deck items including phone. Gold watch (recovered at low water ) whilst tieing up on scrubbing posts.

Managed to leave my passport on a bus whilst abroad . Spent some time and taxi fares visiting every bus company and depot in the locale .

Great thread. Comforting that others lose things and not just me.

 

[Stemar]

Clearly Neptune's kleptomania has very Catholic tastes - and a comprehensive toolkit!

 

[Refueler]

I remember a chat my Father had with another boater ... went sort of :

Owning a boat ? Better have at least two of all tools - ones bound to go over !!

 

[Stemar]

Better have at least two of all tools - ones bound to go over !!

And don't bring your good set to the boat. Keep a cheap set on board, so you don't swear as much when they do go for a swim.

 

[Alicatt]

Staying overnight on a large container ship, in the morning the crew were doing lifeboat drills and the cox was keeping current on his operator’s certificate. Radioing back to the master suddenly there was a shout from the lifeboat we heard as we watched the walky-talky go splash into the harbour at Zeebrugge. The cox got a bit of a dressing down from the master out of earshot.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

And don't bring your good set to the boat. Keep a cheap set on board, so you don't swear as much when they do go for a swim.

The ones that come from one's favourite brand of German discount supermarket seem to do that trick for me. Quite good, as well as cheap. Besides, they might as well fall overboard, they'll be rusted to uselessness in about 3 years.

 

[Refueler]

The ones that come from one's favourite brand of German discount supermarket seem to do that trick for me. Quite good, as well as cheap. Besides, they might as well fall overboard, they'll be rusted to uselessness in about 3 years.

It seems that the real cheapo sets are no longer out there .... you could go market and pick a case set up for peanuts ... use and lose the crap in the case - replacing with better items as they wore out etc.
Now I see sets in Car Detail shops at prices that make my eyes water !!

Lidl here is crap !! they don't have Managers specials.

 

[Dellquay13]

Saturday night. Climbing aboard. Car key. Splash. Bugger…

The local Locksmith spent 5 hours trying to pick the lock on Sunday morning without success. £300 bill.
560mile round trip on the train to get the spare key from home.

I look after my car keys much better these days when near water.

 

[Stemar]

I buy quality screwdrivers, electric and manual, and drill bits. Pretty much anything else, I buy cheap the first time. If I use it enough to break the cheap one, I'll replace it with a decent one. My best buy was a complete tool kit, including sockets, in a box, for £20 on clearance from Argos. I still have most of it, 20 years later, in spite of its permanent residence on the boat.

 

[Refueler]

I buy quality screwdrivers, electric and manual, and drill bits. Pretty much anything else, I buy cheap the first time. If I use it enough to break the cheap one, I'll replace it with a decent one. My best buy was a complete tool kit, including sockets, in a box, for £20 on clearance from Argos. I still have most of it, 20 years later, in spite of its permanent residence on the boat.

I have a double sided large kit on my 25 .... the main fault now is not the odd missing item in it - but the hinges broke holding the case together ... so now it has a strap round it.

I have 3 various kits .... the missing items are actually not all due to me - most are after I lend the kit to others ...

 

[westernman]

It seems that the real cheapo sets are no longer out there .... you could go market and pick a case set up for peanuts ... use and lose the crap in the case - replacing with better items as they wore out etc.
Now I see sets in Car Detail shops at prices that make my eyes water !!

Lidl here is crap !! they don't have Managers specials.

Can you order online?
You can here.

 

[onesea]

Fiber glass long keel boat, with internal ballast. Aft of which is an area known as the pit of dispair, the first thing that fell in there in my owner ship was the engine keys.
Washers nut after 40 years theres probably a ton of extra ballast down there.

Other wise in the sea: house keys (multiple), spinikar pole, fleece jacket (including wallet) watches, a smart watch (recovered but it did not), phone (same phone recovered one, unrecoverable once).

 

[The Q]

I keep thinking about getting a Sea Searcher magnet ...

I wonder why my sailing club has a big one in the bosuns shed!!

Two electric razors, one week after the other, both times getting out of my boat of the time heading for the club facilities.. after that I went back to wet shaving..

Several watches, all Casio waveceptor radio controlled watches, that I use for the race start . All pulled off by sheets.

There were several sockets under the the engine of the motor boat, but they were retrieved when it was replaced.

The shackle that was a special size to fit the furler for the jib tack, the wind got under the jib and flicked it out of my hand....

And me, well I didn't even go all the way in , but the old washing up bowl I was carrying had in it, a battery drill, several drill bits, a socket set, a couple of boxes of screws, a screwdriver tip set all went for a swim down into the mud.. most was rescued, the drill needed a new battery , I stripped and cleaned the drill.. it still works.
A sea searcher and a dydle were used to recover what I could.

Oh some years back they were dredging the dyke next to the club, one scoop brought up a tray and some glasses, the next the glass soda syphon.. which still worked..