# WHat percentage of you have ever sunk a boat?



## jimposten (Sep 28, 2008)

Here is a good discussion to remind everyone of what can go wrong. 

It seems like almost everyone has a story of when they had to be pulled out of the drink, or swim to shore.

Lets here your stories, and dont forget the details, when, where, conditions, craft description, years boating experience... ect.

Hopefully this thread can remind a few to stay safe out there in the next couple months.

JIM


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## peaker power (Oct 30, 2004)

Saginaw Bay 11/2009

Left the west side headed out to the east into a 20 west wind. About a mile off shore and realized the 16' spectrunm and 25 hp motor were taking on water over the bow.

Could not get the bilge working right away, flipped the boat around headed for shore, not the launch. About the time I thought should be in wadable water the motor grounded out and 1 wave came over the stern. The boat was sitting on the bottom just that fast. Water was knee deep. Know getting the water out of the boat to walk back to the launch took alot of work and time. The half mile walk to the inlet with the waves coming in was a little humbling.

All in all made it in safe, but that was a very close call. 

Been there done that do not EVER plan to make the same mistakes. One more oops that day and there would have been 3 dead duck hunters in the bay.


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## ahartz (Dec 28, 2000)

If it even crosses your mind that maybe you shouldnt go out....don't go out....


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## Shiawassee_Kid (Nov 28, 2000)

ahartz said:


> If it even crosses your mind that maybe you shouldnt go out....don't go out....


that ain't no lie, great piece of advice. many a days i stood at the launch deciding...always chose to tuck it in and go to the draw instead.


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## kcud rellik (Mar 9, 2005)

Been pretty close once or twice but luckily haven't had to swim or be rescued. Had a very close call out on the bay once where we had knee deep water in the boat and what wasn't under water was covered in 1/4" of ice. Was pretty scary. 

Ran out of gas and had to walk the boats (we were using momarsh boats with mud motors) what seemed like 5 miles but realistically like 2 miles.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Sampsons_owner (Dec 30, 2005)

Shiawassee_Kid said:


> that ain't no lie, great piece of advice. many a days i stood at the launch deciding...always chose to tuck it in and go to the draw instead.


Rumor has it you have trouble keeping them afloat on the flats let alone the bay! :lol:

Two incidents come to mind.


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## milmo1 (Nov 9, 2005)

Maybe not in the traditional sense, but I have had my boat sink 2 or 3, maybe four times while secured at the dock on The Detroit River. I come on down to my mom's place, go to hop in, and find the boat on the bottom of the river.:lol:
Pump it out, dry out the Johnson, and revive the vessel to live another day!! :woohoo1:


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## franky (Apr 14, 2004)

Shiawassee_Kid said:


> that ain't no lie, great piece of advice. many a days i stood at the launch deciding...always chose to tuck it in and go to the draw instead.


So Dan, were you the 1 person who said they sunk their boat more than once? haha


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## Shiawassee_Kid (Nov 28, 2000)

Sampsons_owner said:


> Rumor has it you have trouble keeping them afloat on the flats let alone the bay! :lol:
> 
> Two incidents come to mind.


yes, i chose the more than once option. lol. that old 1436 lowe found the bottom of the river a couple times. Had one mishap on the bay back in the 90's. So yes, i'm a big fan of flotation!


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## Bellyup (Nov 13, 2007)

I have been lucky, never sank a pram without intending to do so. As a kid a bunch of us sank our little pram messing around in TN. We were in waist deep water trying to sink it. We couldn't sink it unless we all got in it after we filled it up with water ! 

Been close a couple times, and a good bilge pump is a good tool to have, and a hand pump just in case. 

I have been in some sticky situations before on bigger water with my prams, and I learn each time. Best advice is to know the water you are going out on, shallows, where they are at, rocks, proximity to shore, and basically have an action plan already thought of in case of. I usually try to formulate what I would do if somethign happened everywhere I go. Doesn't always work in a panic though.


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## TSS Caddis (Mar 15, 2002)

Not technically sunk but about 30 years ago we filled a boat up with water. Was coast guard rated, so still floated. That is why I cringe when I see people removing foam and not replacing, removing foam and putting some here or there without knowledge of if they have put enough back in. I'd also worry about selling a boat that I removed the foam on and did not replace, that I modified the structure of etc... If the guy that buys it has an issue, you open yourself up to a law suit IMO.


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## Shlwego (Sep 13, 2006)

Does flipping a canoe in the winter count? I was out in a Sportspal canoe with a buddy on the Huron River in Island Lake Rec area in January for the last weekend of late goose a few years back. The temps were in the mid-20s. He was using the stern as a seat, and I was sitting on the front crossbar (Sportspals don't have seats). The rivets holding the crossbar I was sitting on pulled out and I fell into the bottom of the canoe - but that caused my buddy to flip over the side into about 4' of water - he looked like a diver going over the side of a dive boat! When he went in the canoe rolled almost completely and filled with water. I was able to keep it from going all the way over, but in the process I got totally soaked from the chest up (we both had waders on). We managed to get the canoe to shore and emptied the water out, then we headed downstream as fast as we could paddle. When we got to the parking area, my buddy started running for his truck shedding wet/frozen clothes the whole way. There were a few women with cross-country skis standing by the car next to our truck and when they saw him running at them taking off his clothes, they screamed and got into the car and sped off!!:lol: About 5 minutes later we were visited by the Green Oak Twp police, who were able to see the humor in it when they heard what actually happened. Fortunately we both had changes of clothes in the truck, but it still took us a few hours to get the core temps back up.


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## waxico (Jan 21, 2008)

Canoed it for early goose, -4 degrees below. No fields, no clue.
My partner flooded his waders, we had to build a fire.
A really interesting place to hunt.

Never saw Suzy Chapstick though.


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## just ducky (Aug 23, 2002)

Twice...once hunting (canoe in a ditch at the flats), and once fishing with a boat in the summer. Fortunately no damage or injuries to speak of from either. Had to walk a small v-bottom back to the mainland at Geiger launch from the middle grounds one time when the waves got so large that we were grounding out the motor on the bottom of the swells (it's only about 3-4 feet deep). We were bailing the boat as we walked alongside it because the waves were coming over. In hindsight, it's really fortunate it was that shallow...if the water had been deeper, I may not be writing this right now :yikes:


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## pikenetter (Mar 28, 2009)

hit a dredge pipe in the dark with my 16ft pram going full bore in muskegon lake 6 years ago. threw me out of the boat and the boat ended circling the lake and finally crashing into shore and landing inthe midle of the road at 5am running wide open.

pretty scaring feeling being under water and hearing the motor running over your head. had to be resuced by the fire department. i was lucky enough that i could pull myself up on the pipe after some effort. no life vest on and the water was probally 40degrees at the time it was early april. no knew where i was. if it weren't for the motor wide open in the street i would have been there till after daylight for sure.

boat had three foot round hole in the front of it from the pipe.


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## UKLABMAN (Dec 6, 2003)

Loaded a 14 ft jon on an inland lake, had two guys, dog, decoys and all the gear and had too much wight up front-should have known better after 40 yrs on the water. The lake was flat as a pancake so we just went slow toward the opposite shore, sped up a little toward the end and when I let off the throttle the boat nose-dived and filled up in a second. Pitch black and did not know if we had crossed the break yet and luckily we were just into the shallower water-about 3 ft. Tons of work gathering the gear, dipping out the boat and probably more embarassed than anything. Only got one lousy duck for all that. Good lesson learned!


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## highcaliberconsecrator (Oct 16, 2009)

UKLABMAN said:


> Loaded a 14 ft jon on an inland lake, had two guys, dog, decoys and all the gear and had too much wight up front-should have known better after 40 yrs on the water. The lake was flat as a pancake so we just went slow toward the opposite shore, sped up a little toward the end and when I let off the throttle the boat nose-dived and filled up in a second. Pitch black and did not know if we had crossed the break yet and luckily we were just into the shallower water-about 3 ft. Tons of work gathering the gear, dipping out the boat and probably more embarassed than anything. Only got one lousy duck for all that. Good lesson learned!


This is what scares me the most. I'd much rather make the extra trip(s) back to the trucks.


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## steelsetter (Dec 14, 2003)

with my BIG buddy in the front.

Barely made it to the field side of the ditch.

TO close for me....

Only and hopfully the only time my on board bailing gear is ever used again.

Lesson learned:

Do not put 250 lb. buddies in the front of your small craft when hitting the throttle even on little water.

Water came in QUICK!!!

Hell I have hunted out of canoes in way worse weather/conditions and came home smelling like a rose with no concerns.

It was awakening to me that yes, you can find doo-doo quick in cold weather.

And we were no near big water or real danger as swimmers that day...

But what a way to start a hunt!


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## Paddler (Mar 14, 2008)

Munuscong Bay, duck opener 17 or 18 years ago. 

We had a borrowed 15 ft square stern canoe rated for 4hp but we a chance to borrow a 7.5hp from another guy, so we did. 4 of us and gear needed to make it to a small island. 2 walked the dike out to wait for the canoe to ferry them to the island. My one buddy and I were going to take the canoe from the launch to the island. About 430 am we get to the island, drop off my buddy and ALL gear on the island(thankfully). I left the island to go get the other guys. 

As I am powering up the empty canoe the bow is getting higher and higher and starting to catch the wind. I over compensate my steering and the canoe rolls over, dumping me for a morning swim. The only thing I was thinking of was that spinning prop chewing me up. With the help of my pfd and shallow water I was fine. Luckily I only made it about 60 yards or so my friend could assist draining the canoe and attempting to restart the motor. 

The rest of the story...

We paddled the rest of the day. A flooded motor will restart after proper care at home. I dont remember the ducks but I'm sure we got a few.

Things I learned that day, wear the pfd because you truley "never know".

Outboard rating on vessels should be followed.

A good breakfast will help keep you warm.

Had I put a 5gal bucket of water in the front of that canoe, I prob wouldnt have a story.

Take Care


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## Swamp Boss (Mar 14, 2003)

Got tangled in fish nets on a blustery November day on the bay-as I was cutting out from the net, first big wave leveled the boat , next wave was all she wrote. Dragged the boat 3/4 mile to shore to keep warm and prevent hypothermia. No more flatbottoms for me.

Favorite time tho was when a buddy of mine and I were headed out into the bay in the dark to our standard spot and I noticed he was streaking in on the marsh @ speed. Turned around to discuss this matter and saw he appeared to be slumped over @ the tiller. A heart attack would have been forgivable, however, the moron had taken the plug out of the boat to siphon out excess water from the previous day and didn't have the speed to create the siphon. He also managed to drop the plug into back of the boat and couldn't locate it due to the cold water. He finally found the plug but not before the decoys were floating in the boat and the dog had moved to high ground. We were able to get some of the water out during the AM hunt but when we got the boat up on trailer later and pulled the plug it was like the proverbial cow pi$$ing on a flat rock. He nearly equalled his stupidity THE VERY NEXT DAY when he forgot to replace the plug before launch and as we headed up the skim ice coated channel he again assumed the slumped over position I had witnessed the previous day. He was quicker to locate the plug this time but not before the boat slammed into the timber lined side of the canal-which can be a very exciting event for all @ that time of the day. I am sure he must be the exception but I really want to talk to the ottawa County scoutmaster that awarded this guy his Eagle Rank!


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