[Trollhole]

Come on I know ya'll have some.

Here are mine.

This didn't happen to me but my brother. Went duck hunting early one morning in a winyard (some sort of duck hunting boat fiberglass) Had everything in the boat (decoys, shells, guns, duck calls) At about 6 in the morning on a lonely road going toward the landing. My brothers friend noticed the sun was comming up earlier than usual because there was a lot of light comming from behind them. At about 50mph noticed boat was on fire. Aparently they had used a car battery with side posts as the starter battery for the boat, they also used a metal gas tank full of fuel. Also they then realized that the two came together going down the road ( bad combination)Stopped got out grabbed what they could from the boat which wasn't much. No fire extinguisher no water and no way to call for help, no brains! Unhooked boat from truck, At this time boat, trailer, and new 18hp mercury which was my brothers that he had loaned to his friend was on fire. Gas can finally got hot enough to start boiling the 5 gallons of gas a hole finally melted in the plastic gas guage on top and away it went. 40ft flames in the woods over the boatspaying all over for at least 5 minutes. Shot gun shells at this time started going off so it quickly became human hunting season so they decided to pull about half a mile down road. Fire department came 1 hr later. Put boat out after putting forest fire out. Engine was a puddle of aluminum, boat was, well let's say it wasn't a boat. Trailer wasn't a trailer anymore. No duck that day just roasted boat.


Went duck hunting a few years back on Lake Russell, SC. Had everything you need to sucessfully get the ducks; decoys, dog ( a good one), calls which I had mastered, waders (very important) good gun and steel shot ammo. Oh yes, a 14 ft wide bottom jon boat with a 20 hp merc. Left landing about 5 am used Qbeam to see the way. Noticed a little ice had formed a ring around certain parts of the lake. Didn't pay it any attention. (big mistake!) Had been traveling about 15 minutes at top speed (about 20 mph) Had friend who didn't really know what he was looking for holding spot light (big mistake) I had told him to look for stumps, land, or booyes. (big mistake) We had just turned the corner to go into the pot hole ( a small body of water connected to the lake by a small canal; this one was about 200yards across (perfect place to hunt, which I had used for years) We had gotten all the way to the end of the canal and I was thinking this is going to be a great day when all of a sudden WHAM! Then there was this sound; it sounded like we were sliding on asphalt we were still moving even though the engine was a lot louder and out of the water. That's when my buddy who was scared ****less put the light out the side of the boat. ICE! and a whole ****load of it well after about 75 yard of sliding everything stopped. No use using the engine: cut it off. I asked him if he saw the ice he said yes. I asked him why he didin't tell me; he said that was not one of the thing I had asked him to look for. So now we are sitting there trying to figure out how to get off the Ice. It was to thin to hold our weight standing on it (remember we are in a wide bottom jon boat). So my smart idea was to throw the anchor as far as we could hoping it would go through the ice and we could pull ourselves out of the ice (another big mistake) Threw the anchor(mushroom type) about 30 ft out. Yep, good news it went right through the ice, bad news, there was a crack comming from the hole to our boat and it was folowing the gouge left by the foot of the motor. Have you ever seen the cartoon where the ice breaks up around someone and the fall in? That was us except worse. The back of the boat started to go through the ice. Well that wasn't any good because I was back there and water started comming in so I leaped to the front and when I did so the front finally broke through. So, there we are 75 yard away from the edge of the ice sitting in water stuck with Ice all around us. It took us most of the day to break the ice so we could get out. Oh and buy the way the only thing we had besides the anchor which sucked was our guns which we used ( the but end)to break up the ice. So two busted up stocks and 6 hrs later we made it out and home and into bed (which was a good idea!)


Went fishing in my fiberglass swamp boat with 5hp Johnson. Hit a stump and the engine broke off from transom. It and the gas tank went flying out of the boat. When the boat finally came to a stop I could see the gas tank and I thought surley the engine was gone. The only thing that let me know where it was was the gas tank which was luckly almost empty. When I paddled back to retrieve the tank I noticed it was real heavy which was strange since it was almost empty. Some how the hose was still attached to the engine. It was just sitting there floating holding my motor. Talk about lucky I was in about 10 ft of water. Its amazing how stong that hose was. As I reeled in the hose up came the motor. The only thing I caught that day was my motor but it was the biggest thing I had ever caught so I was happy.

[bad_religion_au]

friend of mine had a little boat, and we would use it to go out and surf this spot at the heads of the bay, so one day i call him up, and say hey, quarantines will be firing.

he'd just done all his maintanence to his boat, so he bolts the motor back on in a rush, and off we go.

now bit of history to this place, it's on the heads of a large shallow bay, the heads are only about a k long, and tidal movements are huge. it's really well protected, with the swell only just makin it through the heads to the point we surf. you can only surf it at the end of the incoming tide, and you gotta get out by the time the tide starts to drop... or you get sucked out to sea, i.e. a friend of mine did and paddled at least 14k's to where he could get to shore. meanwhile, his clothes were in some guys car he barely knew who took off, and he hitchhiked 100k's home, in a wet wetsuit in the middle of winter.

anyway, back to the boat. well it was only small, so never taken out into the ocean, only in the protected bay. so we get out there have our fun, jump back on the boat, start her up, oit's a bit choppy, first wave we hit, the motor bounces off it's mounts and underwater RUNNING. woops the dude forgot to hook on the safety chain too. so two of us are slowly dragging the motor up by the fuel line, trying not to break it, while a useless friend up front throws the anchor out... and forgets to tie off. meanwhile the tides dropping fast, and we're getting sucked out into a 3 meter swell, in a 2 and a half meter boat with no motor. we drag the motor up, and the guy is adamant that it's stuffed and a few pull of the cord suggests he's right, it won't run. so we start paddling against, oh a few megalitres of water... just as we hit the brunt of the swell, after a good fighting paddle of 2 hours, and we start getting tossed around (i'm about ready to jump on my board and do the 14 k paddle) i notice that there is a red bungee cord type thing attached at the back.

"what's that red cord"
"oh thats the emergency cutoff"
"emergency cutoff for WHAT"
"oh it's to stop the motor running if it comes off the boat"
"shouldn't it be plugged into the motor then"
"oh sh!t"

so plug it in, prime the engine, and it starts first pull and we get home. well two of us get home, the friend is subsequently dragged behind the boat by his ankles, and forced to walk home from the boat ramp.

[stayalert]

I have it on good authority that when you are traveling down meandering estuaries which vary in width between 20 and 5 ' at ~ 20MPH in a 14 'aluminum boat you should slow or stop before bending down to tie your shoes.

1) the propeller on a 30HP outboard at 3/4 throttle is much louder out of the water than it is in the water.

2) At high tide the transition from channel to atop the marsh is smooth but nonetheless very surprising when you are not watching it arrive.