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MXRoadster
07-21-2002, 01:12 PM
After having the outdrive break on the water I raised the engine hatch and waited for some assistance. My friends asked how long I thought it would take to get help, to which I replied “It will take awhile for a real boater to show up”. Sure enough we sat there enjoying the sun for over an hour (this is on Lake Washington, a very popular lake) before a real boater came up and asked if everything is ok. I told him no and that the outdrive is busted. He then asked where we needed to go and that it will be slow be he’ll get us there. We arrived at the docks about 20 to 30 minutes later, I then asked him to come over to the dock so I can give him some money. He said “No thanks, you would do the same thing for me wouldn’t you?” Of course I would…. That to me is what a real boater is all about; because it is not a matter of if you will ever need help, it is a matter of when will you need some help.

David

Cuda
07-21-2002, 02:19 PM
May the circle be unbroken.

Gearhead99
07-21-2002, 03:33 PM
It's getting harder to find people like that anymore.

riverrat
07-21-2002, 03:34 PM
been there.. done that.. it's the law. but most people don't know & don't care. you are always suppose to stop & render aid on the water.. eek!

Dr. Dan
07-21-2002, 06:05 PM
:D BVERD Is A Real Boater & Driver for that matter.... :D ...Doc

Moody Blu'
07-21-2002, 06:31 PM
ya if it wasnt for real boaters I would be screwed :p

I ran out of gas after a heavy on off throttle session in barnegat bay and it was dusk........

a REAL BOATER came by and happen to have a 5 gallon tank of premix, i tried giving him cahs but he said forget about it....

i threw in the premix and got home...

it didnt even phase the motor, actually doesnt premix lube up the cylinders a bit?

id stop for someone if they waved me down.

lord knows ive been in the same situation wink

gotta love those "real boaters"

and lemme tell ya theres allot of

"real a$$holes" out there :p :p :D :D

Formula Jr
07-21-2002, 07:18 PM
@ re@l bo@ter @ctu@lly looks @ctively for @nyone in distress @t @ll times. P@rt of the Botherhood th@t use to exist. I w@s off w@ter for @bout l0 ye@rs when I moved to Oregon, @nd the ch@nges I see now @re sort of depressing. But It will not ch@nge MY @ttitude. @nd m@ybe somehow we, through individu@l @ctions, c@n recl@im/educ@te new people. @ tow is just @ gre@t oppertunity to meet new people....

Sagbay32
07-21-2002, 07:35 PM
I remember being out on saginaw Bay about ten years ago and receiving a boater in distress call. The guy only had enough juice to run the radio and that power was fading fast. My dad and I looked for the guy for a couple of hours due to poor directions from him. We finally found him and his wife 15 miles from where he "thought" he was. We towed him back to his ramp (which took another few hours) and dropped him off. He did try to pay us but my Dad said "just help somebody else out if you ever hear a call like we did".

It seems that it was his brothers boat and he had never been out on the bay before. Not too bright we said to ourselves.....

KMLFAMILY
07-21-2002, 07:59 PM
I towed in some guy"s that were out paddling in a old wooden relic that looked like it had no buisness being on the water last wk. end. Slight chop, they were getting nowhere. Other boaters passing right by. After i told a friend how i threw them my line and towed them to shore. He explained to me, big mistake.Always make them throw you a line. " They can take you down with them" he explained or you can always set them free if things go wrong otherwise. Made sense to me. Alway"s learning something.

oldLenny
07-21-2002, 08:17 PM
..then there was the guy that I towed in a 17' boat (mine) 150 Merc OB, for four hours out past Stuart Island, ( loonnggg ways offshore) he had no wind and a 41 C&C sailboat that was broken, took him (eventually) to a marina in Sidney, when we got close to the dock he said, "let go of the line, I'm OK now". That was the last I saw of him.

8 gallons of gas, 4 hours of my life and time on the water, going 5 knots at half throttle as this guy "steers" his sailboat, man was that un-nerving in a deep vee.

Hopefully it will come around one day...but, as well, I hope I don't need it!

It's more fun helping people than not...

HyperDonzi
07-21-2002, 08:18 PM
the only ones you can count on here are the watercraft officers and a handful of "real boaters"

mattyboy
07-21-2002, 08:29 PM
just happened to me, cruising ok then running really bad, headed home just got to the arm,of the lake 1000yds from my dock boat won't idle stalls runs then stalls, so a have of dozen boats pass me in a no wake zone bitching at me for slowing everything up , the can hear me bitching, raising the hatch, but one guy stays behind me, pulls up asked if i'm ok so I said can you get me close to the marina and I can paddle in guy said sure, got me in I said thanks can i buy you I beer ,no was his response he said would you do it for me, I said sure I just towed a father and son in last week then just thanks will do he said, sent two beers over to his table any way.

matt

Greg Maier
07-23-2002, 12:55 PM
I had to tow two jetskiers in early on a Sunday morning. It was about 8AM, they were drunk(probably headed home from an allnighter), no lifejackets on, 3/4 submerged/flooded jet ski, in the middle of the shipping channel on the Chesapeake Bay. They actually asked if I would tow them over 20 miles to their original destination. What I did was tow them to the nearset land, which happened to be a private beach. I'm sure the well-to-do owner of this house was happy to see a couple of drunk idiots on his private beach first thing Sunday morning. Instead of being grateful that they were still alive, they were pissed off at me for not spending my next 3 hours towing them to their destination.

RedDog
07-23-2002, 01:28 PM
"Jetskiers!" That just may be above and beyond what is expected of a "real boater"

You probably saved their lives

blackhawk
07-23-2002, 03:35 PM
Myself and the ex were cruising down Torch river on the way back to Elk Lake a couple of years ago. About halfway down the river I glanced at my gas gauge. eek! Riding on E. I played it off like we had plenty even though I knew it would be close. Get to the opening of Lake Skegmog(or however you spell it) and spit, sputter, die. Perfect timing, right in the middle of about a hundred stumps. Luckily, there was a boat anchored nearby that heard me sputtering and came over before I had my anchor out. Towed me 5 miles to the launch. I offered the guy money but he wouldn't take it.

HyperDonzi
07-23-2002, 04:08 PM
im not sure if i would pull jetskiers, depends on whatmood i was in and how nice they were.

2biguns
07-23-2002, 04:21 PM
Amy and I have towed in at least 6 boats so far this year. My favorites are always the ones who are a mile or two from a marina but who want you to pull them 20 miles to where they left their truck.

There are times that we don't mind pulling the stranded a bit farther than is necessary--family with young children, "good guys" who thank you over and over for stopping and of course, tiny bikini-clad first mates :D

Then there are those that you almost hate to pull in at all--rented pontoons with 18 people and 3 life jackets and those Chariots of Satan (Sea Doos).

For those boats that you have to pull but don't want to go too far, we have developed a great excuse for towing to the closes possible facility:

" We'd love to tow you to the other end of the lake but the engines on our boat are set up to run so rich that we might do permanent damage if we travel too far at an idle"

Now you can't use this on a savvy boater, but then again a savvy boater only asks to go as far as the first marina.

Mark Nelson
07-23-2002, 05:20 PM
You never know about jet-skiers...Last year there was this guy and his girlfriend flagging us down from their jet-ski. We ended up towing him back to her place (several miles out of our way)...After we got them back, he told us he was a cop for city of ***; said anytime you need a "get out of jail free card" look me up.
Haven't had to use it yet, but you never know :cool:
Moral - not all jet skiers are bad.

HyperDonzi
07-23-2002, 06:13 PM
2biguns this one also works wink
"i would any other day but my engine is way messed up, im not even sure ill be able to make it back myself."

gjohns6896
07-23-2002, 11:28 PM
I am standing up for all sea-dooers! But some BOATERS suck, too! What about those asshole skiers who think they OWN the lake and SKI about 10 feet from shore...as I am trying to get into my 18 foot Donzi or my 9 foot Sea-Doo???

PRICKS!

Oh yeah...and those HUGE waves being put out by those "real-boaters" as you call them are not helpful at all when trying to navigate your boat INTO the hoist or for that matter TOW-IN a fellow boater. I even towed in BIG BOATS with my old 85 horsepower Sea-Doo...and no thanks were given.

It is all very, VERY relative to the situation.

Cheers, Everybody's Dooin' it...SEA-DOO!!!
:cool:
George

HyperDonzi
07-23-2002, 11:46 PM
or when there pulling a damn tuber, no one is paying attention infront of them, just trying to throw the guy on the back off as hard as they can.

Riley
07-24-2002, 09:06 AM
We don't have much of a problem with bad actors on PWC's up here, most are well-behaved and out to have a good time. I do, however, have a major problem with these kayakers that decide paddle to 4 or 5 in a single file line, and get out in the middle of navigable channels and big bays. You simply can't see them until you are right up on them, especially if it's early in the morning or later in the evening. They ought to make it a national law that all kayakers paddling in major power boat areas run some sort of orange flag marker, like the dune buggy guys have to out in CA.

I, too, have a story to tell about helping stranded boaters. This year, over the 4th of July Holiday, I noticed a sport boat full of people floating in one of our bays, hatches up. Upon closer inspection they had 2 swimmers in the water, trying to swim the boat about 1/2 mile to the nearest shore. Naturally I stopped and offered assistance, but instead of a tow they elected to send one of their party with me, back to the cabin they were staying and get help from their family. I was more than pleasantly surprised when one of the swimmers, a drop-dead goregeous blonde in a bikini offered to ride with me. I've got to admit, what could have been a 5 minute blast turned into a 15 minute pleasure cruise! Everything worked out in the end, and I made a new friend in the process. Who says good deeds go unrewarded?

Sean
07-24-2002, 10:07 AM
Pulled in my share of stranded boaters and have offered many assistance. Just waiting for my turn.

We were anchored off near shore enjoying the sun and beautiful day. Nearly 200 yards away I could make out what seemed to be an individual waving something white in the air. I told my buddy that it looks like someone is in need of help. Having just anchored out within the hour we waited to see if anyone else would assist them. Sure enough we watched for 15 minutes as boats passed within 40 yards of the stranded boat with the white shirt waving in the air. No assistance was given. I couldn't beleive my eyes. We pulled anchore and headed their way. Although we were headed their way, they waved that white shirt like no tomorrow. I guess they wanted to make sure we weren't going to ignore them like all the others. We pulled close and asked them if they needed help. They had gotten a ski rope stuck in the prop. No problem, have you got a knife?? No they responeded. Here you go. 5 minutes later they were off enjoying the remainder of the day. Having thanked us, we just asked that they do the same for others in need of help.

It seems that true boaters are becoming few and far between. Help your fellow boater. I learned this at age 5. If I'm in need of help, I hope I receive the same assistance I have and would extend to anyone else. I guess I had better pray for a member fo this board to come by.

Bug
07-24-2002, 09:24 PM
It's getting tougher every year to find real boaters.You can pick them out of the croud anymore
because the real boater will still wave hello and
have a common curtousy on the water.
I will always make sure that someone is not
stranded, and I've had the favor returned several
times.

Formula Jr
07-24-2002, 11:41 PM
/soap box on.
I wrote about this extensively on Boater ED a while back. It has to do with where people are coming from. Today anyone with good credit can get a boat. They Have become relatively cheap consumer pleasure items. But it wasn't always that way. Prior to CORP boats you had to really work on being boater. Cause most of them were wood. Wood meant high maintainace, high maintainece meant you worked on the boat all the time to keep it sea worthy. With all that effort involved, reading chapmans and learning knots and hitches, learning navigation and reading charts a nd tables was a ll prt of the game, a s was the knowledge that everyone else out there was putting lot of effort in to being on the water. That was the brotherhood as I understood it. and i still wave a t everyone. 35 years ago, If I waved red flag or paddle, EVERYONE in the immediate are a would decend on me, and be falling over each other in an effort to help. I don't remember being stranded more than l5 minutes. Today we a re really on our own. The CG stopped the off hand tow openning up whole field of "proffessional" tow services. and then they seatow et al, put out the word that you will get sued if you give a tow and something goes wrong. and it continues to confuse me that for the most part people bought into this fear. and the proffessional services have no compulsion aginst appling maritime law to the totally inapproprete pleasure boat sphere. as a practical matter I got VHF last year, never needed one before. But I'll tell you, sometimes I think I would rather sink and drown in the middle of a crowd rather than call tow service, just to make a point. Something major has been lost here, somehow we need to get that back. Though the regs say you can not ask for money for a tow, the standards I grew up with were, 6 pack less than 2 miles. l/2 rack two to 6 miles, case in multiples for anything over. The current situation really bothers me. Seamanship is in your blood, and if there's lot of enemic people out there, then I wonder if they can ever appeciate the whole lifestyle. and i've lately gone to the politically incorrect notion that if you pilot then you have to have Captain's certifcation. It would extract the same commitment to what we had with the wood boats.....
/soap box off.

oldLenny
07-25-2002, 12:43 AM
Owen, I'll tow you ANYWHERE you want to go in multiples of 6 miles only. renumeration accordingly :D

..as well, in Canada, we abide by the "Good Samaritans Act" meaning basically (it is the same as First Aid here) you CANNOT be sued for providing assistance to someone in need if they agree to it. The only catch is you CANNOT puncture the skin or give medication. This does not stop you from getting everything ready and "letting" the patient administer it...

Oh, and once you apply yourself to the situation you must remain with the patient until someone else as qualified or (more so) attends to the situation...(eg: paramedics, hence why you have someone call 911 immediately so that you dont have to spend the rest of your day with a corpse)

Glad to see you fixed your "a". Now you can sound like me. :D

Formula Jr
07-25-2002, 01:13 AM
If its Canadi an beer, then the exch ange r ate is in your f avor. One bottle Vic L ager = one six pack US Beer. :D

oldLenny
07-25-2002, 02:15 AM
:D

McGary911
07-25-2002, 11:15 AM
allright......anyone ready to mail formula jr a keyboard with a working "a" yet??? Although the [space]a is better than the @ :D

Barry Phillips
07-25-2002, 11:49 AM
I have been boating all my life, my father purchased a used Cris Craft when I was a baby in 1953 and I have owned my own boat scince I was 14. I still think thier are plenty of "real boaters" out thier, at least where I boat. I am not shure where most PWC operators are coming from though, these people act like they are the only things on the water, young and older alike.

The first year I owned my Classic 18, I was running back to the ramp where my wife was meeting me with the trailer. When I ran out of fuel about 300 yards off the ramp, the fuel gauge read between quarter and an eight of a tank, I was going to fill it on the trailer. Any how a guy with his 2 daughters came the rescue in a litte 14'outboard. The 2 girls maybe 13 and 14 knew exactly what to do in terms of tying off lines etc. and they towed me the ramp. Although I was humilated these 2 young girls and there father where "real boaters".

SO-SLO

PaulO
07-26-2002, 10:35 AM
You can go back and forth with this one. I have towed many and been towed a couple of times. Towed 2 back last season. Mostly appreciative decent people. The flipside is that you don't want to ruin anyone's very precious and way too infrequent boating outings. One of the tows last year took me 2 hours and that was all the time I had that day for boating in a season where time is already short. Now, you don't mind doing it for someone who has taken good care of his boat, taken all the standard precauctions, and fell upon some bad luck. The problem comes when you end up wasting your precious boating time towing someone back who never should have been on the water in the first place due to improper equipment or experience. Although I am always willing to render help when people are in need, I do not like to impose on others myself. For that, I have the boat towing insurance. I, for one, think it is a great thing. I pay $50 a year and have unlimited occurances of up to $400 per occurance. I have used it once. They showed up promptly, will tow you wherever you want to go and there are no hidden charges. $50 to save my friends from having to come out and rescue me is a bargain. Their boating time is as precious as mine. The "old days" are not going to come back. But there is plenty good about these days.
PaulO