what was your scariest moment in a donzi.

[Formula Jr]

What was the the moment you were truely a scared in a Donzi. Was, it the time you hit those cross waves too fast? And banged around sideways in an uncontrollable fashon or, was it cause you got out of hand on the following waves. Was it the time you snowed right into that big wake? Was it the time all gravity let loose and you knew the freaken boat was gone...?

I'm just asking , theres no story behind this..............well, there is a story... A sailboat story... wink

[HyperDonzi]

Not in a Donzi, but I scared the whole family enough to not let me drive two years ago :) . 29 foot Four Winns was going around, not on plane and turns around in front of me, were going 35ish and he circles way out in front of us, does a U turn around our path, creating a few HUGE wakes, I floor it, trim it up, and hit the waves a little over 45!! They were big, the air we got was also big. the landing was hard, broke both the windshield supports!!! Dad wouldnt let me drive for a week!!

[OceanCommotion]

You're lucky it was only a week! I was driving my dad's Pro-line one time when I was 14 and we took a monster wake from a 52' Hatteras and got slightly wet. The Hatteras was coming out of Point Judith harbor towards us and goosed it once he cleared the jetties, and I had just cut the throttle and was idling in. With the front hatch open.

The old man wasn't real happy about that one.

[OceanCommotion]

I hope GeneD sees this thread and drops his monster hole story in here.

[Digger]

I imagine Brownie may have a good addition or two for this thread!!

hint hint :D

[Ed Donnelly]

Out on lake Ontario with 3 friends in my 16.a mile out is a frieghter going all of 6 knots. How big a wake at that speed? Flowed up lee side od the wake like going up an escalator. Cleared the wake at around 45mph. It must have been 10' high. My 3 friends were thrown out. I fractured both my wrists holding onto the wheel.The Toronto Harbor Police rescued us.$4,000 in damages, shattered ego and 3 ex friends who no longer wish to share any further boating experiences with me. That was in 1985....Ed

[boldts]

My most scared moments also involve wake jumping. In my 18 Classic, I jumped a houseboat wake in perfect form. Would have registered a 10 in Olympic competition. Landed on top of another wake and got thrown out of the boat..... almost. Thank goodness for those side rails. I was hanging onto the rail outside the boat. Luckily, I was able to pull myself back in by cutting the throttle. Just sat in the boat for what seemed like eternaty until I could get the guts to put her back in gear and continue on to the launch ramp. Next day, the 18 got a kill switch!

This year at Eufaula in my just bought this summer 22 Classic. Was following Mark Albers and Farmertex. (Mark) Boat caught their cross wakes and I almost rolled my new 22 along with throwing everyone in the boat out. Once I collected my thoughts again and made sure everyone was OK, we continued on with no more troubles. I apologized to my riders, but I'm sure they will never ride with me again!

I'm still in class!

[Bryan Tuvell 33ZX]

Twice:
#1, in the bay, with the Sommervilles, BAD storm came out of nowhere, ZERO visablility for about 15 minutes in the buckets of rain, near the channel of inbound shipping to the Ches Bay Bridge. GPS at idle....
#2, Hitting a triple tug wake behind a 41 Super Hawaii at about 55MPH and seeing his 41' footer launch like he worked for NASA, to the props, and knowing I was next to launch!
#3 in the old 22ZX, SCA and Nancy said were going! Don't turn around! Jock strapp required after that!
Bryan

[roadtrip se]

Re-living Tuvell moments... many more good ones, than bad, but there might be a trend here:

Tuvell #1, Zero visibility in a down pour, we're in the channel and I kept waiting for a big gray navy bow to come out of the fog. Not happy at all. Kept pushing Bryan to keep the boat moving, so we could at least attempt to evade if something came out of the rain. Spooky.

Tuvell#2, Poker Run, Super Hawaii 13,000 pound monster hits a tug boat wake 1/2 a mile ahead of us and goes completely vertical. Then realize that we are headed for the same water, oh ****! Only time I puckered up or said anything all day during a pretty great run.

Somerville moment, boat re-rig done. Prop testing a mirage 27. Very small diameter, oddball prop. Crossing a wake and the boat just goes vertical. Saw the sun, no grip, no bite, and no control. Passenger and I shut her down and count blessings, idle back to the dock, put on trailer, box up the prop for return, and poured the tequila. Close one!

Todd

[Fish boy]

May 25, 1988, the "No-Name Storm" came out of no where and struck the west coast of Florida. 4 friends and I were anchored off Eggmont Key Shark fishing in my 23' center console donzi. By the next morning, we were just happy to be alive.

We had been chumming the waters for about 1 1/2 hours with chunks of bonito, blood, stingray, and mullet. While the weather reports were clear and the evening started out beautifully, the storm moved in so fast that we did not even have time to pull the anchor- we cut it and raced for pass a grille channel a few miles away.

We did not make it. Winds were 70-80 with gusts over 100mph. Waves were 8-10ft. We started taking so much water over the bow that within a few minutes we were knee deep in water inside the boat and getting worse.

The sky was so thick with rain and clouds that we could no longer see the lights of St. Petersburg to find our way to pass a grille. As more and more water came inside the boat and our cooler and chum buckets floated out, we hurridly put on our life jackets and prepared for the worst.

During a lighting strike, we saw a small tuft of land sticking out of the water and swam for it. Turns out that we were less than 1/2 mile or so from the shore, but at the time, we were not sure where we were, and could not see the shore through the storm- all we knew is that our boat went under, we chummed the same water for about 2 hours, and we were going to stay put on the piece of land we were on.

After the first storm pounded us and left, a second one followed shortly after. This one had hail and even stronger winds. We all huddled close together trying to stay warm and ride the storm out.

Early the next morning, we swam to shore and walked to a convenience store to call our families. At the same time, my dad, who called the coast guard the night before when he did not hear from us and was told by the CG that it was "too rough to go out" and search for us was doing his own search. He put my mom's boat in the water as soon as it got light and headed for the shipping channel off Eggmont. He found my boat half submerged on the flats with my rods, my gun, and personal effects- no people. He thought the worst.

MY Mom picked us all up at the convenience store and we dropped my friends at their houses. We also called my dad and told him that we were alive. He towed the boat to a local marina, and we broke the engine down that afternoon. This was my scariest moment in a Donzi.

In case you are wondering, the sunk boat is the same boat that is pictured below. Two lessons learned: Do not mess with mother nature or the coast guard; both will leave you to fend for yourself.

[Walt. H.]

WOW eek! I had to read your story twice!! You should publish it! First you have my respect,and my admiration,you came close to being a statistic,like , Don't want to say "perfect storm"! You guy's had the right luck and ability to make the correct decision and live to talk about it! I 'd declare you the winner of this scariest momment if I could. I'm going to put two race jackets on and pour myself a double right NOW!! before I go any further, SEE YA!!

[Donzigo]

My scariest moment was when I first rode in one. I new then I was hooked. I was hoping that the owner didn't know how much I loved the boat. I bought it 10 monthes later.

[Formula Jr]

We were 40 miles out, over the Baltimore Canyon, off in the distance you could see
a white wall of clouds. The wind started to kick up a little, I checked the cooler,
and to my horror, there was no beer. NO FREAKEN BEER!!!!!!!! :D

[Wildfire]

My old 16 had wicked torque steer and required a firm hand to say the least. The bow caught a wake at speed and took a SHARP left. The kill switch lanyard got pulled and freaked me out when the engine quit.

Scared several friends and relatives in that boat too. Got an Uncle that rode in her one time and one time only.

[goatee]

keeping it short and sweet, by the time i knew what happened there was nothing to fear. sitting in the passenger side (right) at night, (pitch black) going,,,,,,,,,,um,,,FAST!
he starts to pull back, then a little more, then more, maybe 10 to 12 seconds to come to a stop. just then my eyes focused, and there was a tree about 30-40 yards in front of us.
we done shot staight across the bay in no time!
all's well that ends well i quess. but what if he started to throttle down 5 sec. later?????
similar story in my boat, execpt it was a seawall!

[Cuda]

Fishboy, my scariest moments in a boat were in the exact same place. I was 17, a couple freinds and I were at Egmont in my dad's old 1958 19 foot Squall King with a 75 horse evinrude that was about 4 feet across. One of those wild thunder storms came up on us. Being young and stupid, we didn't run for it when we could. By the time it was on us with winds screaming, rain so hard I couldn't see 10 feet in front of the boat, it was too late to run, but we did. We were trying to get to Pass-a-Grille. I knew there was a lot of real shallow water between Egmont and Pass-a-Grille, but I couldn't tell how far offshore I was. We were holding on for dear life, trying to keep headway into the waves when I saw sand come up on the windsheild. I was sure the next trough would smash us on the bottom and shatter the old boat. We didn't crash, and the storm let up a little and we fought our way through the channel, which if you've ever gone through in a blow, you know isn't much fun. Just as we got inside the pass, the battery fell over, shorted, and exploded. The engine was still running, and we made it back to the ramp.

From that day on, I've never got caught in a squall that I could run from. I thought of naming my boat "Chicken of the Sea". :)

[Greg K]

Formula Jr:
The scariest moment, is when you have been dating and runngng around with that person you are so interersted in, and they say "They " are with child. Did I tell you she was freakin gorgeous... :mad:

[ToonaFish]

My scariest moment in a Donzi?

When Roadtrip told me told me to put the strap between my legs...

[Dr. Dan]

:D Toona..........I think Todd used that same line on Jill, now look at'em....they're married! :p ...Doc

P.S. Nice Avitar ....not that a urinating pooch isn't becoming, but a cute "Chick" shaken her tail, always seemed more appealing to me! eek!

[ToonaFish]

I'll keep that in mind if ever presented with similar instructions! (I think Todd was more concerned that my ballcap wasn't aerodynamic than with me falling out of the boat.)

Ranman deserves a great round of applause for my new avatar... I'm Jennuinely thrilled!

Bunches,

Celene 'Happy Epiphany on Greek time'

[Surfer]

One word "Boynton Inlet" it's about 100' wide, and I have ridden waves 8 to 10' in the inlet...anyone in south Florida had the pleasure?

[tmdog]

Did them all on SE coast. Best or I should say the worst was Haulover inlet Miami. I had a 24 formula and had to time it just right before in or out. What a thrill.
JIM

[Fish boy]

Cuda, I am feeling that "young and stupid" pain. Glad we both made it.

[mattyboy]

hey I resemble that remark!!!!
didn't mean to scare ya Scott :p wink :D

this year's dustoff in well let's say not great boating weather heavy rain and fog. on Lk George for the first time in rain and fog trying to keep up with a criterion( not do-able in a 16) blew right by the cove for the algonquin. then leaving the dustoff in heavy rain and fog left with 4 or 5 boats and then watched an 18 vanish into the fog,then a criterion,then a hornet, and me right behind them, all I could think about was the missing flight 19!!!! well let me say i would have passed the treasure cove but for the sound of 5 donzi idling at the dock

Matt

[goatee]

retracting my earlier response,,,,
i would have to say,, when i was sitting in the drivers seat dreaming, and the salesman answered my question,,,,"how much?"

[jdsdls]

I was out in my 86 Z-21 running really hard, started to smell something burning. Stopped opened the engine hatch to see water pouring in. Turns out the 4" exhaust manifolds hoses had delamninated inside caused so much back pressure in the motor that the water intake line from the drive had blown off. So the alpha pump was still pump water into the boat. Had to shut down an be towed in. 350 Tempest had overheated.

[Forrest]

It's a toss up between three.

Either that time I made the fool decision to go out Sebastian Inlet on windy day in my '72 16 Donzi - big waves!

Or maybe it was that windy day in 1987 when I tried to go from the Ft. Desoto (St. Pete) ramp with a date to Eggmott Key in my 16 and didn't get past the end of the end of the channel that goes through the sandbar past the Ft. Desoto State Park beach when I was hit by peaky, six or seven footers that were no more the 25 feet apart! The channel was narrow and if you went out of it, you would be aground in those same six or seven footers! It took full throttle to go up the wave letting off as you go to the crest with out drive trimed all the way out to keep from pitch-polling as we came down. That 16 was literally straight up and down! There was no turning back and we and the Donzi survived until the water got deeper, and at that point, I saw a sixty or so foot charter boat running back into the next inlet around Tara Verde. With that, I got behind him and ducked in there until the wind died down.

Also, I remember way back in the 1970's, me and four people got caught out between the High-Rise Bridge and the fourth island of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel in the 16 Donzi when a severe squall came up. Big waves, fierce rain, pump running, lightning, can't see anything, too rough to try to get under the bridge - hang on. Finally we made it to the lee side of the Fourth Island to take a break from the seas, but he rain didn't stop. It took a long time to get back to Lynhaven Inlet as we went across the Thimble Shoals Channel to the Third Island, then the long haul to the Second Island the across the Hampton Roads Channel to the First and back.

In all of the above instances, and there are more, you have to tell the num-heads riding with you that this is a serious situation and to sit down, put on you life vest, shut up, and start praying!

[boldts]

Hadn't read this in a while. Now, I fear I may be on the Poodle's list? That may become my scarest moment out of the boat! :confused:

[Tidbart]

A couple of years ago, soon after procuring my 18C, I was attending a party at a friends house on the lake in NH where we both lived. I arrived by boat, naturally. Soon after arrival, a very large, very ugly drunk girl asked for a ride in my new boat. Now that was SCARY! LOL wink

B

[Speed-Racer]

Well, that would be a tie between my ride with Poodle, and Mike Miller!
Poodle and I in Platka almost did a 360 degree turn in mid air after turning around and jumping a wake...everyone thought they were going to be picking us up out of the water....you had to be there.
The other, more recent on, was with Mike Miller our now fearless leader in Astor. We where heading across Lake Geogre in a brand new sweet 16' in about 3 foot seas, not knowing where we where heading, and not to mention it was about 45 degree's out cussball Needless to say it was one hell of a ride, at 50mph, and parts flying off the boat eek! I thought about wearing a life jacket in a DONZI for once. No one can say that Mike doesn't drive his boat!

[Terry0341]

The first AOTH, My first ride in a Donzi! Knowing that the budget could not yet handle my first Donzi! :mad: