Your Scariest Moment on the Water

[painter]

a few seasons back, while fishing a Renegade tournament on the St. Lawrence out of Morrisburg, my partner and I were zooming from one spot to another (about 50 mph or so..) and out of no where we hit the giant wake off of one of the big tanker ships. Now, in case you didn't know this, those tankers give off TWO wakes ! One off the bow and one off the back. Not knowing this at the time we of course hit the SECOND wake too. The first wake sent me flying completely VERTICAL out of my seat, the landing was less than comfy to say the least. Hitting the second wake was the insult to injury. WATCH THE WAKES !

[dana]

either
1.falling under the ice in the spring when i was 10
2.going out lobster fishing at midnight[ opening day] when there were 125 traps on a 38ft boats and it got windy out
3. drifting without a working engine in the 38 ft cape island boat on the ocean for 24 hrs and getting started 100 yds from smashing up on a shoal..
it was nice day.. though very foggy

p.s.
my brother and father have 100 worse ones..
the worst one was:
its called bein a commercial east coast dragger
[90ft ]fisherman in winter..
bailing for 24 hrs straight [ 5 gal buckets] when awave smashed ahole in the hull.. and yah they had to climb stairs[ladders] in the dark in 40ft seas.and subzero temps...to get to where to dump em..
it was too rough for a 165ft coastguard boat to go out for 24hrs..
some how it found them..yeh gps.
they got aboard the big vessel...they started to tow my fathers old tub...down she went..no one on board..

[wolfe]

Holy crow, some of you are lucky to be alive...

Dana, I remember hearing somewhere recently that the most dangerous job on this planet was that of a commercial fisherman. I believe it.

Great tales, everyone; thx for the participation. These are entertaining encounters, but don't you question your sanity as a youth?! The things we did...! I don't know where all my fears came from as an adult, because they certainly weren't there as a kid. Or maybe it was just a lack of common sense.

W.

[jmikail]

My childhood best friend got a 14' Jon Boat when I was 14 years old. This was on the Florida gulf coast in the summer. We decided to have my dad take it out to the local boat ramp so my friend and I could do some sea trout fishing with nothing more than a small electric trolling motor and one paddle.

We were out for a couple of hours when the wind really started to blow offshore. We tried dropping the anchor but the wind kept pushing us further out. The trolling motor and the oar did not help much either. Of course we did not have life jackets on board. We kept drifting for about an hour when my father become panicky worried that we were no longer in sight and that the sun started to set.

Luckily this was a commercial fishing port when Florida still allowed inshore netting. My father begged the first fisherman he saw to go out and find us. He did find us and we could not have been more grateful. He towed the jonboat behind his rig and took us to the ramp. My father's worry turned into livid anger, but I was too busy being happy to be alive.

We stuck to lake fishing for a long time after that. At least you could see the alligators...not so with the wind.

[dana]

Yes i think the alaskan west coast crab or halibut guys took the cake.
The east coast off shore in winter is splendorously horrible at best..
but i was only ever inshore with 20 miles in smaller boats ..not like my father and brother.

I just remembered the scariest time.
I was 17 the "crew" on a 20ft skiff. with ajohnson 20hp]..we would go out haul the herring nets..maybe get from 30 -200lbs then go handlining till noon out further for cod pollock and haddock .It was summer it was the early 60's it was a wonderful time to be a kid off school and living by the ocean.We went out to check the nets like usual and they were full of herring..i caught some 10-20 lb pollack around the nets and had so much fun my hands hurt. We kept pullin the ehrring nets over the gunnels and it was a great show until i noticed that the boat was 2" from the top of the gunnels.Well would my friend stop even when i begged him too?
no!
He filled the boat right up to the top and it soure looked like it was higher in the middle.
He said "well we can't waste these fish its not right and we can't make two trips because they will rot". My hopes for survival sank like i thought we were going to do
So we started the or 5 so miles back to the fish plant ...it was pretty calm but of course it "was" the atlantic ocean .
When he strated the engine and started moving, the stern level was below the water but the forward momentum kept the water out.
As we slowly went home with a freakin ton of herring in it ....the wind started blowing and it was not a lot of wind...i swear waves went right over that boat as we crepy home and i silently gave my spirit to my maker...it took hours.
I still don't know how we made it home the only two reasons
for our survival were my prayers and
the fundamental principles of
capillary action
and surface tension..
I never went out fishing with him again..
One other time the anchor had got stuck 5 fathoms down on a rock and he almost pulled that boat under tryin to get it back...his viens were poppin outta his head i figured we were gone that time but it was a picnic compared to the" herring ride"..
but yeh we made 30 $ for our 2000 Lbs of herring

[wolfe]

I never went out fishing with him again..
One other time the anchor had got stuck 5 fathoms down on a rock and he almost pulled that boat under tryin to get it back...his viens were poppin outta his head i figured we were gone that time but it was a picnic compared to the" herring ride"..

Glad you survived! You retell a good story, Dana. I can almost picture the fella...he sounds, how shall we say, "stalwart and determined" and rather unflappable.

W.

[YakAttack]

In the mid- to late-seventies, 3 of us were trying to capture a monster great white shark that was terrorizing a community on the western US coast - it was eating people. After 3 days battling the thing on the deep sea the beast was ramming the hull and finally the boat began to sink, back-end first. Well, one of the other guys was eaten, the other guy disappeared earlier (can't remember how) so it was just me and the shark. It was chomping the back end of the boat, which had sunk very low by now, and now the monster was getting to me. Out of desperation I threw a scuba-diving oxygen tank at it, and the tank got lodged in its jaws. I shot at the tank with my .357 magnum and blew the damn thing to pieces.

Wait a sec...that was just a movie I saw once or twice....

[Jebby]

lets just say even though mazinaw rock is one of the tallest cliffs in ontario at nigt it is hard to c thank god i was quick on the motor to save out @$$

also 14 foot tinny with a 1954 johnson seahorse (10 hp) in the detroit river on a clam day is grat for fishing.... when it turns from calm to nuts and ur down current from ur ramp its not cool (5 foot swells in a 14 foot tinny is scarry) bearly had the power to move us stream and we more or less dunked the exaust on the motor and the bow a few times... be careful every1

but hands down the scariest boating experience ever..... being by ur self trying to play fishing guide for 3 kids under the age of 7 AHHHHH

[Troller]

Hi guys, What a great question. all of your experiences can show others what can happen out on the soft and hard water. My scariest experience was about 18 years ago when I was fishing Big Rideau Lake near Murphy's Point Provincial Park. We were in a back bay fishing off a platformed bass boat being carried by the wind when we suddenly ran a ground on a rock shoal. As we came to a udden stop I fell into the water (pulling my inflatable vest on the way in). As I was looking down at my vest inflate I was unable to break my fall properly. When I entered the water I hit my head on a partially submerged log. This bump did not knock me out but it certainly dazed me. Luckily, I was fishing with another adult who helped me out of the water. To this day I still wear a lifejacket when I am alone or alone with my childern in the boat.

Thanks,
Dave

[Joisey Joe]

My dad, sis and I are zippin around an isle on The Larry just in front of the Glen House, when, wham, we hit the deck! Seems there is a good sized rock just under the water that we found quite suddenly. Thankfully nobody was seriously hurt for bumps and bruises, we all stayed in the boat, the motor wasn't locked down so it was still there the only damage to the prop! Was scary for us and needless to say we knew where that rock was from then on! LOL

[OTRA]

Mines pretty trivial, but its more of what could have happened. My son and I where fishing in my 14ft john boat, 8 hp motor on a lake. Some teenage girls thought it would be fun to come flying at us on their jet ski. Yes, at the last second they turned, but came real close to swamping us. Had several cases down here where they didn't turn soon enough, and people died.

[HitmanHill]

This story has stupid written all over it but if you learn something from it, the story is worth telling. My family was invited up to Bob's Lake for a day at a friends cottage about ten years ago to take in some water sking and canoeing which I haven't done in years. It was a perfect summers day and the wind was a little strong but didn't seem too bad in the bay. I decided to take the canoe out by myself and tried to stay in the bay and not knowing how to swim I was just thinking I would do a little cruise around the bay but the wind really picked up and literally pushed me away from shore where no matter how hard I paddled I wasn't getting back to shore the way I wanted to. I was just thinking man if this wind gets any stronger it is going to flip this canoe right over and no sooner did the thought enter my mind that is exactly what happened. No brainer #2, I wasn't wearing a life jacket. The good thing was I hung onto the overturned canoe for dear life and was hoping someone from shore would see the yellow hull of the canoe and realize I was in trouble. I tried yelling but I was too far from shore for anyone to hear me plus the sound of the wind drowned out the sounds I was trying to make. I learned afterwards that my daughter told my wife that the canoe wasn't in the water the right way and my wife told her that it was probably me just playing around. Thank goodness our friends knew this wasn't the best way to be travelling in a canoe and came racing over in their power boat to try and rescue me but with the wind being so strong they couldn't get close enough to me without be pushed into the weeds and having the motor bogged down. This was just one crazy experience that I thought was never going to end. I guess I must have got the attention of some other cottagers because the next thing I see is a little 12' foot tinny coming over to help me and I guess with a smaller boat he was able to manuever easier was able to pull me into his boat and I was saved. I recognized the face but I couldn't place a name to it until I got back to shore and our friends told us that it was Dr. Huard the same Dr. that delivered my two kids, kind of eronic that he delivers and safes people on his off days. I will be forever gratefully and know now never to go anywhere in any type of boat without a life jacket. As for my wife we are still married but she knows now that if you see the bottom of a canoe in the water from shore, that this can't be good.

[wolfe]

but hands down the scariest boating experience ever..... being by ur self trying to play fishing guide for 3 kids under the age of 7 AHHHHH

hahahaha! Had to laugh at that one. I can relate!!!!

Thanks again to everyone for the entertaining tales. After reading some of these, I am reminded at how important it is to wear a life vest. I don't wear mine too often, except when moving the boat along when the kids are in it...I always force them to wear theirs, but hate wearing mine.

I guess I am always surprised to hear of people that don't know how to swim and yet spend a great deal of time on the water. Hitman Hill, your story was amusing on the surface, but that's only because you didn't drown! Glad your daughter noticed the canoe's BOTTOM! Have you learned to swim yet? Just wondering...

W.

[Luke 5:5]

Nice thread wolfe, two years ago I was in algonquin park and i saw two bull moose by shore and stupid me thaught I should paddle over and take some pictures, well after being about ten feet away for 2 or 3 minutes I started drifting slowly and getting closer to them and all of a sudden one of them launched at our canoe and started stomping at it, the moose were only in about two feet of water or so. So after my brother in law and myself got thrown from the canoe we tried REALLY hard to get away from the moose, he was having his way with my canoe (completly destroyed it) and we walked about 2 miles back through swamp and everything else, he left us alone, but man that was FREAKY, thank God I had an extra pair of shorts!!!!!

[wolfe]

Luke,

Holy crap. And I thought the loons were scary.

Moose can be really dangerous -- I've read enough and some stories stick with you. Yours will be one of them.

W.

PS: while in Algonquin, we also saw some moose -- a cow & calf -- but kept the canoes at a good distance. Our pic's probably weren't nearly as good as yours, but our canoe is a lot nicer today.