Wife Learning to Drive the Boat

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Wife Learning to Drive the Boat

Postby SpinnerMan » Tue Aug 14, 2018 6:07 pm

So I'm trying to get my wife more comfortable driving the boat. It's a 16' deep V with a 50 hp outboard. Top speed is maybe 25 mph.

We went out Sunday afternoon on a fairly busy river. She backed away from the dock and navigated through a windy stretch of river about 4 miles long with quite a bit of boat and jetski traffic. She went a lot slower than necessary, but did good.

After that it dumps into another river with a shipping channel that is a little more wide open. There is about a 1.5 mile stretch between a no wake zone and a dam that doesn't get a lot of recreational traffic, but enough that there are waves and there was a little wind. Some bigger boats, some smaller, with different wakes to deal with and a lot of open water to run. Pretty much the right conditions for getting comfortable driving the boat.

So my wife made a couple laps in this area and building her confidence. Still running slower than necessary when encountering wakes, but definitely getting more comfortable. So she tells me she is going to go faster and get more comfortable bouncing on the wakes.

She makes one run up the river at full speed. Pretty much no boat traffic around. Turns around and is running full speed back down the river when there is a huge thud, the boat comes to essentially a dead stop, water floods in over the back :o :o :o

A freak sunk log floating down the channel. I thought my boat was fucked.

She wants to put the life jacket on. I jump in the driver's seat. The motor is still running, I give it some gas and it is going. I get the front end up and hit the bilge pump. OK, the boats moving and we are not seeming to fill with water :thumbsup: Still not running right, but we are running. I start limping back to the dock. About a 4 mile run. Things just don't feel right. Once comfortably out of the shipping channel and I'm sure we were not filling with water. I stopped, lifted the motor and watched a sizable chunk of a log float away.

Then the boat ran just fine. But taking no chances, we ran back to the dock, put it on the trailer. Everything looks fine. No damage. Well no new damage. But we'd had enough excitement and headed home.

I'll be curious next time we get out if my wife will be gun shy. Just one of those freak things. We were running in the channel, no debris around, just that damn random sunken log under the water and out of sight.
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Re: Wife Learning to Drive the Boat

Postby Rick » Wed Aug 15, 2018 4:33 am

Deadheads suck.
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Re: Wife Learning to Drive the Boat

Postby SpinnerMan » Wed Aug 15, 2018 6:12 am

Rick wrote:Deadheads suck.

Yep. Just lucky we didn't end up with expensive boat repairs.

Didn't realize how much water pours over the transom when you stop like that.
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Re: Wife Learning to Drive the Boat

Postby Deltaman » Wed Aug 15, 2018 7:02 am

Also pretty damn amazing what an outboard can hit and still continue to run :o As long as what you hit isn't stationary, good chance the motor will survive, and the biggest scare can be getting abruptly launched out of the boat, or hit something in the boat, when it happens. Glad y'all weren't hurt Ed!!!!
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Re: Wife Learning to Drive the Boat

Postby SpinnerMan » Wed Aug 15, 2018 9:12 am

Thankfully in this case we were both sitting down, leaned back in the seats. So when we lurched forward we didn't hit anything. Anybody standing and they are going flying for sure.

I do a lot of bowfishing. It's not a question really of if, but when you end up going for a swim. Standing up trolling in shallow water is a recipe for the trolling motor hitting a log or stump and you going overboard. Been close a couple times. Dropped the bow in the river once, but luckily was able to retrieve it.
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Re: Wife Learning to Drive the Boat

Postby SpinnerMan » Fri Aug 17, 2018 9:52 am

Acorn wrote:You have a 50 on the back of a 16ft deep v and inly run 25? Your motor must not be set up right. I've got a 40 on the back og a 15' and will run upper 30s low 40s.

It's wide and pretty big for a 16. And who knows how accurate my speedometer was befor I busted it.
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Re: Wife Learning to Drive the Boat

Postby SpinnerMan » Sat Aug 18, 2018 6:23 am

Acorn wrote:Well, now that you scared your wife, will she want to get back out on the water?

So far it seems like yes, but we haven't been out.

And this in not the first time I've scared my wife on the water. :o

She goes out with me quite a bit. She just has never been interested in driving the boat. I should have pushed her years ago. I am a bit worried that she will be gun shy to open the boat up again. Not sure we will get out this weekend.
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Re: Wife Learning to Drive the Boat

Postby SpinnerMan » Sun Aug 19, 2018 5:36 pm

Went a little better this weekend. :thumbsup:

Image

Image
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Re: Wife Learning to Drive the Boat

Postby Rick » Sun Aug 19, 2018 6:42 pm

Ain't nuthin' to this boat stuff.
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Re: Wife Learning to Drive the Boat

Postby outboardman » Wed Aug 22, 2018 5:35 am

SpinnerMan wrote:
Rick wrote:Deadheads suck.

Yep. Just lucky we didn't end up with expensive boat repairs.

Didn't realize how much water pours over the transom when you stop like that.
It was probably cuz the hooked log that you took on a whole bunch of water and sprayed up in the boat

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Re: Wife Learning to Drive the Boat

Postby hunter101 » Tue Apr 09, 2019 7:24 am

wow lucky!
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