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Random Quote: It seemed like a good idea at the time........Officer
I was out on Lake Erie this morning fishing and had my VHF radio on channel 16. I hear this guy call the Coast Guard:
"Boater...Hello Coast Guard, got your ears on Coast Guard? Coast Guard my boat is not starting and I'm distressed, do you hear me?
CG responds.."This is the United States Coast Guard, please describe your boat, nature of your distress, how many people on board, and approximate location" Boater...Yeah Coast Guard I have a blue and white 18' Bayliner and the motor won't start."
The CG continued to ask questions to make sure the guy was in no immediate danger, then they told him to put out his anchor and have everyone put on a life jacket. The guy responds that he can't find the anchor (where could it be on a little 18' boat!) and there are 4 people on board but only 3 life jackets. The CG asks if he has a GPS for which the guy responds NO. The guy then tells the CG that he needs them to tow him back to the Dumpster Ramp by Port Clinton. The public launch is named Dempsey Access not Dumpster Ramp, and it's in Marblehead, not Port Clinton.
The CG explain that there is no danger of injury or loss of life and they are not going to tow the guy, but they would be happy to contact a 3rd party towing company on the boat owners behalf. Then the CG asks the boater if he has a cell phone, and the guy says yes. The CG then asks what the phone number is so they can call the guy on his phone. After a few minutes the CG calls the guy on the radio and says he isn't answering his phone, for which the guy responds that he has it turned off because he doesn't want to drain the battery in case he needs it. You could tell the coasty was getting really annoyed by the moron and then they did something I never heard them do, they called out to any boaters in the area to offer assistance to the guy. No one responded so the CG said they would contact a towing company, the boater asks if the CG is responsible to pay the towing bill! Ha ha, what an idiot this guy is!
The last thing I heard was the CG asking the guy for his registration number and the guy said it was at the very back of the boat and hard to read from inside the boat, he thought the Hull Identification Number (HIN) was the registration number! I'm sure the CG wanted the registration number to educate the guy, and to write him a ticket for not enough life jackets in the boat.
That was a good one for sure. I did hear one like that and, wouldn't you know it, it was a Bayliner, about the same size. The VHF call was a relay from another boat as the Bayliner had NO VHF or cell phone.
Eventually the call went out to see if anyone wanted to assist as there was no danger, that they were drifting onto a safe beach.
It is true and concerning that, "they" are indeed among us. Man.
Location: Solomons, Maryland / Now just visiting Marathon
Posts: 4,683
I know of a guy with a 50 hp that takes about 6 gas cans on his 16' and goes out 20 miles into the Atlantic.
No flares, electric, VHF, compass, or GPS.
And he goes out alone!!!!!
I know of a guy with a 50 hp that takes about 6 gas cans on his 16' and goes out 20 miles into the Atlantic.
No flares, electric, VHF, compass, or GPS.
And he goes out alone!!!!!
may his soul go to heaven for he does not know what he' done
I know of a guy with a 50 hp that takes about 6 gas cans on his 16' and goes out 20 miles into the Atlantic.
No flares, electric, VHF, compass, or GPS.
And he goes out alone!!!!!
What a man. I would follow him to the ends of the Earth.
FWIW, some of the older OMC 50hp 2strokers were pretty damn reliable.
Seems like there was someone well known that used to do that, but went even further out... Christopher Columbus? Though his boat was a tad bigger.
__________________ 1973 Aquasport 19-6
08' Suzy 4 Stroker
Son of "Boatdood"
"You gotta try your luck at least once a day, because you could be going around lucky all day and not even know it." -Jimmy Dean
My favorite call was out of Moriches about 2 or 3 years ago. This idiot gets on the vhf and contacts the Coast Guard advising them that he saw a small plane go down near the inlet. I was one of maybe 12 boats in the Moriches area that day and didn't see a thing. Well, this idiot goes on and on for about 20 minutes. It came out in the news the next day as a hoax call similar to another hoax call on the South Shore earlier that week. I don't know if they found the idiot but on the local news the Coast Guard was quite agitated and said they would prosecute the hoaxer to the fullest extent of the law. The hoax calls ended with that and I don't think the Coast Guard ever caught the idiot. People need to find better ways to waster their own time.
Did they mention if they were "looking for things", "things that make them go"?
this reply reminds me why my not ever watching a single episode of star dreg new generation was a good move and a spectacular non-use of my free time. The enterprise is not a real boat, it is a starrrrr.........ship. Are you serious?
Boater calling Coast Guard on VHF, unbelieveable. 
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Are you serious?
