Rescue Stories

[JohnnieMo]

Not sure about in America but in Canada it is illegal to bypass a boat in distress on the water.

Well today tested my resolve. We were about 10 miles from home on shuswap lake and I was with my dad, wife and three kids. Thunderstorms were coming in about 30 minutes. I passed an old cabin cruiser with two people paddling. Knowing that this decision would undoubtedly soak me and my family, make my dad miss his evening reservation, and burn some gas, I stopped to help these folks.

"Out of gas and need to get home". Home, as luck would have it, is where I'm going and there is no gas on the way. So we hook up and haul them home. A good 2 hours to get it all done. White caps, wind, rain and soggy kids. Even some lightning for fun. But we got them home $110 of gas later.







It occurred to me that these Tige's aren't meant for a storm. The water just pours in your face. I fabricated a nice storm shield on my last boat. Has anyone done the same on a Tigé?

Here is what I made for my last boat.





I had this custom done and never saw a storm again. Had the Tigé for half a summer and I've hit two storms. Go figure.

Anyways, share your rescue stories!


Sent from my Z10 using Tapatalk

[talltigeguy]

Karma. Good on you for helping.

I was at Lake Powell last weekend and a teenage girl on a jetski kind of waved us down uneasily as we went by. She said she was almost out of gas and couldn't figure out which way her houseboat family went. Jetski is beeping annoyingly while running to tell her that gas is low. No cell phone reception where we were. I had her follow me about 1/2 mile to where we did have some reception and I tried to call both of her parents, who didn't answer, but I left a message to call me back. Waited about 10 minutes, then figured that they had to be going up the lake since they weren't heading home. I sent her that way hoping that she would make it. She didn't even know which way was up the lake as she had never been there before. I got a call about 10 minutes later from her dad thanking me. They must not have been very far. I bet we could have seen her houseboat from the original intersection in the lake when we were there.

I didn't have any gas cans, and the marina was about 30 minutes drive away.

[Matt Garcia]

Ya good Karma for you.

My most recent tow story was when I dropped my 2014 RZ2 in the water for the FIRST TIME! I had a full boat with my family and kids and another family full of kids. A single man on a beat up pontoon boat asked if he could get a tow in. He couldn't start his boat and couldn't figure out why after drifting away from his trailer. It was really windy and I really didn't feel like towing anyone after just launching my boat for the first time. I looked at my buddy reluctantly and he just said lets setup for the new boat for good karma. We said we would help him out but I said "Im gonna be real honest with you, this boat has 2 hours and I'm looking out for my boat, not yours" then he had the audacity to tell us how to tow him in, that he had been boating longer than I have, yadda, yadda yadda. My buddy got in the middle of him yelling and basically said "Listen, were gonna tow you in, shut up." He shut the hell up, we towed him in as close to the ramp as we could and he wasn't able to swim the rest of the distance to his trailer because of the strong wind. We had to help him a second time along with some other guys that also helped him. Pissed me off because he wasnt thankful and couldn't help one bit.

[Z1Fan]

For everybody on here that has helped somebody in trouble , kudos to you , I have helped a lot of people In the many years I've had a boat , and I hope when the time comes , when I need help cause at some point we all will need it , that some one will help me !!

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

[JLG]

I like this post as I pulled this boat off a sand bar a couple weeks ago for just a simple thanks. The Baja owner was running approx. 40mph in an area he didn't know and run it clear on sand, approx. 200ft was as close as I could get to him to tow. He had called 10 or so ppl and nobody would come help him when I luckily got word of it I didn't hesitate. Loaded the family and off the 15 min boat ride to get him. He wasn't familiar with boats like I am as I grew up on these things, so I had him and his son pickup on front end with me to spin the boat around so pull it out backwards so the V could get through the sand. He was very skeptical but I said "trust me what do you have to lose" Well it might sink his wife said" LOL to that as its in 10" of water!! Got it spun around, hooked up several tube robes and a couple mooring ropes and with the help of them pushing behind it was able to pull it the 200ft to deep water with my TIGE 22ve! HE said "I have to get me one of those TIGES" Anyhow great stories of help on the water like this as I know at some point I will need a tow and hope someone else pays is forward.

photo (3).jpg

[talltigeguy]

JLG,

That's a scary lake. Looks like they are standing in a great wakeboarding spot!

[ChrisBarnes05-12-84]

I have pulled many people in and have been pulled in many times. One time in particular sticks out though. I just loaded my boat up for the day and was about to head home when a highway patrol came hauling *** up to me. He said there was a boat about to smash into the damn and it had little kids on it. He said either I was going to unload and go get them or he was gonna take my boat and do it. He jumped on my boat with me and we got them pulled out in time. I never realized a cop could just commandeer your boat like that. But obviously I had no problem doing it, just thought it was weird the cop was gonna jack my boat.

[boatwakes]

I have too many stories to count and most of the scary ones are on the ocean. When I got my 100ton captain's license, the thing that stuck in my head the most was a phrase I heard while on a rescue with vessel assist: prudent seamanship, and that goes for everyone, rescuer or those being rescued. Be aware and understand that there are inherent dangers associated with a soft ungroundings like the recoil of a 200' towline that pulled the bow eye out of the boat or snapped from stress. Or towing another vessel at sub plane or planing speeds and the same thing happens to the tow line but it goes through your window or head. My point is, kudos to the rescuer, it's always cool to help, just be aware of what you're doing and the equipment you're using because when you're not, someone will get hurt.

[turbonine]

Had same scenario. Two foreigners in a rental I/O ask us where is Wahweap out in the Middle of Rock Creek. Did the best I could with their limited English.

[Ruger761]

Its amazing how stupid people can be out on the water. I cant remember how many people we have towed in. Last year was going across the lake to help a buddy get his boat going at the ramp, so I took the jet ski to be faster. Came up to the cove and saw a guy out in the middle of it 200ft from the shore both directions, next thing I know hes bobbing under water. Shot over there and grabbed him just in time as he was going under again. Turns out he was swimming after a ball that had fell into the water and was being pushed away by the wind. Pretty stupid to almost die for a ball. Just crazy to think that people loose all common sense out on the water.

[JohnnieMo]

These are crazy stories.

The worst one I had, I was coming back at night from a beach party on Shuswap Lake with a few friends. I drove home at night countless times, so I wasn't concerned, however this particular night it was pitch black. Usually I can see mountain silhouettes and can navigate that way, however this night it was perfectly calm, but there was no moon and no silhouettes at all. I drove the 30 mile ride home in complete darkness, and by memory. The only thing I could see was the occasional lights on the shoreline from houses, so I just kept those at a great distance. I even tried a head lamp, but that just made it worse, as all I could see was the 20 feet in front of me.

Anyways, we made it home safely, but in the bay I could see a green and red alternating light. It was green for a while then red. I knew it was a boat drifting and spinning slowly. We dropped off the womenfolk and my buddy and I went to investigate. Turns out it was a woman out at night with 4 kids in her new Svfara. They decided to go wakeboarding at dusk with no cell phone and no other adults. Turns out the kids didn't bring in the rope after a pull and it got in the prop. I offered to tow her in and her response was "I want to force the kids to learn by making them paddle in". (As though the kids were the problem)

Turns out it had been 2 hours of this and all they were doing was going in circles. I convinced her to let us help. She had no idea where she was going, but thankfully I did. We towed her in to shore and found another boat out looking for her. The crazy part was, I let her go about 50 feet from shore and we fired up the head lamp to see where the shoreline was. Turned out we were in the middle of about 20 buoyed boats that we didn't even know were there.

The irony is right after we left, the serpentine belt fell off my I/O and we had a repair in the middle of the bay ourselves.

[gwhite94]

This is a great thread, My story is not necessarly unique but interesting. We do a Powell trip every year and in 2008 we were camped up in Rock Creek bay and went out about 4 pm to do a wakeset, We were out about an hour when my outdrive grenaded on my Sea Ray we were about 4 miles from our Houseboat and broke out the paddles and skis to head back. After about 10 mins a Family in a rental boat approached us and were very lost and almost out of gas. I feel that this was a true Karma moment. They towed us back to our HB we gave them a map, water and some food and filled their boat with gas (they did not bring any of this and were on the lake for more that 5 hrs in July) and sent them on their way. It is interesting I have many stories of towing people back to the docks for fuel broken down or just lost, This was the first time that both parties needed assistance. Keep the stories coming they are a good read on this Friday!!!!!

[The Black Widow]

My worst (best?) story is from when I was younger and bought my first boat. It was a 19ft Larson bowrider that I used to take in the ocean. I would go from Marina del Rey down to Redondo and back. I had a lot of ocean boating experience but usually with my father so this was new to me in a much smaller boat. Well we got almost all the way to Redondo and I didn't know it at the time but when the swell got bigger by the breakwater, waves would crash over the back of the boat and get water in the bilge. The area where the water would enter was right on top of my ignition coil and it would soak it and the engine would die. We called the harbor patrol on the radio and out they came to tow us in. I had a spare coil so changed that out and thought we were good to go. We met a really nice group on another 30' boat that offered to follow us back to MDR. Well all seemed to be going well and we left the marina and headed back. A few minutes into the cruise the swell got bigger and boat died again. Harbor patrol was on their way back out and got us back to the dock. The other boat, again more than willing to help, offered to take me back to MDR so I could get my truck/trailer and come back to pick up the boat later. I was so grateful and hopped on. About half way back his boat started sputtering and died. His serpentine belt had snapped off and battery was dead. We ended up having to be towed all the way back (good thing he had vessel assist). I will never forget the time I had to be towed 3 times in one day.