Any good Bonehead Stories from Memorial Day Weekend '11

Thought I would throw it out there and see if anyone wanted to play along.

Anything from ramp horrors to drunks oblivious to others rights and safety.

Not really a bonehead except I felt like a total Newb trying to back the trailor in a tight parking spot with a bunch of people watching. I totaly choked under pressure.

But to the real story, my wife and her best friend were getting out the floats to blow up. I have the ones that fold up into a circle then spring out when your ready to use them. Well my wife's friend pulls the float out and it pops open and throws about 1,000-2,000 ants all over them all over the boat and all over all our stuff. I still feel like I have ants crawling all over me.

AAAaaaahhhhhhhhhh!

lets see, i watched a 580 sea ray drive over the back of a centurion.... i watched an idiot in a17 foot rental boat (they shouldnt rent boats on memorial day weekend) crash into the side of our boat (a freshly re painted formula 400ss), i watched a guy fall off the top story of a house boat and belly flop, and get TKO'd, then finally another girl broke her arm slipping down a water slide..compound fracture with her bone sticking out.... normal memorial day weekend on lake travis....

I had an old Grandpa in a beat down pontoon boat just about ram me when I was beached at one of the islands. He couldn't pull in to the 4 feet' wide hole beside me. He had to get within 1 foot of my starboard side. If I had not been looking that direction he would have smashed my ride. I had to jump in and push him away before it was too late.

On the bonehead side of things, my stupid friend decided it was a good idea to use my board racks as a diving board and broke the spindle right off of the tower. IDIOT!!!

Mine was pretty par for the course. Not much boat traffic. Lots of jet skis. At one point 3 of those pricks were sitting you could tell waiting for us to pass to jump our wake, by buddy who is his first day ever on a wakeboard falls and they yell out "You suck!". That's just people in NJ though I guess, very rude and inconsiderate is to be expected here.

Aside from that, the bain of my existance today, some prick in a 26' or so twin outboard POS show up where we were riding, drop a tube in with some little brats on it and start the whole zigzagging up and down the section we were riding. Crapped up all the water, so when we changed riders we said screw it and headed to the next spot up the river. Note an X star and another MC passed through our spot together earlier, watched for a bit and then proceeded up river. I figured they were being courteous and going to the next spot, and some guys in an old I/O were skiing on the other side of the channel. There's room for 2 boats to ride at this spot. No sense crowding it up.

So we head to the next spot where I figure they will be. They are there riding, so we idle in, wait for them to finish their set, they see us, wave, drop anchor and chill once they're done. Once they are obviously done I get on my board and start riding. Get one length of the spot and on the turnaround who do I see zigzagging the whole spot? Those asshats in that POS. They almost hit us a couple times, since the driver is looking backwards the whole time. I got wore out riding over their wakes since they have constant rollers up and down the river so i get in the boat and wait them out. I see they stop for a few minutes, so my buddy hops in and no sooner than we're on plane the asshats are back at it. After a couple minutes he says screw it and gets back in. We sit and wait for them to stop. They do, and are stopped for 5-10 mins so my other buddy jumps in. I **** you not, no sooner than he's out of the water these pricks are zigzagging the whole thing again. The two MC guys looked pretty pissed too and left. We hung out for a while and got one good 3-4 minute set in before they started again and we called it quits.

Now I'm fairly new to wakeboarding, I'm not great by any stretch, and I don't know all about this stuff. I do try to be courteous to other people though, and share the water. If someone is already riding a spot I wait until they are done their set if there isn't room. I don't powerturn, and I do straight lines with tight turnarounds at each end going right over my wake and doing the same straight line. I'm sure I've irritated some people at times, but I try my best to share the water and not ruin it for anyone else. It's amazing the amount of people who just have no respect and give no effort at all to be courteous.

Tubers and Jet Skiers....the "Trailer Trash" of the boating world.

My bonehead story is me sitting at home and NOT hitting the water.

K.D., way to turn a fun thread into calling others out. So despite me riding my LF Lyman, my wife riding her Hyperlite, and our occasional slalom ski run, do we turn to trash when we bust out the tube for our children? Obviously the A-hole doing zig zags up and down a river oblivious to others should be thrown under the bus and get made fun of, but maybe you'll remember the fun you probably had like the rest of us on a towable when you were young, and hope to provide that much fun for your children when its time.

People who who think wakeboarding is the one and only thing worth doing on a boat = Trailer trash of the boating world.

Back on thread, we were beached in a cove area where most boats on my lake go to to set up camp and BBQ. Watched a guy try beach his nice large Chaparral by running onto shore with a little to much steam. he beached the whole thing, sent everyone in his boat flying to the front head over heals, and required a large group of spectators to help lift and push the boat back into the water.

Originally Posted by brett564

So despite me riding my LF Lyman, my wife riding her Hyperlite, and our occasional slalom ski run, do we turn to trash when we bust out the tube for our children? ... maybe you'll remember the fun you probably had like the rest of us on a towable when you were young, and hope to provide that much fun for your children when its time.

Brett if you're pulling your kids on a tube doing straight lines, no powerturns, using your mirror, not staring behind you, and in general driving exactly the same as if you were pulling a wakeboarder or slalom skiier then no big deal. Personally, growing up I was never pulled around on towables. If I wanted to get be pulled by the boat it was learn to ski or learn to kneeboard. I learned both. I will not pull a tube with my boat for anyone.

Originally Posted by brett564

People who who think wakeboarding is the one and only thing worth doing on a boat = Trailer trash of the boating world.

As for wakeboarding being the only thing to do on a boat... I wakeboard, kneeboard, and slalom. Expert at none but I enjoy them all. I do agree with you though, the snobs who think anyone who does anything other then wakeboarding are a bunch of trashy pricks. Personally I respect any watersport. Tubing is not a watersport as it requires no skill.

Tubeing is a water sport too and people have just as much right to do it as you to wake board. Every thing we do will bother someone else . How many fishermen have you passed on a calm cove. We own boats that make waves especially while surfing. What time do you start in the morning? We were out Saturday and Monday 7am to 930am it was butter everywhere by 10am we were done.

Originally Posted by brett564

K.D., way to turn a fun thread into calling others out....

Actually, I thought that was pretty funny. I didn't know I needed to be so "politically correct" here. I'll try to be nice to all the "people" on this forum....I'll TRY.

ANYways....Usually on Labor weekend we take the lawn chairs down to the local boat launch and watch people try to load their boats on a busy ramp. It's amazing what people do when their tired, drunk and/or stupid. We NEVER boat on Memorial day, 4th of July and Labor day...way too many people on the water...even in Idaho.

Some a-hole in a Wakesetter pulling two tubes, zigzagged my whole line. No big deal, but I purposely headed down river 1.5 miles to give them ample room. As they would get closer, we would try to give them more space. To top it all off, the river was pretty much dead today except for the occasional passer-by. Still had a great time and was able to get some riding time in.

My lake was closed the entire weekend due to high water levels, so that pretty much sucked.

Sports require skill, not just sitting there. Saying tubing is a sport is like saying watching TV. drinking beer, or being a passenger in a car is a sport. Sport: "an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature"

I'm sure I've bothered some people along the way, but being safe, attentive, and respectful of others (share the water) minimizes that so everyone can have fun. If there's a crowded section of water, drive responsibly to not mess it up for everyone else and take turns if there's not room for any more boats to run. All watersports require calm water, so at least on that level we all want the same thing. As for the fishermen, I try to keep my distance and cut my turnarounds short of where they are. When I fish I don't care about boats passing and throwing wakes so long as they're not right on top of me.

Monday I was out 10:00-4:00. Couldn't get out any earlier due to the tide being low and ramp unusable. Technically I could have, but I don't know people who will be at the ramp at 6:00-6:30. It's a miracle if I can get two other people together before noon so I can hit the water once a month, so I can't afford to be picky about when we start. If it were up to me we'd be starting at 6:00 and done around noon.

Fifteen year old son is begging to take some of his girl friends out to the lake...easy, good kids, no big deal. Oh, wait Saturday, Memorial Day Weekend, and a 30 mph wind, na, load-up we got this.

Twenty minute wait at the boat ramp for two peeps to load up. I back my son down, unhook and a quick thumbs up from him and he is off. Stupid me, I glance at the three middle age ladies trying to load next to us ...one lady sitting on the trucks tailgate (didn't want to get her feet wet) trying to crank the winch, cranks, cranks, cranks and lets go....spinning handle of death and the boat slides off. They do this twice and I step over to flip the latch, straighten the boat and crank it up. Hammer my shin in their trailer because I'm in a hurry for the next guy waiting. They were ok, but not really thankfull.

Round two....I make it down to the small dock, jet skis everywhere, boats everywhere, my son hovering calmly looking for an opening at the dock. No room!!! A hick ties his boat off at the front of the small dock, pops a beer, his chick jumps in to swim, and he hold up his keys ever so proudly and says "hang on, I'm gonna cool my truck down for you" and hits is auto-start button. Lord!!! I'm to nice!! I ask if I can step on there boat so my son can pick me up...sure, bud!!! Son shakes his head and noses toward the boat and hits reverse to make sure he doesn't touch the Glastron. You guessed it!!! I fall in the lake with iphone, wallet, shoes, and keys. Everyone on our boat scrambles and helps and the guy asked if it was deep???? What a clueless moron!!!

We recover, teach the girls to wakeboard, surf a little, and my son puts on a show for the girls.

While my son was riding, we were sharing the calm water with a family pulling a young boy on a knee board. The father drove great!!! Anytime anyone was down we both waved to acknowledge the fallen rider, no power turns, actually very pleasant to share the water with. So when we decide to head in, I turn to go speak to the dad. I pull up and let him know how nice it was to share the water with a courtious driver. His family was a little suprised at first, but smiles quickly took over the boat. I also told their three young boys their dad was a great driver!!!

Run from the fools, drunks, and jerks on the water, but acknowledge kind, courtious, and safe boating....Oh yeah, thank goodness for an otter box!!!!!

We were tied up at sand island on Watts Bar lake when some 18 year old kid, who was making his way across the boats, hopped onto my boat with a lit ciggarette. My 3 year old was sleeping in the walk through/split windshield area under a towel tent at the time. I was standing in the water about 15 feet away and witnessed my wife (who is 8 months preggo) spot this kid, see the ciggarette, and start screaming at him. I caught something like "what are you thinking getting one someone's boat you don't know where there's a kid sleeping with a freaking lit ciggarette!!!???" Anyway, this kid panics. He tries to jump back where he came from, but there's another guy waiting to walk across the boat behind him. He tries to go to the front of my boat, but my kid's sleeping in the walke through area. He tries to get to the other boat where he was headed in the first place, but they've got their cooler open now and there's no where from him to step. He thinks about flicking his ciggarette towards the water behind the platform, but that's where my wife's standing yelling at him. Ultimately, he just cups the ciggarette (brand new btw) in both hands, takes two quick steps, and launches himself into the water about 3 feet from my wife and drowns his smoke. He comes up with his back to my wife with both hands in the air and his head down yelling "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" while getting the hell away from her.

I was dying laughing the entire time. Don't mess with a pregnant lady when it's 90 degrees outside.

Second the otter box. That reminds me of the other bonehead thing of the weekend - on my part. So I've got my boat on the trailer on Friday afternoon waiting in the Bi-Lo parking lot for my wife to come out of the store with potato salad and two bags of ice. I see her appear in the automatic doorway and I pull the truck and trailer over to the front of the store so she won't have to walk across the parking lot to where I am. I pull up, throw the truck in park, jump out, open the rear hatch on my Denali, throw two bags of ice in the cooler in the rear, run back around to the driver's door, hop in and take off. About 10 minutes down the interstate, I realize I can't find my phone. We pull over on the side of the road and my wife calls it from her phone. We hear the faintest buzzing sound, and I figure, hey, it's in the back somewhere (Iphone 4 on vibrate). We proceed to drive the 1.25 hours to the lakehouse we rented on Watts Bar lake. We get to the house (which is at the end of a gravel road), pick up my friend, drop off the wife and kid, haul butt to the boat ramp 3 miles away. Back the trailer/boat in at the ramp. Drive a million miles an hour back to the house so I can help get the boat docked up when my friend arrives. When unloading my Denali later that evening, I notice my Iphone, in its otter box, sitting on the back bumper absolutely covered in dust. Apparently, I put it on the back bumper when I threw the ice in my cooler at the Bi-Lo. The dang thing rode the whole way from Chattanooga to Ten Mile Tennessee back there, stayed on during 4 stretches bumpy ass gravel road, and stayed on while launching the boat. Thank God for the Otter Box. I must be living right too.

We rented a RV. Tow our boat 800 miles to Lake Eufaula in Oklahoma. Have an incredible weekend of riding and hanging with good friends. Drive 800 miles home yesterday. Oh yeah driving through Eastern CO, Kansas, and Oklahoma has got to be the windiest part of the freaking country. Not the most fun drive ever with a 28ft RV towing a wake boat. Anyways the trip goes awesome. Get home about 11:30pm last night. Get the RV and boat unloaded. Go to flip the RV around and park it on the other side of the street and clip the right rear corner on my mailbox!!! So 1600 miles of trouble free towing and do $250 worth of damage to the darn thing in front of my driveway!!! That was my bonehead move for the weekend.

Bruizza - I'm from OK and my family has a place on Eufaula. What made you decide to go there? Great lake, just curious. What part of the lake were you on? Are you headed to MHMG this weekend?

We have some good friends that live down there on the lake. Figured we would head down there and have some fun. We were on the north side of the lake I believe. My buddy lives in Checotah. Well I guess technically it is Council Hill. We were right by the bridge and the "beach". Yep we are heading down the MHMG this weekend. You going to be down there?

no flooding on eufaula ?

They said the lake level was about the highest they had seen it but it wasn't flooded. Of course I am no expert since that was the first time I had been down to that lake. I will say it has the brownest water I have ever seen. It was like riding yoo-hoo.

My family's place is on the far east side of the lake. If you were near Checotah, you were about 20 miles from them. The east side of the lake is much cleaner - although, with all the rain, none of it will be clear.

Yeah, we're headed to MHMG this weekend - gonna be on my friend's Centurion Enzo this year. My Nautique is taking the weekend off - it's not big enough to handle all the people that are coming with our group.

I had a lot of fun at Eufaula and will definitely head back down there at some point.

We will be down there with an Grey Axis A22, Yellow and Black 23 LSV and an Orange X-star. Come say hello.

OK, continuing the partial hijack...

Regardless of whats a sport or not, there is a place for tubing. My 4 year old is afraid of cold water (anything lower than 75 degrees!). Done. Nothing I can do about that right now, so training on a wakeboard or skis just isn't going to happen anytime soon. What can happen now, and what gives her the biggest smile on the lake, is riding the inflatable!

Additionally, I have some close friends who only go boating a couple times a year if that. These are good people who have given wakeboarding or waterskiing a try, but can really relax and have a good time on a towable. Anyone can have a good time on a towable, especially if you only get on the water once or twice a year.

I will happily give any friend or family a ride on what ever they want to ride behind my boat.

Sorry about the rant, but although I know and like how this is a huge wakeboarding forum, the tubing hating band-wagon gets old over and over again. I feel like I snapped on KD, but its been a while coming.

Originally Posted by brett564

OK, continuing the partial hijack...

Regardless of whats a sport or not, there is a place for tubing. My 4 year old is afraid of cold water (anything lower than 75 degrees!). Done. Nothing I can do about that right now, so training on a wakeboard or skis just isn't going to happen anytime soon. What can happen now, and what gives her the biggest smile on the lake, is riding the inflatable!

Additionally, I have some close friends who only go boating a couple times a year if that. These are good people who have given wakeboarding or waterskiing a try, but can really relax and have a good time on a towable. Anyone can have a good time on a towable, especially if you only get on the water once or twice a year.

I will happily give any friend or family a ride on what ever they want to ride behind my boat.

Sorry about the rant, but although I know and like how this is a huge wakeboarding forum, the tubing hating band-wagon gets old over and over again. I feel like I snapped on KD, but its been a while coming.

I agree and am in the same situation. I never ride a tube but keep one around for friends and little ones who don't get out as much. I also never tube when I cant stay away from other boats who are skiing or boarding.
As for my bonehead story for the weekend...
At a local raft up spot where I spent a few hours over the weekend I there was a guy with a 50 + foot house boat tied up to a mid 90s mastercraft in really good shape. when the guy left he tied the matercraft up to his houseboat with about 15 feet of rope then began to pull away. He soon realized that his houseboat could not make a turn to get out so he tried to back up to get some more room and he did it the matercraft when though the swim platform and hit the transom of the houseboat, but he just pulled away like nothing happened.

A family that sells its two jetskis and one 70's jet boat from one family member to another every thirty days to avoid registering them came in this weekend. The fourteen year old, who had not taken the Colorado Boater class, ran his ski into his dads ski. One lost a thumb, both went to the hospital. Then both skis were impounded. so that was fun. The fun really started when, the jet boat contacted the ranger on water to request the ranger chase down his son on the ski who had the jet boats plug. The kid was contacted but never took the plug, so the jet boat was swamped at the beach(probably a good thing, or there would have been another accident). Then the jet skis were contacted two times each(seperatly), before the accident. Natural selection at its best.