Im allways willing to help a fellow boater in need. Boaters are some of the best people around. My girlfriend who was new to boating last year could not belive all the fellow boaters who waved back to me on the CT river. I had to explain to her about boaters.:drink:

Boaters are a rare breed, I also notice on the CT river everybody waves and I wave back. I think boaters are just the best of the best when it comes to being good honest down to earth people. Again Great site here guys, hope to see you on the river this year.

I agree with Buoy Boy (check your spelling, unless it is meant to be that way...). I have always thought it was the rule of the water. I have been "assisted" twice when I foolishly believed my gas gauge. Didn't have to wait for very long, either. I have stopped to tow a fellow jet skier when I was on my ski. The water is one of the few remaining nice public areas.... people are generally in good moods and willing to give their time.

there was an article on this subject in the june issue of boating life (it was the only mag for power boats in the hartford ct. airport) at sea it is clear cut,you have to help if you can do it safely,inland it is up to each state, but i always help if i can

I always offer to help.

I've been towed in by 17' Bayliner. I was about a mile from my marina and ran out of gas in a new boat. Some PWC guys were on a sandbar and saw me. They had some gas and gave me few gallons to get into the marina.

I've towed in a couple people as well and helped a few get there boats running.

I towed a plane once that had engine failure, and had to emergency land on the lake at our cottage. Towed about 4 miles, took an hour or so. She was hot, :evilb: she built the plane herself and this was one of it's first flights. Did I mention that she was hot, she said thanks, and I was hoping for an offer to go for a ride, when she got the bugs worked out. No such luck:(

I'm a semi-dislexic pollock.
Welcome to the circus.

I always help people dock/tie up and what not so they dont hurt their boats and just being a good boater independant of what type of boat it is. It always good to be helpfull.

funney sheet.............


I always try to help, sometimes my wife tells me i help to much.............

Plus when ya bring a boat with dry exhaust on plane the guy you helped wont give ya the finger..............

As an old fart I've been helping people in boats and cars for many years. I can't imagine NOT stopping to help if I see a bad situation and I've gotten it back from other people when I needed it.

Boaters and Bikers are in my eyes the nicest people around. I've been helping and getting helped out since I first started boating. My stepdad taught me that it's easier to go to sleep at night when everyone has gotten home safe. I couldn't bare to think that some family got hurt or worse because I didn't stop to see if they needed me. Have fun and be safe!!!

You bet!!!!
I have always helped boaters in trouble. Last summer a guy on a PWC pulled up to us as we were anchored and told us a family of 6 was stranded on the lake, they blew their out drive and needed a tow. We scrambled to pull up anchor and off to rescue we went. We towed them to the ramp and helped get it loaded.

I just hope others will rescue me if I get in that position.
As satisfactionII said "Do unto others = good karma".

Besides, it's also a federal law if you know of a boat in trouble you must render aid. If your boat is not capable of helping then you must stand by till someone who can help comes.

I always help but sometimes wonder why!!

Was coming in and there was a storm looming big time. You could tell it was going to be a nasty one. I saw two guys in Kayaks looking clueless. I drove over and pointed out the storm and asked them if they wanted a tow in. They looked at me like I was nuts and said no. I just stayed close for a while and the wind picked up and they were paddling backwards. They finally relented and I towed them in of course now we got drenched from the rain and wind.

The worste one was two years ago. My wife and I were going across the lake in the early am from the cabins we rented to the house we were building. Looked to the right and something seemed wierd. I drove over to find a lady and her daughter in the water with a jet ski flipped over. The daughter was shaking bad and the lady was looking a little frantic. They said they were in the water for 15 min. So I dove in forgetting my brand new Mui Jims on my head!!! Got the ski flipped over and restarted again. I went back to the jet ski place and told them what happened and that I was pissed that they sent people out on the water with no training and if it was not for me the ski would have sank yada yada yada. The ladie that rented the ski looked at me and said I don't care about your glasses and who pays 250 bucks for glasses. She could have offered me anything even a free rental some time and I would have been happy. So next time the people get on my boat and I leave the ski to sink!!!

When I was a kid, we lived at Sauble Beach on Lake Huron. My dad had the best rough water boat on the river. The police asked my dad once to help a blow boat cat that had blown up on it's side and was headed for the rocks, the crew could not right it. The police only had a 16' aluminum boat.

Another time he went out to help a ski boat that didn't even make it out the inlet, when she submarined to the bottom.

I guess I was taught at a young age to help whenever possible.

Absolutely without question. I always maintain that you can't ever beat the water, the best you can hope for is to break even with it and go home safely. I can be a dangerous place at times and lives are at stake.

I help whenever I can…”hatch up. need help”. towing or docking. We were at the Jax PR last weekend and trying to back into a slip, the current was running pretty strong. I was having a lot of trouble, and there were people in boats in both slips next to where I was docking…..they just watched at the comedy of errors I was making. I was trying for at least 3-5 mins. Then a women from another dock came running to our rescue. She helped with the ropes…and that was all we needed and got backed in the slip with out further problems…So not everyone helps…but for the most part most boaters do. For the rest of the weekend, my daughter and I helped anyone we could dock their boat.

You guys will love this.

It was a beautiful day on the ocean. I was in my 1981 31' ChrisCraft w/330's & TRS. A guy with a 34' Coyote loaded with Bikini-clad babes and loud pipes starts racing us. After about a mile or so he slows down and is finally dead in the water. I turn around and go back to see if I can help him.

He said the port engine started losing power first, then the starboard shut off instantly. He has no mechanical savvy, so I offer to take a look. The starboard engine had no spark, so I pull off the distributor cap and a piece of the advance spring that had broken had shorted-out the points. That was an easy fix and the girls went nuts when that engine fired back up.
The port engine had spark, but no gas in the carburetor or the fuel separator. The port tank was empty. No crossover fuel system, but the starboard tank was only about 10 minutes from being equally empty too. I towed them in Hillsborough Inlet to a gas dock.
The rest of the story would have to be in "Uncensored" if you catch my drift. (yes, this was a long time ago and I was a much younger man!).

yes

Taken from the Wisconsin DNR boating Regulations handbook:

"When observing a boat or person displaying a distress
signal showing that such a person or boat is in need
of help, it is the duty of any boat operator observing
such a flag or signal to stop and render aid. No such
signal shall be displayed unless assistance is needed."

I'll always help a fellow boater as long as it's not a sparkly fishing boat :evilb:

I always try and help.

Heres one i have for you. I could spend my entire time on the lake doing nothing but helping people. I was at the ramp with a guy saying his battery was no good, but if i jumped him he would be fine. Those people are all over the lake broke down. I see people ALL the time.

So everyone that helps everybody, do you spend your entire time boating helping people? Just curious where some of you cut it off. I am all about helping, just dont want to spend all my lake time doing it.

I wouldnt agree with that, Being in the repair business I hear alot of stories about fishermen helping tow other boats. alot of people i know that fish will pull up their lines to help tow someone in.

This doesnt exactly go with helping tow someone in, but yesterday in holland, mi there was a smaller boat that had broken down and a 26 foot SeaRay smashed into them, never saw the boat. Thankfully the four people on board the small boat jumped off and are still alive. It would be interesting to know how long they had been broken down.

stocking up on good karma
 

from Just this past weekend i have a great story to tell

I took the boat out on sunday , its any given sunday so with my luck i'm gonna have some kinda trouble and i know it
the boat is running great and i'm gettin about 65 mph heading towards Gilligans on the potomac , i get within 300 yards and throttle down and hear the noise from behind me , i broke my alternator belt which flopped and got caught up in my power steering belt and broke that one too
so i'm stuck cause the pair run the water circ pump
soo , i make a call to a buddy to come get me from the bar so i can try and buy some belts and get back running
anyway , before he gets on his way i have the great idea of using a piece of rope around the pulleys (fender rope was the right size)
and holy crap , it works , just at idle , but gets me moving 4 miles an hour towards a boat ramp (about 2 miles south)
so i call my buddy and he meets me there , gives me a ride back to my truck and trailer in VA and i ride back to MD and start to get the boat out of the water
when i notice a boat dead in the water about a mile offshore
i cant just leave em , even tho my boat is holding on by a string (literally)
so i motor (slowly) out to em and explain my situation and give em a tow back in ,
halfway back i hear him shout "dude i think you got a crab pot" and about the same time my engine grinds to a halt
i wrapped up the rope pretty good ,
soo , i empty my poctets , and jump in the water , still concerned with "being the better person" spend 1/2 hour untangling the rope from my prop instead of cutting it , even tho the moron crabber used a black bouy that no one woulda seen unless they knew it was there , got it untangled and were back on our way , get him to the docks , and me to the boat ramp and get ready to go
i give him a ride to the front gate of the marina (there waiting on us to close up) and part ways , on the ride home towing the boat , i get pulled over by the local authorities and they notice a beer bottle that my brief passenger has left in the cup holder (holy crap how did i miss that) and gives me a lecture about open containers , thank god i never actually made it to the bar myself , just a couple of beers while i was on the boat , didnt ticket me , but is no doubt looking out for me ,
where do i go to cash in my karma?
does my karma roll over like my cell phone minutes ?
can i build up e-nuff karma to get a nice exhaust for my boat?

thanks for listening to my rant , i will still stop anytime i see someone broken down , no matter what


the high point of my day was my 20 year old 24 foot checkmate pulling in a late 90's early 2000's fountian 32 foot that ran out of gas
on the

Hey! What a great idea. A mobile service boat just riding around the lake waiting for that distress call. Have a couple of 5 gallon cans of gas, some common impellers and belts, duct tape, fuel separators and some basic tools. Bet a guy could clean-up on the weekends.

Where are you guys when GINO goes to the water ?

LMAO!! I almost spilled my beer when I read those :evilb:

if i couldnt look back and laugh about bad days ,i'd be one big ulcer with a pending heart attack

Last weekend a lot of guys from our "bachelor" party went home Sunday morning. So a few of us that are always out there decided to go out and only needed one boat becasue the wives weren't coming, my firends boat was parked in front of mine so we loaded his up and headed to the ramp. After waiting for 15 mins or so the truck in front of us was backing in, it was a 2 wheel drive ranger super cab pulling a 20ft bayliner well you can guess the rest, it went in up to the back of the cab. The ramp is packed and we are waiting at the top parked next to a guy that it was his first time out and forgot the plug and the water fill the boat ankle deep at the captins seat in a 22 foot 4 winns (his kids where scared to death and I felt bad)so Im talking to him when the truck goes in I look at my 3 buddies already in the boat and say should we help (there where 3-4 guys already helping) my buddy said if I helped people everytime thats all I would do all weekend. They got her out quickly.

Later that day we ran out of gas in a year old glastron, gauge showed 1/4 tank moral of the story Karma is a ***** and a guy towed us immediatly to the marina, we gave him $40 and he said no so we threw it in his boat and said thanks, he brought $20 of it to the gas dock and said Ill take $20 to cover gas but $40 is way to much.....thanks again dude if you read this. We always tried to help others in the past but now see the importance more after last sunday