[Rhodes22-list] Cautionary Tales--2 more

[peter klappert]

Mike's and Ben's advice may seem obvious, but their warnings can't be made too strongly. It's especially important to be cautious around small kids.

I'll apologize in advance who sending 2 stories about stinkpots to the List:

When I was 6 my uncle had a Correct Craft power boat (inboard) that was clocked at 40 mph against a car on land. One weekend, coming in to Short Beach on the South Shore of Long Island, the boat churned up the sandy bottom so that the water looked about a foot deep. My older cousin and I had a race to see who could get in the water first, and I won. I jumped off the stern and was pulled in by the prop. My uncle was about to put the engine in reverse when he looked back over his shoulder and saw I was no longer on board. I'm lucky to be here 61 years later writing this. I still have the scars: one runs the full width of my belly, the other looks like a 5-inch comet on my right thigh. 

Another cautionary tale: In the late 60s I was on a grand old power boat (Rozzy) in Martha's Vineyard--a 1928 42-foot flush deck Dawn cruiser, a genuine antique in mint condition. The skipper was the original owner and was sophisticated about things nautical, both power and sail. IE, he was no novice. We went for a run outside Edgartown and ended up rescuing a couple who'd rented a daysailer and capsized it. After we got the couple aboard, righted their boat, and bailed enough for it to be towed, we started back to the harbor. But one of Rozzy's two engines seemed to be frozen. I'll cut to the chase: I ended up going into town & buying a diving mask and hacksaw. I swam under the Rozzy and sawed off one of the sailboat's nylon lines--I never knew which--from the starboard propeller shaft. You can imagine how I loved being that close to two big props! Anyway, it took a number of dives, because the nylon rope had wrapped up tight and was hard as steel.

Hope these tales were worth the time you spent reading them.

Peter K
future Rhodes 22 owner



 
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael D. Weisner" <mweisner at ebsmed.com>
To: "The Rhodes 22 Email List" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Monday, August 30, 2010 8:04:52 AM
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Cautionary Tale

Ben,

You are very lucky!

We should all know that engines and props are dangerous but many don't 
realize that monofilament line can slice through flesh all too quickly, 
without exceeding it's tensile rating.  While it should be common safety 
practice to stop all engines before investigating entangled lines, be very 
careful to stop all motion (possibly even anchor) when checking out any 
fishing line entanglements.  There have been reports of severe limb and neck 
damage when fishing lines suddenly caught on something and tightened across 
cockpit spaces.  Whenever I approach my town "No Fishing" dock to discharge 
passengers, I always blow a warning horn to the fishermen and advise them to 
remove their lines from the water or they will be cut.  I have a riggers 
knife and a pair of sailing gloves at the ready to quickly and safely cut 
any lines that contact the boat.  Do not fool around with fishing line and 
bare hands, ever.


Mike
s/v Shanghai'd Summer ('81)
Nissequogue River, NY

From: "BenCittadino" Sunday, August 29, 2010 10:37 PM
>
> This weekend, after a calm, pleasant sail, having motored smoothly into my
> slip, and just secured the boat I noticed somebodies  fishing line had
> become tangled in the prop. I lowered the prop back into the water with a
> plan to pull on the loose end while running the motor slowly in reverse to
> unwrap the line. I held the filament end with one hand while manipulating
> the tiller controller with the other hand. The plan did not work and 
> almost
> sucked my hand into the prop. I miraculously escaped with nothing more 
> than
> a semi-nasty paper cut like slit in my hand from the filament and the
> certain knowledge that I am an idiot.
>
> Lesson: NEVER EVER RUN AN ENGINE WITH ANY PART OF ANYONE'S BODY NEAR A
> MOVING PART OR ATTACHED THERETO.
>
> With the engine OFF I cut the line free. It took a few minutes but I have
> all my fingers.
>
> BenC
> S/V Susan Kay ('93 recy '08)
> -- 
> View this message in context: 
> http://old.nabble.com/Cautionary-Tale-tp29569114p29569114.html
> Sent from the Rhodes 22 mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
>
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