I made the front page of my local paper!!!! Now w/ pic !!

Well, it was a photo of shame that made the front page of my local paper today (sorry no pic).

I went sailing yesterday on my HC16. The winds were pretty decent, so I decided to sail about 8 mi. up river to the downtown waterfront. About halfway there, I was struck with a queezy feeling and a big question- did I put the drain plugs in before launching? The wind was too strong to stop, jump off and look, so, since the sterns appeared to be riding high, I pressed on. I made it to the downtown waterfront docks were the wind had subsided significantly, but I noticed I was riding much, much lower in the water. Oh, s_ _ t!?!?!?!

I sailed by the waterfront and tried to make a turn before getting too close to the low highway bridge. As I slid aft on the tramp to switch the tiller over, the Hobie rolled slightly left, then went down by the stern as all the water flowed aft in the hulls. The bows were pointing skyward and my mast was floating.

No way was I going to be able to right this thing myself. Luckily some kids in power boat helped out, first by pulling the boat clear of a low bridge- wind, and tide were driving me under it. Someone must have seen the goings on and alerted the local rescue- on the bridge and blocking traffic so others could gawk, was a fire truck, rescue truck, and police car all with flashers going. Someone was yelling to me, but was no help because it was in a voice I couldn't understand (I haven't learned southern speak yet!), besides there was wind, water, and boat noise.

Well to make a long story short, we got it up, I sailed a bit farther, but dumped it again trying to change direction to avoid an anchored boat. I got another tow (from a clueless, rookie, boater- a story in itself) to a low dock where I was able to drag the boat out, let it drain, and leave it for the night.

Someone took a picture of the fiasco- my boat half submerged with bows pointing skyward, me in the water, and the bridge in the background filled with (dry land) rescue vehicles and crews. The pic was taken from a boat, which was obviously not helping me or coming to my aid! Anyway, the pic showed up on the front page of today's local paper- thankfully my name was not included. This morning I went down to the now de-watered boat, rigged it, PUT THE PLUGS IN, and slinked away down river. I guess yesterday was one of those days when I just should have stay in bed.

On a positive note- my mast doesn't leak and the boat received only minor scratches.

What do you suppose they were going to do with the fire truck???

Glad the story ended well, but I want to know how it took you that long to figure out the plugs werent in.

The one time I did that, I raised my sails with the boat sitting pulled up on bank and as I shoved off and jumped on the rear went slightly lower than normal. So I checked and I had forgot them.

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Nacra 5.2 "Elsies"
Hobie 14T, "Blazin" I guess I am keeping her!

I was running downwind most of the way so jib and mainsail kept stern up, but once that stopped I'm sure the water came in quickly. I made a checklist which I left at home. I'm going to laminate it and take it with me from now on!

I guess the list might be a good idea but it would seem that after this time it wouldn't happen again.

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Nacra 5.2 "Elsies"
Hobie 14T, "Blazin" I guess I am keeping her!

I have sailed a solid "30 minutes plus with hull flying and made it back, well, maybe the hull flying was toward the beginning" without plugs. Alright, everybody here knows that Gree was lucky to have noticed it right away. How long has everyone else gone? I expect an answer from everyone tuned in? There are two types of Hobie sailors 1) those that have sailed without their plugs. 2) those that have yet to sail without their plugs. [/b]

Holy cow, that is a great story, you had me laughin' pretty hard to say the least. Glad everything worked out in the end, and thank god they didn't get your name!

I've done it. It was only a little bit of time before I noticed but they still took on a bit of water. Now I keep them in my life-vest pocket, along with some extra ring dings and pins. I've even taped notes to the stering wheel of the car and transom of the boat. After forgetting once, it kind of becomes a little bit of a mantra, "don't forget the plugs, don't forget the plugs, don't forget the ....." That's what I'm thinking the whole way to any sailing local, I put them in the instant I park the vehicle.

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James
86' Redline Hobie 16
Sail # 76909

On our 20, we siliconed the plugs in and use a toy water gun to suck the water out of the ports. It works very well and we never have to worry about putting them in.

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Josh Benge
14 skip
16 skip
20 crew

I was probably lucky, I just know exactly how my boat floats with me on it and it was floating just a tad low.

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Nacra 5.2 "Elsies"
Hobie 14T, "Blazin" I guess I am keeping her!

Pic added to original post.

Beautiful!

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Nacra 5.2 "Elsies"
Hobie 14T, "Blazin" I guess I am keeping her!

As an old commercial pilot, check lists are the norm for me, my mental check list has always been plugs and all standing rigging fittings. Although on my new getaway I have forgot to pin the tiller connection several times.

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06 getaway -- always remember, man with both feet in mouth have no leg to stand on.

That is SOOOO great!!! I made the cover of the Finger Lakes Sunday sports page in July with a busted mast. I feel your pain, buddy. I have no idea how to add it to this forum, but maybe Matt can for me.

Nice sail shape Chris

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Pat Bisesi
Fleet 204 Syracuse, NY

Try something more like this Chris.

The Jib in the first photo looks like my 14 sail.

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Pat Bisesi
Fleet 204 Syracuse, NY