Never use your arm for a fender
 

A friend of mine wanted to put his newly acquired 23' Chaparral in the lake to see how it would do. I guess he got a little heavy on the reverse throttle and was headed back... Right towards a sailboat's side.... So I tried to stop the Chaparral from hitting the sailboat....
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Re: Never use your arm for a fender
 

Ouch! I am sure it was totally worth it.

Re: Never use your arm for a fender
 

It still hit the sailboat and gouged the clearkote.... Not worth it at all but I tried.... He's my friend....


1998 202 Shabah 5.0L Alpha 1

Re: Never use your arm for a fender
 

Sorry to hear. I hope he bought you several beverage. Did you go to the ER?

Re: Never use your arm for a fender
 

No... Went from bad to worse... I pointed him out of the narrow breakwater into the open lake. He has a leaking bellows in his Alpha 1 outdrive and his bilge float switch was inop. So, taking on water and his batteries (both) die. I try to restart the engine and click-click-click. My son says "Dad, you might want to do something about your arm....". I can't see the damage from my viewpoint so I just focus on not becoming Lake Monroe's newest reef. Can't get it started. Tried to short across the starter solenoid and burned my finger. All the time I am muttering "Shoulda stayed in my Mariah, dammit!". Had to get TowBoatUS to get us back to the ramp.
Helluva day on the water...


1998 202 Shabah 5.0L Alpha 1

Re: Never use your arm for a fender
 

Oh... And no ER.... The arm was still attached....


1998 202 Shabah 5.0L Alpha 1

Re: Never use your arm for a fender
 

And don't forget.... There I am with a bleeding arm and we are sinking in alligator infested waters.....


1998 202 Shabah 5.0L Alpha 1

Re: Never use your arm for a fender
 

Let me restate it would be worth it for a Mariah. OMG what a bad day. Did he not take it on a run before buying it? I cruised the lake an hour while peppering them with questions before my purchase.

Re: Never use your arm for a fender
 

Yeah.... I did the same with my 202. Rode it around a lake for an hour or so.
I copied a Buyers Guide out of Boating Magazine and sent it to him. I said that we need to put it in the water. He was buying it, no matter what.... No test drive, no nothing.... Now all those issues are his. Bad shift boot, missing power inverter, and the rest of the shopping list of issues. He only spent $2K on it. Maybe next time, he'll listen to me.


1998 202 Shabah 5.0L Alpha 1

Re: Never use your arm for a fender
 

You can lead a boater to water, but you can't make his boat float... ;)