Thanks to Wild Bill's Tour Boat Captain

[Bowhntr6pt]

Got stuck on a small mound today on the Withlacoochee and the Captain of Wild Bill's Airboat Tours (Citrus County) stopped with customers on board and helped me out.

I felt kinda bad being as I made the mistake of getting stuck but I tell ya, without his help, no telling how long the kids and I would have been there. Even some of the customers seemed eager to help out...

3 lessons learned:

1) Hit dry gound with some speed or know WTF your doing... I'm still learning.

2) Get some heavy rope for pulling, I had none.

3) Immediately get some "pulling anchor points" on my boat as I realized that when you pour to power to a boat and the rope gets tight, stuff can get bent in a hurry. I DID NOT BEND OR DAMAGE ANYTHING... I just realized how easy it can happen.

All in a all, great day with plenty of pan fish to fry....

 

[cntry141iq]

be careful when hitting it with some speed as you can turn into a projectile fairly easily. That is the main reason for regular type pfd's is body armor. You need strong anchor points because if something breaks and comes loose it is going towards the puller which ay result in two disabled boats or personal injury. ALWAYS KNOW YOUR EQUIPMENT and ITS LIMITATIONS and keep in mind AIRBOATING IS A SPECTATOR SPORT becuase it is fun to watch.

Glad you got off ok I have been on both ends of the rope myself more than a few times

 

[Anonymous]

Good points country.
Some stuff stops you, other stuff is as slick as ice. Old timer Bobby Cook would hook a line to his throddle, get off his boat to wiggle the bow and pull the line to goose it. Works well but be ready to let off as the boat moves...........gotta know your boat & limitations.

If you're new to this, might be a good idea to join the Citrus County Airboat Alliance. It's good to run with others and learn from past mistakes.
http://www.citrusairboat.org/

 

[Whitebear]

Have ya considered sending a thank you note to Wild Bill's Airboat Tours ? Im sure the owners, and the captain would appreciate it.

Feels good when folks stop to help when they dont HAVE to.

Scotty

 

[wade]

I'm a firm believer in checking on other boaters that are alone standing around there boat. I've gotten a lot of wave-offs but that's OK. Just hope that if something happens to me, the favor may be returned. I think its an Irish luck thing.

 

[Dakota]

We had that happen back several months ago. We came up on a couple of boys sitting in the water with their airboat. They were in the water holding on to the side. We stopped and good thing because they had flipped the boat over and the other three airboats that went before us(they were not with us) just went right on by. They stood on the banks and watched what was going on but those boys had been there for hours and one had to be back to the Navy boat on Monday morning. By then it was about 3:00 Sunday afternoon so he was worried.
It was a good thing we stopped because who knows how long they would have sat there. I would want someone to stop for us.