Mishaps part 2

Jay and I were talking about some other things that have happened on the boat in the past several years. There are some boating tips in here.

1- Never sacrifice expensive electronics if your kids can swim...
This occurred with our 28 foot boat. (I will explain how we acquired that in another post.) Jay was bringing the boat into the new marina. He was approaching the dock and I was standing on the dock with my cell phone (expensive cell phone). My 5 year old daughter was standing with me- she loves the boat. I was on the phone with the marina trying to find out which slip space we had for the summer. This would have been good info to have before arriving but I forgot to look it up. The boat gets close enough to touch so my 5 year old grabs the railing. Lines have not yet been thrown so she is the only thing keeping the boat at the dock. The boat starts to drift, Jay yells, I turn to see my daughter start to leave the dock, holding the railing of the boat. I thought I set the phone on the dock and then grabbed my daughter. Sadly, I dropped the phone in the water.  After she was secured, I tried to locate the phone. I could have gone in the water for it but I couldn't see the bottom. I now use a floating waterproof bag with a strap for my phone whenever I am near or on the boat. Phone insurance is a must if you have anything like my luck with phones.

2- Never let your kids stand at the hatch to the cabin while the boat is under way...
The boat is moving, kids are moving from the main deck to the cabin. For whatever reason, the boat slows down and someone goes flying down the stairs. This has happened to unsuspecting adults on board too.

3- Always get a floating key chain for the boat keys...
 If your marina has a locked bathroom, make sure you get a floating key chain for that key too. Its like the cell phone incident above... no one wants to see their keys sink to the bottom of the lake.

4- Never hook up a bug zapper under your bimini top ...
We were spending the night on the boat parked at the marina. We thought it would be a good idea to bring the bug zapper along as the bugs are pretty bad at night. We hooked it up and it worked great. We have a light and bug control as we relax outside. We left it on all night. In the morning, there were bug carcasses all over the place. I am sure the neighbors just LOVED to hear the sound of my vacuum as I cleaned the mess. Bug spray may be the way to go.