A ROARING SURPRISE

A child’s exuberance and a boater’s error almost lead to catastrophe.

It was a warm sunny day, just perfect for taking my daughter Lauren, my son-in-law Alex, and my 2-year-old grandson Teddy out for a ride aboard my Cobia 296. Our goal was to see the dolphins that feed in the area of my second home, near Marco Island, Florida, and just enjoy an hour or so on the water.

As I carefully pulled up to the dock at the Caxambas Park public ramp, I could see Teddy waving to me, anxious to get on board “Puppa’s” boat. The dock was on the same side as my steering wheel, so rather than tying up, I simply straddled the gunwale with one foot in the boat and the other on the dock. I left the boat idling.

Alex lifted Teddy and handed him to me, and I gently set him down in the boat. Teddy immediately went exploring the boat, asking, “What’s this?” multiple times as Alex followed him around. I then asked Alex to focus on getting the Bluetooth on my stereo connected to my iPhone. He got right on it.

Seconds later, as I was helping Lauren into the boat, I heard a load roar from my engines and saw to my horror that both engines were pulling the boat in reverse while I was trying to hold our position, still in my straddle. I thought I was going swimming and the kids would be left alone in a boat powering in reverse.

I realized Teddy was at the helm and had reached up and pulled both throttles back as far as he could (as any 2-year-old would do). Fortunately, Alex was right there beside him and quickly returned the throttles to the neutral position.

It freaked me out! Captain’s error all the way! If Teddy had pushed the throttles instead of pulled them, there was no way I could hold the boat in my straddle position, and it would have crashed into the sea wall 5 feet off the bow. Disaster averted.

I learned a valuable lesson that day. From now on, I tie up at the dock before anyone comes aboard, and I turn off the engines when any children are aboard and I leave the controls unattended.

Michael Carollo Goodland, Michigan

Wearing the kill-switch safety lanyard can prevent similar incidents by disabling the engines whenever the skipper leaves the helm for any reason. —Ed.

I realized Teddy was at the helm and had reached up and pulled both throttles back as far as he could (as any 2-year-old would do).