What’s your best boat breakdown/got lost story?

Buddy of mine and myself had to go downriver of the boat ramp due to there being a dam 50 yards upriver.

Motor ran fine going downriver but then had a fuel problem and would not start.

Trolled against the current for 4 hours while paddling to get back.

The plug on the trolling motor melted.

And my hands were blistered from paddling.

Electronics conked out on my old sneak boat one morning while heading out in the dark to the duck blind. Storm was blowing out so there was strong wind and some rain. River level was way up and flowing over the top of a dam in the river. Boat died when I was closest to the dam and the wind was blowing me towards the edge in a dead boat. I started paddling like hell and thought at one point I was going to have to grab onto a buoy cable to keep from washing over the top of the dam. In the dark and rain while wearing waders.

Hardest I have ever paddled but eventually got clear of the danger.

Borrowed a real mud boat that had a Kabota diesel to scout some new property at little prairie off the old icw. Did our scouting and it died once we headed north and wouldn’t restart. Poled and paddled until my mate broke the only paddle. Hit the starter one more time and she fired up getting us to the launch only to discover we had a flat on the trailer and no spare. Drop trailer and drive to Stelly’s for a plug and while we are waiting to pay watched the second plane fly into the World Trade Center on that black and white tv they had by the register. Plugged the tire and headed home because we were under attack.

Without typing all day, I had a boat trailer explode into many of its basic components on the interstate a long ways from the house.

Don’t do drugs

Put boat in. Tied to cleat. Parked truck. Came back.

Boat gone. Cleat gone.

Boat drifted. I swam.

It sucked.

Wade fishing trip to Curlew in the afternoon. Buddy drops me off to wade as he didn’t want to deal with the sharks. I start pounding the trout and my buddies see this and immediately get out of the boat to join in the fun. Bite stops and we turn to head back to boat and it’s high and dry on an outgoing tide. Couldn’t reach coast guard so we built bonfire on the beach, cleaned the trout and cooked them on wood planks as well as crabs we declawed and also cooked in seashells with salt water! Was the night of the strawberry moon several years ago. Finally reached coast guard who patched us thru to Seatow who got us off the sand bar at midnight. Tough day turned into quite the adventure!

In my younger years while on the Warrior below B'ham, we hit a half submerged cross-tie while racing another boat (jus because). Was killing a mid morning weekday, while doing shift work with a co-worker in his brothers borrowed boat. It knocked foot off, pulling both shaft and o-ring through transom. Bilge pump couldn't keep up and the only thing that saved the boat from going under, was us bailing with both top and bottom of the battery case. . . that and both of us being in our early twenties. Thankfully we eventually got a tow but at times it really looked bad for the ole boy borrowing the boat.

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True up the creek without a paddle story. . . another TLDR. . . Was attempting what might had been an open canoe first on the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, maybe so maybe not, doesn't matter cause it didn't end as planned. It's a two day beauty of a Class 5-6 trip in a near vertical 2000' walled canyon. You shuttle the night before so as to not waste daylight driving around. As we're putting on, you got it, only good paddle and spare didn't make it to the top. So after much ado we decide I'll risk it with a just put together, sketchy, make believe spare . . . since they both had spare kayak paddles !!! ... As we get to the first portage rapid, Day Wrecker, we're dropping into the last available eddy and pop goes that near imaginary paddle. I watched for that fraction of a second as it floated off and the canoe flipped over. Damn it looked precious now - as there's way too much gear to hand roll. So with just me, no boat, and the Lord (it's a very quick prayer) we both enter head first and drop into the fray.

Bam, like a upper cut, it's a blinding blow that cracks three teeth. Struggling to stay conscious I'm quickly slammed-pressed-flat onto the first major boulder. As I open my eyes it's near quiet, peaceful beautiful scene, I'm still going down. but there's a hundred rays of blue green turquoise light filtering through a ga'zillon micro bubbles of air. It's almost serene. Eventually coming to a rest, with fire hydrants of water shoving my left leg deep into an under water crevice. It seems dire but I'm calm, near almost restful, I'm certain for some reason that it's not my day to go. Pressed into eventual action I staring doing anaerobic pushups off the rock face. With every pump the water coming around my body creates a buffer of water and air holding me off the rock... allowing me to free my leg. It's a few more push ups and being re-slammed flat, each time it's another foot up and another push up, while my life jacket keeps drawing me upward. Then just as the light blue almost becomes air, I'm flushed off into the maelstrom, still under water. We call it being may-tagged, as it's first a shoulder onto rock, then my arse, next an elbow, back of head, followed by more granite to a knee, and so on for what seemed like several minutes. Remind you, all on the very same, but now waning initial breathe of air. Abandoning the tucked into a ball, that you're taught, I do my best Michael Phelps and am swept into the very first top right eddy. Somehow I'd gotten caught up in an eddy interface and had just been going in circles and not down into an even bigger beating. Just getting bounced around in the top drop, not the next half dozen more, and that last feared sieve. My two compatriots are amazed, as they both considered it way too long under water, it helps to have a crew that'll always be there.

To keep from making a long (TLDR) even longer, it's a forced 9 hour retreat, via upstream paddling with a forked tree branch, and a limping but marginally functional swollen left knee. After my 16 stitch chin is amazingly held shut with a heel blister pad. And I'm barely breathing enough air through my nose to keep the three teeth from hurting when exposed to fresh air. They said it looked like one hell of a day upon entering the emergency room around ten that night... Thank GOD for an all night diner, a few soft eggs, and the Gideon's book in that cheap motel.

My dad told me a story of him duck hunting on a 30,000 acre WMA back in the day before all the nice equipment and gps tech. Where you waded in hip boots. He went alone and got lost and wandered around all day and thought he was gonna die out there, said it was getting late and everything looked the same. He finally just followed the sunset and figured he would come out somewhere. Came out as the sun disappeared and was 50 yards from his truck