Definitely not a boat angling report but a somewhat funny story with a VERY strong safety message.
Myself and buddy headed to Buncrana on Sunday to launch our boat at sea for the first time. Spent a good half hour making final checks and fitting GPS, Finder, Radio etc. When satisfied everything was in place, my mate backed the boat down the slip, we fired up the engine and gave her a good shove off with myself on board. When satisfied I was sufficiently clear of the slip and drifting off to the right fairly quickly with the combination of a fresh breeze and tide I put the engine into gear with the intention of picking my buddy up on the far side. Engine revved up well but absolutely nothing happened....tried forward and reverse and still nothing. For those not familiar with launching off Buncrana Pier, there are some nasty rocks not too far below and above the surface to the right and slightly in towards the shore and I was drifting straight for these.
Fortunately, I had the Anchor stowed just inside the cabin door with rope neatly coiled and was able to throw it over in the nick of time, Had to lash it to one of the side cleats initially and quickly made my way to the front and tied on properly. Boat was now in just over 6 feet of water and about 15 yards from the rocks. On inspection of the outboard, it was clear that whilst the engine was revving away, the prop wasnt turning, the safety pin that holds it on to the drive shaft had fallen out (probably on the drive down) and we had neglected to see this on launching. :oops:
Buddy was looking on bemused from the pier, well out of distance to throw a line and I was in too deep to hop over the side and slip in a screw or something to hold it to get back to shore. Couldnt ring him as his phone was in the cabin. Joy. After much stretching and manoeuvering it was clear that there was no way to get a pin into the driveshaft without getting wet, it was at that point that the lads from the Lough Swilly lifeboat crew appeared. A passer by on the pier had kindly given them a call. The lads towed me back round and strapped together side by side we made it back on to dry land. Very dramatic stuff! They even helped to line boat up on trailer etc. They headed back to the station at Neds Point so on securing the boat we popped round to see them to thank them and give them a few quid. A nicer bunch of lads you couldnt have met. They spent an hour giving us a full tour of the station, hopping in and out of their boats and listening to stories of rescues past. Thanks again lads, ya saved me from a ducking at the very least.
There are several morals to this story, first one being always make sure your prop is secured as it should be. The fact that we had the anchor stowed neatly in an accessible place was however even more important. Another 30 seconds to a minute would have seen the boat grounded on rocks. Last of all, lets not forget the lads in the RNLI who work and train tirelessly on a voluntary basis to be in the position to help fools like me who dont check their prop pins before heading off to sea!
This was not the way we expected the day to go but alls well that ends well. Next time someone puts a collection box under your nose, dig deep lads, these guys get no government funding and do a sterling job providing what is essentially a free service for us.
Pete.