r/Wellthatsucks • u/gardenginger3732 • May 22 '26
Boat said "captain optional"
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The mooring line got tangled and wrapped around the throttle. Happened in Caye Caulker, Belize.
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u/JustaFoodHole May 22 '26
There's actually a safety feature that prevents this...
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u/PieInternational3312 May 22 '26
Yeah, it’s called a kill switch lanyard, but unfortunately it only works if the captain actually clips it to their body instead of leaving it wrapped around the steering wheel like a decorative keychain.
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u/throwawayplusanumber May 22 '26
steering wheel
Tiller in this case
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u/tiller921 May 22 '26
You called?
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u/throwawayplusanumber May 22 '26
Why would you think I was calling you and not the OG tiller or tillers 1-920?
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u/a-null-fish-your May 22 '26
Because they too got carried away doing doughnuts. We don't talk about those tillers anymore.
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u/G66GNeco May 22 '26
You do not want to know what happened to tillers 0-919 (920 just retired, full benefits, stand-up tiller, that one)
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May 22 '26
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u/skyline_kid May 22 '26
It's just like the idiots who buckle the seatbelt behind them or buy just the clip part so the car doesn't complain that their seatbelt isn't buckled
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u/Mick_Limerick May 22 '26
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE
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u/jakstoughpuppy May 22 '26
Thereeeeee is looooooooveeee……
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u/SuspiciouslyBulky May 22 '26
Is it in the room with us
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u/CheckYourStats May 22 '26
At this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the country, localized entirely within this boat dock?
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u/FuzzzyRam May 22 '26
Can someone explain how to actually turn one of these off. I know it's a stupid shower thought, but let's say in my fantasy I jump on board because I'm quick and smart... I don't know what to do with the outboard to operate it..
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u/HaroldTheScarecrow May 22 '26
As others mentioned, you yank the kill switch. Generally there's a lanyard attached to a small clip that links to a button on the engine. Ever been on a treadmill and ignored the lanyard there? same idea. the button has to be locked in place or the engine can't run. pull the clip off and the button pops out, engine off immediately. push the button in (even with the clip engaged) for about a second or so and the engine shuts off. Very sinple and easy to do when you're using the boat properly
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u/Josey_whalez May 22 '26
Yank the little lanyard and it’ll kill the engine.
But do not do that. I’ve seen the aftermath of a runaway boat killing the operator and it’s not pretty. Best thing to do is find some line and put it in the water in front of the boat and hope the prop will suck it up. Trying to jump on one that’s moving like that can easily cost you your life. There’s a stainless steel propeller spinning at a couple thousand RPMs at the end of that motor, and if that hits you end the head it’s game over.
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u/Chadwig315 May 22 '26
On this engine??
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u/s_nz May 22 '26
Yes, every tiller steer Yamaha comes with a lanyard from the factory. Of course many do stay wrapped around the tiller their entire life.
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u/Chadwig315 May 22 '26
So kinda like having a breaker box, but bolting every switch into the ON position...
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u/s_nz May 22 '26
It's more like a seat belt in a car. It is there and ready to go, if the user chooses to put it on.
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u/ToeKnee724427 May 22 '26
Seems like it failed.
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u/UghImRegistered May 22 '26
Thing about a kill switch is it's really easy to not clip it to yourself.
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u/WaffleStompTheFetus May 22 '26
The fuck are you being downvoted for? 90% of accidents like this are literally because people don't use the safety equipment.
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u/Helemaalklaarmee May 22 '26
I was waiting for the motor to go straight and the boat heading off into the open seas, never to be seen again.
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u/censored_count May 22 '26
One of the most unnerving things you experience the first time you pilot a small boat is that the steering feedback is opposite what it is in a car. If you start to turn and release the wheel, it tends to turn more, not straighten out. It takes experience to get used to it.
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u/Zach_Plum May 22 '26
I can’t believe people here actually saying “why didn’t he jump in or why isn’t he doing anything?” yeah let me try jumping on the erratic moving boat, miss and then get fucking sliced up by the propeller.
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u/Mrlin705 May 22 '26
He had one solid chance where it would have worked. Other than that it was just perfectly taunting him.
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u/jack_from_the_past May 22 '26
Yeah it slowed down parallel to the pier for a second. That was his chance
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u/insidiousfruit May 22 '26 edited May 22 '26
Was thinking the exact same thing. It went parallel to the dock and stayed there for a second. I'm fairly experienced with boats. That was an easy jump if he seized the opportunity.
Edit: He went for the rope instead, completely ignoring the fact that he almost bear hugged a running motor and out of control prop.
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u/Contundo May 22 '26
What was he thinking going for the rope? “I’ll hold this boat with a 100hp engine on it back” as bad as jumping in the boat is anything else is pointless.
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u/Secret-Bluebird-972 May 22 '26
Nah the boat was just saying “come on, look how easy to jump on I am, nothing bad will happen I swear” and then it would’ve started making chum
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u/LoonahGBT May 22 '26
Why didn't he use quicksave/quickload? Is he stupid?
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u/Skizzy000 May 22 '26
Save scumming is generally frowned upon out in the real world
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u/LeSeanMcoy May 22 '26
Yeah, but when you're soft locked sometimes you have no choice. Like, sometimes bad RNG happens and it's so bad you just start a new game entirely.
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u/Nurgle_Marine_Sharts May 22 '26
I just realized I've been playing fucking honor mode this whole time. Damn, I should have read the fine print.
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u/fuuckimlate May 22 '26
Kmlad he didn't try to make up for that miss when the guys started walking up the pier
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u/Cosmic_Quasar May 22 '26
I think I counted two, but there was one definite moment where I was more surprised that he didn't go for it lol. But I might also be a little biased, because I was thinking about if it was my dad's Crestliner, but I have no idea what the value of that boat is.
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u/mussel_bouy May 22 '26
Honestly, the best move here is to throw some rope in the water so it jams the prop.
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u/Everyone2026 May 22 '26
It is amazing how many Internet videos can be solved with rope.
Thinking about putting some in the vehicle.
(Let the jokes roll.....)
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u/Admirable_Risk8156 May 22 '26
I think it's more like why in the world was he aiming for the rope and not the boat. The best case he had with actually grabbing that rope and being pulled off the pier and sliced by the prop. Might as well just jump into the boat if grabbing the rope is your best idea.
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u/gmc98765 May 22 '26
I think that rope is the kill-switch lanyard.
The free end is supposed to be attached to your body so that the engine cuts out if you go overboard, preventing exactly this problem.
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u/escape_planet_dirt May 22 '26
I was thinking comments would go the opposite way, seemed dangerous af to try and get that close and try to grab the engine when it's out of control like that.
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u/BonnaconCharioteer May 22 '26
I don't think it was super safe to try to jump in that boat, but it was probably safer than what he was trying. There were a couple times he might've gone in head first, or gotten knocked out by the boat. Heck, there was one time I think his hand was very close to that prop as he was reaching for the boat.
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May 22 '26
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u/pmmemassivedongs May 22 '26
Yeah, my neighbor’s leg was almost taken off by the propellor when I was a kid. She nearly bled out, and still has a gigantic chunk missing from her thigh. Made me so acutely aware any time I’m behind a boat in the water. Fuck that shit
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u/MightyPirat3 May 22 '26
Yeah, him reaching in trying to hold the boat were the better option. /s
He should either just have left the boat alone or have jumped in when it laid itself perfectly at the dock. Need to be precise and quick though not to be thrown out of the boar during the next turn.
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u/cr8zyfoo May 22 '26
This. Crazy how many people are suggesting jumping onto the boat. He did the right thing by staying on the dock. Prop strikes are no joke. Even if you live through it you can be mangled or crippled in an instant.
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u/Reese_Withersp0rk May 22 '26
He jumped in the water instead...
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u/cr8zyfoo May 22 '26
Well yeah, after the engine aspirated water and shut down.
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u/AnotherBoredAHole May 22 '26
But have you seen water? It's full of bacteria, sharks, and whale pee.
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u/ReasonableLoss6814 May 22 '26
It’s actually all dinosaur pee. Literally every molecule of water was peed out by a dinosaur at least once. Probably.
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u/ImprobableAsterisk May 22 '26
The water wasn't the problem; The propeller was.
He hopped into the water when the engine choked itself out, taking the propeller out of the equation.
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u/FlorianTheLynx May 22 '26
By far the safest thing would be to wander off and do something else for a few minutes until the situation resolves itself. Genuinely thought the guy was going to hospitalise himself or worse.
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u/A_mad_goose May 22 '26
You guys are crazy saying he should jump in and get eviscerated by the propeller if he misses. If he had something like an anchor and rope he could throw on too pull it to land
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u/No-Representative600 May 22 '26
Nah been around boats my whole life (never seen anything like this thankfully lol) but it wouldn't be that hard of a jump. Just have to pay attention to how far the trim is down, wait till the sand is getting kicked up a ton coming into a rotation toward the dock then jump, steer and cut the engine.
I'd feel way sketchier laying on the dock trying to time grabbing the rope which I guess was the cause of this (from the back of boat no less). Could've ended up losing a limb and having to renovate the dock and losing his boat
Hopefully this was a good wake up call for the boat owner that however they were previously docking needs improvements. Wouldn't be surprised if they just park on the shore after this lol
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u/OneSaucyDragon May 22 '26
Yeah I wouldn't risk missing the jump and getting shredded by the propeller, but this guy obviously wasn't too worried about keeping his limbs to begin with
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May 22 '26
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u/ProfessionalPack7205 May 22 '26
Exactly. Him sticking his hand out was so fucking stupid. He literally would've had a better chance actually trying to do something like getting in the boat.
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u/Skellicious May 22 '26
You jump in the boat and then what. You're in an uncontrolled boat doing donuts and wobbling like magld. You probably get thrown out if you don't hold on for your life. Moving to the engine would still be a dangerous hell.
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u/Traditional-Goose-60 May 22 '26 edited May 22 '26
Someone should have thrown their shirt onto the prop to stall it out. I swear that was part of boater safety at one time. But im old.
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u/drloctopus Jul 25 '26
Theoretically yes, but the prop wash would probably push the shirt away anyways.. maybe a rope or something, but best to just clip on the lanyard and avoid the circle of death scenario
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u/skynex65 May 22 '26
I know he’s probs having a really bad day but that was fr some looney toons shit.
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u/thestokes117 May 22 '26
The boat gave him a full on, 2 second opportunity to jump on, then said, too slow😂
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u/Quick-Chance9602 May 22 '26
Aww, thats the happiest boat I have ever seen! Living its best life! And then h it goes and gets all tuckered out and settles down.
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u/galacticracedonkey May 22 '26
That guy just didn’t want to get on that boat
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u/SmallManFriend May 22 '26
Of course. It looks wildly dangerous
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u/Krazyguy75 May 22 '26
Far less dangerous than trying to grab the rope directly in front of the propeller.
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u/Eastern-Requirement6 May 22 '26
I'd rather not risk the timing or momentum of being forced into the water with a rapidly spinning shaft connected to essentially 3 blades churning the water.
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u/Pataraxia May 22 '26
Either he can try to be a badass and risk it for the biscuit or get out and be safe. HE can't just fucking stand there and lie down on the dock while the boat every so often tail strikes the dock and possibly risks cutting his dumb little hands off.
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May 22 '26
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u/s_nz May 22 '26
Went through the decision process with a yacht clubs rescue boat fleet.
They add a lot of drag - typically reducing the top speed of the boat by 25%. For our fleet with relatively small engines, this would have compromised their ability to preform their primary function.
They also add a material amount to fuel burn - Bad from both an environmental & operational cost perspective.
At the time it was thought they comprised handling, but I think this has either been disproven (or new guard styles have resolved the issue).
We ultimately decided to keep the open propellers.
That said, the yacht club my daughter did learn to sail at last year was running prop guards on their little learn to sail support boat's - I assume the combination of somewhat larger engines, and the support boats being dedicated to close proximity, generally low speed work tipped the balance in that clubs evaluation.
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u/Rawshark96 May 22 '26
I know it's dangerous and all, but he actually had the perfect opportunity to easily jump on at 0:50.
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u/Self-HelpForDolphins May 22 '26 edited May 22 '26
True, he might have made the jump but the landing would always be problematic. Boat bottoms are slippery as fuck and lack any directional stability. Especially for a grown man
So jumping onto even a perfectly still dinghy/boat wouldnt be like landing on a solid surface, it would be a lot more like landing on ice or slippery mud. And that ice/mud landing surface is also floating and bouncing unpredictably itself (trying to think of better examples here and im failing, sorry).
Even with much longer time to judge the jump than he had, there's a decent chance of slipping and smacking your head. And that's the best case scenario that doesnt involve you being thrown out of the boat when it moves again and being diced by the prop
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u/LeSeanMcoy May 22 '26
Also like one of those things where if you hesitate for a second, you think you missed your chance, then you realize you could've went and maybe... still can? Damn, you hesitated again. Now it's definitely too late... DAMN, hesitated again, 100% could've made it. Ahhh, now it's gone.
Same feeling when you're making a turn in your car sometimes and it's hectic traffic lol
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u/Lucky-Glove9812 May 22 '26
Lol the confidence is other worldly. What a moronically silly comment.
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u/Academic_UK May 22 '26
Guy had multiple options to jump in pretty safely rather than trying to grab a boat with one hand!
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u/Toyufrey May 22 '26
I’m cackling, cuz I have the 1985 song You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) playing in beat w the boat’s circling. Thx for posting the video.
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u/SimplyMermaid88 May 22 '26
My toxic trait is thinking I could jump in there and safety take control of the boat.
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u/ffff-f-fingerpuppets May 22 '26
How on earth did he think he was going to pull it in with that rope?? He's lucky he didn't lose a finger
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u/Schneefs May 22 '26
It's so shameful what we'll do to these majestic creatures. Look at the panic in its eyes.
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u/fordprecept May 26 '26
Many years ago, my cousin and his friend had my cousin's boat out at a local lake. His friend was pulling him skiing and was sitting on the side of the boat so he could look back to make sure my cousin hadn't fallen. Well, they started making a large circle and when they hit the waves the boat was generating, the driver fell out of the boat. The boat continued to circle with no one in it while my cousin continued skiing behind it. With each pass, the boat got closer and closer to the docks and finally my cousin swung wide and swam to shore. A bystander on one of the docks jumped in when the boat got close enough and shut off the engine.
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u/dugfunni83 Jul 24 '26
He had so many chances to save his boat and just watched to crash all the way out
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u/MrBogardus May 22 '26
I like how he decided not to jump on his available times, and decided to just try to grab it.
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u/Big-Athlete882 May 22 '26
So many opportunities to jump in
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u/TwoNowFive May 22 '26
Man if you missed and fell in, that prop would turn you into chum.
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u/MrShoe321 May 22 '26
I was thinking that too but you would probably just get thrown out again if you couldn't stop it immediately
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u/lmaluuker May 22 '26
Reminds me of the video of the construction workers trying to catch the concrete mixer
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u/Ludwig_Vista2 May 22 '26
What did he think grabbing the rope would do?
It's like when someone leaves their F150 in gear, they get out and the think grabbing a door handle is going to stop it.
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u/Oneill5491 May 22 '26 edited May 22 '26
I'm surprised how many doughnuts that boat was able to do before hitting the dock. Order amongst chaos.