Common Mistakes While Boating

Murphy's law always applies to me.  Here's some ridiculous things that have happened to me while fishing.

1.  Forget to put the drain plug in the boat. With new DNR laws, you're suppose to always travel with the drain plug out.  After years of always having it in, it takes a little bit to remember.  Hopefully you notice right away.

2.  Forget to tie the rope to the boat. Rookie mistake.  I thought the rope was already tied to the boat, so when I grabbed the rope, it just fell off the boat and the boat slowly drifted out to the lake.

3.  Poor knot on anchor rope. Another rookie mistake my first year with the boat.  I thought it had a pretty decent knot on the anchor, until we started drifting away and I saw a rope floating in the water.

4. Forget to open the vent cap on fuel tank. Totally feel like an idiot on this one.  I couldn't figure out why the motor quit working all of a sudden.  Turns out I didn't have the vent open.  Stupid mistake.

5.  Ignoring a rotten transom. It was an old boat at the cabin and it had a pretty weak transom.  (it's the part where the motor clamps onto at the stearn of the boat.)  I took it out and thought it would be ok.  In the middle of the lake, the motor came off part way.  I had to feather the throttle enough to keep the motor from sinking.  I was able to make it close enough to shore, where we didn't lose the engine.

And one more question:

Why is it you can be completely alone on the lake all day, and when you need to load your boat on the trailer, there's a crowd there to watch you.

I swear this happens every time I go.  I'm pretty good at landing a boat, but I sure hate being rushed.  Happens every time.