Yea, I found out why those lines were there the summer after, when we took a huge raft from Hull to Qc city.

There was the guy who'd anchored a big sea-doo IN THE MIDDLE OF A CHANNEL in order to FISH with his son and didn't put any signal...

36'x24' raft, pushed by a 27' tugboat... And I did sound the horn. Did he even get up to signal or anything? NO! Someone spotted the anchor line just in time.

He hit the side of the tugboat... And shouted that he as going to sue us. We didn't think he'd have much ground...


My favorite stupid boater story isn't one I know first hand, tho. As you probably know, there's three kind of pleasure bother : The kind that know what they're doing, the topless guys and the girls with lots of make up and tube top that sits in the front.

This is about the later two.

In Ottawa, the Rideau canal goes through most of the town, ditching in the Ottawa river at the Eight Locks, eight (Duh) hand operated locks. They have those vertical ropes that you pass your lines around, then the boat goes up or down and so and so. It's an historical site (Yawn) so there's often a lot of people watching.

This guy came in with a 30 something ft cruiser, and, after shutting down his engine, stayed at the wheel. His wife, of the affordmentionned kind, got the responsability to take care of both lines. So there she is, holding the boat, when her top falls off, revealing.. You know.

Her husband laughed really hard, and sat his butt off waiting for the locking to finish... And the crowd laughed, too. Poor girl.

There was also the time when we took the raft through those locks, and we forgot both the captain and the pilot (Before anyone else had any actual piloting experience) on top of the lock...

Etienne