Reefer Madness
A mate of mine had bought himself a little RIB and was keen to try it out, so we tripped off to a nearby bay where there was a little slipway and a set of pontoons. We got the RIB launched and tied it to the pontoon for loading up.

The pontoon was generally used for landing prawn catches and the like, so it was well used by proper sea-savvy types. One of the fishermen there wandered up and admired the boat for a bit, then said "When you're going out, don't go straight out, because there's a reef there".

"Okey doke" we say, "Thanks for the tip".

In due course, we get everything ready, climb aboard, start the big outboard, and my mate steers us out to sea by heading straight for the entrance to the bay; in the process sailing over the reef and knocking the propellor clean off. After a moment where we tried to work out what the hell had happened - accompanied by a mixture of disdain and hilarity from the fishermen on the pontoon - we shouted across and asked if someone could tow us back.

"Ye daft bastards" opined the guy who'd warned us about the reef.

But he climbed into his boat to go and tow us back, and started her up. We couldn't hear what he was saying to the other people there but there was plenty of shaking of heads and raucous laughter, and we sat drifting out to sea feeling really, really stupid.

Mind you, we felt an awful lot better when he untied from the pontoon and sailed straight over the reef, knocking *both* of his propellers off.
(richardm, Wed 7 Nov 2012, 12:09, Reply)