By Jim Clark

It is always important to adhere to your basic boating safety rules because if you get sloppy, one day it may come back to bite you in the butt or foot. Case in point is the near tragedy that almost befell a close friend of mine. Rule: When you set foot in that dingy for a little ride "Put the safety cut-off lanyard on first!!.

It was a beautiful day at Zachs to start the 4th of July weekend.We were rafted with a friend and his family which included his daughter who is an old salt in her own rite. Well, little Ms. K.. decides to go for a ride in the inflatable, so she sits on the 19 ft. Mako with both legs in the inflatable to hold it next to the boat(Mako). Without putting the safety cut off lanyard on , she proceeds to pull start the small 9hp. engine. It sprang to life immediately, but the engine was In Gear. At the time I was on the bridge of my friends 35 ft. Monk Trawler sipping on a beer. When I heard the engine start I instinctively looked around , only to see the horror that was unfolding below. Having her legs in the inflatable Ms K. tried to hold the dingy from its' intended escape. It was no match. I watched in horror as the dingy was slowly dragging her off the Mako. It is a terrible feeling when you see something horrendous happening and you can do nothing to stop it . As the dingy was slowly winning the tug of war, Ms K. was being stretched out between the two boats. With her elbows locked onto the Mako for support and leverage against the escaping dingy, she had no way to reach for the cut-off lanyard. At this point I knew she was going in and I preyed that "Propeller Shark" did not find its intended target. At this point she hit the water with a splash and the dingy was off and running for parts unknown. It quickly accelerated and whipped around the bow of the Monk. I remember thinking, "oh my god , all these boats, all these people in the water, what target is this unattended dingy zeroing in on".

Well, this is where the gods of safe boating were smiling down on us. As the dingy rounded the bow of the Monk it ran over the anchor line(see-that extra scope pays off in other ways), and popped the engine out or the water. Well, this is good, but it I isn't over yet!! At this point the dingys forward progress had been stopped . When the engine hit the anchor line it kicked it up and swung it around to a reverse position. It was out of the water and making a racket for a few moments, then gravity pulled the lower unit back into the water. Each time the prop hit the water it pulled the inflatable back a foot or so then it kicked out of the water again. Now this dingy from hell is backing down on us with its prop bouncing in and out of the water like a buzz saw. Oh, did I mention that tied to the Port side of the Monk was another friends very expensive sailboat. The dingy was about 10 ft. off the bow and closing fast. At this point everyone in the area was scrambling to assist, shouting orders, or just staring in horror. Suddenly out of nowhere one of the spry friends of Ms. K. bounds over the railing of the Monk onto the deck of the sailboat. As the dingy is backing down on the boat I yell "Go for the cut-off ". This was easier said than done because not only was it not worn, but it was neatly wrapped around the throttle/steering arm. In one fell swoop he jumped to the bow, leaned over and plucked the cut-off. The beast was dead!! We fished a tearful Ms. K. out of the drink , a little shaken and bruised but intact with 10 fingers and toes. Lesson learned the hard way: Put the safety lanyard on first!!