About 25 years ago, not long after I had bought my first boat, I was fishing on Kentucky Lake with a friend of mine. Were were about 1/2 mile from the dock when we decided to break for lunch. As I got the boat up on plane, one of my rods started moving and I thought it might fall out of the boat. As I reached over to grab it, I loosened my grip on the steering wheel. I had just gotten up on plane and had not yet trimmed the motor up so there was a lot of steering torque. The steering wheel spun out of my hand and the boat turned VERY hard to the right. The next thing I knew, I was falling, back first into the water. The kill switch was not connected and I was not wearing a life jacket. When I came to the surface, I saw the boat turning in a hard circle, motor running at high RPMs with no one in it. My fishing partner had also been thrown out. I can barely swim. I wasn't the least bit concerned about myself, but I was very worried my new boat was going to hit something. The good news was that we were both outside the circle the boat was turning in so we were not going to be hit. It wasn't long before good Samaritans came and fished us out of the water.  Boat police were soon there all the while the boat was still spinning in circles. They tried throwing a rope in front of the boat to catch in the prop and stall the motor but it didn't work. Eventually the boat ran out of gas before it hit anything.  The only real damage was that my friend had a large gash in his chin so I got him to the ER for some stitches.  While the episode was happening I was OK, but afterward, I was pretty shaken up having just nearly killed myself and a friend who was a new father. To this day, I seldom run my boat at wide open throttle.

 Several lessons learned. As stable as my boat is, life jackets while under power are a must as is the kill switch. I was very lucky.

About 25 years ago, not long after I had bought my first boat, I was fishing on Kentucky Lake with a friend of mine. Were were about 1/2 mile from the dock when we decided to break for lunch. As I got the boat up on plane, one of my rods started moving and I thought it might fall out of the boat. As I reached over to grab it, I loosened my grip on the steering wheel. I had just gotten up on plane and had not yet trimmed the motor up so there was a lot of steering torque. The steering wheel spun out of my hand and the boat turned VERY hard to the right. The next thing I knew, I was falling, back first into the water. The kill switch was not connected and I was not wearing a life jacket. When I came to the surface, I saw the boat turning in a hard circle, motor running at high RPMs with no one in it. My fishing partner had also been thrown out. I can barely swim. I wasn't the least bit concerned about myself, but I was very worried my new boat was going to hit something. The good news was that we were both outside the circle the boat was turning in so we were not going to be hit. It wasn't long before good Samaritans came and fished us out of the water. Boat police were soon there all the while the boat was still spinning in circles. They tried throwing a rope in front of the boat to catch in the prop and stall the motor but it didn't work. Eventually the boat ran out of gas before it hit anything. The only real damage was that my friend had a large gash in his chin so I got him to the ER for some stitches. While the episode was happening I was OK, but afterward, I was pretty shaken up having just nearly killed myself and a friend who was a new father. To this day, I seldom run my boat at wide open throttle.

Several lessons learned. As stable as my boat is, life jackets while under power are a must as is the kill switch. I was very lucky.

Wow you and many others around you that day were very lucky