OK, what did you forget?

[Montanan]

I didn't forget but the neighboring boat did.

He untied his lines and off he went with this shore power cord still attached. Did not get very far before he damaged the boat's plug in and bent the shore power station.

[toddster8]

Headed for a week cruise in the San Juans, traveling from sunny climes east of the mountains, arriving to cold drizzle, I realized that I hadn't brought any shoes whatsoever. Not really a problem on the boat (except cold) but for port calls, all I had, all week, was a pair of damp wetsuit booties. I just told people it was the latest fashion trend, but it somehow failed to catch on.
Nowadays, there are probably places to buy shoes over there, but in the 90's you could not buy so much as a flip-flop on a Sunday, in Anacortes.

[FabioC]

One of our favorites is to forget to disconnect the spinnaker bag from the clew (or the tack or the head) and hoist the spinnaker. Also popular is forgetting to attach the bag to the lifelines and seeing it fly away (fortunately, it is red, so it can be rescued). And of course the always fun forgetting to secure the halyard after detaching it from the spin on a takedown. Another personal favorite has been forgetting to tie the fenders before dropping them outside the lifelines in preparation of landing (my record is three of them).

[belizesailor]

The wheel story reminded me of an event I hate to admit...

Day before going back in the water, I was doing some maintenance on Morse engine controls. Handles were a bit corroded so I removed them to rust bust and paint...then got distracted by something else.

Launch was via trailer. Trailer lurched a bit as it was going into water and boat launched prematurely! I scrambled to the helm to discover...NO ENGINGE CONTROLS!!!

If there was an Olympic event for engine control reassembly, I would have set a new world record!

[emoji849]

[Shrew]

Originally Posted by Group9

Forgot our spinaker pole when moving to a new marina. We had it stored hanging on a bulkead. The worst part was, when we drove back to get it a week later, it had been stolen.

Not to split hairs, but........Stolen???? Or simple TAKEN? You left it behind........just sayin'

[stormalong]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

The wheel story reminded me of an event I hate to admit...

Day before going back in the water, I was doing some maintenance on Morse engine controls. Handles were a bit corroded so I removed them to rust bust and paint...then got distracted by something else.

Launch was via trailer. Trailer lurched a bit as it was going into water and boat launched prematurely! I scrambled to the helm to discover...NO ENGINGE CONTROLS!!!

If there was an Olympic event for engine control reassembly, I would have set a new world record!

[emoji849]

Reminds me of when I first had my present boat. Took the pedestal off for repainting and reconnected the steering backwards. In those days in Chicago we had to go through 27 opening bridges to get to the lake and they were scheduled trips. If we missed the trip it would have been a week delay so I did the trip with backwards steering. Constantly saying to myself turn left to go right. Made the trip without incident.

[degouwb]

Can opener.
On prior boat I forgot to bring my steering wheel on my launch day.(stored in my garage 2 hours away)

[AZUS]

I was maneuvering our new (to us) catamaran out of our first marina using the forward and reverse port and starboard motors to turn and adjust speed. I wondered why we weren't turning fast enough (my new-to-me folding props don't bite in reverse like those fixed ones on charter barges). I gently scraped along the side of a big motorboat (understanding owner, little damaged thankfully).

I forgot that I could turn with my wheel and rudders. (I wish I could say it was the only time I forgot the wheel while maneuvering with engines!)

[Goodall_M1]

Doing my first trip along the English Channel as the skipper...
Entering waypoints onto my GPS for the route...
Hold on a minute that projected track doesn't look right...

Well it was my first attempt at venturing from WEST to EAST of the Greenwich Meridian!

W is West, E is East you plonker!
So start remembering to enter the E !

[passthetuna]

As a young man prone to various escapades, me and a bud were skipping school to go fishing with an ample supply of beer. Fishing was bad so we decided to move. We ended up being chased by a large mass in the water. Something was following us ? We were utterly amazed and dumbfounded. Then we realized we were dragging our anchor with a bunch of seaweed on it. Drinking will do that to ya. Then there is the story of the giant beavers.

[AZUS]

A month into owning our new (to us) boat, we were sailing the Biscayne Bay to get some mileage under our belt and work out kinks from our boatyard work.

Rolling up our mast-furling main, I forgot to disengage the outhaul. Yep, I ripped the clew right off the mainsail. Fortunately Northsails is not into shaming their customers and 4 days and $300 later, our mainsail was good as new. 2+ years later, after crossing the Atlantic and sailing the Med, I still look at the repair and wonder, "What was I thinking!?".

[Zoidislander]

Originally Posted by toddster8

Headed for a week cruise in the San Juans, traveling from sunny climes east of the mountains, arriving to cold drizzle, I realized that I hadn't brought any shoes whatsoever. Not really a problem on the boat (except cold) but for port calls, all I had, all week, was a pair of damp wetsuit booties. I just told people it was the latest fashion trend, but it somehow failed to catch on.
Nowadays, there are probably places to buy shoes over there, but in the 90's you could not buy so much as a flip-flop on a Sunday, in Anacortes.

Not much different today in A Town. Flip flops maybe, but for anything more substantial you have to drive to Burlington.

[sagablu]

All the previous tales of things and people forgotten are indeed tragic. However I have a story that beat them all. While taking out three lovely ladies for a sunset sail, I forgot to bring the corkscrew. I still have nightmares of what could have been.

[01kiwijohn]

add a small tail to the nearest mooring line, then connect the end of that to the power cord. Never fails!

[Jenta]

Originally Posted by sagablu

All the previous tales of things and people forgotten are indeed tragic. However I have a story that beat them all. While taking out three lovely ladies for a sunset sail, I forgot to bring the corkscrew. I still have nightmares of what could have been.

Wood screw and a pair of pliers - just sayin'