rich scheffer
Well-known member
I read Dean A's post "almost died today" sent chills up my spine. I have been in the water twice, not duck hunting but while making a living on the great south bay on LI. Not a great experience. Once I let go of the tiller while up on a plane,20 mph or so, thought it would stay straight for a few seconds while I kept something from blowing out of the boat,WRONG! last thing I remember seeing was my boat up on its side. As I swam to the surface much to my surprise my boat was not upside down, but still up on a plane and going around in circles. Drowning was my last worry, getting run over was my BIG worry. Luckily a friend saw the whole thing and picked me up and we chased down my run away boat, which I jumped into and got under control. That was 45 years ago, no safety switches. Today we have much safer equipment and we need to use it! Safety lanyards are a no brainer, Home made tiller extensions are another story. There are quite a few quality pieces out there. Click on "search posts" on this site there have been quite a few posts over the years on 'tiller extensions',with pictures of all sorts of extensions, some excellent, some plain old scary. Would you drive down I 95 with a hose clamped pvc extension on the steering on your car or truck? Im sure this will ruffel a few feathers but this web site covers a great bunch of guys, and god knows the world we live in cannot afford to lose any more good guys! there are just not enough to go around any more! Rich