[u]The Darwin Awards</u>
A man retires from his profession and decides to fulfill his life long ambition of owning a boat. After much research and opinions from his friends he finally makes his purchase: a brand new ski boat. He then proceeds to outfit it with all of the latest gadgets and equipment. He has also purchased the largest outboard motor he can get for that boat.
The weekend comes along and he is ready for a day of fun on the water with his family. He launches the boat and heads out into open water. But to his disappointment he can only go about five miles an hour (no where near fast enough to ski). He increases the RPM, but no help. He checks to make sure he is not dragging anything. Nothing!
After several hours of frustration, he heads back to the dock where he ties up. He then calls the dealer where he purchased the boat.
Several hours later a service technician from the dealer shows up, listens to the new owner’s plight and proceeds to check out the problem. He checks the fuel tank, fuel lines, fuel filter, plugs, carburetor, electrical system, etc. and can’t find anything wrong. The only thing left is to check out the prop.
The technician dons his mask and snorkel, hops into the water and proceeds to inspect the prop, but he finds nothing wrong with it. As he turns back toward the ladder to climb back up, he makes the most amazing discovery of his life….
The trailer was still attached to the boat!!!
This is supposedly a true story but at the same time it’s also an urban myth. This myth was tested on the TLC show “Myth busters” several weeks ago; however their test boat was a 17’ Boston Whaler which also only achieved about 5 – 6 MPH but it still floated. Therefore they ruled it as “possible”.
It is beyond me how someone even new to boating could do something like this, but then I guess that is why we have the Darwin Awards.
