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Am I the only one who almost beached the dredge over a misread gauge?

Last week on the river, I was sure the depth finder showed clear water, so I pushed the dredge forward. Turns out, sun glare made me misread the numbers, and we hit a sandbar with a loud scrape. My deckhand burst out laughing so hard he almost dropped his lunch. After we backed out, I learned to always block the glare with my cap before checking the gauge. Now I make it a habit to shade the screen, which sounds obvious but saved me from another jam. That silly mistake taught me to slow down and look twice. Funny how a simple fix comes from a face-palm moment, right?
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4 Comments
leo_johnson
My uncle's old bass boat had a depth finder that would fog up in the heat. One summer afternoon, I thought it read twenty feet, but it was really two feet (the condensation made the decimal point blurry). We hit a submerged log so hard it knocked the cooler over, and all our sodas went into the lake. It taught me to always wipe the screen clean before trusting it, which seems obvious now. Those little oversights can lead to the best stories, even if they're embarrassing at the time.
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fionafoster
Wait you lost ALL the sodas? That cooler must have FLEW open. I can just picture a dozen cans bobbing away, that's a genuine tragedy right there.
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wesleythompson
Actually used to think those depth gauges were foolproof. Stories like yours made me realize how easy it is to get tricked by simple stuff. Now I double check everything.
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lucas389
lucas3891mo ago
Classic! Sometimes the solution needs a tech support call to your own brain.
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