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In article ,
says...
My wife and I bought a boat this season and having never owned or driven a
boat before, I've been learning to drive it. But in the meantime, I've done
my level best to "destroy" it by running into docks trying to park it etc.
We keep it on a manmade lake that the state regulates the depth of......so
there are parts that are very shallow and they get even shallower as the
season goes on......tonight we went out for a ride and I ran over either
some rocks or a log or something.....I don't know how much damage I
did......what is the worst case.....that could be.....could I have damaged
the fiberglass???? if so can it be repaired........last weekend I tried to
back the boat up to a small sandy island because that's what everyone else
does......and I ended up with the propeller stuck in the sand.....could that
have damaged the propeller or the mechanism......As you can see I know
nothing about boats or anything mechanical........I'm not sure that the trim
is going all the way up......If anyone can shed some light on this, I would
be very appreciative.......
by the way the boat is an I/O 18 ft SeaRay......

Last year was our first. We baot a used boat (20' Larson I/O) but it was
in very nice condition. Certainly did some damage that first year.
Docking was a nightmare. Those bow mounted anchors opposite our slip
caused me to learn a little about fiberglass repair. We did go through a
prop that year and hit bottom a few times (at slow speed).

The good news is after that first year there is a huge improvement in my
skills. Docking rarely is a problem. We are into August and I have not
runn aground or broke anything. Hang in there. Next year should be
easier!

By the way I took one of those boater saftey courses. It was pretty much
useless as almost the entire thing was geared to PWC's. If you take a
course make sure it covers what you need before signing up.