WINDSONG HALL OF SHAME

Opening the Door of Opportunity

Group of College Kids, Tampa

These kids were celebrating the summer holidays and rented our party limo 28 foot pontoon for the day. On returning all seemed well, alcohol had definitely been flowing, judging by the unsteady gaits as they walked up the dock, but the driver was sober, so no problem. Kids off loaded gear and were about to leave when our dockhand tried to close the side door to the boat only to discover it was completely missing!

No satisfactory explanation of how the door broke and where it even went was ever established, simply because the guilty person said he could not remember (he also could barely stand up, so this was not a surprise!) After much argument a wad of cash was collected as each person went through their wallet to raise the money for the damage. A replacement door has to be specially ordered from the manufacturer.

This did however prompt us to check the boat a little more closely and we were not in the slightest bit surprised to discover that the propeller was completely trashed as well! Good thing we collected that cash! Below are actual pictures:

Moral of the story - if you are going to open a door of opportunity, don't loose the door itself!

Anchor Management

Gary from Grassy Hills, FL

Then there was this guy! When he returned the boat our staffer noticed an anchor line hanging over the front of the boat. Thinking that the anchor was dangling down just below the surface of the water, the staffer began pulling it up, and more and more and more anchor line just kept coming. Until finally the anchor itself appeared looking like a huge ball of grass!

Gary had dragged the anchor behind the boat ALL THE WAY BACK FROM THE ISLAND, picking up a ton of grass and bouncing along the bottom. It is quite remarkable the anchor did not catch on anything which would have brought the boat to a very sudden stop.

Gary is an experienced boater and a repeat customer. He proceeded to chew out his friend who was supposedly in charge of the front anchor, but had not noticed that it was not on board. A very clear case of bad anchor management!

We were not surprised to discover that the boat had used almost twice the amount of gas than it would typically use on a trip to the island and back.

Anchor Management Part II - 2 weeks later

Gary rents another boat 2 weeks later.

This time when raising the anchor, THE SAME FRIEND manages to get the line wrapped around the propeller while the boat was in gear. In some unique twist of fate the anchor line was undamaged, as were the blades of the propeller. However, the propeller hub (the strongest part of the propeller) was severely damaged by the anchor line.

In 8 years we have NEVER seen this type of damage to a propeller, so Gary gets another first place in the Windsong Hall of Shame.

After paying the $50 repair fee, Gary was over heard telling his friend that he was never coming boating with him ever again!

Here is a picture of the actual propeller - click for larger version.

ANCHORS "AWAY"

Sam and Sandy from Sandusky, New York

This lovely young couple became the very first renters at Windsong to loose not one, but TWO anchors on the same day!

Windsong: "So what exactly happened?"

Sam: "Well, we were between Anclote and the North Sandbar and threw out the front anchor, but the anchor line broke. Sandy jumped over board to try to grab the line and save the anchor but it sank too quickly. She couldn't find it."

Windsong: "And then?"

Sam: "So I threw out the back anchor, but it wasn't tied properly and the line disappeared over the side, so I jumped in to try to catch it, but it also sank too quickly and the current was very strong"

Windsong: "So who was left on the boat, to pick you guys up?"

Sandy: "Just the dog..."

Windsong, raising eyebrows: "Okaaaaaaayyyyy..."

Windsong thinks: The line did not just break, it's three strand nylon braid and we tie all anchors using bowlines which NEVER come undone. Plus when Sam docked the boat coming in we noticed he had forgot it in gear, which is probably what he did offshore and drove over the anchor line cutting it with the propeller. Probably TWICE. But said instead politely: "Well, I am glad you are still alive in that case. But in terms of our contract you are still responsible for losing the anchors."

Sam: "Aw, c'on, man. Give us a break, it wasn't our fault."

Windsong thinks: Like hell it wasn't. But says: "Sorry, guys. Rules are rules, but seeming you are the very first rental in Windsong's history to loose two anchors in one day, we are going to give you an award and only charge you for one anchor."

Client departs $50 lighter in their wallet.

THOSE DARN KIDS

Bert and family from Lakeland, Florida

This large family rented our Party Limo 28' Pontoon for the day. As a self confessed highly experienced boater who knew the area, of course we were not worried about damages or losses to our boat!

On checking the boat in at the end of the day, the 5 year old daughter could barely contain herself before bursting out: "Daddy drove off with the ladder down!"

Windsong: "Oh, yeah?"

An older sibling chipped in: "We tried to tell him, but he wouldn't listen."

5 Year Old: "I saw it sink."

Older brother, not to be put down then added: "Yeah, and I think Daddy then hit something too, I felt the boat bump."

Windsong, smiling: "Uh... let me just check the prop before you guys leave."

Bert, betrayed by his own family, by now just wanted to get the hell out of here. But not before he was presented with a $350 bill for the lost ladder and trashed propeller.

HIGH AND DRY

Mike, Macy and Friends from Manchester, England.

Very nice group of British tourists rented a pontoon boat for the day. At about 3 PM we received a call.

Mike: "We seem to have a small bit of a problem."

Windsong: "How small?"

Mike: "The engine died and we drifted ashore."

Windsong: "OK, we'll send out our mechanic to get you going again in no time."

Mike: "Weeeellllll, that's not really the biggest issue. The boat is kinda stuck."

Windsong: "Stuck???"

Mike: "Yes, in the sand. The tide went out."

Windsong: "Did you not throw an anchor out when the engine died? Or at the very least jump overboard in shallow water and hold the boat so it wouldn't drift onto the beach?"

Mike: "Well, there were too many waves, we couldn't hold the boat."

Windsong: "Waves? Where are you? There are no waves at the sandbar."

Mike: "We're on the West side of Anclote Key."

Windsong: "You were told NOT to go West of the barrier islands, even the chart we gave you has this printed on it in big red letters."

Mike: "Umm... we just thought we'd come over for a look see, the beach seemed so pretty."

We dispatched our rescue boat, picked the clients up and returned them to the dock after leaving one of our staff members to guard the boat until high tide. We were not the slightest bit surprised when the boat started first turn of the key. Sometimes stories are really easy to see through.

Moral of the story: there is a reason why we don't permit our boats on the West side of Anclote, even though the beach is very tempting - when the sea breeze kicks up, so do the waves, get too close and in no time you are bouncing on the bottom. The clients learned this lesson the hard way and paid an extra $250 for the rescue.

LAZINESS CAN BE EXPENSIVE

Joe Johnson from Jonesboro, Arkansas

A Windsong staff member was catering a beach BBQ at the sandbar when he noticed that another Windsong rental boat was starting to get a little shallow as the tide went out. The driver was alone in the driver's seat reading a book as his family strolled the island.

Windsong Staffer: "Excuse me, Sir. Tide's going out pretty quickly, you probably want to move the boat out a bit before you get stuck."

Joe, looking up from his book: "Thanks,  buddy, I'll get right on it."

Without even looking over the side to gauge the water depth, Joe hit the trim button down, fired the engine and backed the boat out in a cloud of mud. Looking very satisfied with himself, he cut the engine and went back to reading his book.

The staff member walked back to the beach BBQ shaking his head. And then called Windsong to warn them to order a new propeller.

Joe was very shocked when the dock staff charged him for a new prop. "But I didn't hit anything, I swear!! I don't know how the prop got like that!"

Yeah, buddy. Me neither.

TRAILER TRASH (actual picture)

Peter Partridge from Pinellas Park, Florida

In addition to renting boats, Windsong also rents out trailers for people who own their own pontoon boats but don't have a trailer. Peter is one such client and was transporting his pontoon boat down the I75 when he hit a bump and the trailer broke loose from the tow vehicle, broke both safety chains, overtook him on the highway before flipping upside down in a ditch.

Must have been one hell of a bump, because hitches don't break loose on their own, EVER! He blames a faulty hitch. Possible, but the boat was a little too big for the trailer making it back heavy substantially reducing the tongue weight, and in order for the chains to break, he was probably driving way too fast.

Although his boat was severely damaged, our trailer was just fine!

DUMPSTER DIVING (actual picture)

Bunch of guys from Tampa, FL.

A group of 10 guys having a bachelor party rented our big party limo boat for the day.

Mistake #1: They arrived on a Sunday at 8 am expecting to pick up beer at the local market. There are no beer sales before 11 am, so they spent the first 3 hours of their rental sitting on the boat at the dock waiting for 11 am! A bachelor party without beer is just not on!

Mistake #2: Returning to the dock at the end of the day after many, MANY beers, the leader of the pack could not find his car keys, cell phone or wallet. Somehow convinced that he must have thrown them into the dumpster by mistake with the many bags of empty beer cans, so began almost 2 hours of dumpster diving. After digging deep into the smelly mess and not finding anything he decided the only way was the get all the guys to tip the 500lb dumpster over and completely empty it in the parking lot. All the guys began routing through the garbage.

By now all of Windsong's boats were back and the crowd grew watching the entertainment.

Needless to say the elusive keys, phone and wallet were never found, and the guys spent another hour cleaning up and putting the garbage back where it belonged!!

Having a Gas!

Bubba from Brooklyn, NY

Many people do not realize that we are not only a boat rental company but also a CHARTER company - meaning that we have captains taking clients out on pontoon boats and sailboats.

Which means if you are out there and think you are out of sight from Windsong, you are probably wrong! Like this guy.

One of our captains came back off a charter and told us that one of our rental clients was driving the boat he rented around in circles around the island doing donuts and just having fun driving around for over an hour. Which is OK, no problem, we don't mind, the captain's only comment was that the client clearly was not worried about gas consumption.

When the client came in he was presented with a bill for the gas he used which was 9 gallons. He said angrily: "No way, I am not paying that, all I did was drive to the island and back. You guys are trying to rip me off."

On being told that our captain observed him driving around for an hour doing donuts he shut up immediately, paid the bill and left without another word!

Big Brother is watching...

Phone: (727) 326-7391    Email: Contact US