Almost sank my boat

[oldjeep]

What's the rationale for that law?

Invasive species. Trying to keep folks from transporting them in bilge/ballast/livewell water

Edited September 23, 2015 by oldjeep

[DAI]

Got it. Thanks

[ahopkins22LSV]

Luckily the only time I have had it happen is when we were demoing the new x23. I have to say it looked difficult as the sales man tried to put the plug back in with all the water gushing in.

Edited September 23, 2015 by ahopkinsTXi

[Lance B. Johnson]

I went out Sunday, and it was only the 3rd time in my boat. I'mean a first time owner so maybe my pre-launch checklist isn't ingrained in my head yet. I checked the oil, other fluids, turned on the blower, and backed her into the water. I started the motor, unhooked from the bow eye, put her in reverse, and backed off the trailer. I had 1 friend with me in the boat, and another friend was pulling my tow rig up to park. We were idling towards the dock to pick up the crew when I looked down at the cup holder and saw the ski locker plug sitting there.

I kinda went into panic mode, but I was able to focus enough to grab the plug and open the locker. Water was gushing in, and was probably 3 or 4 inches deep at this point. I knew about where the hole was, but I couldn't quite find it since heart rate was so fast, and it's almost under my locker ballast hose. Finally I was able to feel the water coming in, and I got the plug started in the threads. With a little throttle, the bow tilted up and the water drained to the bilge where the pump took care of the rest.

Lesson learned, almost the very hard way! Now I have a reminder post-it note over the key switch.

Now that you got that out of the way!

I ALWAYS put the plug on top of the drivers seat so that there is no way I could forget to put it in.

[Lance B. Johnson]

Luckily the only time I have had it happen is when we were demoing the new x23. I have to say it looked difficult as the sales man tried to put the plug back in with all the water gushing in.

Wow, hard for the salesman to maintain credibility after that.

[Lance B. Johnson]

And if you didn't know.......

The O ring on the fly high ballast plugs? Works on the T handle bilge plugs. Same size.

If you have fly high ballast youve got back up o rings too!

[Lance B. Johnson]

Got to call mild BS on all of these schemes (carabineers, tags, etc.) for remembering the plug(s). If you MUST remove it after your trip just ended, as soon as you get to where you store the boat, put it back in right then. Why not? Any water you needed to drain will be done draining by then. You will never launch without the plug in again. Simply stuff.

I don't know why you say that.....I have a perfect record. My system works for me.

[martinarcher]

I do something similar. My plug hands from the throttle knob and is there from the time we pull out until the time we prep to launch. That system started the first time I forgot the plug. It hasn't failed me in the 6 years since.

[Clocked92]

I remember my dad and I did this years ago with our old outboard Glastron. We had just got to the lake, put the boat in the water and then drove it to the cottage to tie it up at the dock and go up for supper. After supper we came down to the dock and noticed the boat sitting really low in the water. Then it became apparent that we forgot the plug out when we saw 3" of water on the carpet in the back of the boat. I dove in with the plug (always keep an extra one in any boat now) and screwing it in. Then we bailed water and let the bilge pump run for about an hour! Thankfully everything was fine.

[itznowonder]

My first boat was a little 16 1/2 ' Baja fish n ski with an outboard. We kept the boat on the trailer in a storage area. we could call the marina and they would drop it in the water for us and have it fueled and ready to go. When we arrived on this particular day we walked to the boat and realized the thing was completely filled with water. They got some pumps and pumped the water out, bought our lunch while we waited but it wasted most of the day. surprisingly enough not a thing was wrong with that little unsinkable boat!

[wakedncsu]

Everyone has done it. I leave it in a cup holder. But it is ALWAYS the same cup holder.

[ibelonginprison]

I'm not saying I'll *never* forget. But like LBJ, this system hasn't failed me yet. My wife and I read enough of these stories of plugs, and we watched a boat burn on the trailer half in and out of the water after flashing when he started it. (oh, ok - I did leave the rear straps on once about 6-7 years ago, so that one I have done)

We dry stack our boat now, so the plug REALLY hasn't been an issue this year. We only pull it out a couple of times a year at the moment, and we both go through the "big 3" when we launch.

Plugs, blower, straps.

We do the same thing when we put up at the dock every time. We each say these four things -
Batteries, keys, rings, phones.

Turn the batteries off, make sure we have boat keys and car keys, both have our wedding rings if we've taken anything off, and make sure we have our phones.

But like I said in a previous thread, my wife is the best first mate ever. She's on top of her game, and keeps me on top of mine.

[CJAY]

Ive done it a few times, mostly when I'm the one backing the boat off the trailer. My wife does that job 90% of the time and I just get out of sync when I haven;'t done it in a while. Not a huge deal, just open the hole and put it in, never had much more than an inch or two of water. The new push button start killed our trick. We had a PVC cap that fit on the plug hanging form our VTX keys. you couldn't miss putting the plug in.

[klewislx]

Same thing here, did it once on my first bu and haven't since.

What I did was used my drill press to run a hole through the T handle of the plug

Then changed my key ring for the boat keys over to one of those coated cable key rings that can be unscrewed to open, each time I took the plug out it got attached to the boat keys

Never forgot again.

[ibelonginprison]

I do keep a spare plug, and a spare "floating" plug (toggle style) in the glove box - in case it ever happens to me, or happens to someone else at the ramp and I can help out.

[TXBu]

Pics or it didn't happen...

Jk...glad this story ended well.

[kx250frider617]

After thinking about it, worst case scenario, I have two bilge pumps and two throw over sumo super pumps. I can probably pump out water faster than it come in, if I ever forget the plug.

[ibelonginprison]

After thinking about it, worst case scenario, I have two bilge pumps and two throw over sumo super pumps. I can probably pump out water faster than it come in, if I ever forget the plug.

I have a friend that has an old barefoot nautique. He has 3 huge bilge pumps. He actually CAN pump out water faster than it comes in. lol

When he drains his fat sacks, he just unplugs them all at the same time and dumps them into the bilge and let the bilge pumps pump the water out. It freaks me out but he's like "wut... the water was already IN the boat, so it's not like it's going to sink it." haha

[jetskipro550]

Years ago with our old Malibu, we were taking it to storage for the winter and hadn't put the cover on it yet. So we stopped by the local launch to dip the trailer and push the boat back a few inches so we could fit the cover over the bow. The boat wasn't in the water but 2 minutes. We pulled it out and water was POURING out of all THREE drain holes...yep the boat was winterized and all plugs had been pulled. I couldn't believe how quickly it took on that much water!

[Michigan boarder]

I had an old Glastron V156, my first boat that I bought when I was 22 and about to get married. It was a beater - no cover, no bilge pump, no guages. Just the boat and 85hp. I moored it at the pier of the cottage we were renting as newlyweds. If it rained, it filled with water. When it filled with water, I'd take it out, get it on plane, and then leave the steering wheel and run back to the transom and pull the plug. Drive around and let it drain. Then do the opposite to put the plug back in. It always started to do that sharp left turn by the time I got back up to the helm. Good times......

[tspkenneth]

been there done that lol. Never again after the first time.

[DUKENO1]

What's the rationale for that law?

Lawmakers brother-n-law owns a boat salvage business? hahaha

[ibelonginprison]

invasive, non-native species became a super big issue with a lot of lakes. So they made the laws to help combat the transfer of them from one body of water to another.

[Pnwrider]

Pics or it didn't happen...

Jk...glad this story ended well.

Here's a pic I took of a guy that left his plug out. All the water in front of my truck is from his boat. I've never left a plug out, but if I did I sure as heck wouldn't park in the middle of the ramp to let it drain...

[jtryon]

Got to call mild BS on all of these schemes (carabineers, tags, etc.) for remembering the plug(s). If you MUST remove it after your trip just ended, as soon as you get to where you store the boat, put it back in right then. Why not? Any water you needed to drain will be done draining by then. You will never launch without the plug in again. Simply stuff.

mine is stored outside. one example of why it's a bad idea to store without the plug was last year, when we got torrential rain for a few days after i had decided to leave the plug in for once. i went to pick the boat up and turned the bilge pump on and it ran for about 10 minutes getting all the water out that had seeped through my not-so-great cover. granted, most have better covers, yadda yadda but all it takes is some act of nature, a cut in the cover you didn't know about, etc. for that to be your boat one time. i definitely would not leave the plug in unless the boat is stored inside.