oops i forgot the plug

[pelada trochu]

anyone got any good stories.

they want to admit to. :thinking-006:

[WayneChristie]

actually did see one at Sylvan years ago, people launched a fancy ski boat, tied up to the dock, and went for breakfast or something, when they came back it was sitting on the bottom of the lake. Also same day watched some fool with a big supercharged V8 blasting around on the lake, did a close pass to the dock and the engine exploded, pieces landed at least a hundred yards away, it was pretty awesome, that was before the waterpark and marina days.

[npauls]

Was in a hurry one day to get out on the water and forgot to put the plug in. Was wondering why the boat was slower then normal at take off. Looked in the livewell and it was still empty so I decided to check the bilge area. Sure enough it was filling fast. Ended up shutting down the motor, grabbed the plug and reached over the transom and got it all sealed up. Turned the bilge on and went on my way. Crappy way to start the day but at least I caught it in time and ended up having a pretty good day of catching perch and eyes.

[stinkynuts]

while we are on the subject if you manage to get out on the the and you find you forgot to put the plug in get your boat up on plane and the water should start to drain out the plug hole as when you are on plane the back of the transome is usually fully out of the water

[WayneChristie]

while we are on the subject if you manage to get out on the the and you find you forgot to put the plug in get your boat up on plane and the water should start to drain out the plug hole as when you are on plane the back of the transome is usually fully out of the water

did that at Ghost, and it really did work, good thing, its kind of deep to go looking for a boat on the bottom, especially when they cant even find that airplane! dont know how it would work at Cross Lake though, not sure how deep it is, has to be pretty good to produce all those monster perch though!:thinking-006:

[goldscud]

A plastic bag wrapped up with duct tape can be used for a plug in a drift boat...

[WayneChristie]

A plastic bag wrapped up with duct tape can be used for a plug in a drift boat...

duct tape can seal a hole from a big treble hook in a dinghy until you get back to shore too, found that out too the hard way. always watch your back cast in a rubber boat! :sHa_sarcasticlol:

[fish gunner]

seen bunch of guys from washington state attempt to launch a 26' weld aluminum cabin cruiser put in water (launch too steep)get gear loaded(boat still on trailer)get motors running (whole time tons of water pouring in blower vents) head out boat just dont run up on to plane 200' rooster tail out back (4 yanks scratching head) come back to dock cant fig it out. I ask if they check bilge before they went out told they know what there doing they have 80000$ boat ,ask if I can show them whats wrong. sure they say if it makes me feel better open floor board. lmfao water up to the valve covers lol foam filled hull. silly 7gpm bilge pump ran all day. put back on trailer. drive back to washington state. oh my side. dum rich people. if you can afford it you now how it works right.oh so many stories so bad at typing lmao

[kingshow]

While waiting in mid summer to take my boat out of Wabamun, I love to watch the busy boat launch, I think thats where allot of relationships end. 40000 dollar ski boats with no experience makes for a good chuckle. But the worst is when i seen a drunk guy in a rush pull his boat out only for it to slip off the back of his trailer half way up the ramp.

[plinker]

Did that one year at Kootenay Lake. Was in a hurry, loaded boat, put kids and wife in boat, back boat into water. Go zoom zooming to our spot and stop to fish. Wonder why boat is sitting low in the backend but thought ah well, wife, kids, gear, gas, not an issue. Don the boats sinking!!!!! Didn't know wife could screech like that. Saw that the water was overpowering the bilge and not knowing the "get the boat on the plane trick", started the boat and flew for the shore. Beached the boat, hardly any water in the boat. Huh??? Found the problem and put the plug in. Lesson learned that day was never rush cause boats sink.lol:snapoutofit:

[Dacotensis]

Once at Tobin. I went for a swin in the cold spring water and managed to get the plug in.
Another here in Alberta, put the boat in the water so I could repair the skids on my trailer.
40minutes later, I discovered a wet floor in my boat.
Commence bailing!

This past year I watched a guy at Cold Lake launching his boat.
I was right beside him while I waited for my crew to get done doing whatever it is they do when I'm waiting.
The guy had a jacked up Sierra and a nice Glasstron on the back.

He did what he did to get ready... at the boat launch, like no one else is waiting to get their boat in and out. It's just him in his world.
Anyway he backs in the h2o after I told him once that his back straps were still hooked up.
He gets out and takes a look at the front, looks to see if there are any rocks around his tires, gets in the truck and backs up again..again after I told him that his straps were still on the back of his boat.
After his third attempt he finally listened to me!

[t3metro]

saw one at coal lake where a guy left the back straps on this boat while trying to launch, unhooked the winch cable up front and hmmm wont move so without thinking he got in his truck to pull out but forgot to put the winch cable back on need less to say as he pulled the trailer out of the hole at the boat lauch the boat went bow up outboard down.... it took everone at the launch about 20 min to get this thing out.

[javlin101]

while we are on the subject if you manage to get out on the the and you find you forgot to put the plug in get your boat up on plane and the water should start to drain out the plug hole as when you are on plane the back of the transome is usually fully out of the water



Did this years ago at wizzard lake, kept going past the dock until buddy with the truck & trailer notice & pulled me out of the lake. Girl in the back seat asked if there should be water around her feet, oooppps no!

[Bigdad013]

These idiots on their first day of holidays, hadnt even got onto the big lake of the Shuswap. They drifted down the channel, how they never hit anything is a complete mystery. But when they got to the train bridge, they managed to wedge the houseboat in. Strong current then from the runoff. 2 skiboats tried pulling them free, but to no avail. RCMP boarded the boat. They held up train traffic for 2 hours til they got a tug in to pull them out. Heavy fines and that was the end of their holiday, about 6 hours total. I blame the houseboat company as well, cause they were delayed in getting their houseboat, so the next best thing is to start drinking. They let them on the water in a drunk state. Anyways, just sit on the channel on a long weekend and you will have so many moments of stupidity, you could write a book.

[Joe Fehr]

Launched the river boat at the Kalum launch in Terrace minus the plugs, figured it out on a hurry when the bilge wouldn't shut off. Got it back on the trailer and plug in without much problem.

[greylynx]

My buddy in Prince Rupert.

Brand new aluminum boat. Unloads it in the harbour, starts driving around, and his lab jumps on his lap.

Yup. the plug was not in.

Everybody was laughing.

[thumper]

Over 30 years ago I was with my buddy who was trying to launch his boat at the Ghost Reservoir on the old boat launch. He had a big camper on the back of his truck, which extended well past the bed, and he couldn't back up far enough down the launch to float his boat - without getting the back of the camper wet. He's getting mad, and there's a line up of impatient boaters waiting to launch, so he roars up to the top of the launch, throws his truck in reverse' and barrels back down to hit the brakes and (hopefully) shoot his boat off the trailer and into the lake.
Well the boat on the trailer never budged - until it was hit by the camper sliding out of the bed of the truck. Apparently he hadn't tied down his camper very well. Now we had a smashed boat, a bent up trailer, and a massive camper - all sitting in the water at the end of the only launch ramp.
Twasn't a fun afternoon...

[klow]

I watched a guy at Chestermere Lake launch his boat. He did not disconect his winch line. He was standing above the winch when he pushed the boat off and was repeatedly wacked in the nuggets. It hurt even to see that,lol.

[BobLoblaw]

Over 30 years ago I was with my buddy who was trying to launch his boat at the Ghost Reservoir on the old boat launch. He had a big camper on the back of his truck, which extended well past the bed, and he couldn't back up far enough down the launch to float his boat - without getting the back of the camper wet. He's getting mad, and there's a line up of impatient boaters waiting to launch, so he roars up to the top of the launch, throws his truck in reverse' and barrels back down to hit the brakes and (hopefully) shoot his boat off the trailer and into the lake.
Well the boat on the trailer never budged - until it was hit by the camper sliding out of the bed of the truck. Apparently he hadn't tied down his camper very well. Now we had a smashed boat, a bent up trailer, and a massive camper - all sitting in the water at the end of the only launch ramp.
Twasn't a fun afternoon...

Maybe twasn't fun for you & your buddy, but it made me laugh out loud.:)

[Speckle55]

Went to Kootenay Lake buddy 21 ft inboard Unhook the boat a steep hill on ice with chains on .. was 10 ft out of water started backing up started slipping on ice hit brakes boat stood up almost tipped then slid into water .. plug not in had to hook boat back on trailer as water was to cold to wade in .. plug in .. boat left dock. 2 miles from dock alt belt broke limped in on 10 horse .. day 2 got belt at 10am went to boat 45 min drive .. wrong belt went back and got right belt fished for 2 hr that day. fished day 3 .. going to come back and fish for 5 or 6 days after Christmas drove from Hinton to Creston .. next morning get boat onto water and then headed out on lake .. we know what we are doing now right.. NOT .. all of a sudden there is smoke coming out of motor cover i yellled shut motor off.. i looked at his heat gage was on red.. pulled motor cover as smoke was billowing out i had fire entingusher..smoking like the boat was on fire some crackling going on Exhaust cover plastic burning off so hot.. no water pump .. when we were there the last time took boat out put trim up . took boat out of water and drove home it froze the little amount in prop water pump.should of put trim back down to drain prop water pump . no shop open between Christmas and New Years was there for 9 days no fishing had to drive on vehicle back to Hinton so had to wait.. but hey thats fishing Dec 2009
David

[Freedom55]

Like a lot of you, I also forgot to plug the bilge. No, that's not it. I plugged the intake for the live well and off we went. Could not get up and plane, so I look back to see the floor getting wetter and deeper. No problem says I. Turn on the pump. Now we have water swirling around our feet. What the?! Turns out that the water that collected in the bilge over the winter (I had it parked under a leak in the eaves trough) had frozen and split the tubing leading from the pump to the outlet. Made it to the dock and onto the trailer. Drained the boat manually and carried on.

Now I double check everything, every time. And I carry a 2 stage manual pump on board for those unexpected travesties. And I paid dearly for a better winter cover.

A fishing partner has a 21' Lund pro V that has an automatic bilge pump. That thing turns on twenty times a day. How is it possible for a $20,000 hull to leak that badly?
My Lund also ships water, but not enough for the pump to pick up.

Free

[Bigdad013]

June 6th 1986. I had a live well installed in my 16ft alum just before heading to Campbell River. I can't remember the name of the the company here in Calgary, but thank god they are out of bussiness. We get on the ocean and cruise to the southeast corner of quadra island. Small craft warning for the area, so bit of a bumpy ride. Stop the boat to rig up our rods. After 10 mins I take a step, and here a wet noise. Look down and there is 2-4" water in the bottom. I look and the plug is in. So I think to myself, start the boat get it planing, pull the plug and it will just drain out and we can get back. The only problem is, for the first time ever, my engine wouldn't start. Water was still coming in and now about 12" deep. My buddy started bailing as I got on the radio calling another friend to come help. His response was he had a huge salmon on and would get back to me. Nice...So then I did a mayday to the coastgaurd. Just got the mayday out and the radios were submerged. We couldn't bail fast enough, now the waves were crashing over the side and down we went. The boat did have enough flotation that we could hold onto the sides and the waves eventually pushed us to shore on Quadra Island. The coast guard showed up 10 mins after hitting shore, but they couldn't get in because of the waves, so one of them dove off his zodiac and swam in to see if we were ok. Which we were, maybe a little cold. He told us to take the motor off, get it up shore a long ways because there was going to be a very high tide that day. He asked us if any boats had offered assistance to which we sadly had to say `no'. There was at least half a dozen boats within rock throwing distance, not one helped after our signals for help. He asked if we could identify them. We did, cause they were still there fishing. Wasn't good for them after. I could go on more of rescuing the boat and motor, but maybe another time.
You ask, where did the water come from? Well, the idots that put the live well in didn't do a very good job, actually almost criminal bad where the pump was mounted to the transom. In the waves the pump had just fallen off leaving a nice 1 1/2" hole in the boat. I couldn't see that, as the pump was mounted inside a bench seat.
Why didn't the motor start? Unknown to me, as we were cruising along my buddy noticed the one tank about 1/4 full, so he switched tanks and forgot to lossen the vent screw. It was able to travel the 5 mins after, but after we turned the motor off, there was no way to get it going again, unless that screw had been loosened. A very memorable fathers day for sure. And thanks to the coast guard for their help as well.
Just remembered the name of the marine buss that did the work...Neilson Marine.

[adogwiththumbs]

A long ago buddy and I borrowed his Dad's boat,bout a 20' with a 302 inboard. First try, forgot the plug, went a mile, returned the mile at high speed to remove the water but still some remained. Loaded back onto trailer,winched on with 20 yr old nylon rope no prob. Started to drive up the launch, about 25 ft from the water the rope broke and the boat returned happily to the water (fibreglass by the way). We left the boat at the deserted Chin lake boat launch to fetch a new rope and possibly beer. Of course that made everything easier to take. After returning the boat to the trailer,we resumed launching the boat WITH the plug (230 pm). About a half mile out the boat quit, sat for a few minutes(aprroximately 1 beer) and the boat ran like a champ again. This repeated itself for about a six pack and my buddy decided the best thing to do was to go down the lake 15 miles to our best fishing spot while the boat was running good(I know right?) Well we just about got there.Boat's carb at this point after 15 yrs of sitting and our newly added dyed farm fuel had finally worked it's magic,can you say dead in the water? After paddling a 20 foot boat about a mile against the wind in 2 hours we noticed a great big grey cloud to the south....and wait another to the north....oh and another to the east....hmmmmm. well when the golf ball sized hail started I hid in the engine compartment as it had a lid and ample room(and kinda warm). After a couple minutes of listening to my buddy WAIL and the hail bounch around, I got curious and peeked out the lid by raising it slightly. There he was with all the clothes we had brought with us,shorts and sandles I mean, crouched in the corner with a life jacket trying to spot and block the biggest pieces of hail before they hit him, it wasn't very effective but very funny looking. We made it to shore after the wind blew us away from the launch everything we had paddled and more. Ever walked 15 miles through the prairie in sandles at shorts at midnight? If you havn't I know where there is still a boat for sale.

[mooseknuckle]

http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/dd410/idindy/ac7549b8.jpg

Always forgot to push the key while turning the motor over for choke, and yes a have another similar "reminder" label for the plug, done that more than once. If anyone needs one made.... Free of charge.

[fish gunner]

so I have a family on a charter trolling away, full spread on the planer boards.we look off to the south big storm rolling in so we take a big turn north and zing, fish on so mom takes the helm ,I clear decks ,dad and boy fighting fish of a life times.got to be 20 min get fish to the boat every bodys over the moon. and whoosh 30 k winds driving 6-8' chop, so start pulling lines. now ask the dad to wind in planer board on the lee side I pull the windward,no problems. then for no reason motor stops, dad says oops planer line in the prop. now chop building, boat dead in the water, line in prop. fubar time,smile ,pass dad wallet and hat,kill master switch,suggest ill be back in 5 ,family turns white as I slip over the side. so I swim down holding the leg ,pull line from prop swim back up, slide on board. job well done, mom and kids cheer. dad explains they thought I was swimming away. lmao now nobody touched my planer lines. lucky not good,dodged a bullet that day.

[BobLoblaw]

Awesome thread, y'all!
Thanks for starting this ****show, PT!:)

[SNAPFisher]

Awesome thread, y'all!
Thanks for starting this ****show, PT!:)

x10. Some real amazing stories here. Bigdad, I couldn't imagine, big salmon on the line or not, not helping out a buddy in trouble. That was an amazing story.

[catnthehat]

I have forgotten to put the plugs in, and I got a friend to do it ONCE! he got the plugs in, but forgot to take off the straps!!

One day at the boat shop the mechanic and his buddy finished up a small jet, and taook off around the corner without their straps on - just the winch line.
Boat came off the bunks and landed on the street!!

Cat

[huntin]

I pulled the plug on the river boat while we were on plane. While when we hit the sand bar I kinda lost the plug. Stuck on a sand bar while the back of the boat filled up fast. No pump I made a plug out of a coyote call and a 338 shell. Then all we had was an empty beer can to bail out the boat. an hour later back on the river

[scooterj]

Saw a Bayliner Trophy center console sitting on the side of the road between Zeballos and Tahsis BC, a fairly rough 77km stretch of logging road, owner had tied it onto the trailer, but not quite tight enough as the bunks proceeded to punch themselves a four foot long hole in each side of the hull:sign0161:
I was fishing with the wife off of Race Rocks by Victoria, had the anchor out and trying to catch a halibut, tide was rising, boat was heeling over, anchor stuck fast to the bottom, about a second before it flipped us over I cut the line and the boat popped right up out of the water, how was I to know you needed more than 100 ft of line to anchor in 100 ft of water?? now I know 4:1...
Wrapped my downrigger cable around the prop one windy day, spent a half hour over the outboard trying to untangle it in the swells, girlfriend laughed at the shade of green I was when I came up.
watch a guy in a 2 wh drive pick trying to launch at Becher Bay launch, slimy and slick, eventually the truck was in the salt up to the windshield with the boat and trailer floating around behind him LOL
Folded my 14 alum trailer up like a pretzel at Cross lake launch, wasn't parallel
to the dock, one wheel went between the concrete slabs and stayed there, as I gave er some gas I watched it bend up the trailer in the rearview as the one wheel stayed where it was and the other travelled :mad0100:

[jungleboy]

I've done the plug thing , I would imagine most have . My dumbest moves though were
#1 First run of the season 1989 I was in a big hurry to get on the water and forgot to replace the oil in the lower unit I had drained in the fall:thinking-006:.I didn't destroy it but came close , paddled that baby back to shore afer it hit me that i had forgot something.
#2 couple seasons later out cruising across the lake as far from the launch as possible and the motor RPM takes off but the boat dies in the water. I shut it off lift the motor and oops no prop! I forgot the cotter pin when I installed a new prop and my new SS prop was now at the bottom of Jackfish lake ..DOH!

[just_dave]

We once forgot to put the plug in a friend's grandfathers new boat THAT WE BORROWED! I've never backed a trailer so fast in my life. It was only luck that I didn't jack-knife it. AND, while backing friends truck up at warp speed, found out that he sometimes wiped his boogers under the drivers seat where they dried, only to sit and wait for my hand to get a nice palm full of narsty. omfg. barf.

[Rustomatic]

Once my buddy and I were Pulling the boat out and he went out to winch the boat up and accidentally locked the door of his truck. It sat there running in the water for an hour as we tried to get the doors unlocked. Sure glad it was late october and no one else was there to use the boat launch

[plinker]

This wasn't a plug issue but by God I think I peed a bit because I laughed so hard when I saw it. Summer of 1984, by Bowden Refinery on # 2 highway I was southbound, they were northbound. Motorhome pulling a boat trailer with a boat. Unremarkable right? Nope! The boat was about 30 feet behind the trailer, being merrily drug down the road at 55 mph. It had fallen off the trailer and was still attached to the trailer by the winch line. They had no idea because it was perfectly in line. No one would pass them.:scared0015:

[TrollGRG]

[QUOTE=Dacotensis;1256713]Once at Tobin. I went for a swin in the cold spring water and managed to get the plug in.
QUOTE]

Do you know you can put the plug in on the inside as well?

Without a bilge pump you can easily drain the boat (after it is moving) by removing the plug then replacing it when the water is all gone.

[vettedreamer]

Burning x-mas boxes on the 26th, and the wife got a wine cooler so the box would not fit in the burn barrell. I couldn't rip the stapled corners so in my wisdom decided I would lay the box over and jump on it.

Just before my face planted in the frozen grass I seen my wife come around the corner, :sign0161: After the dust settled had her set my shoulder AGAIN brush the grass of my forehead tape up my wrist and put ice on my ribs .............then she went out to burn the box tipping it sideways.

SIGHS

[EZM]

Almost sunk my brand new Smokercraft on her maiden voyage. Was out fishing 30 minutes after launch and saw lots of water begining to pool on the floor. Looked down to make sure the plug was in place - it was. Tried to get the boat back to the launch and she was so heavy I was limited to a 7mph crawl. Ankles wet and heart beating we made it back. Luckily - we were only 1km from shore.

Beached the boat and walked around back - The plug was in but would not tighten or seal properly. Apparently, along with robbing other parts from my boat (like the air box, livewell screen etc....) the DEALER exchanged my plug with someone elses which was broken. Probably my fault for not checking it - should have yanked the plug and put it back in. Never thought about it. I trusted the dealer. BIG MISTAKE. The dealer, which will remain nameless, has the PERFECT NAME. It warns you. Would you buy a boat from a place that implys it's boats will sink?

Anyways .... I pull the boat out and off to canuck Tire 80km away. After buying a new plug, a spare plug and letting it drain - the boat was still taking on water that evening. Dumbfounded - I had to yank the boat out of the water every few hours. My weekend was ruined. The bilige ran like crazy all weekend.

After 3 trips back to dealer - with the "exempliary customer service" I was ready to sue. They robbed parts from my boat, had a **** poor attitude (blaming me for my stupidity and lack of knowledge) only to find out one of my rivets was loose. I had to ask them repeatedly to test the hull (fill the boat with water and watch for leaks). They told me repeatedly they did this and it must be my fault - the boat was fine. .......... wtf? ......The strange thing was - after the dealer apparently filled the hull to check for leaks, there was no evidence of moisture in the hull - I'd think there would have been some evidence of water in the boat if, indeed, they filled it with water - would'nt there be? I was assured the test was done. They obviously let my boat sit there untouched for days and were probably happy to charge time back to the manufacturer for warranty. nice.

It was not until I phoned Smokercraft in the US and the issue was escalated to the point of near legal action when I brought the boat back, a fourth time, and I personally watched them fill it with water when, almost immediately, the rivet, near the nose of the boat began to **** water. Needless to say they fixed it this time.

Lesson learned - keep two plugs (one as a spare and another in the glove box) AND never trust THIS dealer.

Also - sometimes you can have 2 issues contributing to one symptom.

I did, finnally get the parts they robbed off my boat near the end of the season some months later. Everytime I was in there it seemed something else was "borrowed" off my boat. I was a burden to them.

unblvbl. lol.

[Hunter Trav]

I've done the plug thing twice. First time I had just refinished the benches in the boat, and was in a hurry to get the kids out to try it out. Was just backing it in and I remembered that I didn't have the plug in. Pulled out let it drain the little bit that got in, threw the plug in and away we went. The second time, I went to Pigeon with my son, and we went out in some fairly rough water. Plug was in but a bunch splashed in from the waves, so I pulled it to let it drain on the way home. Decided to stop by Gull to see if that lake was any calmer, launched the boat, but forgot the plug. Had the boat tied to the dock while I went to park. Was walking back to the dock and my son is yelling at me that the boat is filling with water.:sign0161:

Needless to say thats the fastest I've ever backed a trailer up. Got the boat on, let 'er drain, put the plug in and went fishing. I haven't forgot to check the plug before launching in quite some time now...:o

[cribfisher]

Once is all it took for me to store my plug on my floating keychain with a carabiner clip so I'll never forget again.

[thumper]

One of my Dad's favorite sayings is " A boat is hole in the water into which you pour money"
A lot of these stories bear out this 'trueism'!

[Dan Foss]

One of my Dad's favorite sayings is " A boat is hole in the water into which you pour money"
A lot of these stories bear out this 'trueism'!

BOAT = Break Out Another Thousand.



"The 2 happiest days in a man's life is when he buys a boat, and when he sells it"

[Bigdad013]

x10. Some real amazing stories here. Bigdad, I couldn't imagine, big salmon on the line or not, not helping out a buddy in trouble. That was an amazing story.

Thanks snap. Was much younger then, didn't really see all the implications at that time. It was just an adventure, and nobody got hurt.

[Bigdad013]

I've done the plug thing , I would imagine most have . My dumbest moves though were
#1 First run of the season 1989 I was in a big hurry to get on the water and forgot to replace the oil in the lower unit I had drained in the fall:thinking-006:.I didn't destroy it but came close , paddled that baby back to shore afer it hit me that i had forgot something.
#2 couple seasons later out cruising across the lake as far from the launch as possible and the motor RPM takes off but the boat dies in the water. I shut it off lift the motor and oops no prop! I forgot the cotter pin when I installed a new prop and my new SS prop was now at the bottom of Jackfish lake ..DOH!
Why would you not fill the leg when you winterize it?

[Mistagin]

2 stories.

A couple of years ago I took my boat, a 14.5 Princecraft aluminum fishing boat, out for the first run of the spring. Before leaving home I put the plug in, because I leave it out for the winter.

I get to the lake, get ready to launch, take off the tie downs, check the plug - it's sticking out of the plug hole so okay, back the rig down the ramp, launch the boat, tie her off on the other side of the dock at the ramp, go park the SUV and trailer, go back to the boat and see water pouring in :scared0015:!

Now, I had tied the boat off with the stern towards shore so I dragged it up on shore wondering what was wrong. The plug was out, it had broken and was just loose enough that it was pushed into the boat when I launched. I managed to jury-rig a repair, and then spent an hour bailing. Bought a new plug when I got back to town.

The other story happened to a friend. Back when I was just a bit younger I was part of a sailing club (we sailed and raced Hobie Cat catamarans) and on days when there wasn't enough wind we'd often go water-skiing. This was one of those days. My friend went to get his family boat, a 16' Starcraft aluminum runabout powered by a 115 Evinrude.

He launched it by himself at ramp about a km down the lake. Now, he had an easy quick-launch technique, he'd have the boat untied and would back quickly down the ramp and when his rear wheels hit the water's edge he'd slam on the brakes and the boat would launch and float out. He'd then park his car and trailer and run back to the dock, dive in and swim to the boat, climb aboard, fire up the engine and take off.

That's what he did this time and he so soon arrived to at beach where the rest of us were hanging out. When he arrived he tied off his boat to a mooring and swam and waded to shore - about 100 meters or so. The boat was moored in about a meter and a half of water.

Well, when he got to shore we all sat around talking and eating snack food and so on. After about 20 - 30 minutes my Uncle said to our buddy, "Hey _____ did you forget something with your boat?"

Buddy looked out at the boat and said, "Oh, ****! The plug!" :sign0161:

He, accompanied by my Uncle and I ran into the water and got to the boat as quickly as we could. My Uncle and I went to the bow where we reached up and pulled it down to raise the stern, our buddy got in the boat and started the engine. There was only about 5 cm of transom showing by then! Buddy then helped us climb onto the bow deck, we untied from the mooring, and we then drove around for a couple of hours letting water drain out! 5 more minutes and she'd have been on the bottom.

It took buddy a looooooong time to live that one down :bad_boys_20:

[jungleboy]

Why would you not fill the leg when you winterize it?

well that would just make too much sense and ... I am shocked you would even ask that :medium-smiley-035:

[wolfman403]

17.5 foot bayliner with inboard 135 put away for winter pulled block drain lines and exhaust drain lines. Put boat in the water in the spring get wify and kids in boat giver down lake when oldest son says dad theres water in the boat were sinking. Okay everyone relax open engine cover and bottom of crankshaft dampener in water about 1 to 1.5 feet of water in boat top of boat getting close to water now cant see where coming from start engine hot water sprays me in the face. Shut engine off plug the gosh darn lines in swear like sailor which is justified since in boat and I am the captain. let bilge work for about an hour. Reasure children and wife and catch a few fish all good.:mad3:

Next incident go fishing on crawling valley see a storm coming in get the hell off this lake head for shore balls out at 45 MPH 3 foot waves kids crying again getting really wet. Ok made it to marina all good load boat fast cause many people in line pulled halfway up ramp and can hear horible noise and hear people yelling sh-t forgot to trim up the leg now grinding off on the launch very embaressing look like a newbie. Trimmed it up and headed for the camp site then spent 2 hours with my axe sharpening stone modifying the bottom of my mangled leg.:sign0161:

[pelada trochu]

There are two kinds of boaters. Those who have forgot the plug and those who will! Thanks everyone. It makes me feel better about when I did it myself. You always find what your looking for in the last place you look. Hopefully it's not the plug. Safe boating next season to all.

[thumper]

When we were kids at the lake my brother and I managed to blow up the Merc on the family ski boat - a neighbour came out and towed us in. While my Dad started dismantling that motor, we took out the 14 ft aluminium boat and promptly killed the ancient Clinton outboard - same neighbour came out and towed us back in. We gave it about an hour, then took the Hobie-cat sailboat out, managed to flip it and bend the aluminium mast - by now the neighbour had boat-towing down to fine art, and had us back to our beach in record time.
I still clearly recall my Dad that evening, having a cold 'sun-downer' while watching dusk settle on the lake and sadly remarking "Now I know how the Americans felt at Pearl Harbour"

[lolanr]

I also have forgot the plug. I had a 12' tinner, launched boat and tied it to the shore while I parked the truck. Came back to find the boat filling with water. I was able to pull it up on shore, put plug in and bail out. Only damage was to my pride.

Worst mistake so far: My first time pulling my new to me boat to my favorite lake. I was 6 miles from town and I see my trailer make some strange darting moves. Manage to pull over with no troubles. I had forgot to put the pin in that locks the lever down on the ball. Thank goodness for safety chains and that "v" shaped thing on the bottom of the hitch. Very very scary.

[bisonhunter]

I was halfways across a bigger lake here in the nwt when the guy I was with pipes up and says "hey I am I supposed to see daylight through the floor?" I look down and the hull of my boat is split wide open for about 16 inches at one of the seams! fortunately I was on step and it was only a little bit of water getting in as we were about 6 kms from the boat launch already.

I just turned it around and headed for home. I couldn't find anyone who coud weld it for me so I fixed it myself by shaping some aluminum angle iron and sealing it with marine "goop". Marine goop by the way is basically indestructible as I didn't have to repair that crack ever again. No matter how rough the water got, that seam held. I ended up having to do the same thing on the other side the next year.

You can see the patch right about the middle of the boat.
http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/oo264/robthefisher/DSC_0656.jpg