Justaboatin
Seaman Apprentice
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2006
- Messages
- 37
Ok, here is the story. I purchased this 18ft jon boat with a 25 HP motor in the beginning of February 2006. I was waiting for a semi warm day to take it to the local lake and try it out. So on Wed February 15th the temp was in the upper 50's so I thought I would take the boat out for a trail run. Well when I first got the lake I backed it down into the water and went to back it off the trailer, that is when I noticed water leaking from two small holes where someone had removed a transducer from a fish finder, so I pulled the boat back out of the water by this time some water had acculmated in the rear of the boat, so I thought I would take the plug out to drain the water. I then used some putty to temporarily clog the transducer hole's ( after all I was only going to be out for a few min). So I then launched the boat parked the truck and took off in the boat. It was running great.... I noticed some water building in the rear of the boat.... so I thought it would be a good idea to head back to the dock. About half way the water was about 6 - 7 inches deep (and gaining ) in the rear of the boat... and with water and my weight more water was starting to come over with each wave. So I shut off the motor and walked to the front of the boat to even out the weight... There was about 3-4 inches of water covering the entire boat floor!! I was about 20 - 30 feet away from the dock.. and I could not go back to the back of the boat because my weight and the weight of the water would have sank the boat right there. So when the wind had pushed me within 15 feet or so of the dock... came the decision to jump ship and swim/walk the boat back to the dock. Keep in mind this is in mid February in southern IL... the water was COLD! Luckily the avg depth of the lake is around 5ft (Horseshoe lake IL) and where I jumped in was a little over waist deep. So here I am walking the half flooded boat back to the dock. I got the truck and had to push the boat on the trailer while still in 3 feet of water. Hooked it up to the winch and out it came. Once the boat was out of the water... I realized my mistake...I had never put the drain plug back in when I pulled it out to fix the small hole... Below are the pictures of the boat while it was on the boat ramp with the water draining. Sorry for the poor quality.. they where taken with my camera phone. Luckily no one was hurt and nothing was lost. But I was very cold, and learned a VERY valuable lesson!<br /><br />Pictures<br /> http://www.scotthogle.com/water.htm
