At the boat ramp:) :(

[jerryjerry05]

It was a beautiful day on the Chesapeake Bay.June of 1984 We were going fishing out of Breezy Point. We knew the bluefish were in and we planned on catching them all.
My nephew and I always fished together and each had our own duties to perform. Mine was to unhook the straps and the winch line,make sure the cooler and beer were in the boat and his was to put in the plugs and rods etc.
This trip the nephew couldn't go so I took along a friend who said he knew how to handle a boat. He DIDN"T
I forgot the plugs!!!! We unload and I pull the trailer up and find a parking place. I get out and start to walk back and I see tim come running and shouting THE BOAT"S SINKING!!!!!!
Needless to say I had to hustle to get the trailer back under the boat. By that time the coolers were floating and it was very heavy. We managed to get it out and pulled it to the back of the lot where it drained for a good 25 min.
The best part of it was NOT ONE PERSON SAW!!!!! Jerry

 

[obezag]

Re: At the boat ramp

It's crazy. You get into a routine and just a little change becomes a monkey wrench. I hope there's no real damage. The bluefish will still be there. Hope you were easy on you're friend.

 

[5150abf]

Re: At the boat ramp

Similar thing but we trolled at no wake for 15-20 minutes to a backwater channel, throw open the rod locker and there is water swirling in the bottom "Huh, why is there water...OH CRAP!"

got the plug in and only had about 2'' of transom left,way to close.

Before I went out again I put an alarm on the 2nd bilge pump(I have 2, one fires before the other) so that never happened again.

Now if I forget the plug the alarm is screaming before you even pull the trailer out of the water, should be standard equipment.

 

[HondaPower]

Re: At the boat ramp

About 6 years ago I had just bought a new to me 17 foot Princecraft bsss boat. Took it out for the first time after running the motor on the muffs in the driveway. Launched with a stiff wind blowing us down the lake. The motor would start great but as soon as it went into gear it would stall. After 5 or 6 attempts I walked back to pump the ball and saw the water pouring in through the hole where the drain plug should be. Screamed for my buddy to hit the bilge pump switch and jammed the plug in. If that motor had caught and I gave it full throttle the front would have gone straight up and we would have sunk. I sat there and shook for several minutes thinking about what I had almost done. The next day an auto switching bilge pump went in and a new very large label went on the dash which says "IDIOT IS THE DRAIN PLUG IN", it has followed me to every boat I have had since.

 

[Danny in CO]

Re: At the boat ramp

I know this guy that bought a boat back around the first of May. I, I mean he, took it out the next weekend, launched it, started it and ran out into the middle of the lake. We, I mean he, started fishing and noticed that there was water coming up in the boat. Started the engine and ran around the lake long enough to suck the water out and then stuck a sock in the drain hole. We, I mane they, fished for a while and then went in and loaded the boat. The funny thing is that I had seen this brass plug in the boat and wondered what it was for. Now I, I mean he, knows where it goes!

 

[tboydva]

Re: At the boat ramp

I always rinsed my bait pump "backwards" through a two port hose valve after coming off the ocean. Had a thru-hull fitting with a rule pump ("hard" impeller that allows flow underway without having to run the pump). I was starting to have trouble keeping my rig on a plane one day. I'm scratching my head, look back and see that the whole back of the boat is full of water. The plug was in and I couldn't for the life of me figure out where she was leaking. I was starting to panic when I noticed the gunnel on one side was full - saw the valve and it dawned on me! Took quite a while to pump it out! However, haven't made that mistake since...