Re: beyond the plug club.
Short answer..Yes I have gone beyond the "Plug Club"
Long answer..I took it to the graduate level..
Skip if you don't want the long answer.
Back in the late 90s, a friend stored his boat (17 foot I/O) in my backyard while he was deployed to Bosnia. He wanted me to take it out every once and a while so, one day, I grabbed a friend and his young son and headed to the lake.
Launching went very quick and we proceeded outside the no-wake zone in short time. As we approached the edge of the no-wake zone, I heard a strange "ticking" sound coming from the engine compartment. Investigation quickly revealed that spinning engine parts make "ticking" sounds when they are in contact with a foot of lake water. I had joined the club.:redface:
So..no need to panic..I'll just get us up on plane and try to get some of the water out of the bilge so we can get back to the shallows and put the plug in.
With that great plan in my head, I applied all the throttle that little Volvo could handle. The Captain always has a plan.
To my great dismay, the boat would not get on plane. I glanced around and noticed I was still trimmed 'Full-up". Problem solved! I hit the the trim button and was greeted with nothing but straining hydraulic sounds. The drive would not trim down. I began to come to the realization that the only solution left required being very wet and very cold.
I shut down the motor, grabbed the plug and moved to the swimming platform. As I began to lower myself into the cold water, I saw the reason that the drive would not trim down. The transom/drive guards were still attached to the drive! Thoroughly embarrased now, I lowered myself into the cold water and secured the plug before I sank my friends boat.
Once I secured the plug I decided that there was no reason that my crew needed to know about the drive guards. Still in the water, I casually and matter-of-factily asked my friend if he would run the drive all the way up. He had a puzzled look but complied with the request of "The Captain". With the pressure released from the guards, I quickly removed the guards and slipped them under my shirt and began to climb from the cold water.
As I clambered over the transom, I briefly lost my balance sending the bright red guards tumbling to the floor of the boat. With complete innocence my friend's young son noticed the red guards and asked, "Mr. Dave, what do those things do?" With that, his father came to the back of the boat and said, "Son, those are guards that keep the propeller 'thingy' from hitting the road when the boat is on the tailer. They also, (now looking at my red face), make it really tough to get a boat to plane." I was completely busted.:redface:
With all crisis' averted and all embarrassments fully established, I turned on the bilge pump and we restarted a great day on the lake. While the day ended well I will never forget the embarrassment of neglecting my Captain duties. My "quick launch" had nearly sunk my friend's boat and put the safety of my "crew" in jeopardy. While it important to clear a ramp quickly, I will never rush myself to the point skipping key steps again.
