Finally experienced the "I forgot my drain plug" today

[Blind Date]

I've done it more than once and this is why my advice is to have an automatic (float switch) bilge pump in your boat. I'm in MN where it is illegal to trailer your boat with the drain plug installed.

 

[Watermann]

I've not done the plug out but have done some other forgetful things, like forgetting to remove the transom straps. :lol:

I think I learned the forgot the plug lesson when I was a boy my dad and I went out in a big cold lake and were taking on water faster than the bilge pump could handle. He yelled "forgot the plug" and some other things. I had to strip down to my underwear and jump over the side and he handed me the plug. Every time after that I made sure the plug was in without fail.

 

[Oshkosh1]

I participate in several disciplines of shooting. One of them being vintage matches with an M1 Garand(30-06). There's a condition known as "M1 Thumb". It happens when you don't properly load and release the action on the rifle. It's very painful and will likely result in you losing your thumbnail. If you'd like to simulate the feeling...just take a hammer and hit your thumb with it(the claw) very hard. You make this mistake ONCE. Rest assured...if you shoot an M1 it'll happen more than likely. It's almost a rite of passage! Been there done that...got the T-Shirt!lol!

After it's all said and done...you sit back and have a good laugh!

 

[Drew220]

I have done it once. Luckily the bilge pump worked and I had the plug with me. Just forgot to put it in.

On my current boat I keep a spare in the glove box and a emergency plastic plug on the key chain.

 

[bruceb58]

In some states such as Minnesota traveling with the drain plug in will get you a ticket from the dnr, In Minnesota having any water in the boat will get you a ticket,

Invasive species enforcement is coming everywhere sooner or latter,..

Same here. When you leave Lake Tahoe and go through the agriculture inspection, they check to make sure your drain plug is out and you have no grasses hanging off your trailer.

 

[Alumarine]

I participate in several disciplines of shooting. One of them being vintage matches with an M1 Garand(30-06). There's a condition known as "M1 Thumb". It happens when you don't properly load and release the action on the rifle. It's very painful and will likely result in you losing your thumbnail. If you'd like to simulate the feeling...just take a hammer and hit your thumb with it(the claw) very hard. You make this mistake ONCE. Rest assured...if you shoot an M1 it'll happen more than likely. It's almost a rite of passage! Been there done that...got the T-Shirt!lol!

After it's all said and done...you sit back and have a good laugh!

Lucky for me I learned this lesson with my SKS. It's painful, but not nearly as bad as the Garand.

 

[Alumarine]

Put on of these in and you don't have to put it on the trailer to put the plug in.

Do you use one?

 

[Old Ironmaker]

there are 3 types of boaters..those that have done it, those that will do it and the ones that lie and say they havent done it.....Im in the First group!!!

That is so true. I'm stealing that one.

I did it a few falls ago on Lake Nipissing on a Musky trip. Lucky I was only going 50 feet to the rented slip and the owner had a submersible to drop it in. That all sounds simple but I can tell you it wasn't simple or quiet. I leaned over the transom and tried to put it in from inside the boat and dropped the plug into the 45F water. My spare is in my tool kit so I jumped in that freezing water and put it in blindly. I got lucky, carpets came out cleaner. My bilge was working but wouldn't keep up. It took a good 20 minutes to pump it with 3 of us standing on the bow to keep the water from going over the transom well. I don't want to do that again. Of course a professional fisherman was filming a show that day and had to stop filming when he had the male owner on his boat and came in to help after his wife called him. Now that's embarrassing since I do know him personally a bit and he knows me now, plus a camera boat ain't cheap. Italo Labignon, Canadian Sports Fishing Show. Many guys keep the plug on the keys. I almost did it again this year on the first splash, too exited to think straight. I now tape a piece of cardboard on the wind shield if it's on the trailer that says PLUGPLUGPLUG!!!STUPID. My wife asked "what if you forget your stupid sign?" Women can be so funny.

 

[Teamster]

Same here. When you leave Lake Tahoe and go through the agriculture inspection, they check to make sure your drain plug is out and you have no grasses hanging off your trailer.

Minnesota will check for water in the live well,

And you better be able to prove your minnow water didn't come from the water you were just fishing on,...

Any water in the boat will get you a ticket if caught,....

I don't launch on the Minnesota side anymore,

 

[Teamster]

Do you use one?

Had one on the last boat and didn't have any trouble,..

Have not got around to putting one on the current boat yet, Of course I haven't forgot the plug lately either,....

Those are standard equipment for many manufacturers of fishing boats,.

 

[fhhuber]

Leaving the plug out will quickly convince you that the factory installed bilge pump isn't big enough...

The pump should be sized to keep up with the most likely leak... and that's the drain plug. For an average bass boat with the plug about 1 ft under water that means appx 1200 gph ACTUAL leak rate which can mean you probably need a pump "rated" 2400 gph due to the effects of the hose, fittings and rise from pump to the thru-hull outlet.

 

[gm280]

I fit into the first group. Yes it has happened to me ONE time. But one time was enough. And by the time I realized I forgot to put the plug in, we already had a few inches of water on the floor on my bass boat because we were still slowly moving out into the "go fast" area yet. And there was no planning out to get the water out. Full throttle was not even doing anything then. So luckily we made it to the shore and I waded out and of course my drain was under the step ransom and I had to search for the drain opening to get it in. :facepalm:

 

[Corjen1]

I told my self I was just washing the inside out after the restoration.........

 

[sphelps]

Only did it once .. But luckily I have clear sight of the bilge pocket while at the helm ... Looking back lowering the motor I saw it .. Yelled at the sil to refasten the strap and pull back up the ramp ... Of course I blamed the sil for leaving it out ..

 

[Tnstratofam]

I actually launched our boat with the Admiral at the helm as I went to park the truck. On my way back to the ramp I noticed the boat seemed to be sitting lower than it usually did. All the while the Admiral is busy walking around stowing our gear not noticing the slosh from water in the bilge. About 20 feet from the ramp it dawns on me what is going on. I break into a sprint and run straight into the water after reaching in and grabbing the drain plug. Just as I get the plug inserted the auto bilge pump kicks on.

The Admiral still laughs at how funny I looked as I went running by her. Now she double checks when we launch. She's a good wife and doesn't let me forget I nearly sank our boat with her on it.:facepalm:

 

[Oshkosh1]

By far the funniest instance I've seen in person happened in 1988 in the Singapore harbor anchorage area. We were at anchor and dropped one of our 50' motor whale boats to use as a liberty launch. I was the Capt's gig boat captain/coxswain however I was watching them boom the MWB over the side as I was next out of the cradle. Anyhoo...I was just sky larking on the rail and it went down, the boat crew unhooked the pelican hooks and they started bringing them back up. All of the sudden I started hearing this yelling from below. I looked down and the four guys in Kapok life jackets were jumping up and down yelling to "bring it up...bring it up"!!!. Well...the boom operator couldn't hear and the boatswains mate in charge had looked back while the hooks were heading up. Then I saw it. Water...looked like a small geyser coming up from dead square midships of the MWB. It was coming in FAST!

I started yelling to "drop the hooks" and finally the boom operator realized what was happening and sent them down. The crew got them snapped in and they took the boom to power. It was the "small" 5 ton boom and it started creaking and moaning...and bending! I yelled to just raise it enough to clear the water and allow the weight of the water to drain out. They did...and once it was drained out the boat captain simply installed the bilge plug and set it back down!

We never let him live THAT one down the rest of the deployment. The ships Bosun gave him hell also.

I could just see having to explain to the old man how a $2 plug cost him a 50' boat!lol! NOT something I'd want to report for sure!

As a matter of fact the next day he wanted me to drive him in using his gig(33' fore/aft cabin) and asked(as he winked) if I'd remembered the plug!

 

[jkust]

Did it one time and was just pushing it off the roller trailer when the pump kicked on. Luckily I just had to jump in the truck and pull forward. Now that you mention this, I do not know if the pump works on my current boat. Better test it this weekend.

 

[Leardriver]

Here's my take on that. It is Murphy's law that when you realize the problem, the boat ramp is full, a line waiting to get put in, and your trailer is blocked from being moving.
So, disclaimer-Don't do t​his in cold water. But, if water conditions permit......

Put on a life jacket. Skipping this step while you are already having a heart attack causes funerals.
Grab the plug tightly, or have someone hand it to you.
Jump in the water with the engine off
Put the plug in from in the water

Stop the situation from getting worse!!!!!

If your bilge works, you may have the problem solved in mere minutes. Don't go to Davy Jones locker waiting for the ramp to open up. I guess you could gently beach on the sand if plugging in the water isn't an option.

 

[bruceb58]

When I did it, I had just launched and had just pulled the trailer up the ramp 50 feet. I grabbed the plug, pushed the boat against the ramp so it was still shallow at the stern and jumped in the water and screwed it in. Fortunately, I had the good sense of pulling my phone out of my pocket before I jumped in.

 

[redneck joe]

paper beats rock. boat beats phone.