Re: Screwed up big!!
I haven't done it yet but learned at an early age what happens at the dock when you don't.
I was about 10 when a guy unloaded a rather pricey cabin boat ahead of us, he forgot the plug, didn't realize it till he got away from the dock, I was the one that jumped in and plugged the hole in neck deep cedar water and plugged the hole while someone hunted for a plug onboard their boat. All the fumbling around and no one coming up with the plug while I sat there with a hand over the hole trying to slow the leak is a memory that doesn't go away.
It comes right back to me every time I hitch up a boat. The plug goes in right then, I don't wait to get to the ramp. If it's raining, oh well, the bilge pump will handle that when we get there. Also, always carry a spare plug or two, a few in the boat, one in each tackle box etc.
I've got a coffee can full of spare plugs in the garage, when I get a boat ready to go in the water for the first time, a handful of them get tossed in various locations just in case.
Knock on wood, in 30+ years of boating, I've yet to forget to put the plug in.
I've got a buddy that has a check list printed and in hand each time he launches, plus a note on the back bumper that reminds him to put the plug in and tie down the boat.
Another pulls the plug and stores it pinned to the trailer receiver, so when he puts in the receiver to tow the boat, he's got the plug already in hand. He slips the ring of the plug right over the receiver pin when he parks the boat and pulls the receiver out.
