Whoops - that ws embarassing!
 

Well, it has been a long time (I'm 56) but It happened for the first time today - I forgot to put the plug in at the ramp. I have no excuse - my wife even asked me if I did, and I must have said yes. But I was distracted helping put some other poor boater whose tie-down strap was jammed, and the ramp was packed, and the jet skis were roaring up and down the river, yada yada.

So launch went OK with a 13 knot wind at 90 degrees to the ramp PLUS an outgoing tide, PLUS the river current. Kind of gunned it in reverse into the current, turned downriver, and in a moment I was 30 yards form the ramp...with water coming up into the footwell of my Seafari. Yikes!

Had a flash of recognition, holy cow, no plug. Then: why no bilge pump on? OH --- its set to manual.. thankfully I turned right around and tried to get out of the channel, to a quieter spot, with some room to drift, while my son found the plug resting in its usual spot in the toolbox. Tried to put the plug in from the boat - whoops, can't quite reach down that far laying over the splashwell, contorted.... Yikes again!

Hustled back to the ramp, where there were 3 boats, a jet ski and a gaggle of 20 or so onlookers. Hot rodded to the ramp, and tied off at the end of the pier right under the gazebo where the crowd gathers to watch us idiots. Leapt into the 7 foot murky mucky river and screwed in the plug. Tightened with wrench. Emerged from the river water like t was radioactive to the crowd of adoring fans....laughing. their asses. off.

I acted like this was part of my usual launch procedure, then calmly restarted my engine and slowly motored away.....

Do not feel bad, we have all been there !!
Went to launch by myself...
Trailer just right at the ramp for a roller trailer..
Push on bow as holding dock line with other hand...
All good till end of rope was NOT looped through the
cleat !! :eek::eek:

Strong current, go figure !

Had to dive in and chase boat down...

Best part, late at night going Snook fishing, No one saw my screw-up !!

That was 28 years ago...

Oh the stories i could tell! Only thing protecting No Bones is the stories he could he could tell on me. Lotta tales after fifty years of friendship.

When I redid the transom on my 23 Sceptre I did away with the traditional drain plug and installed one of these in the bottom of the hull aft:
https://www.defender.com/images/300997.jpg
Can be screwed in from inside the boat, and I find it drains just as well if not better than a traditional plug!

https://www.amazon.com/Perko-0363DP0.../dp/B000FOW3RE

Embarrassing en espanol
 

I have had a permanent threaded plug in my Seafari since it was docked behind my former home in Palm City. However, my most memorable plug left out event was when I was a 16 year old high school student and had a Guatemalan exchange student staying with my family. The two of us drove to the White City Park on the north fork of the St Lucie River. I launched and left him holding the lines to my 14’ Lyman. As I returned from parking the truck and trailer, he was pointing excitedly downward yelling, “EL AQUA, EL AGUA”! I am thinking of course el aqua there is a lot of it here until I realized he was pointing into the boat. Fortunately when I jumped in the boat didn’t swamp. No bilge pump as I recall. Stick the plug in until underway, the. Pull it back out. Kind of a funny story through the years.

Embarrassing en espanol
 

I have had a permanent threaded plug in my Seafari since it was docked behind my former home in Palm City. However, my most memorable plug left out event was when I was a 16 year old high school student and had a Guatemalan exchange student staying with my family. The two of us drove to the White City Park on the north fork of the St Lucie River. I launched and left him holding the lines to my 14’ Lyman. As I returned from parking the truck and trailer, he was pointing excitedly downward yelling, “EL AQUA, EL AGUA”! I am thinking of course el aqua there is a lot of it here until I realized he was pointing into the boat. Fortunately when I jumped in the boat didn’t swamp. No bilge pump as I recall. Stick the plug in until underway, then pull it back out. Kind of a funny story through the years.

I must have double clutched the submit button, and not alcohol induced!

I haven't had the plug out of my boat in about half of dozen years. The auto bilge pump pretty much takes care of most rain water that leaks in (from stern hatches I asume). I see people at the ramp back boat up to water, then start loading fishing gear, coolers and yes , put plug in. Not a fan of that at all. I try to have everything ready to go when I launch and boat comes out the same way.
A very long time ago, before they had all the fish regulations they do now, we use to filet fish when on long trips. After being out at Marqesas for a few days, my friend took his cooler out of his boat and set it on the dock to lighten the load before cranking it on the trailer. We got about 40 miles north of Key West and he called me on the radio to inform me that he left his cooler full of fish on the dock. We didn't go back.

There was a reason I built the Gucci extended T-handle stainless drain plug in my 23'. I'm sure the new owner is enjoying the ease of pulling & inserting the drain plug while on the trailer or the lift.

I've taken my father-in-law out on the boat two times...
There have only been two times in my life that I've forgotten the plug... I'll let you connect the dots.

Probably 4 years back I forgot to put the transom plug in...my first and only time. By the time the footwell started filling, we were in the bay and when we hit a swell... my iphone slid off the dash into said footwell. LOL, I didn't realize that it was the plug initially and the boat got lower and lower... until I hung over the stern and installed the plug... the motor was LOW! We were in another canal at that point of our trip from launch ramp to home dock. Join the Facebook group 'Nauti Boat Fails' and I'm pretty sure you'll never ever forget the plug again! :D

More drain plug tales
 

Hey John-
I realize in a panic mode folks can do some miraculous things, but am surprised your arm was long to install your drain plug. With my Hermco splashwell tub, I don’t think I could have and would have wanted a string on the plug to keep from dropping it. I probably would have done like SailorChlud and leaped in.

Another drain plug story when was I was about six years old, our family were snowbirds spending the winter in Ft Pierce, Fla and summers in Bergen County, NJ where Dad was a bricklayer. One winter he bought his first, very well used boat- about an 18’ straight inboard. During one of our summers north he left the boat in a neighbor’s orange grove with a canvas over it. Dad got a report from his neighbor/friend “the canvas had ripped and the boat filled with rainwater- but it’s dry now, I drilled a couple holes in the bottom to let the water drain.” I don’t know if the boat had a drain or the wingnut neighbor didn’t know about, but Dad was real PO’d.

I did the plug install dive once too. After that the plug was attached to the helm immediately after removal so as not to miss when next launching.

I like those threaded plugs.

Despite having long monkey arms, it wasn't easy! My torso was completely over the stern, and head about in the water as I recall. The boat was LOW in the water! It physically hurt as I recall, but I was able to get it in somehow! I would have jumped in if/when I failed! I flipped canoes in that river dozens of times as a kid and haven't yet lost a toe to a snapping turtle! LOL

That's funny about your dad's boat!!

Good funny stories, all. And good suggestions too.

Drain Plug Insight
 

As I recall Bushwacker on his Seafari always had dock lines at the ready, cleated at the bow and running along the top of the gunnel inboard of the stainless rail. He clipped the drain plug to the starboard line so he could see it when he started to launch.

A practice still carried on today. When I uncleat the starboard bow line the plug falls right to hand. Before I leave the ramp the plug goes right back on the line before cleating. I am more of a big picture guy so I need all the help I can get.

done it once..could not reach the plug had to run back to the truck and load the boat back on the trailer to install...bilge was to the deck full of water...good thing for a bilge pump while I was doing all that running around lol...with a bracket it's even easier to forget about the plug because it's kinda hidden under there but then again the bracket should have a plug that is easy to see and then help remind you of the boat plug....backwards thinking is how I do things....attach my truck keys to the dog lead while I'm working so I do not forget and drive off with my dog tied to the truck...

strick

That's a sweet design on the tee handle, I may have to remember that one

My near-sinking experience was when I invited (2) friends to fish with me - one of them is known as ' Big Guy'. He's a BIG GUY - must weigh close to 300 lbs. I have a 23' Tsunami i/o. We were fishing out in the ocean for stripers and each time I'd stop to drift and then restart I'd hear a funny 'chirp' in the engine. I know my boat, as I rebuilt her bottom-up back in 2003/4. I didn't think much of it and I had a 35 gallon livewell loaded with bunker on the i/o box and I didn't want to move it.

When I zipped back into the bay, I anchored, tossed the bunker, emptied the livewell and tilted the i/o box to find that saltwater was up to my flywheel ! The noise had been water on by belt ! And of course, the auto bilge failed. I put the manual Water Puppy bilge on and dumped her !

What had happened ? Big Guy was fishing in the aft corner of the boat. We all had boots on and the aft had water pooling near that #@$#^%* thru-floor scupper. Water was not only pooling - BUT, without me knowing, it was going under the i/o cover, over the 3" lip to the bilge and filling my hull !

Ugghh !

As Strick mentioned with a bracket you have a bit more to remember. My mistake getting the fishing gear together and had my buddy who had fished with me numerous time “help” me by putting in the drain plugs something I do before leaving the house. Got about 8 miles out some.thing wasn’t right checked the bilge water almost to the deck? My question —- did you put in BOTH drain plugs — Sheepish /quizzical look comes back at me —both? Turned all the bilge pumps and the one in the bracket put in for just in case.ran in to 10’ dove in and installed the OTHER plug ———back to fishing

Plug issue in reverse
 

So I haven't used the boat in several months for one reason or the other. Went to the mountains for about a month etc. Before I left, I unscrewed the drain plug. The boat trailer sits on concrete, but getting to it with the truck may just get me stuck, we have had a lot of rain. I finally got around to cleaning the boat, getting all the leaves out. I knew that my auto bilge pump was not working and I decided to have a look at it. When I opened the hatch, I was horrified. Water up to the floor. I had forgot that several years ago, I was toying with the idea of putting an inside plug in and forgot all about it.
I took out the plug and began to drain the water and also turned on my big pump. Then I thought about the fuel tank. Yep, top of tank all wet. I'm not sure what I can do, except try to let things dry out. Concerned now that things are wet now that were not wet before and may not dry.

My last time was in 1984 after calling ahead to have my 20' Seafari launched at the dry-storage marina where I was the general manager. I got there just as they put my boat in the water, loaded my girlfriend and our roommates and our gear and began to meander down the ICW headed for Peanut Island.

After a little while, I noticed water coming up in the cabin step-well. Quickly looked in the engine well where I stored the drain plug and there was no plug there and had no spare on board. I called the marina on the VHF and told them to have the forklift drop the forks into the water.

I was unable to get the boat on plane to drain the hull, and the water was coming in faster than my little 500 gph pump could keep up with.

I got back to the marina and drove the boat right on to the forks and had them pick it up. By that time my entire deck was covered by 3-4 inches of water.

After draining the boat, I found my drain plug sitting on the forklift fender, where the dock girl had left it after the lift operator gave it to her told her to put it in the boat.

Her punishment for almost sinking her boss's boat was a complete wash and wax of my boat, while she was on the clock. But detailing my boat meant no tips from customers going out or coming in.

All good times, to be sure! In the meantime, the editor of Good Old Boat Magazine put out a call for short fiction stories (400 words or less!) and I wrote up this story for their magazine. The editor liked it and may publish it. Who knows - maybe I'll be famous!