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Ok, I didn't really sink, but I probably took on 100+ gallons of water.
If you wish to do this yourself, it can be accomplished by following the simple 12 step program below:
1. Break off your fish finder when shoveling snow.
2. Remove the 2 screws from the lower back of your boat that held the fish-finder in place.
3. LEAVE the 2 holes unfilled where you took the 2 screws out
4. Be in a hurry to go fishing.
5. Put the plug in the back of your boat, but don't bother filling those 2 little screw holes from the fish finder.
6. Leave your boat in the water for about 5 hours.
7. Troll around for a long time and catch no fish.
8. Decide to go home, but before going home, cruise out to the middle of the lake and drive 35mph in nice figure 8's.
9. Realize as your going really sharp and the boat is leaning, that your foot is cold because it is immersed in a large puddle .
10. Turn around and head like a bat out of heck to the marina.
11. Get the boat out of the water, watch water shoot out of the 2 little holes you forgot to plug.
12. Pull the main plug, and watch the water pour out like it's coming from a firehose.
It was fun. I don't think I was ever in any real danger. My boat is about 18 1/2 feet long with 150hp motor. So it can hold water.. It took about 15 minutes for all the water to drain.
All that, and still no fish.. It's ok though, because I was just trying to get the boat seaworthy and figured if I cought a fish or 2 in the process, it would be fun..
Anyway, see ya all later,
Curtis
--LuvThemCuts
PS: Does anybody know if the highway from I-80 to East Canyon is open yet?
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Dang Curtis. That is no fun but at least it didnt happen at the berry where it really matter. [  ] Get her dried out so we can hit the soft water soon! Thanks for the report.
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This story sounds very familiar except it happened at utah lake and there were 4 six inch screws that left 4 holes that i did not plug up. Man i know what you went through i feel for you. Glad you did not sink your boat .
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A little known fact:
To remove water from your boat while on the water, without bailing it. Pull the plug and then run the boat so that nose stays high, stay half plane. The angle the boat and gravity will allow the water to drain from your boat without removing the boat from the water.
That could have proved ya 5 more hours of the sticky skunk [ ]
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Thats some good info there i would have never thought of that thanks for posting it.
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That right there is why this scenario seems odd to me. How big were these 2 screw holes you did not fill? If you were trolling for 5 hours and constantly moving, water should not have been getting in that much to make you stand in a puddle. You can drive around all day long without a plug, just can't stop. Anything is possible, but I'd also take a look for other cracks or defects on the boat.
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I have did the same thing before also! Them 2 screw holes let in a lot more water then one thinks!![shocked]
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Actually, it was raining for a while, so I tied the boat to the dock and sat in my truck to wait out the storm. That's probably why the boat filled up.
I only noticed the puddle when I made a really sharp turn and my boat was tilted at a sharp angle. The water splashed my foot on one side of the boat. When I straightened back up, the water was gone. So it was all under the floorboards until I made a sharp turn.
I think it would be a good time for me to hook up that bilge pump that I've been meaning to fix. It might have come in handy out there in the middle of the lake..
Thanks,
Curtis
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Funny stuff, glad it wasn't more serious, at least it pointed out some things that need a little fix'n before the next trip. Better luck on the catching on the next outing.[fishin]
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I can relate to that. Back in the 80s I had a 15 foot runabout that I recarpeted the deck and a few other modifications.
Trying to hurry and get the boat put back together for a catfish derby the following day at Willard. A friend went to remount the back to back seats to the deck.
With the new carpet you couldn't see the origanal mounting holes.
So my friend ([:/]) took a 12 inch extention drill bit and drilled 8 new holes to accomodate the screws to the deck.
You can see where this is going..... right?
Nexted morning after launching with in 30 minutes we took on enough water to where I coulden't get up on plane.
Finally got the boat on the trailer and 8 1/8 holes of water were shooting out the bottom of the boat.
Ran straight to Smith & Edwards and bought a tube of RTV and 8 pan head sheet metal screws. We were back on the water and fishing with in an hour.
Still can't believe he drilled right through the bottom of my hull [crazy]
Pretty good fix though. When I sold the boat the screws were still in and not a leak [cool]
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Pointerpride102 wrote:[/quote]
You can drive around all day long without a plug, just can't stop. .[/quote]
[ ]
Ocean:
Yer welcome.
I use the method to risen sand or mud out of my boat. Pull the plug, take on 30 to 40 gls of water. Run around making quick turn to swish the water back and forth. Then gun the throttle a little to bring the nose of the boat up to remove the water before stopping to re-installing the plug.
The key to this is, not to drop your plug,, LOL Yes I've done that too! However, I carry two plugs in my boats
One might be surprised how little pressure water has that enters a boat merely because the plug is missing. Its not like a gusher. More like a garden hose opened 1/4 to 1/2 way,, depending on which city one lives.
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I can play that tune in two notes:
1. Forget to put in the plug.
2. Visit the outhouse for a long break after parking the trailer.
Lucerne Marina - 1988.
I always say, "Every boater has to launch their boat once without the plug in." But it only happens ONCE.
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I had my turn at forgetting to put the plug in. My boat was in the water for about twenty minutes waiting for safe light. We got our go ahead to take off and....what the he!!?
The back end of my boat sunk in the water and I quickly realized what I did. Being in a hurry, I flipped the switch for the bilge, took my sweater off and reached behind the boat to put the plug in...it was frickin' cold! Jordanelle in September before the sun came up. I went as fast as I could across the lake (not real fast [blush]) and left the pump running knowing that it would drain the water and everything would be fine and laugh about it later, right? Wrong, I found out later that I put the plug in the wrong hole (this created a days worth of jokes [shocked]) and I kept taking on water. My boat isn't very deep and I'm guessing that it was about 40% full of water when my stubborn a** decided something was wrong and headed back to the marina. Pulled it up on the trailer, drained the water, put the plug in and went fishing.
This is something that will only happen ONCE!
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My turn was at Rockport a couple years ago. There were some guys up there doing a voluntary boat check and I just pulled around them, because I know what I am doing.[cool] Got distracted as I was preparing the boat and launched without putting in the plug. Realized almost immediately what I had done and called my wife on the radio to swing back around with the trailer. Only problem is my wife doesn't back up trailers. She had to recruit one of the guys doing the voluntary boat checks to back up the trailer. Got the boat on the trailer and then got lectured (which of course I deserved) on how one should do a thorough check of their boat before launching.
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My best attempt was to disconnect my live well pump since we "don't use it" in Utah. Well I forgot to plug the output that is below the water line. After parking the trailer and hitting the head I noticed the boat was sitting different... I've also tried the 2 screws from the fish finder. My aluminum boat leaks a tiny bit when I go full throttle so I am use to checking for water but it seemed excessive. took 2 times out to figure out what was wrong.
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Mine was at Powell with a new boat. We had three trucks launching three boats at the same time at Halls. I was so excited to go fishing for the first time in spring, and had someone helping me get the boat ready so I didn't go through the regular routine. Had him back me down, floated off the trialer, and turned around to back into deeper water. Saw the plug sitting in the transom tray in front of the engine and s**t. By then, the truck was half way up the ramp with no radio. First thought, beach on the ramp. Nope, new boat with no keel guard. Second thought, spin it around, punch it to the dock, tie it off, and put the plug in. Good idea, made it to the dock, put the first little scratch on the side slamming the dock and cinching her down, but couldn't reach the hole off the back. In one fell swoop I was diving down, found the hole, and got the plug in. The other two boats wre still making their way to the dock and were wondering what the big hurry was. When my buddy got down the ramp I was sitting in the boat soaking wet shivering in the 45 degree air (water was about 58). He had no idea what had just happend, until he saw me sitting there and then just busted up laughing. Not going to happen to me again.
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This sounds like something that I should have posted... but only because it happened at Willard... LOL
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Been there, done that. Fortunately I was not a member of this board when it happened back in the early 70's. Had a 14 foot boat being pulled by a toyota corolla and forgot to put in the plug. Filled it up while it was still on the trailer and that little car busted a gut trying to get it back up the ramp.
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Now thats funny sh!t right there.... LOL
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