FORGOT THE PLUG!!!

[auburntigegal]

LMAO, gotta tell my husband this story!!

[kasey200]

left mine out one time last year. noticed the ski deck was a bit lower than normal. I new exactly what happened. Grabbed the plug out of the cup holder and went for a little swim. Got it put in in a timely mannor and went on with my evening. i did use on of the ballast puppy's to draw down the bilge a bit faster so we could get riding ASAP.

[txmxer]

Does anyone put the plug back in while the boats being stored? We have a pretty long drive to the lake so I figure by the time we get back all the water is drained so Ill either put the plug in when we leave the boat in storage or when were hooking up to leave storage.

[AdaminMN]

In Minnesota, you can't trailer a boat with the plug in.

[gwhite94]

Like many people have posted I have done this a couple of times.

My best story was a Family that was new boat owners (2nd time out with the boat). The Husband goes to park the truck and trailer which is a good half mile at Lake Mohave. The wife is sitting in the boat and fussing with the kids when one of the kids tells his mom that "the boat is sinking" She says it can't be sinking we are at the dock. He says then why is there water coming out of the seat? She starts to freak out I ask if they put the plug in and she states what plug! My nephew jumps in and checks and no plug. He sticks his finger in the hole and she goes on a search for the plug but could not find it. I look through my tool bag and find my spare and give to my nephew to put in. We get the lady settled down and have her start bilging the boat. After about 10 mins the husband comes back not in any hurry and he has the plug in his pocket...Classic

[talltigeguy]

Does anyone put the plug back in while the boats being stored? We have a pretty long drive to the lake so I figure by the time we get back all the water is drained so Ill either put the plug in when we leave the boat in storage or when were hooking up to leave storage.

Do NOT leave the plug in during storage. You never know what will happen. I suppose it is OK if you are completely covered in a garage. Your sharksin cover will not protect you adequately.

This guy left his plug in....all winter and this is what he found in the spring:

[majestic]

Yeah, right!

So we are at the west coast open, and Majestic is down to help and he does a great job driving demos in the RZ2 and we love having him. I am running some errands in the AM and I was at an ATT store working out an issue with my 3G card. RJ is with me.

So I get this call while in the ATT store. Its Majestic. Very calm and nonchalant.

"Hey Robert, hows it going?"

me: Good, you?

Fine, just taking the RZ2 out for some demos. Just wondering, where do you keep the plug?

me: I think RJ keeps it in the cup holder, but we rarely pull it, so I don't remember, since we keep it in and the boat on the lift 95% of the time.

Yeah, I checked there, didn't see it. You guys on your way back?

me: No, still stuff to do, but back soon. <-- You see I think they are ABOUT to put the boat in the water, and looking for the plug, no rush.

OK, hey, you know, is RJ around? Can I speak to him?

me: Hmm, he is waiting for me in the car, probably better for you to call his cell.

OK, sounds good, can I get that number?

me: OK, hold on. ( I tell the guy at the counter to hold a minute. I go outside and ask RJ for his number, very calm like. He gives it to me, then tell him that Majestic and Dennis (BigKahuna) are looking for the plug. Another minute of chat about where it might be and then I go back in store)

me: Here is RJ's number, xxx-xxx-xxxx. Give him a call.

OK, thanks Robert, talk to you when you get back,

me: Cool <-- still NO urgency.

5 minutes later RJ comes running in. "DAD, the boat might be sinking They got to the shore but dennis had to jump out of the boat and is sticking his finger in the whole at the ramp!"

me: WHAT? I just talked to Chris, he sounded like all was fine, they just wanted to put the boat in the water.

rj: no, they were in the water, when Chris called you, dennis was sticking his finger in the hole. But don't worry, I told them where the plug is and they got it in, and now they are putting it on the trailer.


Now you would THINK I am exaggerating, but I swear that is how it went. Chris talked to me like he was kicking back in a chair, eating a donut, thinking of launching the boat at some time in the near future. Going back through that conversation and imagining my friend dennis up to his tits in water with his finger in the boat just makes me laugh hysterically.

The boat barely took on water, and all was well. But man, those guys cracked me up. Pretending like they didn't have a care in the world.

Pretty funny.

I can tell you been dying to tell that story!

It's faily accurate too minus a few details. Here's how I remember it;

Dennis picks up some chicks and says "hey Chris..lets go launch the boat" I said "ok I will uncover and put the bimini up". Dennis goes and finds the keys for the truck and I am getting everything placed talking to the ladies as Dennis is driving us all to the launch with us still in the boat. Dennis gets out un-straps everything and backs us into the water. Dennis pulls the truck out and we wait at the dock for Dennis to come back. Dennis loads up and off we go filling up the ballast and crusing at about 5mph. About 12 or so minutes go by and I ask Dennis if the overfill lines were switched as we were filling up the port ballast and water is coming out the starboard side. He says "I don't think so" he then says "maybe its the bilge pump" Dennis lifts the hatch and sure enough we have some extra ballast. Thats when the call was made and I didn't feel the need to share our panic situation with you since you could do nothing about it at you current location. RJ thought the plug was in the boat but it was in the truck so Brian Baker was up to his shoulder's in the water with his finger in the bilge hole as Dennis walked up and got the plug out of the truck.

I may pull my plug one a year and whoever backs the boat in checks the plug as he is unstraping the transom straps.

Lessons learned from this;

1. Always check the drain plug whether its your boat or not.

2. After your done draining your hull PUT THE PLUG BACK IN!

3. Having a Tsunami 1200 on your boat not only works great for manually filling and draining a fat sac but also as an emergency bilge pump...where was your's Robert!!!

4. It takes more than 20 minutes, 5 people and 1400+ pounds of ballast to sink a RZ2.

I'm glad it had a happy ending but I can assure you at the time it was a super scary situation, at the time I didnt even know if we were going to make it to shore.

@Robert- I hope I never have a situation with your boat again but should it ever happen I will call you with the not sitting back eating a dougnut voice

[ragboy]

LOL, I had no idea about the "chicks". Also I didn't know that brian baker took over for dennis putting his finger in the hole.

[hyphen79]

I can only hope you have a nickname already that is strong enough to hold of this one.

Trust me it can't be any worse than my high school nickname of Punkin' Pat Lee, Pat McCrotch, or Patty McGee.

Thanks for sharing your PLUG stories with me. What kills me, is I have never skipped this step. In all the years of owning a boat. I tried to blame it on wife. HA! She "interrupted" my morning routine on Sunday before we left the house.

[Joeprunc]

I carry two spare plugs on the boat, I would think it would be easier to kill the motor, put a spare plug in by hand, and then pull the boat out.

[bigdaddy_houseboater]

I carry two spare plugs on the boat, I would think it would be easier to kill the motor, put a spare plug in by hand, and then pull the boat out.

I carry a lime.

[murphini]

July 3rd put in to a lake perry in KS @ a friends private marina ramp. In my concern checking out the shallow water of ramp I forgt to put plug in. Backing down ramp, just into water my 19 Yr old son said in a smart alec/mocking voice like I used to remind him... 'Dad....did you remember to put the plug in? I thought OH $317....I FORGOT THE PLUG. Pulled out and put plug in.

Every boat owner at some point forgets the plug. I keep a spare in boat and in truck....and have contingency to undo the ballast drain hose & use as 2ndary bilge

[Ewok]

X2. There are two types of boaters out there, those who have and those who will.

[hyphen79]

X2. There are two types of boaters out there, those who have and those who will.

Nice Ewok! I am now in the category of those who have.

[NICKYPOO]

I've done it before. It was a long time ago and I honestly can't even remember how it went down.

I have who would forget the plug in his Nautweek at least 2-3 times a year when he had it.