Conference vicki::boats

    Definitely sounds like a symptom of the "Bored Teenagers Nearby"
    disease, IMHO.
    
    John H-C

    
    Hey Jeanne,
    
    	Have you ever heard of a plug "just falling out"?
    
    

   It's happened to me....

   I had one of the plugs that folds over to tighten the plug (never will do
that again) instead of the screw-in style.   I'd been out fishing in the
morning which included getting pretty close to some trees, brush, and rocks.

I don't remember anything in particular that was different than any other time
I'd been out.   Anyway I came back to the cottage for lunch and left the boat
tied to the dock.  A couple hours later my daughter went down to the dock and
then asked if the boat was supposed to have "a couple gallons" of water in it.
"A couple gallons" and then some, the only thing keeping the boat off the
bottom was the skeg and the lines attached to the dock and the cleats.  I
jumped in the water and felt for the plug   **** GONE ****.  I always keep an
extra in rear hatch wells, so I pushed another plug in place, then I bailed for
about 2 hours until the battery terminals were clear of the water and then I
let the bilge pump do the rest. 

   What I suspect happened was that either the trees or brush had caused the
plug closure mechanism to flip open, or to turn so as to make it stick down
below the hull.  In either case my run that morning caused the plug to be lost.
So it can happen.  The only way someone would notice the plug out would be that
the boat would act sluggish (because of the weight).  If the operator were
inexperienced or not paying close attention it might be overlooked.

FWIW,

Al

    
    Re: -2
    
    Thats what thumbs are for!
    
    Jeanne
    

    It happened to me before too.  I *know* I put the plug in before
    launching, and while sitting in the middle of the lake I noticed
    water rising up above the floor of the boat.  I checked the plug, 
    and it was gone. Thank God for bilge pumps and spare bilge plugs.  
    The lake, (Mattawanakee) is very weedy between the launch and the 
    main part of the lake.  Since the plug was installed from the 
    outside, I figured one of those bilge-plug-grabbing-weeds must have 
    pulled it out on me.  From that point on, I've always installed 
    bilge plugs from the *inside* of the boat whenever possible.
    
    It's possible that your son lost the bilge plug on the way back
    to the dock.  Most boats won't leak a drop if the plug is removed
    with the boat underway.  When you stop it's a different story...
    
    Rick

<    It's possible that your son lost the bilge plug on the way back
<    to the dock.  Most boats won't leak a drop if the plug is removed
<    with the boat underway.  When you stop it's a different story...
    
   An earlier reply spoke of putting the plug on the inside of the boat.  In a
small open boat this has the added advantage that while underway you can remove
the plug and you will actually "pull" any bilge water out the hole.  I've seen
this technique used a few times while fishing in old aluminum boats that have
leaky seams and rivets.  What happens is that while underway the area around
the transom develops a low pressure area (similar to the lift that a wing
develops to keep an airplane airborne) the water is pushed by atmospheric
pressure out the hole to the low pressure area.  You just have to remember to
put the plug back in BEFORE you stop or you quickly lose any gains you made.

Al

    
      My father had one of those 'lever' plugs fall out while his boat was
    tied at the slip. It turned out that the small pin that holds the lever
    had let go (Perhaps corroded?) and so the lever just fell off (Yes we 
    found the old plug in the bilge). He now uses nothing but the T handle
    drain plugs which certainly seem to be a lot more positive about how
    they lock. Since they take several complete turns of the T to tighten
    them, they are much less likely to come out by accident.
    
    				Kenny

	I thought thumbs were for dykes (-:

	Anyway, real boats have Garfield ("garboard"  or somesuch cat) plugs
	that go in from inside the boat.   T-handle brass/bronze things, won't
	fall out or rust their pivot pins.

	R

    
    Gee Reg,
    
    	I was planning on being such a good boy and not say anything
    about inboard (Correct) plugs and how I've never lost one, nor
    would I mention anything about what they call dams in Holland. :-)
    
    	Although, speaking of plugs and inboards, I did a little experiment
    the last time I loaded the Nautique onto the trailer. (of course,
    everyone knows how far up the trailer I drive the boat, right?). Once
    I had the boat secured on the trailer and before I moved the truck, I
    removed the plug, just for grins.... guess what, the boat was up high
    enough so that only large waves would splash in a little. Of course,
    the downside is that this would not be true for launching as the
    trailer is much deeper at that time.
    
    Rick

      Just a little update on the incident mentioned in the basenote. This
    weekend when we went up to the lake one of my friends up there said he
    found a boat plug next to the trash barrels about 100 yds from my boat.
    I didn't have my initials on the thing but it certainly looked
    familiar. I guess it just fell out, walked up on the shore, up the
    path and died right there next to the trash barrels. Another mystery
    solved.
    
    Paul
    

    That really bites! I hope you got your boat dried out and also hope
    there wasn't any permanent water damage done.
    
    We have always joked around about pulling the plugs from all the
    wally's boats,but none of us have ever gotten upset enough or
    drunk enough :-) to actually do it.
    
    Scrapin Matt