Oops!

Just to prove that I am not perfect. Yesterday morning I picked up my clients at the Samoset Resort and headed to Megunticook Lake in Camden for a morning of bass fishing. Everything pretty normal, pleasant clients and perfect September weather. I pulled into the parking lot and made ready to launch. When I went to put the drain plug in the stern it would not tighten. I removed it and tried to make an adjustment with my pliers. The bolt in the center of the plug simply broke off.

Not a problem I keep a couple of spares in the boat so I simply climbed aboard got a replacement out of the tool box, put it in and launched the boat. Everything normal the motor started as always and we left the launch moving slowly.

After I cleared the no wake zone some distance away from the launch I gave the motor some throttle and the boat did not leap right onto plan as usual. I first thought this couple must be heavier than they look. As I glanced back in the boat there was water above the floor. At that point I was on plane and moving quickly. I assumed that the replacement drain plug had fallen out and that the water would drain back through the hole. I also turned on the bilge pump to get rid of the water in the boat.

But now what to do? I’m on plane and moving but when I stop or slow down the boat will again start to fill with water. Sinking was not on the days agenda. Thinking about where I had another spare plug I remembered the one in the bottom of the live well. So after a few minutes I stopped the boat, opened the live well grabbed the plug and went to the stern to replace a plug that I thought had fallen out.

As I ran my hand down the stern I discovered that the plug had not fallen out but rather that I had put it into the live well drain and not the hull drain. Oops!

In my haste to get going I had simply not put the plug in the proper hole. Problem easily solved, the bilge pump removed the rest of the water and we fished the rest of the morning under a perfect blue sky.

Two thoughts come to mind. First is an older friend telling me that the real pleasure in getting older is that you are no longer surprised when you forget to put in the drain plug when launching the boat. Second being able to formulate a plan quickly and having a few resources to work with keep a small emergency just that, a minor event in a pleasant day.