Almost Sunk!
 

I dropped my trailer off last week for a professional adjusting. I was having no luck trying to line it up so I decided it was time for a professional to take a look. I got the boat back today after $300 worth of roller assemblies and $120 labor, total $420 :o. So I wanted to make sure they adjusted the trailer properly after spending that kind of cash. I went down to the boat ramp with my Dad and a couple of guys from the trailer place to check the trailer out. My plan was to launch the boat without taking off the winch cable and to bring it right back up, just to see if the trailer was adjusted properly. Well once we got the boat in the water the trailer needed another adjustment so I off loaded the boat and pulled the trailer up the ramp so it could be adjusted. The guy doing the adjustment snaps the bolts and has to send another guy back to the shop. Meanwhile I have my boat tied up at the dock. About 45 minutes passed and I thought I would start up the motor just to let it run for a little while. So I go to the back of the boat to prime the bulb and notice THE PLUG IS IN THE SPASHWELL :o. I quickly open the stern door to see the boat is full of water. It was about 3-4 inches away from the bottom of the floor. I quickly put the plug in and began to bail out the floor access hatch with a bucket. Luckily the water never rose enough to cover the gas tank or the battery and oil tank. I will have to admit, if I hadnt opened that stern door and saw all that water I would never had noticed by the way she was sitting in the water that she was about to sink. This was the first time I have forgotten the plug and boy did I learn my lesson. I dont think I hurt anything or at least I hope I didnt.

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AND I THOUGHT I HAD A BAD DAY

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Yikes!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm glad it turned out O.K. That could have been ugly. :o :o :o :o :o :o :o

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Good SAVE!!...you learned a hard lesson the easy way ;) ...

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Good save. Bilge pump never came on?

Airslot

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i cant believe it took over 45 minutes to fill up. and it did not even sink. i thought for sure it would fill up faster than that. ???

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sooner or later if you boat your gonna forget the plug once, hopefully youve had your one time. Ive got a bilge pump that comes on for 3 sec. automatic every couple of min. $hit happens its all how we deal with it and how quickly in your case. Good Job...

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Good Save Mulv. I worry about doing the same thing. I plan on having a check list everytime I splash.
But wheres the pictures of her in the WATER ;D ;D ;D

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Hey Mike, I almost had pictures of her under the water ;D

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Whew! Lucky lucky lucky. I must admit, I've done it before too. Only difference is my plug was back at the truck! :o

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Mulv. We all want pictures of that sweat V on the water and a big old grin on your face !! ;D ;D ;D

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Something just occured to me, maybe you could wire a horn to a bilge pump float switch so it would sound an alarm if you started taking on water in the bilge.

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and carry plenty of extra underwear! :o

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Overflow alarm is on my thing to get done list as well someday : )

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Would that be thongs Stinkman???

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The high water alarm is a great idea. It came as standard on the 24 Albemarle. Hope to never hear it.

Airslot

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Franco, I don't THINK thong would "contain" the problem in a situation like that :o ...

I guess when ya get right down to it, EVERY boat should have a ''high-water'' alarm... :)...

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Isn't the hight water alarm actually a gurgling slash bubbling slash gushing noise coming from the bilge area? ;D

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Yes, but it sounds too much like passin' gas to be discernable ... :o ...needs electronic ear-piercing attention getter ::) ...

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45 mins! I forgot mine and that sucker would have been full in 5 or 10 mins.

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I was suprised at how long the boat was floating in the water without the plug. *I can only figure that once the outside water matched the level of the inside water it slowed the flow. *I went home at lunch yesterday to put the cover on the boat beacuse they were calling for severe thunderstorms. *As I approach the boat I hear a humming noise coming from the back of the boat, sure enough it was the bilge pump *>:(. I must have left the switch on. *Where was the pump when I needed it, *So now I guess I will be looking into why the bilge pump failed when I needed it *most.

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this was almost you

For more of the rescue of this boat see link below.

http://www.porthole2.com/Photos_salvage.htm

http://www.porthole2.com/images/Budg..._One_On_07.jpg

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or actually this by the dock

http://www.porthole2.com/images/Budg...02-13-2001.jpg

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that 'faulty' bilge pump is probably why it didnt sink after 10 or 15 minutes. maybe it just couldnt keep up with the 'tidal surge'. but bilge pumps are relatively cheap. if you have nay doubt i say replace it. or just add another. couple years ago i was launching my bayliner at the lake for a test run.i had some force 'issues'. while i was trying to get her fired up some guy in a brand new truck with a brand new bass boat that didnt wiegh half wat the mercury 3.0 he had did, started *****in i was in his way. he had some excuse for not wanting tu use launch on other side of pier.said i needed to "get that piece of **** out of everyones way" there was me, him and a guy who had just pulled his rig out. i realy wanted to hold his head under water, just for a little while, but i decided to just paddle to other side of pier.he backed his boat in tied it off and went to park his truck. he stopped to bs with his buddy in other boat who he was apparrently showing off for. as his buddy pulled off he noticed his boat was gone. he came runnin. asked me what happened. i told him while he was being an assss, he forgot his plug. i watched it go under. took maybe 5 minutes. i told him "you need to move that piece of **** before someone tears there boat up on it. icing on the cake, in midst of his insuing tantrum he reached in his pocket for his cell phone and dropped his keys in the watter, just as my rig fired up and team no-bucks pulled off into the sunset

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love it love it isn't it great when you get to see payback without doing anything um i'd loved to have seen that.

I've always said Bass boats are just a waste of a good motor.

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Cool photo's. Hopefully you will never see any pictures of me on there. :o

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racerx, that's a GREAT story...wish I coulda watched that boat go down...nothin' worse than a ba$$hole in a a$$boat ::) ...

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You are right Franco, Thongs for Stinky! Bill Mc

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;D

Racerx, you are one funny guy! LMAO!

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Took my lil'16' Bonito to the ramp..to service the trailer as well but, I was alone. I launched the boat and tied it. Worked on the trailer for about 20 minutes then noticed my boat was low in the water. It had about 5" of freeboard left. I had to stand beside it to bail it out. :-[
One of the many times I went fishin' with my Pop in his 25'ChrisCraft I/O we were twenty miles out'a Miami. Everything seemed normal. Then when we stopped to rig our bait I noticed the pump had been spewing water out the side. I raised the motor cover and we had a foot'o water in it. The motor was half under it but still running. I dove over the side with a spare spark plug and rag and plugged it from the outside while my Dad...ever the funny guy yells "SHARK !!!!" :o When we returned to the Marina Pop starts yelling at the boat lift tender...who w/o sayin' a word points to a huge sign..
" Owner RESPONSIBLE for installing Plug"
Both my Bonito and V-20 has two pumps now. One on a toggle switch, one on a float switch.....and I always carry spare plugs. :)

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Yea, that is one of those things you only do once! At least I have only done it once! so far. "Uncle Ed, is that water supposed to be coming up through that hole like that?" Luckily my plug goes in from the inside as we were heading out the inlet!

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yep, TEAM NO-BUCKS, ya like that BR? when i was 10, me and my buddy nick went fishin one mornin. we rode our bikes down to long beach harbor, fishin pole in 1 hand, bait bucket on the handle bars. got to the bait shop about sunrise and emptied our pockets. 1 nickle each,lol. mr bradie said "at least ya'll got 2 nickels to rub together". just as i was fixin to ask how long i would have to work to get some bait the guy behind us said"go ahead and fill thier bucket up. i'll sponsor the TWO NICKELS FISHING TEAM today" i caught a 8 and a half pound speck (thats a yellowmouth or seatrout to you yankees) that mornin. a personal best till this day. the name kinda stuck.
16 years later me and nick wanted to go fishin. i already spent all my money gettin my force to run. and nick, well, nicks just a bum. so we had no money and about three gallons of gas in the boat. rolled out about 4 a.m. when launchin old man bradie asked me why i wasnt gettin any bait. when i told him he said "team two nickels now team no nickels". nick said "no- bucks sounds better (i been fishin with that man for 20 years now and, ya know, when i think about it, that is the only contribution he has ever made,lol) old man bradie gave him a look and said, "what a4re ya'll, capt. brokeass and his deckbum?" "come get yall some shrimp" needless to say, it was a short run. right around to the catwalk and lines in the water by sunup. i caught a 40 pound bull red (thats a red drum measuring over 30 inches for you yankees) that day. a personal best and less than a pound off the state record!

yep, i am capt. brokeass of the NO-BUCKS FISHING TEAM