Many years ago, before bilge pumps were popular on runabouts, they sold a
flapper that fit on the outside of the boat so you could remove the drain
plug and drain the bilge automatically when you were on plane. It was
almost a one way value and when using the boat, you would never have a
problem with any appreciable water coming back into the boat.

If you trailered your boat, or reinstalled the plug when you were finished
boating it was a great tool. The problem came about when you left the boat
in the water for an extended period of time. The water slowly seeped
through the flapper, and in a few days the boat would finally sink.

I had a neighbor who sunk his boat because he forgot to reinstall the plug
after a day of skiing.

"HarryKrause" wrote in message
...
Dave Hall wrote:
I just bought my (used) boat last fall. Being the paranoid type I
thought about how to keep from forgetting to re-install the plug (a
brass screw in type). I found that I could squeeze it into the ring of
my boat's keyring. I am pretty sure that I won't forget it as I will
at least test start the boat on the trailer before putting it into the
water.

The Other Dave Hall

On 13 Apr 2005 09:05:17 -0700, wrote:


A good method for the folks with bad memory is to hang the drain plug
on the steering wheel as soon as its removed.. then it comes to mind
next time the boat is launched

Matt




In the good old days, when real boats were made of real wood (and
sometimes fiberglass), and small boats for the most part did not have
built up floor decks over the bilges, you could open the drain plug from
inside the transom and drain out any accumulated water once you got the
boat up on plane.

Gosh. My bare feet actually walked across the exposed wood frame and hull
of Penn Yans, Wolverines, Cruisers, Lymans, all of which could be drained
of water by pulling the plug from the inside.

Nothing was sweeter-looking than a clinker-built Lyman or Cruisers with
that beautiful varnished wood interior, or, for that matter, a clipper bow
Wolverine of molded mahogany varnished inside and out.

Nothing was uglier than the fiberglass boats produced during the first few
years that material began to be used as a "solid" material.









--
Bush and the NeoConvicts who control him
are destroying the once-great United States.