Hi Wiz,
Just so you know; all boats built after 19?? and under 20 feet are
required to have level floatation built in. You might not be happy with how
high out of the water it would float, but it should be enough to hang on to
while waiting for help to arrive.
You should try to rinse the salt off of the engine and anything else
that might have been submerged or splashed. I would then let things dry out
the best you can followed with a good anti corrosive spray. My choice would
be to use CRC 6-56, but there are other products that might be suitable.
Some things you need to monitor is your wiring, starter, power trim,
Steering cable, and alternator. Any salt left in these areas could cause
problems down the road.
You probably shouldn't be talking about this incident to your dealer.
You wouldn't want to give him an excuse to void your warranty.
JIMinFL

"Mr Wizzard" wrote in message
...
Not that anyone would set out to actually "test"
this, but I wonder how long it would take for
a new bayliner 175 bowrider to sink if one were
to launch without a drain plug. Anyone know ?
Ok, ok, so I need to come clean here... Yeah,
I'm stoopid, I launched without a drain plug. Yikes.
I always leave the plug in, and never take it out,
and I got complacent and haven't been doing
due diligence in checking the stupid drain plug.
Went in salt water the day before for the first
time, so I had to hose the thing out late last night.
Let it drip over night, and never thought to check
it - it's been absent from my regular routine. So,
local lake, public fishing launch area (seperate
from main rat-race launch lane, requires the
state Vehicle Use permit for fishing). Dumped
it in, tied it up, ran the truck up to park it, walked
down, untied it, got it, started it, and started to
pull out. Engine sounding a little funny, idle a
little weird, (Merc 3.0L I/O), acceleration all
weired, mushy, and just slugish. I look over
my sholder at the engine compartment, and said
now thats odd - water splashing out of the edge
of the engine cover on the bottom near the carpet.
Thought, humm, fan must be picking up water
left over from last nights hose-off, and throwing
it around the inside of the engine cover. No big.
DOH! 2.5 seconds I realized, Whoa! - I ain't
not fan - this ain't a car engine (well it is, but)...
Hol-Lee **** buckets - it sank it (no pun) that
I left the plug in. Panicsville!. Wham! - reach
over the steering wheel with both hands and
throw ALL switches upwards cause I ain't got
time to read each one to see which is the pump.
Engine chugging pretty good by now. Boat starting
to head into rocks - depth finder shows less than
2 feet. I can't let it stall, I can't let it stall, thats
all I kept saying to myself. Bang it into reverse
and jump up on that throttle and get her out from
the rocks a bit, whew, now in about 10 feet of
water just out from the launch a bit. Think quick.
Bingo, the plug is teathered (to the oil drain hose).
Without thought, wham, swan-dive off the back
of the boat, keys, smokes, rolaids, pockets full.
Flailed around the bottom, felt the plug dangling,
and fumbled around, but got it threaded in, and
hand tight. Whew, gonna need that cold beer
after THIS one I thought as I grasped the ladder.
(too bad I won't have any dry smokes, eh).
Anyways, get back up in the boat, bilage pump
pumping like a big dog, and I'm drifting towards
the rocks again. Damn. Throw her into gear,
get out more in the center, and catch my breath.
Engine still chugging and not running good at all.
Afraid to open engine cover, but I know I gotta.
Open her up, and hol-lee-****.... My engine is
drenched, water up to, and maybe past the crank,
holey f-ing crap, I just can't believe this has happened.
Sun. Sun is good. Sun is "hot", Sun dries **** I'm
thinking. Leave the cover off. Keep her running,
I can't let it stall I kept thinking. Water level. Do
I see the water level going down? No!... wtf?
Water coming out the side? yup, rolling out like
a big dog. Dang, whats taking so long then?
Calm down. Crack that beer, it'll be Ok. Smokes?
nope - all soggy, dry ones up in the truck. Balls.
Hey! - engines sounding better! (is it the beer ?)
hell no!, I just opened it. Water level ? Ahhhhh
who da man, huh? - look at dat! - water goning down.
I'll just hang out here, and let that water quit spurting
out the side. Dang, isn't it been like a half-hour now?
Andway, but the time the bilage pump was done, the
engine was bone dry from the sun, and hot enough
to fry an egg on (from the sun on that Phantom black).
Close we up, sop up the water on the carpet, and
go have fun. Dang, that was close I thought.
...or was it? 2-3 hours goes buy, the 24-oz Bug Lite's
gone, and time to start heading in. Replaying the
whole thing in my mind, I got to wondering just how
long could I have let that plug out? what would happen?
water would fill up the engine compartment to the point
that it was overflowing on the main deck, and carpet.
At whcih point, what, drain into that center section
with the door where you keep the life vests etc?
Was that pit already full? - I didn't check that while
the engine compartment was full of water. I'm thinking
that due to the design/layout of this boat (with all of
the sections/compartments and such, that it might not
sink as fast as one might think. Ideas, thoughts ?

Thanks

Wiz,

I put a clip on my boat key ring and attach the plug to the key ring. I
have seem where the service dept of marinas will attach the drain plug to
the steering wheel with a twist tie. The idea is to make it very easy not
to forgot.

PS - Put a float on the bilge pump with a lighted switch that will come on
whenever the pump is engaged. If you see the bilge pump coming on too often
or too long, you have a problem.

"Mr Wizzard" wrote in message
...
Not that anyone would set out to actually "test"
this, but I wonder how long it would take for
a new bayliner 175 bowrider to sink if one were
to launch without a drain plug. Anyone know ?
Ok, ok, so I need to come clean here... Yeah,
I'm stoopid, I launched without a drain plug. Yikes.
I always leave the plug in, and never take it out,
and I got complacent and haven't been doing
due diligence in checking the stupid drain plug.
Went in salt water the day before for the first
time, so I had to hose the thing out late last night.
Let it drip over night, and never thought to check
it - it's been absent from my regular routine. So,
local lake, public fishing launch area (seperate
from main rat-race launch lane, requires the
state Vehicle Use permit for fishing). Dumped
it in, tied it up, ran the truck up to park it, walked
down, untied it, got it, started it, and started to
pull out. Engine sounding a little funny, idle a
little weird, (Merc 3.0L I/O), acceleration all
weired, mushy, and just slugish. I look over
my sholder at the engine compartment, and said
now thats odd - water splashing out of the edge
of the engine cover on the bottom near the carpet.
Thought, humm, fan must be picking up water
left over from last nights hose-off, and throwing
it around the inside of the engine cover. No big.
DOH! 2.5 seconds I realized, Whoa! - I ain't
not fan - this ain't a car engine (well it is, but)...
Hol-Lee **** buckets - it sank it (no pun) that
I left the plug in. Panicsville!. Wham! - reach
over the steering wheel with both hands and
throw ALL switches upwards cause I ain't got
time to read each one to see which is the pump.
Engine chugging pretty good by now. Boat starting
to head into rocks - depth finder shows less than
2 feet. I can't let it stall, I can't let it stall, thats
all I kept saying to myself. Bang it into reverse
and jump up on that throttle and get her out from
the rocks a bit, whew, now in about 10 feet of
water just out from the launch a bit. Think quick.
Bingo, the plug is teathered (to the oil drain hose).
Without thought, wham, swan-dive off the back
of the boat, keys, smokes, rolaids, pockets full.
Flailed around the bottom, felt the plug dangling,
and fumbled around, but got it threaded in, and
hand tight. Whew, gonna need that cold beer
after THIS one I thought as I grasped the ladder.
(too bad I won't have any dry smokes, eh).
Anyways, get back up in the boat, bilage pump
pumping like a big dog, and I'm drifting towards
the rocks again. Damn. Throw her into gear,
get out more in the center, and catch my breath.
Engine still chugging and not running good at all.
Afraid to open engine cover, but I know I gotta.
Open her up, and hol-lee-****.... My engine is
drenched, water up to, and maybe past the crank,
holey f-ing crap, I just can't believe this has happened.
Sun. Sun is good. Sun is "hot", Sun dries **** I'm
thinking. Leave the cover off. Keep her running,
I can't let it stall I kept thinking. Water level. Do
I see the water level going down? No!... wtf?
Water coming out the side? yup, rolling out like
a big dog. Dang, whats taking so long then?
Calm down. Crack that beer, it'll be Ok. Smokes?
nope - all soggy, dry ones up in the truck. Balls.
Hey! - engines sounding better! (is it the beer ?)
hell no!, I just opened it. Water level ? Ahhhhh
who da man, huh? - look at dat! - water goning down.
I'll just hang out here, and let that water quit spurting
out the side. Dang, isn't it been like a half-hour now?
Andway, but the time the bilage pump was done, the
engine was bone dry from the sun, and hot enough
to fry an egg on (from the sun on that Phantom black).
Close we up, sop up the water on the carpet, and
go have fun. Dang, that was close I thought.
...or was it? 2-3 hours goes buy, the 24-oz Bug Lite's
gone, and time to start heading in. Replaying the
whole thing in my mind, I got to wondering just how
long could I have let that plug out? what would happen?
water would fill up the engine compartment to the point
that it was overflowing on the main deck, and carpet.
At whcih point, what, drain into that center section
with the door where you keep the life vests etc?
Was that pit already full? - I didn't check that while
the engine compartment was full of water. I'm thinking
that due to the design/layout of this boat (with all of
the sections/compartments and such, that it might not
sink as fast as one might think. Ideas, thoughts ?

Thanks

Wiz,
They do (or did) make an autoplug. It is a flapper value, that will allow
water out when the boat is on plane, but supposedly did not allow the water
back into the boat. My dad had one on his boat. The problem is they do
allow water to slowly seep in. As long as you always trailer your boat and
the boat never stays in the water overnight, you don't have a problem. I
would never use the flapper plug, to me it was a recipe for disaster.



"Mr Wizzard" wrote in message
...

"Stanley Barthfarkle" wrote in message
...

Need to remove that plug after every trip to drain any water left in the
bilge. Leave it out if left outside, even if covered, since if you have a
leak in your cover, or if it collapses, it will be able to drain. Letting
even a little water sit in the bilge for days at a time will create big
problems down the road.

Well, for almost a month now, there hasn't
been one single drop of water down there,
so that is why I've been leaving the plug in.
I cover it each night, so it just doesn't get
any water down there. But yeah, I'm just
going to have to make that part of my
routine, thats all. So they make some
sort of automatic plug? I can't believe
that with all the modern advancements,
that a $15-$30K boat gets down to
remembering to screw in a 25 cent plug.


Pre-launch, make it a habit to install the plug when you remove the rear
tiedowns. Remove the plug when you fasten the tiedowns after loading the
boat onto the trailer.

yeah, its a routine that I'm going to have
to get used to. Gosh, something so
important is just "so" manual. sheese.

thanks

dont worry about forgetting the drain plug. There are 2 types of boaters.
Those that forgot the plug and learned from it, and those that will forget
the plug. EVERYONE does it at one point.
Get a rubber stopper from the hardware store and put it on your keychain.
That way every time you reach for the ignition you will feel the plug
Good luck and welcome to the not so fun part of boating.

Steve

Karen Greer wrote in message ...
Wiz,

I put a clip on my boat key ring and attach the plug to the key ring. I
have seem where the service dept of marinas will attach the drain plug to
the steering wheel with a twist tie. The idea is to make it very easy not
to forgot.

PS - Put a float on the bilge pump with a lighted switch that will come on
whenever the pump is engaged. If you see the bilge pump coming on too
often
or too long, you have a problem.

"Mr Wizzard" wrote in message
...
Not that anyone would set out to actually "test"
this, but I wonder how long it would take for
a new bayliner 175 bowrider to sink if one were
to launch without a drain plug. Anyone know ?
Ok, ok, so I need to come clean here... Yeah,
I'm stoopid, I launched without a drain plug. Yikes.
I always leave the plug in, and never take it out,
and I got complacent and haven't been doing
due diligence in checking the stupid drain plug.
Went in salt water the day before for the first
time, so I had to hose the thing out late last night.
Let it drip over night, and never thought to check
it - it's been absent from my regular routine. So,
local lake, public fishing launch area (seperate
from main rat-race launch lane, requires the
state Vehicle Use permit for fishing). Dumped
it in, tied it up, ran the truck up to park it, walked
down, untied it, got it, started it, and started to
pull out. Engine sounding a little funny, idle a
little weird, (Merc 3.0L I/O), acceleration all
weired, mushy, and just slugish. I look over
my sholder at the engine compartment, and said
now thats odd - water splashing out of the edge
of the engine cover on the bottom near the carpet.
Thought, humm, fan must be picking up water
left over from last nights hose-off, and throwing
it around the inside of the engine cover. No big.
DOH! 2.5 seconds I realized, Whoa! - I ain't
not fan - this ain't a car engine (well it is, but)...
Hol-Lee **** buckets - it sank it (no pun) that
I left the plug in. Panicsville!. Wham! - reach
over the steering wheel with both hands and
throw ALL switches upwards cause I ain't got
time to read each one to see which is the pump.
Engine chugging pretty good by now. Boat starting
to head into rocks - depth finder shows less than
2 feet. I can't let it stall, I can't let it stall, thats
all I kept saying to myself. Bang it into reverse
and jump up on that throttle and get her out from
the rocks a bit, whew, now in about 10 feet of
water just out from the launch a bit. Think quick.
Bingo, the plug is teathered (to the oil drain hose).
Without thought, wham, swan-dive off the back
of the boat, keys, smokes, rolaids, pockets full.
Flailed around the bottom, felt the plug dangling,
and fumbled around, but got it threaded in, and
hand tight. Whew, gonna need that cold beer
after THIS one I thought as I grasped the ladder.
(too bad I won't have any dry smokes, eh).
Anyways, get back up in the boat, bilage pump
pumping like a big dog, and I'm drifting towards
the rocks again. Damn. Throw her into gear,
get out more in the center, and catch my breath.
Engine still chugging and not running good at all.
Afraid to open engine cover, but I know I gotta.
Open her up, and hol-lee-****.... My engine is
drenched, water up to, and maybe past the crank,
holey f-ing crap, I just can't believe this has happened.
Sun. Sun is good. Sun is "hot", Sun dries **** I'm
thinking. Leave the cover off. Keep her running,
I can't let it stall I kept thinking. Water level. Do
I see the water level going down? No!... wtf?
Water coming out the side? yup, rolling out like
a big dog. Dang, whats taking so long then?
Calm down. Crack that beer, it'll be Ok. Smokes?
nope - all soggy, dry ones up in the truck. Balls.
Hey! - engines sounding better! (is it the beer ?)
hell no!, I just opened it. Water level ? Ahhhhh
who da man, huh? - look at dat! - water goning down.
I'll just hang out here, and let that water quit spurting
out the side. Dang, isn't it been like a half-hour now?
Andway, but the time the bilage pump was done, the
engine was bone dry from the sun, and hot enough
to fry an egg on (from the sun on that Phantom black).
Close we up, sop up the water on the carpet, and
go have fun. Dang, that was close I thought.
...or was it? 2-3 hours goes buy, the 24-oz Bug Lite's
gone, and time to start heading in. Replaying the
whole thing in my mind, I got to wondering just how
long could I have let that plug out? what would happen?
water would fill up the engine compartment to the point
that it was overflowing on the main deck, and carpet.
At whcih point, what, drain into that center section
with the door where you keep the life vests etc?
Was that pit already full? - I didn't check that while
the engine compartment was full of water. I'm thinking
that due to the design/layout of this boat (with all of
the sections/compartments and such, that it might not
sink as fast as one might think. Ideas, thoughts ?

Thanks

"Mr Wizzard" wrote in message
...

"NOYB" wrote in message
...

"Mr Wizzard" wrote in message
...
Not that anyone would set out to actually "test"
this, but I wonder how long it would take for
a new bayliner 175 bowrider to sink if one were
to launch without a drain plug. Anyone know ?
Ok, ok, so I need to come clean here... Yeah,
I'm stoopid, I launched without a drain plug. Yikes.
I always leave the plug in, and never take it out,
and I got complacent and haven't been doing
due diligence in checking the stupid drain plug.
Went in salt water the day before for the first
time, so I had to hose the thing out late last night.
Let it drip over night, and never thought to check
it - it's been absent from my regular routine. So,
local lake, public fishing launch area (seperate
from main rat-race launch lane, requires the
state Vehicle Use permit for fishing). Dumped
it in, tied it up, ran the truck up to park it, walked
down, untied it, got it, started it, and started to
pull out. Engine sounding a little funny, idle a
little weird, (Merc 3.0L I/O), acceleration all
weired, mushy, and just slugish. I look over
my sholder at the engine compartment, and said
now thats odd - water splashing out of the edge
of the engine cover on the bottom near the carpet.
Thought, humm, fan must be picking up water
left over from last nights hose-off, and throwing
it around the inside of the engine cover. No big.
DOH! 2.5 seconds I realized, Whoa! - I ain't
not fan - this ain't a car engine (well it is, but)...
Hol-Lee **** buckets - it sank it (no pun) that
I left the plug in. Panicsville!. Wham! - reach
over the steering wheel with both hands and
throw ALL switches upwards cause I ain't got
time to read each one to see which is the pump.
Engine chugging pretty good by now. Boat starting
to head into rocks - depth finder shows less than
2 feet. I can't let it stall, I can't let it stall, thats
all I kept saying to myself. Bang it into reverse
and jump up on that throttle and get her out from
the rocks a bit, whew, now in about 10 feet of
water just out from the launch a bit. Think quick.
Bingo, the plug is teathered (to the oil drain hose).
Without thought, wham, swan-dive off the back
of the boat, keys, smokes, rolaids, pockets full.
Flailed around the bottom, felt the plug dangling,
and fumbled around, but got it threaded in, and
hand tight. Whew, gonna need that cold beer
after THIS one I thought as I grasped the ladder.
(too bad I won't have any dry smokes, eh).
Anyways, get back up in the boat, bilage pump
pumping like a big dog, and I'm drifting towards
the rocks again. Damn. Throw her into gear,
get out more in the center, and catch my breath.
Engine still chugging and not running good at all.
Afraid to open engine cover, but I know I gotta.
Open her up, and hol-lee-****.... My engine is
drenched, water up to, and maybe past the crank,
holey f-ing crap, I just can't believe this has happened.
Sun. Sun is good. Sun is "hot", Sun dries **** I'm
thinking. Leave the cover off. Keep her running,
I can't let it stall I kept thinking. Water level. Do
I see the water level going down? No!... wtf?
Water coming out the side? yup, rolling out like
a big dog. Dang, whats taking so long then?
Calm down. Crack that beer, it'll be Ok. Smokes?
nope - all soggy, dry ones up in the truck. Balls.
Hey! - engines sounding better! (is it the beer ?)
hell no!, I just opened it. Water level ? Ahhhhh
who da man, huh? - look at dat! - water goning down.
I'll just hang out here, and let that water quit spurting
out the side. Dang, isn't it been like a half-hour now?
Andway, but the time the bilage pump was done, the
engine was bone dry from the sun, and hot enough
to fry an egg on (from the sun on that Phantom black).
Close we up, sop up the water on the carpet, and
go have fun. Dang, that was close I thought.
...or was it? 2-3 hours goes buy, the 24-oz Bug Lite's
gone, and time to start heading in. Replaying the
whole thing in my mind, I got to wondering just how
long could I have let that plug out? what would happen?
water would fill up the engine compartment to the point
that it was overflowing on the main deck, and carpet.
At whcih point, what, drain into that center section
with the door where you keep the life vests etc?
Was that pit already full? - I didn't check that while
the engine compartment was full of water. I'm thinking
that due to the design/layout of this boat (with all of
the sections/compartments and such, that it might not
sink as fast as one might think. Ideas, thoughts ?


Happened to me once last year. Not only did I forget to put the plug in
the
through-hull...I left it at home. My wife left the ramp with the trailer
in
tow and was gone a good 2-3 minutes when I realized it was out. She got
home about 5 minutes after I realized the plug was out, and turned around
to
bring it back to me. Total time without a plug: about 15-20 minutes.
Fortunately, it was a Whaler. They don't need no stinkin' plugs. ;-)

What da? .... Few questions on your logistics....
she left for home "with" the trailer? Whats the
deal there ? she not go boating with you ?


I was launching the little boat for the weekend, going out fishing with my
son, and then running the boat back to my dock behind my house when I was
done. I do that on Fridays when I know I'm going to use the smaller boat on
Saturdays, so that I don't have to fight the weekend warriors at the ramp.


Which Whaler, how big, and no ****!

Boston Whaler Outrage 17'. Whalers are all designed to float without the
plug in place. My Outrage is self-bailing with scuppers. But I used to own
a 22' Whaler Revenge that had no scuppers. You pulled the starboard side
sump area drain plug at the dock or under way, and that's the way the water
drained. Some water would come in, but only a couple of inches. Since I
kept the boat in salt water though, I always left the plug in because you
would actually get growth and barnacles in the sump area when the plug was
out. The plug in the floor of the cabin on that Revenge was another story.
I pulled that plug to see what would happen, and water came in until it was
about a foot and a half deep in the floor of the cabin. I suspect that it
would have eventally leveled off, but I didn't want to push my luck. You
could pull that drain in the cabin while under way though, and the water
would run right out.



thats impressive. Thats good to know
that you now know your limit w/o plug.

The limit for most boats without a plug is the depth of the water. ;-)

"JIMinFL" wrote in message
nk.net...
Hi Wiz,
Just so you know; all boats built after 19?? and under 20 feet are
required to have level floatation built in.

Those boats won't float the powerhead though. A Whaler will.

NOYB wrote:
"JIMinFL" wrote in message
nk.net...
Hi Wiz,
Just so you know; all boats built after 19?? and under 20 feet are
required to have level floatation built in.

Those boats won't float the powerhead though. A Whaler will.




Not necessarily true. Any number of outboard boats have enough flotation
properly placed to float the boat and its powerhead.

"roadburner" roadburner^at^comcast^dot^net wrote in message
...
On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 00:51:52 -0700, "Mr Wizzard"
wrote:


"roadburner" roadburner^at^comcast^dot^net wrote in message
news
On Sun, 14 Aug 2005 22:08:41 -0700, "Mr Wizzard"
wrote:


"roadburner" roadburner^at^comcast^dot^net wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 04:35:26 GMT, "Stanley Barthfarkle"

wrote:

Need to remove that plug after every trip to drain any water left
in
the
bilge. Leave it out if left outside, even if covered, since if you
have a
leak in your cover, or if it collapses, it will be able to drain.
Letting
even a little water sit in the bilge for days at a time will create
big
problems down the road.

Pre-launch, make it a habit to install the plug when you remove the
rear
tiedowns. Remove the plug when you fasten the tiedowns after
loading
the
boat onto the trailer.


Good advice. It doesn't hurt to carry a backup screw type rubber
expansion
drain plug that can be put in from the inside of the boat. I still
carry 2
on board.

I was smart enough to buy 2 of the rubber plugs
when I got the boat, and carry them in my boat
box. The original has a teather, but if when I
went in, the plug was gone for some reason,
I'd have to get back in the boat, get the plug,
and dive back in the water - would have costed
me another minute or so.

For those of us that have water inlets, like for the head, tapered
dowel rods should also be carried.

Can you explain this to me? - why would you
need tapered dowel rods ?


Be happy to. If for instance the seacock on the through hole on the
bottom
of the boat were to break, I could break away the seacock (mine happens
to
be some type of polymer) and pound the tapered dowel rod into the
through
hole stopping the water from coming in. Forgot to mention I carry a
hammer
and a complete tool set on board. Sometimes I am 15 or 20 miles from
the
nearest shore. Too far out to get help quickly so I try to be prepared.

Best wishes to you

So what exactally are you calling a seacock?
The threaded plug, or the threaded female ring
that the plug screws into ? So more on my incident:
I got to reading some stuff on the web, and I
scared myself. Being newly single, I go out on
tje boat a lot by myself, and sometimes on the
big waters. (and at night). So did you know that
a 1-inch hole 5 inched below the water line will
let in 44 galons/min ? ****, a 1-inch hole is nothing.
If you hit a log, or dead head, you'd get a hole
bigger than 1-inch. Scares the **** out of me.
Also did research on why my bilage pump took
so long to clear out the motor compartment.
Not good. The cheesy pump on the Bayliner
is WAY too small according to recomendations.
They say that you need about 2500 Gal/Hour
worth of bilage pump on 17-18 foot boats. And,
they say to do it with multiple pumps to protect
against failure. Every boater should read this! :

http://www.yachtsurvey.com/bilge_pumps.htm

Thanks for all of your advose/help.

Your bilge pump has a hose connected to it that in turn is connected to a
thru-hull fitting above the water line. The thru-hull fitting is in the
hole
in the side of your boat that the bilge pump hose connects to.

A seacock is nothing more than a valve. I have thru-hull fitting on the
bottom odf my boat. Attached to the thru-hull is the seacock (fancy name
for a valve) which in turn has a high strength braided hose coupled to it
that goes to the head. What I intended to say was I could break off the
leaking seacock and pound a wooden tapered dowel into the hole of the
thru-hull fitting stopping the inrushing water.

In the spring, the waters I boat in have more than their fair share of
floating logs and whole trees from the heavy spring rains and flooding as
a
result of melting snow.

I spend weekends on the boat and when under way at night, keep the speed
at
idle. Over the years I have hit a couple of floating trees, but I was
going
slow enough, so no damage was done. Fortunately, the smaller lake waters I
boat in have no concrete or rock deadheads more than a hundred yards from
the shoreline.

As for Lake Erie, I know the entrance to the harbor. On one side is a
lighthouse, the other a breakwall. Both side are well marked with lights
at
night. (Though every year or so, someone manages to run into them,
sometimes
at high speed)

You are correct on the pump sizes. Bigger is better. The problem is the
size
of the exit hose that the water will be ejected from the boat through. A
small diameter exit hose won't let the 2500 gal/hr pump run at its rated
capacity.

Bigger is better.......but more than one is even better..........



Gotta run off to work. have a nice day.

Regards,
roadburner

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
NOYB wrote:
"JIMinFL" wrote in message
nk.net...
Hi Wiz,
Just so you know; all boats built after 19?? and under 20 feet are
required to have level floatation built in.

Those boats won't float the powerhead though. A Whaler will.




Not necessarily true. Any number of outboard boats have enough flotation
properly placed to float the boat and its powerhead.

Bayliners? With I/O's?

"JIMinFL" wrote in message
nk.net...

Luckily this was a local lake fresh water incident.
Motor is nice and clean now! All that manufacturing
dust is all gone now.

Thanks.

Hi Wiz,
Just so you know; all boats built after 19?? and under 20 feet are
required to have level floatation built in. You might not be happy with
how
high out of the water it would float, but it should be enough to hang on
to
while waiting for help to arrive.
You should try to rinse the salt off of the engine and anything else
that might have been submerged or splashed. I would then let things dry
out
the best you can followed with a good anti corrosive spray. My choice
would
be to use CRC 6-56, but there are other products that might be suitable.
Some things you need to monitor is your wiring, starter, power trim,
Steering cable, and alternator. Any salt left in these areas could cause
problems down the road.
You probably shouldn't be talking about this incident to your dealer.
You wouldn't want to give him an excuse to void your warranty.
JIMinFL

"Mr Wizzard" wrote in message
...
Not that anyone would set out to actually "test"
this, but I wonder how long it would take for
a new bayliner 175 bowrider to sink if one were
to launch without a drain plug. Anyone know ?
Ok, ok, so I need to come clean here... Yeah,
I'm stoopid, I launched without a drain plug. Yikes.
I always leave the plug in, and never take it out,
and I got complacent and haven't been doing
due diligence in checking the stupid drain plug.
Went in salt water the day before for the first
time, so I had to hose the thing out late last night.
Let it drip over night, and never thought to check
it - it's been absent from my regular routine. So,
local lake, public fishing launch area (seperate
from main rat-race launch lane, requires the
state Vehicle Use permit for fishing). Dumped
it in, tied it up, ran the truck up to park it, walked
down, untied it, got it, started it, and started to
pull out. Engine sounding a little funny, idle a
little weird, (Merc 3.0L I/O), acceleration all
weired, mushy, and just slugish. I look over
my sholder at the engine compartment, and said
now thats odd - water splashing out of the edge
of the engine cover on the bottom near the carpet.
Thought, humm, fan must be picking up water
left over from last nights hose-off, and throwing
it around the inside of the engine cover. No big.
DOH! 2.5 seconds I realized, Whoa! - I ain't
not fan - this ain't a car engine (well it is, but)...
Hol-Lee **** buckets - it sank it (no pun) that
I left the plug in. Panicsville!. Wham! - reach
over the steering wheel with both hands and
throw ALL switches upwards cause I ain't got
time to read each one to see which is the pump.
Engine chugging pretty good by now. Boat starting
to head into rocks - depth finder shows less than
2 feet. I can't let it stall, I can't let it stall, thats
all I kept saying to myself. Bang it into reverse
and jump up on that throttle and get her out from
the rocks a bit, whew, now in about 10 feet of
water just out from the launch a bit. Think quick.
Bingo, the plug is teathered (to the oil drain hose).
Without thought, wham, swan-dive off the back
of the boat, keys, smokes, rolaids, pockets full.
Flailed around the bottom, felt the plug dangling,
and fumbled around, but got it threaded in, and
hand tight. Whew, gonna need that cold beer
after THIS one I thought as I grasped the ladder.
(too bad I won't have any dry smokes, eh).
Anyways, get back up in the boat, bilage pump
pumping like a big dog, and I'm drifting towards
the rocks again. Damn. Throw her into gear,
get out more in the center, and catch my breath.
Engine still chugging and not running good at all.
Afraid to open engine cover, but I know I gotta.
Open her up, and hol-lee-****.... My engine is
drenched, water up to, and maybe past the crank,
holey f-ing crap, I just can't believe this has happened.
Sun. Sun is good. Sun is "hot", Sun dries **** I'm
thinking. Leave the cover off. Keep her running,
I can't let it stall I kept thinking. Water level. Do
I see the water level going down? No!... wtf?
Water coming out the side? yup, rolling out like
a big dog. Dang, whats taking so long then?
Calm down. Crack that beer, it'll be Ok. Smokes?
nope - all soggy, dry ones up in the truck. Balls.
Hey! - engines sounding better! (is it the beer ?)
hell no!, I just opened it. Water level ? Ahhhhh
who da man, huh? - look at dat! - water goning down.
I'll just hang out here, and let that water quit spurting
out the side. Dang, isn't it been like a half-hour now?
Andway, but the time the bilage pump was done, the
engine was bone dry from the sun, and hot enough
to fry an egg on (from the sun on that Phantom black).
Close we up, sop up the water on the carpet, and
go have fun. Dang, that was close I thought.
...or was it? 2-3 hours goes buy, the 24-oz Bug Lite's
gone, and time to start heading in. Replaying the
whole thing in my mind, I got to wondering just how
long could I have let that plug out? what would happen?
water would fill up the engine compartment to the point
that it was overflowing on the main deck, and carpet.
At whcih point, what, drain into that center section
with the door where you keep the life vests etc?
Was that pit already full? - I didn't check that while
the engine compartment was full of water. I'm thinking
that due to the design/layout of this boat (with all of
the sections/compartments and such, that it might not
sink as fast as one might think. Ideas, thoughts ?

Thanks