TOPIC: Invasive pests and drain plugs.

I'm the kind of person who WILL leave the plug out and half sink my boat. With the new requirements of removing all drain plugs before transporting boats I'm sure I will have a very wet boat quite often. LOL

More set up.... We have a 1939 wooden boat which has no drain plug and uses a bilge pump to remove unwanted water.

I'm thinking when rebuilding a fiberglass boat, eliminating the drain plugs and converting to a bilge pump system like the wood boat has might be a good choice.

Other than the argument of "It didn't come that way" I can't see any problem with eliminating the drain plugs.

On that same topic, has anyone come in contact with a self acting drain plug? One that opens when there is no external pressure on it from the boat floating in water. Some self bailing sailboat bailers had a check ball, but I've never seen one that fits in a standard drain plug hole.

Are you sure your '39 dosn't have a drain somewhere in the center of the bilge? My woodie has the drain just about under the front seat because that's the low spot when it sits on the trailer. That being said I think there are problems with the pressure self bailers, sea weed, leaves, dirt and small sticks all tend to get hung up in them and then they won't seal properly. Got to get the water out of the woodie bottom, rot is a problem even with a CPES soaked rebuild. How to get around that if you can swallow real hard is to take a pump sprayer and once a year drench the bilge with anti freeze, ethyl glycol (sp?). Kills rot spores, google it.

The only problem I have found with the bilge pump only way is that they never get all the water out and the battery is usally dead when you want to pump out all the rain water. I say put the drains in and then get e bright orange sign to put on the dash beside the key that says "DRAINPLUGS" Has worked wonders for me. If you put grains in besure to but them low enough in the transom to be able to drain all the water. I have found that in my Cresliners they are about 3" up from the bottom of the hull and makes it really hard to drain all the water out without damm near standing the boat on end. Just my thoughts, Skip.

I put one-Way plugs in my Glasspar-

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I did it because when I went to install the plugs, they were the only ones that were in stock... they do work, though. Not absolutely watertight, but they'd keep you from sinking if you forget to put the plug in, Which is the intent!

My woodies have all had drains in the bottom, more or less amidships.. I think that the difference is that they were never intended to be trailered.

Drain plugs have a distinct advantage over bilge pumps- They don't require power! With a trailered boat, you can pull the plug and leave it out so if water should get in, it has a way to drain out. A bilge pump doesn't help much there... Especially after the battery is drained

-Andrew

A lot of water can come through 2 1" holes in the time between launching the boat and returning to it after parking the car. Don't ask me how I know this......LOL In the Sea Lion pictured in elsewhere, about 4" of water.

I don't know about you guys but I have this hand pump that is about 2 feet long and 2" in diameter. It uses only human power to operate.
My dad has a 1981 IO. We have never run the bilge pump.

We can all tell stories about not putting in the plug. The second time I launched my Sabre, parked the car and came back to see the bilg pump(S) working overtime, water was up to the floorboards. Laying on my big tummy trying to put the cork back in the bottle while water is gushing pushing the opposite way is a sight to see. I'd go with the transom plug vs the bilge pump.

With the 'Lion, I couldn't find the plug and the boat would have sunk by the time I got the trailer back, so we fired up the Starflite 3 and hauled butt across the lake. It took about 1500+ feet to get up on plane, but once up there the water naturally went back out.

The solution is simple. Hang your drain plug on the winch, or to your transom tie downs.

Having sailed and raced small sailboats since my 20s, drain plugs are just part of the program. In both the CC and the Tomahawk (and in the Glastron in the future) I put a screw eye into the transom and tie the stern plug to the boat so it doesn't get lost. Also carry a spare. If you need a reminder, put a sign or label around the winch stanchion.

I think you really need both, also. If your boat is tied at a dock and rain gets in, the bilge pump is needed. For out of water storage and transport, the plug makes sense.
Of course, having a stuck float on the bilge pump brings about a whole new set of concerns...
Knock on fiberglass, I've never forgotten to put the plug in...

The biggest problem I have with this new plug removal law is that my drain plug was designed to be a once a year, or maybe never removal. It is behind the built in fuel tank.......and I'm not 20 years old anymore. (most of you know what I'm talking about there)

Then there is the debate....inside the boat or out on the transom.

Just for survey purposes I like it on the outside. Like the man sez, I ain't 20 anymore.

I agree with the "both is better", Jim. (Two solutions for the same problem.)

I started putting the plug on my Starflite in from the outside Jepstr, got tired of standing on my head in the bilge snaking around the gas tank and battery. Had reservations about doing it, but had no trouble all season with it that way. I just make sure it's tight and the lever flips up to vertical, may change to a "t-handle" plug next year though..........?

Mine are all from the outside, but mine are screw in, so that's the only way I CAN do it...


I had a friend who was slightly more absent minded than most, after time 4 or 5 forgetting to put the plug in, he named his boat GOT PLUGS? And painted the name in 3" letters across the transom, right between the stern eyes and just above the plug... Alas, as good a reminder as this was, he still managed to forget again

I use T handles and I put them in from outside. In fact they stayed in the holes all summer the last two years. My boat has only been wet inside from wet shoes, dog or fish for 2 years. Not even a drop of rain. I keep it under the car port. I take it out in winter in case the tarp would leak.

Put me down for both also, a belt & suspenders kinda guy on this one. After I glued uo the transom on the MR I wanted to let it sit clamped up for 24 hours. The next morn I woke up to loud thunder, a nasty thunder head came in off the ocean. Before I could get outside it hit, looked like a waterfall outside for about 20 minutes. Filled the hull up over the front bench seat. No floatation came in the boat but I filled the void in the bow. Have a set of 500gpm Attwoods, I like the one piece design. The MR has chanels molded in the floor to carry water aft. A bonus is the keel area in the back is flat and thick. I can dig out a small sump for the pump to sit in.

CAT, I think you mean 500 GPH, not GPM. I just specified a 500 gpm pump for a building with a 30hp electric motor and if you can lift one of those into a boat, you are a better man than I.

thetudor wrote:

CAT, I think you mean 500 GPH, not GPM. quote]

Ya got that right, I'ld have to fashion a PTO off the Merc. LOL