Stupid moves

[thager]

Put the boat in the lake Saturday. Fired it up and did a check under the engine cover. Went for short run then another quick check under the cover. Both exhaust manifolds warm to touch at 92degrees F. All appeared fine. More runs up and down the lake then one more check. As I open the cover I feel a fine spray on my shin and notice belt is just barely rubbing on raw water pump hose on right front of engine. Doh!!! Repaired hose with 1/1/4inch connector and ordered new hose from SkiDim. What have you guys done?

[Tom351]

I have replaced a starter on an 86 Nautique (with reverse rotation engine)...but used a standard rotation starter.....could not figure out what was wrong until I was brainstorming/staring at the harmonic balancer and it occurred to me that the timing marks were on the opposite side of TDC than they were on the 351 in my Mustang. The exhaust flappers felt like they were welded shut.

[Edmund]

This past Saturday, I reinstalled the impeller pump with a new impeller on my 1998 SNOB and it fired right up. Idled over to my ski buddy's dock and picked him up, and then noticed the temp gauge was at 180; it always leveled out at 160 in the past. I also could not feel any warm water coming out the exhaust. Thought maybe I installed the pump on backwards so we switched it around. Not good! It was correct the first time. Switched it back and the temp gauge leveled off at 160 like it was supposed to. Still not sure what happened the first time; maybe a stuck thermostat?

[ski6jones]

Boat had a little lope when running ever since I got it but ran strong and pulled great. Started to miss a little on the get up this spring. Pulled the dist cap and the contacts were corroded. Bought dist cap/rotor, plugs and plug wires. Replace the cap/rotor first and it was much better but not perfect. Replace plugs and wires and now it's butter. Wish I'd done that years ago.

[jcamp]

Not mechanically related, but picked up first boat brand new from the dealer and went straight to the lake. Was so excited I didn't notice the "boat ramp ends here" sign and drove the trailer right off the ledge. Had an undersized truck so it started pulling everything into the water but I was able to stop it. Had to use combo skis as a ramp/wedge to get the trailer wheels back over the ledge. Almost lost boat and truck within first 30 minutes of boat ownership.

[epnault]

In my excitement last weekend with ice out on Friday morning I was eager to get my docks, lifts, and boats in the water ASAP. Got to the cabin late on Friday after work and it was snowing hard. I didn’t care. Put my waders on and out the docks and boat lifts in. I was feeling pretty good. Got down to 12F over night but after my morning coffee at 6am I decided to put my pontoon in the water as I use it to install my traps on both boat lifts. Drop it in at the launch and no water coming from the tell tale on the outboard. Oh no. Only rain it for about 1 minute. Brought it back to the cabin and shot compressed air into the tell tale and hit the casting with the heat gun. Back to the launch and still no water circulated. Gave up and decided to drop it at my marina for service. The obvious happened, bad impeller, but it failed in the most unusual way and split at the hub/key way. The veins must have had enough moisture to momentarily freeze to the sides and it spun at first ignition. Dummy move to be impatient. If I would have waited 6hrs, 12pm it would have been fine. Bonehead move!

 

[LOTW]

Last year I didn't tighten up the belts on the Nautique and she got pretty hot before I realized. A few years ago the frost plugs blew out of the old MOOMBA and the block cracked, HUGE bummer as I loved that boat! Always stick a nail in the block as the rust will plug up the drain holes from the inside, I know from experience unfortunately!

[BraceMaker]

Got whole crew to launch and bring trailer back to storage. Plus guests out to lake. Plug in launch boat start engine. Do all the safety checks let it get to temp oil pressure no leaks. Send trailer and truck away

 

Only forgot that I had removed the prop to have it repaired and the prop is in a box in the back the truck who's driver didn't remember his phone. 5 people sitting an hour till trailer driver dropped it into storage and got home to check phone ... Plus underwater prop install

 

Now I added prop but check to my routines

[MISkier]

I bought my first brand new truck, a 1996 Chevy Tahoe, and my first brand new boat within 6 months of each other. I specifically ordered 4-wheel drive because I knew I would be launching the boat from unpaved access locations on occasion.

 

For my very first unpaved launch, I was nervous and wanted to be careful. I selected 4 wheel drive low because I didn't know that 4 high is plenty for all but the most ridiculous traction needs. I was careful to put the transmission in park so I wouldn't have the truck roll in, as has happened to others. I even engaged the emergency brake.

 

The boat launched without issue. However, I experienced a lot of difficulty pulling the empty trailer out. The truck shuddered and labored and seemed to require every ounce of horsepower to pull it up a relatively small incline on hard-packed sand/gravel.

 

I remember thinking that there was no way I would be able to pull the boat out if it was so hard to pull out the empty trailer. And, the truck had been named "Truck of the Year". I was actually cursing that title as I struggled (my exact thought was "Truck of the Year, my ass").

 

Then, I noticed the parking brake was still on. It tows much easier with that off. And, once I became more experienced with the truck, I haven't needed or used 4 wheel drive low since. I owned that truck for 22 years and sold it at 276,000 - still running/towing great. So, I guess it really was "Truck of the Year".

[Orlando76]

There’s not enough webspace for me to list my stupid moves.

[epnault]

@BraceMaker oh that is a good one. Prop check is not standard. LOL

[BraceMaker]

@epnault it was a whole thing. Guests were my brother's not mine. Was getting pushed to get boats in and I specifically knew I needed to mount the prop. But between rounding up vests for guests, coordinating all my tools doing the whole bit and the fact that my prop tool was in the box with the prop and not with my bucket of tools (I have a 5 gallon bucket with a spin on lid with every tool used to winterize and dewinterize) it just added up.

 

Now I do not let guests participate in the launch project. They can be picked up at the dock.

[Orlando76]

I will say, probably the most stupid move that I was apart of that anybody actually saw was me loading a bubble butt Ski Nautique and it fell off the trailer. But it wasn’t my fault.

 

I was a disinterested 3rd party giving a good look over and test drive on a local SN for an out of state guy. Overall the boat failed performance wise (cosmetics was 85%) and I knew friend wouldn’t have bought it at the point. The seller asked me what I thought as he was rather proud of the boat and I had to be honest. Come time to load boat, seller does the truck, wants me to do the boat. He’s got the tunes on in truck, windows up, Florida in February so ac was probably on high. He backs the Ramlin trailer way down the ramp. I mean fenders 3’ under water. I thought this is gonna load like shit but I already gave the seller a bad report, I already came off like a know it all ass because the boat had problems that I picked up right away...., I’ll just for the first time zip my lips and ride this out. I drive boat to crash pads, boat 100% floating on its own. Seller hooks safety chain but the safety clasp was broken on the safety hook. Something I already pointed out ?‍♂️. Seller drives out of ramp. Boat comes forward with trailer some but mind you it’s floating very much on its own, not resting on the wish bone. It floats enough to knock the broken safety hook off the bow, as the weight of boat and the angle of the dangle changes boat starts to slide off the trailer. I’m jumping, hollering, waving, honking a broken horn (that I already pointed out) Joe Cool Seller sees nothing. Bam, boat falls off trailer and is sitting on the ramp. Surprisingly enough it happened so slow that there was no gelcoat damage and prop shaft was still within .003”. Evidently a buyer across country bought it sight unseen.

[UWSkier]

Last summer here...

 

We launch early. Like 5 am here in the desert in the summer. I have relatively recently started launching by unhooking my winch and safety straps in the staging area and giving the trailer a good dunking to let the boat float off. Weeeeellll, a couple weeks back I put the Fulton in reverse and proceeded to unhook the safety strap... but I left the winch strap attached.

 

As my buddy floated away somewhat expeditiously in my boat, chaos was going on a few feet behind my tailgate. Since I dunk it in pretty deep, the handle was cycling through the water on the end of its downstroke and throwing a rooster tail that would have made a bass boater proud. With the frantic freewheeling gear clicky noise, any waterfowl within a 300 yard radius started pitching in with their vocals and evacuating in all directions.

 

The saving grace was it was a Tuesday and we had the lake to ourselves. Only a few slumbering waterfowl were inconvenienced. That and my truck was due a rinse anyways.

[Rednucleus]

Had to paint the garage door because new boat didn't fit and had to have new header and door installed (that was 1st stupid - didn't measure garage door). Was going to put a tarp on boat to paint door, decided that was STUPID, just pull boat out of garage to paint - but neglected to close the ski locker doors on the Sanger and tore them off the back when they hit the overhead beam in the garage.

Like @Orlando76 I have lots more but didn't want to crash the site!

[BrennanKMN]

I've been pretty lucky so far. I always try and run the boat in the driveway to start the season to find those little gotchas before I am on the water. That doesn't help you remember the plug though! Made that mistake once... so far.

 

My personal favorite was locking the keys in the truck while getting the boat ready to launch. That was an awkward wait at the ramp while a buddy drove out the spare set of keys.

[6balls]

Wanted to wax my dads falcon barefoot. Was backing into out garage solo. Put the lower unit thru the wall into the closet on the other side...must have been 16 y.o. Dad was not happy

[Ski2000]

First year we had out Ski Nautique we went up to my wife’s home town for the 4th. Was out of my routine, chaos of 5 excited kids in the boat. Floated away from the trailer and both bilge pumps just pumping water like crazy. Drain plug still in the cup holder. Was a hectic 30 sec thinking I’m going to drown my kids, niece, nephew and boat.

I was able to fumble through getting the plug in although I might have scared the crap out of the kids.

[Garn]

I went skiing with @Brady early one morning. We drove out to the lake. Brady hooked up the boat trailer while I climbed in the boat. Brady backed the boat into the water. I was looking back when I noticed a buoy or something under the water to the side of the boat. I thought what is that. I looked at the truck while Brady was pulling forward and realized that there was no trailer attached to the truck! Brady didn't lock the trailer to the hitch! So when he backed in the trailer came off the hitch and just rolled into the lake! The buoy I was looking at was the trailer guide under the water with the trailer! I just started laughing! I had heard of people doing such a boner move but I didn't think Brady would be one of them! LOLOL!

[buechsr]

Orlando 76,

 

Wow, that guy sounds like a real idiot! I've never been called Joe Cool before...but I kind of like it.

 

Your story stretches what actually happened, but was a fortunate outcome, I agree. For the board's edification, it was a 22 year old boat with about 1300 hours on a carbed 351. Boat didn't get sold across the country sight unseen (although I had someone who committed over and over to buy it from across the country, as it was in fact the cheapest bubble back in the country, had a new interior, and stargazer...but I digress), it got sold locally, after a test drive, to someone who paid more than your friend had the opportunity to buy it, who I actually talked to recently and loves it. So, actually, I appreciated your "bad report". :) ;)

 

 

 

I'm not too proud to call these on myself:

 

Same lake that Orlando came to, but at a friend's beach where he has "blown" sand out creating a "drop" for better trailer angle for launching. I needed to launch my vdrive and he tells me to use his beach, a few hundred yards from where I live. In any event, I neglected to scope the width of said hole. I get going back and sure enough my boat is listing at like 30 degrees....and my truck is coming back, and back, and back. Sure enough, trailer is only halfway into this hole. I don't mean this hole is a few inches deeper, its like a 6 foot cliff, and dragging me in it! When all is said and done, I've got 6 inches of water in my back seat, boat floated off virtually sideways, and 2 diesels had to get me out. Figured it was a good reason to change the tranny and diff fluid. Knock on wood, still runs like a top.

 

I'm not proud of this one, but since we can all be self-deprecating, I'll tell it, briefly. A little off-topic, but was most certainly stupid. Had some coca-colas until closing time at an establishment on our lake. Plenty of moonlight for a barefoot run on the way home (on the boom, mind you, we didn't want to be unsafe). Since this was not planned, didn't have any barefoot gear so me and some buddies just took turns on the boom in our boxers. Seemed like a totally reasonable decision at the time. Of course, thinking this is a good idea to document, cameras are out and hand gestures are being offerred to the camera. Much like how Maverick greets the Russian Mig. In any event, I catch a toe and hang on, swing around, and stand back up. No biggie, I thought nothing of it at the time. However, while flopping on my stomach at 40 for a few seconds as I gathered myself, what I neglected to gather was my britches. So, unbeknownst to me at the time, upon my friends' realizing what had happened, they promptly tossed the rest of my clothes into the lake. A few hearty laughs, I drop, now realizing that I've got no boxers on. So, I get on the platform and ask my buddy for my shorts. Nothing but laughter. Finally, someone tells me the news. They're about a mile back. Now reality is setting in. I'm going to have to walk from my dock, under full moonlight, up to my house, with nothing. I scurry up (I think unnoticed by my neighbors) and think it's all over, and fall asleep next to my very understanding new wife...until..."WHAT THE F HAPPENED TO YOU LAST NIGHT?!!!!". Me: "Nothing, we were at ____, and came home". "Have you seen yourself in the mirror?!" This was around 6:00, so, the obvious answer was no, but intrigued, I made it vertical and examined myself. If you turned a 3 year old loose with magic markers for an hour they could not have duplicated the depth of color and square inch completion of my newly tatooed body. I was purple, green, and yellow, from my ear to my toes. It seems that the water texture was just perfect to have come close to removing my dermis. There I was, naked, discolored from head to toe, too embarrassed to speak. So, my wife spoke for me and broke the silence, "Guess you're not going to back to _____ with your friends any time soon are you?". "No, honey".

[BrennanKMN]

I thought of another one...

 

A few years back I ran my boat out of gas in the middle of the course pulling a skier (had a bit of a fuel gauge problem there for awhile). Thankfully the boat launch was about 2500 feet away. The two of us hooked up a rope to the bow eye and started swimming the boat in. Once we got close enough to the ramp to touch we walked it in. Dumbo me didn't put on the water sandals I keep in the boat and after about 5 steps I stepped on something sharp, I think it was a broken glass bottle, and sliced up my big toe. Thankfully it was a pretty clean cut. I wrapped it with duct tape and finished loading up the boat and got home. After eating a quick dinner off to the hospital for stitches I went.

 

That was the first time skiing sent me to the doctor. 6 stitches later and a few weeks of no skiing, thankfully skiing hasn't sent me back yet.

[rawly]

When launching into the ocean ( literally ) on a low tide with algae covering the bottom of the ramp , I forgot to engage the front hubs of my 1 year old 4x4..............the only reason that I wasn’t able to drive home that day , besides the many beers that I drank while changing all the fluids , was that the in tank fuel pump was damaged by the salt water that entered the fuel tank......Toyota’s take a sinking and keep on thinking.

Did I mention that it was not insured because of some of the previous STUPID decisions that I made ? Ended up driving it for another 100,000 miles or so with zero issues. Wonder how many more miles the person who stole it from me got out of her ? By then it was insured , but I was bummed because all of the good and bad memories that I had with that truck.

[Orlando76]

@buechsr the person who asked me to look at that boat knew I was fairly knowledgeable of SN. He also knows I have extemely high standards and a keen eye which is why he asked me to put eyes on it.

 

Like I said, cosmetics I gave generous 85%, average less detailed person would call that show room condition. I don’t recall price of it but I’m betting if it was cheapest bubble butt in the country then a particular skier in Alabama probably would’ve added it to his surplus of bubble butts. A carb’d boat when dialed in will run every bit along with its EFI counterpart. Those ski boats with the fastest and quickest numbers undoubtedly are carbeurated. I said “evidently” it sold sight unseen, Which indicates I wasn’t certain. I’m sure you sold it for more money as last I talked to you, you said it was in the shop fixing some of the inssues. The person I was looking out for ended up buying a boat, sight unseen. Knowing the individual he bought it from and his EXTENSIVE knowledge, I’m certain the buyer got a hell of a boat and I’m impressed with the pictures I’ve seen.

[buechsr]

Orlando,

 

Good for your buddy. So be it. Everyone's happy. I bought it sight unseen, used it for about 2 years and 200 hours, and made money. Quite the opposite of one of my "stupid moves". :) I did have the carb looked at following your test, thanks for that suggestion.

 

 

[sodbuster88]

Siliconed my carpeted bunks one fall on the last load of the year just before winterizing. My thinking was it would be easier to move the boat around on the trailer in the garage when I waxed the bottom...which it was. Come spring and first launch, I forgot about it and as usual, I unhooked the winch strap before backing down the ramp. BIG mistake. Kiddos sitting in the back seat didn’t help...got down the ramp half way and noticed in my rear view mirror the boat started to slide off the trailer with quite a bit of concrete left to go. I knew I couldn’t brake, but rather I needed to accelerate to counter the gravity pulling the boat off. By the time I got to waters edge, I was traveling about 10-15 mph backwards. I remember seeing how big the kids eyes were In the mirror as I was backing down the ramp at NASCAR speed. The boat made a huge splash and created a massive stern wave around the dock. Swamped the kids as the boat rocketed off the trailer backwards. Learned a few lessons that day LOL.

[DaveD]

I pulled the boat out of the garage with the engine cover up. The cover just caught the bottom edge of the door ripping the cover at the hinges.

[PatM]

I had to gas up my truck after a road trip with my boat last year. I pulled up to the pump noting that I'm going to have to back up when leaving so I don't catch the side flare of my trailer on the metal/concrete U pump protector. Nope forgot. @Mick04 just laughed at me.

[Tom351]

This one was a near-miss....launching my 99 Sport Nautique by myself- back down the ramp, get out to unclip the turnbuckle, realize that I need to back in a foot or two deeper, get in truck, release parking brake, engage reverse, back up a couple of feet, engage parking brake, unclip turnbuckle, start reversing the boat off of trailer and right as I am clear of the trailer I notice the reverse lights on my truck are still on. The parking brake seems to be holding just fine...so I do my best to calmly circle around to the dock (a strong crosswind made circling back necessary) and scurry over there to take the truck out of reverse. Feeling lucky that my truck and trailer did not follow the boat into the lake.

[thager]

Imagine how much fun this would be around a campfire after a few brewskis!

[rawly]

With this social distancing , that would be a big ass fire ring ?

[jetpilotg4]

@DaveD I did the same thing on a 2019 Nautique ??‍♂️ Last fall.

[DaveD]

@jetpilotg4 I hope that didn't cost you a new engine cover like it did me.

[jetpilotg4]

@daveD No but .......... Miami Nautique did a great job with the gel cote, sea deck, and skin repair, and replaced interior hinges on gas shocks. Garage door didn't fair so well ....

 

 

[Kevin89MC]

Left the plug out once, ran out of gas once, but the biggest oops was somehow forgetting to tighten up the screws on the impeller cover on my '89 ProStar. Was up at speed and didn't hear the alarm until I slowed down to idle. Gauge had pegged, opened the engine cover to see water dripping out the loose cover. Long story short, blew a headgasket and cracked a head. Wrenched on it myself so didn't cost too much. Great excuse to upgrade to GT40 heads (got them used at a junkyard for cheap), gained a noticeable bump in HP, made the boat much better to ski behind, so it turned out well.

[alanc]

my most stupid move was on my last ski of the shortend season due to the corona vireos the boat driver was stopping the boat as i wanted to stop (sking) and i thought i would spray them and at the last minute he turned the boat in at me .i layed the ski over filled them in bigtime and somehow managed to go under the front of the boat and out the side ,somehow i did not touch the boat or damage my new radar senate lithium on its second time out . boat driver shit i could not stop laughing.could have ended badly he did bang it in neutral but .boat was just coming down of plane

 

[ski6jones]

I've heard so many water ski injury stories start with "I was trying to spray them"

[hammerski]

The very first time I skied with my buddies 78 ski nautique at lake Berryessa in 1980. Put it in the water and starter was locked up. No biggie we thought. We went to the nearest parts store and got a new starter. Boat still wouldn’t start so I took the air cleaner off. We cranked again and gas and air was shooting up in the air out of the carb. I said to Larry, that’s weird, looks like it’s trying to run backwards?? Then the lightbulb went off in Larry’s mind, “Oh crap!! These motors are reverse rotation!!” Ski Day postponed.

[WIRiverRat]

I was changing the oil in the boat. After I took off the filter I did not check to verify that the old O ring came off with it as well. Put the new filter on, filled it up with oil and started to run the boat. Oil pressure came up and everything looked good. I opened the engine cover about 30 second later to find oil being shot all over the bilge. It took about 6 hours to get everything cleaned up properly and I still get an oil slick anytime I get some water in the bilge. Two O ring gaskets do not seal better than 1.

[ESPNSkier]

My first real ski boat was a 1972 SN that I bought in 1980 (one of the orange and black models). We had just finished a set in a small bayou in Louisiana and headed back to the boat ramp. My wife was sitting on the engine cover and she tapped me on the shoulder and said "I smell something burning". I didn't smell anything and the temp gauge was right at 160 where it always was....so I kept going. By the time I stopped at the dock I could smell something burning and I turned the engine off. Turns out that the transmission cooler was stuffed full of weeds and the smell was spark plug boots melting. I guess the temp gauge doesn't work so well when no water gets to the sending unit! :) Engine was locked up and would not spin over for more than an hour. Got lucky and only damage was a small drop in compression on the number one cylinder. Bigger damage was that my wife was right and I was wrong and I still hear about it 40 years later when I state an opinion and she'll say something like: "Yeah, well remember when I told you that the engine in the boat was overheating?!?".

[ESPNSkier]

Halloween Nautique!!!

 

[oldjeep]

I have done the same thing twice now. Got distracted putting the boat away and forgot to put the tower down, which crushed the gutter above the garage before I noticed. Couple years later I had apparently pulled the tower knobs but not folded the tower down. and bashed up the facia and soffit right underneath the now new gutter. Still need to fix that ;)

[disland]

Suggesting that practice scores should count

[HMan66]

The worst was probably trailering my boat from Sacramento up to Lake Almanor. Didn’t realize until the next morning that I never clipped the strap to the bow eye. Lucky I had the transom straps on!

[MISkier]

At our State Championship tournament a few years ago, one of my ski buddies was asked to swap out the boats for the next round. He drove the truck and recruited me to hop in the boat and idle it over to the starting dock. He backed the truck in carefully and I started the engine when I thought we were in deep enough. After a moment, I put it in reverse and just tried to idle it off the trailer. It wouldn't move.

 

I motioned for him to back it in further to get it deeper and float it off. It didn't float off. I gave it some more throttle in reverse - actually, quite a lot of throttle. Still nothing. I asked the driver if he had disconnected the bow strap. He had. Baffled, I shut off the engine and we pulled the boat out. The transom straps were still connected. Once we unhooked those and backed in again, it floated off with no assistance.

 

In our defense, it's the only time dealing with dozens of different boats at tournaments and clubs that we can recall anyone actually having the transom straps on the trailer and using them. Thankfully, we at least didn't continue backing it deeper until the stern submerged or the trailer started floating.

[epnault]

I thought of another bonehead move on my part.

 

It was the first year, 2012, we bought our lake place and at the time we had an MC X9 2002. I was spending a lot of time on the MC site since purchasing our boat in 2009. There was always a lot of talk about the fuel pumps of this era and I had a DIY kit ready at all times. So we just finished up a session of getting a couple family of kids leaning to ski and wakeboard and I parked the boat on the dock to dry it out in the sun. Well all our guests and their kids were using the boat as a swim raft and jumping in and out while I was up at the cabin grilling food. After dinner we decided to go out for a few surf sets. Fill the ballast and turn the key and it cranks but does not fire. Keyed it on a couple of times and didn’t hear the pump. Dang it, must be my time! So I got my kit and changed the fuel pump in about 30 minutes. Everyone was impressed until the boat didn’t start after this. I was deflated and got my multimeter out and realized I had no power to the pump. Then I started troubleshooting the first thing - kill switch. Yup. It was laying in the floor of the boat. One of those kids must have pulled it. That was the last time I allowed kids to play in the boat.

[fu_man]

I put the boat in last weekend. Backed the trailer into the water, hopped up into the bow and started the engine, unwound the trailer winch, and released the strap. As I turned to go back to the helm I noticed the bilge was pumping out water. WTF? My bilge pump never runs. Oh Shit! The drain plug! Reached into the glove box, popped the dog house, and was able to get it in without much problem. Luckily I caught it in time but it sure elevated my heart rate.

[Tom351]

I have yet to forget my drain plug, but my boat's previous owner cable tied a spare plug to the upper cooling hose for that type of mistake. I thought it was a great idea as trying to find the plug could be a total panic- luckily you knew right where to find it.

[Rednucleus]

Forgotten plugs getting a lot of action here. An interesting poll would be those who have never done it, done it once, or like me more than once. My cure was to always leave the plug hooked in the boat key chain.

[Wayne]

Put me down for forgetting the drain plug once. My wife’s in the boat and I’m backing it into the water. I get the bow strap and safety chain off and can’t push the boat off the trailer. My wife says “it’s not floating off the bunks, back it in more”. So I have my truck bumper deep and the boat seems like it’s starting to float and I start pushing it off. Then all of a sudden the tailpipe bubbling under the water hits me and my wife says “hey the bulge is running”. I look at the back of the boat and the waterline is at the rub rail. Best part is after we get everything back out of the water a park ranger walks over while we are letting things drain and said “don’t worry I won’t tell anyone”, then my wife yells “no but I will”! I think our whole lake knows I left the plug out.

 

My neighbor topped me. Connected his battery backwards one year. It smoked the alternator, luckily no other damage.

[Rednucleus]

My neighbor bought an older bass boat last year; never owned a boat and no test drive. 1st launch, parked truck, came back to boat mostly submerged. Dragged it out, drained it, put plug in and launched again. Same result as he put plug in live well, not bilge. He was miffed I would not go with him for maiden voyage on a sunny Saturday at a busy public launch!