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TODAY'S
TIP: Double-check boating equipment to avoid a first
trip of the year nightmare
by
Lee McClellan, Frankfort, Kentucky – Now
that we are in the first truly warm weeks of the year, it is easy
for people to overlook some things in their haste to get their boat
on the water. Over the years, I've learned from personal experience
about checking your boat and trailer before launching it for the
first time of the year.
A few years ago, for example, my wife, a friend and I went to Herrington
Lake to bass fish. I idled our boat just across the lake from Bryant's
Camp boat ramp when I felt an unsettling coldness on my feet and
ankles.
Six inches of Herrington Lake flooded the floor of the boat. We
were sinking. I quickly fired up the motor and beached my boat on
the ramp. We put the boat back on the trailer and let the water
run out of the hole where the plug used to be.
Water poured out of the hole like a garden hose. Other anglers at
the ramp could hardly launch their boats from laughing. Some walked
by our boat with tears in their eyes, shaking their heads and chuckling.
After all the water was gone, I put in a spare plug I had on board,
screwed it down, and pulled as hard as I could. It didn't budge.
We launched again and went on to catch several respectable largemouth
bass that day.
The problem stemmed from a swollen gasket around the old plug. After
a late winter trout fishing trip to the Dix River, I had removed
the plug and tossed it into the recessed compartment in the stern
of the boat. There it had swollen from contact with some spilled
gas and oil.
The plug had not fully seated because of the swollen gasket. I thought
the plug didn't feel quite right when I put it in, but I was too
excited to get the boat in the water on the warmest day of that
year. Water pressure and movement quickly dislodged it after we
launched.
This taught me the importance of always carrying a spare plug on
my boat.
Before you take out your boat this year, first inspect the plug
each spring to see if the rubber gasket is dry rotted, cracked or
swollen. Periodically check the plug's snugness before launching...
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