Put the boat in the water.
After a few minutes of getting a couple things in place I realize that in my excitement I forgot to pull the straps and transom saver so I pull up a few feet to remove them.
I notice the boat is draining a TON of water for having just been in the water for maybe 5 minutes.
Yes, I did have the boat plug in.

What I found is that a hose that drains one of the livewells (I assume) is COMPLETELY DETACHED from the drain hole at the transom.

I was stunned at how much water entered the hull in such a short period of time but now all I am is pissed.

Not something that should be missed by a well known dealer. A dealer that I�m 40 minutes from.

People make mistakes

Sounds like a success. You survived to post about it.

The main thing is what have you learned from this experience? Seriously.

I understand your frustration, but am glad you didn't suffer any irreversible damage.

Been around boats since I was about 7 years old and that's several decades ago. I was just recently telling my wife how its been years since I forgot to put in the drain plug. Well I jinxed myself and a few days later after launching my boat in the dark I said gee, whats that red light on the switch panel....

Won't be your last time forgetting transom straps or the drain plug.

I know the feeling my new boat is setting at my dealer 3 hours from here. It has been two weeks now.

Guys, the boat plug was IN. That wasn�t why the hull was filling with water. The dealer failed to make sure all drain hoses were attached to their exit ports. Water was gushing in from a place that it never should be.

In retrospect, if I hadn�t forgot about the straps my boat might be at the bottom of lake lewisville right now.

I guess I�ll check the hull after a couple minutes from now on to make sure everything is kosher.

Did your bilge work?

Doesn�t sound like it.

If a hose was left off it was most likely an oversight by the manufacturer.

Should the dealer have caught it? Yeah probably, but they didn't.

Funny how THEIR mistakes are the unforgivable ones! Sorry bout your maiden voyage though.

The time I left the transom strap on was bizarre. I back down the ramp straight, got out of the truck and the boat and trailer was pointed 30 degrees crooked. Backed down again straight, got out of the truck and it was just as crooked again. I figured it out then. I was baffled at first!

And yes this happens. I did exactally the same thing with a pretty good cross wind. Look out mirrors and boat is literally almost jackknifed. Wasn't that way when I backed down! Pull out-back down again & same thing! Trailer is floating and wind is blowing the boat/trailer sideways! Amazing how easily it floated the trailer(and how dumb I can be).

Yes, I pumped out the rest of the water from the ramp. But, I�m glad I wasn�t in the middle of the lake to find out if it could keep up with the substantial amount of water that was filling the hull at an alarming rate.

I do a lot of business with BPS in Garland (not sure which one you bought from) and most are very knowledgeable about their products, especially electronics. However, their make ready and service dept. leaves a lot to be desired. I bought and had them install two Lowrance graphs, one at the console and one at the bow. Very disappointed in the workmanship. Had to redo some of their work including re-routing some wiring and relocating a transducer. What you described is totally unacceptable and should be reported to management. You are very fortunate no serious damage was incurred. Having said that you may need to make yourself a check list for launching and loading your boat at least until you establish a routine. I've seen trailers floating with boats on them more than once and it can happen to anyone especially if you're in a hurry. I've also seen guys trying to back their boat off the trailer and the hook is still attached to the boat. $hit happens at the worse time too. Congrats on your new boat.

Nitro?

Hate to hear that. I would drive that sucker in there first thing tomorrow morning and tell 'em to break out their fine tooth comb, cause they got work to do.

Things happen it won�t be the last time something goes wrong we all make mistakes

Turns out the fitting that connects the hose to the port was broken. Dealer MAY have the part and will take it first thing in the morning to Cabela's (shoutout to them for taking care of the situation when they had nothing to do with this ordeal). I wouldn't be so upset but this may effect my plans for Thursday which include somebody else's time and I HATE holding other people up or cancelling plans last minute.

Been there and done that on the loose hose. Also have forgotten the plug a few times.

I also have slung the boat off, with a rope attached to the winch strap.....and forgot to latch the catch in the on the strap ......and watched my boat drift away. Also have launched my old boat with a transom save still attached to the lower unit.


Only thing I've done on the new boat was launch it with the steering stops still snapped onto the sea star. Felt weird having no steering.

I've pretty much done it all at one time or another.


Glad you caught the FUBAR by the manufacturer. That could have been nasty

Sounds kinda "Nitro-ish". Am I right? Hopefully it was.....I wouldn't expect that from a "higher end" brand boat, but I've seen it all having owned a couple Nitros.

Ok, so I remember your screen name from a post a few weeks ago. Did you buy the boat you were referring too after all? If yes, can you post a pic of it?

Did you get to test drive the boat before you bought it?

My intention was not to be a smart A or anything. I've learned many lessons through my mistakes and the mistakes of others. I've been fortunate enough to only have left the drain plug out twice in my years of owning boats. The first time I was in a hurry and forgot. I was by myself fishing a bridge that was twenty feet above the water. I was wondering why all the people driving over seemed to be staring at me. After about fifteen minutes or so of fishing I figured it out. They were thinking to themselves I wonder how long it's going to take before he realizes he's sinking! The water was almost up to my knees when I was sitting at the console. Thankfully I was in a wide open body of water and was able to plow to drain enough out to get back to the launch.

I've forgotten straps, transom saver, bow hook, plug, etc. The weirdest one, was I pulled the livewell pump cartridge to clean it. There is an o-ring on the cartridge for the seal. Apparently it came off as I was standing on my head in the bilge to remove it. I launched, parked, and went fishing. A few minutes after I stopped, my auto bilge came on. No big deal, water came over the back when I stopped. A few minutes later it comes on again. Strange. No biggie. A few minutes later again. I look in the bilge, and water is coming out around the pump. Fortunately the o-ring was floating in the water. You would be surprised how much water comes out of the livewell pump housing when you remove the pump. Ha. Stuff happens, and stuff gets forgotten. It won't be the last time. When I bought my Champion, new, off the showroom floor, I picked it up and went straight to Fork. Got up the next morning to launch and go thru the break in routine. Boat wouldn't start. No power to anything on the motor. Did some checking and couldn't find anything. Haul butt back to the dealer on Saturday morning. It was a ground wire to the motor that wasn't connected. We're all humans, and we all forget things. Have fun with the new boat, it's just part of it.

I've had the exact same thing happen. Used boat though. Bought a Basscat Pantera II, backed into water, was rapidly filling with water. Turned out aerator pump cartridge that attached directly to inside of transom had busted, so there was just a hole in the boat. Was an interesting one to fix... I don't like that style of aerator so I changed it.

first boat , 15 years ago , brand new . I have the dealer install an extra battery for the TM . Couple trips getting used to being a first time boat owner --all OK . Third time out , my son and I are on catching em with C-Rigs . One gets gut hooked kinda bad and won't swim down , so I decide to see if putting in in my live well will help it survive. Several hours later , I try to get on plane , and the entire back end of the boat is full of water , and under the lake level , I slightly panic and try to get her on plane , making it sink worse . I pull off the big motor and turn of both bilge pumps , water starts pumping out , After an hour , middle of the lake , the boat pumps out . Dealer had disconnected the livewell pump to add the battery , never reconnected it up . Dam near sank the boat . PISSED OFF would be a complete under statement .

"Bilges" do not "work". A bilge is a low level interior SPACE in the bottom of a boat. The bilge is always there, whether it contains water or not, and pumps, hoses and wiring, or not.

Did he have an automatic BILGE PUMP, and did it work? .....he might not have noticed given the other distractions. An open livewell drain fitting will out-flow most stock bilge pumps, so I would not be surprised at a lot of water in the bilge. This is why I upgrade the bilge pump system on any boat I buy. My current boat has pumps with a combined flow just shy of 2500 GPH.

I'm surprised being a brand new boat that the dealer didn't, at the very least, lake test the boat before delivery.

One would think that the factory would test before leaving the factory.

On the positive side, If you hadn't forgotten the straps you'd not have found the leaking hose issue until you'd parked the truck and headed out to sea which would have really made the day worse. Things seem to happen for a reason and work themselves out.

But...I'm right there with you on being pissed off, those mistakes are more forgivable if we weren't paying what we pay for these rigs, AND we plan our whole week around getting to use them once or twice a week, then it doesn't work. Usually its our own fault for lack of maintenance, but buy a new care you don't expect the wheel to fall off while driving it home:)

No auto bilge on a new boat?

I have a story that is one of the best I've ever heard.

A friend of mine took his Champion to a dealer at Fork (no longer in business) and asked for a Hotfoot to be installed. They marked where he wanted it to be and settled on a price. A few days later they called to say his boat was ready. He picks it up and goes straight to the lake for an afternoon's fishing.

He gets the boat ready and backs it into the water. He is by himself so it takes a little extra time. He climbs from the back of his pickup into the boat and starts the motor. No issues so far - let's the motor warm a couple minutes then puts it in reverse. He gently gives it some throttle. The boat doesn't move so he gives it more throttle. Still doesn't move.

Thinking he left the transom ties on he gets out of the boat and pulls it out of the water. Ties are off. Bow is unhooked. He backs in again, this time deeper. Jumps back into the drivers seat and starts it up. Guns the motor in reverse. Boat still doesn't budge. Now he is really confused.

He pulls the boat back out of the water and looks all around it to see what the matter could be. Everything looks normal.

Perplexed, he drives back to the dealer and explains his situation. They pull the boat into the shop and start inspecting it. The shop owner finds the young man that installed the hotfoot and begins to question him.

They discover he had used 4" long SS screws to affix the Hotfoot to the deck under the console.

THEY HAD SCREWED THE BOAT HULL TO THE TRAILER BUNK!!!

Wow. That is rich.

if the bilge pump failed to work or keep up .........
all you have to do is fire the motor up and take off ,,,,,,, the boat will drain as you drive.
some people do not this little fun fact of boating.

Wonder what would have happened if you had removed the straps and transom saver and left down the lake. Might have been a blessing in disguise.

Ken, talk about being mad


I have a good buddy (Justin) that has been fishing with me and another buddy (Ryan) for over 10 years. Ryan ended up buying a new to him boat and basically let Justin have his old boat. Justin met me at Lake Lavon for his virgin run.
Dip boat in.
Get in and start it
move to courtesy ramp
park truck
get to boat
do a quick circle
back to courtesy ramp
He forgot the plug on his 1st attempt. I had to call Ryan to let him know.

A week later his is fishing at night with his daughter and she kicked the kill switch
He used the trolling motor for two hours before being rescued by a friend.
He realized what happened after manually loading. He also shin kicked the trailer while loading.
I let him know that he knocked a few of the typical items off the list early.

We've all done it!

It happens to all of us. I've done the transom straps thing more than once. Forgot to remove the steering stops one time, too. Launch, back up and go to turn. Nothing. WTH's wrong with this thing???

LMAO!!

well its out of the way now...

If this were to happen to you out on the lake, just fire up the motor and cruise across the lake...the water will be sucked right out once you get on plane (speaking from experience )

I've seen that happen several times. Usually a good mechanic that does the PDI will check those hoses if they have had that happen before. I know some of them go up on but don't quite latch and seal off. Now the next boat you get you will back it in the water and open all the doors and check.......growing pains. Congrats on the new boat.

Again there is more to come , just have to learn from them because some times mistakes can get $$$$

best thread in a while Thanks for posting

exact same thing happened to me except i got my boat launched and did not realize it till i had stopped and boat started filling with water. fortunately the plug was on the inside and was able to get boat going pull the plug and drain water as we were finally on plane and make back to boat ramp. and a livewell hose was not connected, must have happened at the factory. who would think to check that at dealer when boat was delivered? had a happy ending but i was very unhappy.

Gotta stop sooner or later then what. He said he never got the boat off the trailer or didn't you read his post.

This is so crazy! I was in some thick stuff fishing once and my buddy got hung up, when I backed up for him I bumped a stump and heard a snap (told myself it was a branch but deep down I knew what it was). I had nailed the drain port and cracked it, water comes in REAL fast!!

R&R marine in Pittsburgh lake tested my new Basscat Caracal. Great guys and will highly recommend them to anyone looking for a Basscat.

good to see you back jackson_ranger thanks for your service this week especially!

So I take new girlfriend fishing. Her Dad lives at Fork and is a quality fisherman. Im 50 fished all my life won a few tournaments and can launch my boat in the dark in seconds, Rope attached to trailer back in slide off boat pull up untie park truck n go... First time w girlfriend and I leave one strap on back. Unsure why boat won't slide I back up further. Boat is now off to the side , Cant pull up to get strap off. Im in the cold water trying to muscle bow back on. Finally get it right and go. Two weeks later were with Dad at a dinner. He ask her. how did fishing go ..... F

I was done with BPS and Motorguide when I contacted BPS (the only MG service location in DFW) about a three year old TM that went dead. "Bring it in"..... so I removed it from the boat and drove two and a half hours each way. After a couple weeks they called and said MG doesn't have parts for that discontinued TM anymore.