Before you launch your pedal boat, make sure the drain plugs are in!

June Tech Tip

This month's tip comes from our good friend Harry Wahl in Canada.

"Toward the end of October 2005, I managed to pull the Encore out of the river and up the long sloping back yard to the Garage. I removed these two brass 1/4" bolts/plugs from the two keels -- no water came out! I reasoned that these two small brass bolts had little relationship to the actual drainage, and that most, or all of the water had drained out of the drain holes located at the propeller shafts. Never-the-less, I wrapped both brass bolts together with some bright green tape and placed them on the front seat where they would be noticed on the day the boat would be launched next season. I put the cover on; wrapped the entire boat with a large plastic tarp to keep the dust out while sawing and drilling and whatever on other projects. There came a day in early May when the sun shone and glistened on the water, awakening the primordial instincts in me to return to the river and lakes that surround us. I unwrapped the boat, but left the boat cover on, hooked up my John Deere tractor and within minutes had boat and tailer in the water. With my hip-waders on, I gently maneuvered the Encore to the dock and fastened it. What unspeakable joy to see it royally bob on the water again. The following morning early I was down by the water for my anticipated ride down the river. Either the dock had risen out of the water or the boat had sunk deeper into the water from the time I had launched it. I removed the cover and noted that there was about 8" of unwanted water in it. I also noted the two brass bolts neatly wrapped in bright green tape still on the seat of the boat. But as these two plugs seemed to have little relationship to drainage -- so I reasoned -- I began bailing out the water. After having bailed out half the river and having made little perceptible progress, I reasoned that perhaps these plugs did in fact have some significance. The weight of the boat now was comparable to that of the Titanic, and as the bow was resting on the sand it was a massive struggle to turn it around to allow me to get at the keels. Even so, it was a Herculean task to get under the boat and secure the bolts without drowning in the process . But I managed it, even though by now -- with the boat no longer resting on the bottom --- it had taken on more water. With the boat once more secured to the dock I began bailing. But no matter how much water I removed, more kept coming through the floor boat holes and where ever. It was at this point that I contacted Nauticraft with my tale of woe, I also contacted Jack at Mary Lake Marina who soon arrived with some bilge pumps and his 4 wheel drive pick-up truck. We pumped endlessly, finally decided to get the boat back on the trailer and pull it out to see if there was a crack in the hull. Just as we got the boat partially out of the water, Jack's truck dug itself deep into the sand. Getting the truck out now became our chief concern and preoccupation. Fortunately the boat was sufficiently out of the water to expose both keels. Nothing seemed amiss. I removed the plugs again and three hours later water was still streaming out nicely. Sometime in the afternoon, after the last drop had emerged, I replaced the plugs, pushed the Encore -- gently, gently -- into the water."

"It has been riding high and dry ever since."