Running with the boat plug inserted from the outside?

[siddfynch]

So I just bought my first C-Dory and it has a single above-board tank, installed under the splash well. It completely blocks access to the boat plug from the inside - not a chance of getting around there. My only guess is that the old owners must have run with the plug inserted from the outside.

Does anyone else have experience doing this? I've never done it, and it gives me the jitters to think about a plug falling out and having to go outside the boat to replace. Or is this a needless worry with the expandable boat plugs these days?

[Steve Grover]

I have never run my boats with the plug inserted from the inside. Never had one come out. Have had it leak a little because I didn't tighten enough. Some times I seem to over tighten.

[hardee]

This is akin to the preverbial "Pandora's Box" but it may help to relive your stress to know that it is possible to run with the plug on the outside. I have done it for years, never lost one. I use the lever action, set quite firm, and with the lever up, vertical, next to the transom, to decrease the chance of it getting tangled with anything.

The next response here will obviously be someone who must put the plug on the inside, and it will have to be a twist type Least that is what my crystal ball is showing at the moment

Good luck, and just remember, Boating is alway better with the plug in the transom hole than in the pickup

Harvey
SleepyC

[thataway]

The expandable plug has been around at least 60 years--and for the most part I have inserted it from the outside--especially in larger boats. I prefer the "T" handle plug, vs the "L" lever plug. Keep it tight when you put it in and it should stay. However, always carry an extra plug, as well as tapered wooden plugs for all thru hull holes.

[siddfynch]

Great responses, thanks.

Point taken about the set of tapered plugs.

[drjohn71a]

While my thought processes continually say that having the plug accessible inside the hull is best, I have had many very large boats - in the 30 foot range - for 12-14 years with plugs on the outside which have caused not a problem at all.

I guess one could also say that the the outside water pressure, albeit small, would want to seat the outside plug and 'unseat' the inside plug.

At any rate, if you don't have easy inside access, then outside is the way to go.

Like Dr. Bob of Thataway, I prefer the "T" twist locking type over the lever locking type. I've had the lever lock plugs pop out of my kayaks before.

This question ranks up there with "dual or single outboards", "16 vs. 19 vs. 22 vs 23 vs 25 vs 26 vs TomCat", and all the other persistent sea queries.

John

[DaveS]

siddfynch,
I just resurrected a previous thread about this subject. As others have pointed out you really don't have much of an option because of the difficult access from inside your vessel.

[Sneaks]

[siddfynch]

[siddfynch]

[Sea Wolf]

MY $0.02:

T-PLUG ON OUTSIDE!

VERY DIFFICULT ACCESS FROM INSIDE.

EASIER TO PULL WHEN DRAINING AND/OR FLUSHING OUT HULL.

KEEP A SPARE HANDY!

IF YOUR AN OLD, MEMORY CHALLENGED FART LIKE ME, CLIP THE REMOVED PLUG TO YOUR BOAT KEYS OR SOMETHING ELSE YOU HAVE TO USE BEFORE YOU CAN PUT THE BOAT IN THE WATER.

I HAVE ONLY LAUNCHED ONCE W/O THE PLUG, THE FIRST TIME AFTER BUYING THE BOAT. SCRAMBLED UP AND LEANED OVER THE TRANSOM FROM THE ENGINE WELL TO REPLACE PLUG.

NOW THAT I'M, 66, NOT 56, THAT'S NOT AN OPTION.

SCRORE: ME= 200+, PLUG = 1!

(Please excuse the all capitals!)

JOE.

[rjmcnabb]

When I got our boat, an extra, threaded bronze screw-plug for the drain was taped to a spoke on the helm wheel. I thought that was a great idea for keeping it handy. Eventually, the tape failed and the plug fell off, so I took the occasion to insert it into the inside of the cockpit drain hole; there was a little water in the bilge that the pump couldn't get, and in case it was not rain water I decided a second plug in there was warranted. That plug was too big to fit. This raises the question, which I have not tried to answer with the boat in the water: do inner and outer plug threads differ? I just stuck a short rubber sink stopper into the inner hole until I find out. I guess the moral here is: don't assume an expansible plug will necessarily fit well from both sides, either.

[colobear]

My drain plug is inserted from the inside between the two fuel tanks. It is a "T" type. A second is velcroed right beside the drain hole where I can grab it in an emergency. But I have to say, my plug lives permanently in the hole. It is only removed about once a year for PM, lubricated, checked for rot, and reinserted. I don't see the point of taking it out every trip.

[ppriest]

The drain fitting on the J.C.Lately (mfd late 2006) is a bronze pipe thread and came with a bronze 1/2 NPT plug which installs from the outside. [Remember pipe threads are tapered and the plugs will only go in from one direction.]
After finding that: 1) the boat runs quite dry; 2) it sits quite flat on the trailer bunks; and 3) it really doesn't empty with the plug removed anyway; I quit taking the plug out and reinstalling it every time we returned.
This practice has the noteworthy benefit of removing "left the plug out" from the List of Potential Failures.
I've quit wondering why the factory installed it in favor of puzzling over a number of other items.

Paul Priest
Sequim

[RJD Wannabe]

I've always run them on the outside.

One time I forgot to insert it, while fishing noticed water, what a dumbass, spare at home. Used a carrot to fill hole, good enough to keep fishing and get 2 salmon. From then on a spare (or 2) in the toolbox. Has been handy for friends in need.