What plug?

[Rocky Lou]

I had my annual service done recently and went to pick up the boat. Upon arrival, I saw the owner and his tractor hooked up to his trailer and heading to the launch ramp so I followed. He put the boat in the water for I would say was two minutes, then started pulling it out. I walked over and looked at him and he said “they” didn’t put the plug back. Of course I could have let go of some choice language but decided that wasn’t the place nor the time. Also, being he was the owner I’m not sure it would’ve been nearly as painful to him as what he was already feeling. When I got back to my dock, I ran the hose into the bilge for about three minutes with freshwater and ran pumps. He didn’t think there would be any risk of salt water damage but I thought I would check for other opinions.

 

[Matty]

Not at all an issue. He put it in and within two minutes pulled it. Great job. Salt is in the water and air when you are by salt water. Rinse as you did and enjoy the day.
As they say " only thing salt water does not damage is salt water". But we know it so we rinse.

 

[scross]

Wow, that sucks! Doesn’t give you a whole lot of faith in the workmanship of that shop.
In flying, there’s a saying about forgetting to lower the landing gear before touching down - “There’s those that have geared up and those that will....” In boating I think the forgetting the drain plug is a similar event.
I’m paranoid about the drain plug. It’s on my launch checklist in two places in oversized bold red font. The plug sits in a ziplock taped to the front window above the helm when not installed. I look for that zip lock when starting to back down the ramp. If it’s still there then I almost screwed up!

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Since this was caught so soon in your case and you did an immediate rinse with pumps I think you are OK. But it could have been a lot worse if not caught quickly.

 

[Matty]

Agree about the plug. I hold mine in my hand as it drains or leave a large tool to remind me. Salt water is not a issue we are not all aware of and deal with routinely. Rinse and repeat.

 

[H28]

I'd like to be critical but many years ago after finally scoring a date with one of the Martin twins from high school, I took her sailing on my Hobie Cat..... I was so excited that I forgot to put the drain plugs in and we got lower and lower in the water... luckily I realized it pretty quickly and beached her (the Hobie, not the twin), and mumbled something about "rinsing the inside of the hulls".............

our one and only date 🙁

 

[Rocky Lou]

There's a couple of themes here: best practices for insuring you never launch without the plug and servicing dealers. I haven't trailered for over 15 years so my experience is dated. However, in past, I forgot the plug once (and didn't get a date with any twin). After that, I followed protocols such as those well defined here. In this case, it was completely the dealer, in fact the owner, of a well established shop with a generally good reputation. It's really a challenge working with servicing dealers and I am envious of anyone who loves theirs. There are so few qualified Yamaha servicing dealers and, if you look at reviews, 4 stars is rare. I've only dealt with one that is great and his company is 100 miles from me. So, if I blow this guy off, I am well aware of all the options in my region and most are worse. I could DIY but there are many factors with these engines and reasons why "good' Yamaha techs get so much training.