Several years ago, we had our ski boat on the Chesapeake bay for a few seasons at my parents house on the Eastern Shore. We did not have a boat lift yet and needed to trailer the boat every time we used it. My parents and I decided to take the boat out. After completing all of the standard checks (including the drain plug) we dropped it in the water at the marina. We idled out of the marina, and once past the channel markers began to plane off. All of a sudden the temp gauge shot up and water began pouring out of the engine compartment. Admittedly a bit panicked, I threw the bilge on and quickly headed back to the ramp to pull the boat out. Turns out I forgot to check that the water intake hose was connected. Not something I normally check when boating on the lake. After using the boat in brackish water, we flushed the engine each time by disconnecting the hose right after the water filter and shoving a garden hose down the tube with the engine running for a couple minutes. Similar to the concept of muffs for an I/O. I was not the last person to use the boat and apparently the standard operating procedure after flushing the engine did not include connecting the intake hose again. Lesson learned.
