Leaving battery switch on for bilge pump?

[charlesml3]

It listed when it ran aground and filled with water. It was totaled due to water damage. (Like the same kind of water damage you could get if you leave you drain plug out.)

We must be talking about 2 different boats. Here's the one that got blown off the lift in Texas: https://www.planetnautique.com/vb5/f...16100-g23-sunk

This is far, far beyond water damage. In fact, the water damage is the least of the problems here.

[vacooley]

We must be talking about 2 different boats. Here's the one that got blown off the lift in Texas: https://www.planetnautique.com/vb5/f...16100-g23-sunk

This is far, far beyond water damage. In fact, the water damage is the least of the problems here.

Ouch! The one I saw is black and blue (maybe green, I was looking at my new boat at the time). That one in your link is a LOT worse off. The story on the one I saw is that the wind shifted the boat back and forth enough to break the lift. The boat then drifted into rocky shoreline and listed. The hull is beat up around the bow but still structurally sound. Fortunately for the owner the insurance company totaled it due to water damage.

[Aebert2668]

Leave the plug out. Lift fails, boat floats out battery dies because of rain and your engine intake fills with water when discovered. I'd rather have an unlikely total loss at the lift and a fresh battery, my .02!