Friday, January 4, 2013

Hole Plugs for Your Boat.



Hole Plugs for Your Boat.

I have a bag of wood cone shaped plugs of various sizes I keep on the boat. I try to keep them stored where I do not have to search for them if I need them. They are to be used if I get a hull puncture. These should be in every boat safety kit.

I am surprised how often we find junk in the river that you can run into. Most of the time if you bump this stuff there is no damage, our sailboat moves slow enough, but a fast moving power boat could get damage. We found a sunk, powerboat at the entrance of an oxbow on the river that had only a little of a safety rail above water. If the water rises 4 or 5  inches one would not see it till you hit it.

A 2” hole in your boat that is 1 foot below the waterline can act like a water jet and enough water can come through that hole that could fill a 50 gallon drum in less than a minute. Jamming a wooden plug in the hole can do a lot to stem the water flow.

You can make your own plugs or buy plugs. A nice one you can buy is from TruPlug . The TruPlug from forespar  is somewhat soft and can plug an irregular hole.


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