Outboard Hull Plug

[Miker]

Dulcamara went up for her scrub and antifoul last week and she got a clean bill of health. Rudder pintle and mount all checked and in good condition, all the skin fittings are good too, but the well plug that fits into the outboard well is pretty rotten. I think the pressure blaster blew through a week section of fibreglass and revealed a fair bit of rot.

Oh, and this.


The plug has been in place since about 2011 I think. Just kept getting antifouled with the rest of the hull. As those who have been here a while know, my outboard is on a stern bracket and the well goes unused.

I've asked them to leave it out so I can work out what to do with it.

There is piece of marine ply board that covers the area where the well was, from the engine mounting board back to the inside of the transom. It's a handy place for keeping a bucket, fuel tank, fenders or a seagull's nest.

I guess the question is, would you bother repairing it, or replacing it? The only advantage I see is that it prevents a bit of noise and a splash into the cockpit with a following sea.

What's the consensus.....

[Phillip]

Rebuild it and replace, think we will do that with the new Top Hat Shaun and I own.......

[Shaun]

I guess the question is, would you bother repairing it, or replacing it? The only advantage I see is that it prevents a bit of noise and a splash into the cockpit with a following sea.

..

It also saves things dropping down the hole, that might be left on the adjacent seats, phones, tools, kitchen tongs etc.
You can do pretty much anything with epoxy!, From the pictures, I'd probably try to repair it with epoxy, give the existing timber a good soaking in thinned epoxy & go from there.

As Phil said, we are tidying up a MKI(to sell), that unusually has a OB well, we'll probably just make a simple cover for the hole to stop items falling down it when the outboard isn't there, as it will be where the outboard will go when underway.

cheers

[Miker]

Thanks Shaun and Phil,

There is a cover over the hole from the cockpit side already. It's where I keep the bucket and the seagulls built their nest once. It's a nice flat platform under the bench I have across the back. Nothing for kitchen tongs to fall through there..... mine now nave a lanyard...

Filling it with epoxy and painting it was my plan. I haven't seen it in person yet, those photos were from the Marina. They were supposed to leave it on the boat for me to collect on the weekend, but didn't. I was more concerned as to whether it was a necessity when sailing rough waters than anything else.