drilled through hull on accident

[Jared1048]

Well I'm an idiot. I'd rather not talk about how it happened but drilled a very small hole into the hull.

What do I do? Haul the boat out for fiberglass repairs?

Can it be fixed I water? What are my options? I just moved onto boat and feel pretty screwed

 

[centerline]

a lot of things can be done to prevent the water from coming in.... and they all involve covering the hole.
to what extent do you want to go to do that? and where is the hole? you can haul the boat and have it done, you can do it yourself, you can look in the yellow pages for onsite fiberglass repair, you can put a screw in it, you can possibly put a small bolt thru it with a nut on the back side, you can clean it and push a bit of epoxy putty in the hole and seal it that way..... the good thing is, you said its a small hole so you have options.... some are better than others, but they will all work....

 

[DeniseO30]

don't drill another hole to let the water out! .. Centerline's suggestions are good.

 

[Dubo]

If the hole is near the waterline you could heal the boat just enough to keep it dry long enough to putty it or plug it with a screw as centerline said. For a long term fix this doesn't sound like it involves glass work at all. When you do haul, I'd just clean out the hole and be sure it is dry(acetone) and then epoxy(ie. west systems) it with some filler and fair it out. Oh and be sure your bilge pump and battery are in good shape until the long-term fix is made. Good luck!

 

[Steve Dion]

http://www.google.com/products/cata...=X&ei=0qezT9yDMKO0iwLprpidAg&ved=0CMQBEPMCMAI#

 

[Jared1048]

Filled the hole with some epoxy paste. Held back water pretty easily. Staying home from work to monitor fix.

Thanks guys!
Jared

 

[Forrest15112]

Ok, now that the repair is under way, I'd love to hear how it happened. Your reluctance to talk about it leads me to believe there's a funny story here, at your expense of course.

 

[Steve Dion]

Jared:

If you go in the water you should be able to patch it on the exterior too. This should be good enough until you pull the boat next time.

 

[Merlin Clark]

Filled the hole with some epoxy paste. Held back water pretty easily. Staying home from work to monitor fix.

Thanks guys!
Jared

Just tell the boss it's a sick mistress. You won't be lying!

 

[Jared1048]

Ok, now that the repair is under way, I'd love to hear how it happened. Your reluctance to talk about it leads me to believe there's a funny story here, at your expense of course.

Sure, I can laugh at it now...

So in the rear aft starboard lazerett there is a spot for 2 batteries side by side and just aft of that is a little triangle area that pools water. I had thought about drilling a hole in the corner there a couple times earlier when down there refilling the diesel heater tank. Well, after a race and a few beers get back to the dock with my crew need to refill that tank before I goto bed. When I'm down there I see that pool of water and get pissed that it keeps pooling there and decide to fix the problem. I grab my drill with a half inch bit and proceed down to the dungeon. A buddy see's what I'm about to do and grabs the drill from me. I convince him that I'm not drilling through the bottom of the boat and its just a liner. Well about a little bit into it the water starts to drain then about 2 seconds later it starts coming back up. I'm like wtf? pull the drill bit out and see the water is going the wrong way! I grabbed my dry suit, fins, mask and dive light and jump over the side to see if it really happened. Sure enough there is a tiny pea sided hole that stood out like a sore thumb due to the contrast of fresh white fiberglass against the dirty hull. I asked someone to give me something to stuff in this hole and a buddy gives me a plastic bag. I tried to fit it in but the holes to small to get it in. Then grabbed some screws but it wasn’t water tight and still leaked. I have a rigging knife that has the long cone shaped poker thing that gradually gets bigger in diameter that I stuffed into the hole and cut the water intake by 80%. Even then the bilge pump was cycling on\off every 10-20 minutes.

Got the epoxy in it and it worked like a charm

 

[capejt]

I feel your pain

Before you start walking the march of shame, realize that you're not the only one who has done this. I was trying to install a pump to empty the shower bilge on my 79 H33. I thought I was drilling into a "false" bottom. WHat a surprise when the drill suddenly went all the way down! Fortunately for me, it was only a 1/8" hole. What I did was this; I jammed a wooden "shish-kabab" skewer into the hole, followed by a dash of penetrating resin. This happened about six years ago, and hasn't leaked since. Lucky for me this occured while on the hard.
Sometime ask me about the time I accidently drilled into my fuel tank.

 

[captainpat]

Two quick permanent fixes: 1. 5200 2. two part epoxy; either the putty stick or the high end stuff that body shops use with a mixing gun. (Can't rtemember the name)

 

[Sail123]

Hulls, fuel tanks? You guys need to check out tools from your wife's and let them supervise your work. Lol

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

When installing air on a Hunter 31 years ago, I drilled a pilot hole thru the hull below the water line. What a fool I was. Temporaily, I took a screw and some caulk to stop the leak. Since that time till I retired on every boat sold, I use to provide a bag of wood plugs which you can buy anywhere and should be a part of the emergency kit.

 

[anchorclanker]

The only ones who laugh are the ones who havnt been caught screwing up or wont admit they have. Everyone screws up sooner or later and from time to time. Thankfully many will admit their blunder for the rest of us to learn, but only if we listen. Measure twice and cut once has been a reminder for us since Adam. No doubt old Noah had a few similar moments along the way.

 

[weinie]

Monday, I sailed about 2nm thinking I had put my autopilot on... I hadn't.:bang:

Hopefully, I'm done drilling for a while!

 

[kloudie1]

I have done the classic one of shooting a snake as he coiled in the bottom of the aluminum fishing boat.. He was not happy having recently fallen there from an overhanging cypress. A 22 caliber willow stick stopped the leak .. a bolt and washer and some 5200 was applied later.

 

[Merlin Clark]

Monday, I sailed about 2nm thinking I had put my autopilot on... I hadn't.:bang:

Hopefully, I'm done drilling for a while!

You could spin this a little "I had my boat balanced so well you'd have thought it was on the autopilot".

 

[weinie]

You could spin this a little "I had my boat balanced so well you'd have thought it was on the autopilot".

Well, maybe it wasn't 2nm but it had to be a good 10mins before i realized my sails were starting to luff!
But its true that after much reading over on Don Guillette's forum, I do try to make a point of keeping the helm nicely balanced.

 

[Nom De Guerre]

I have done the classic one of shooting a snake as he coiled in the bottom of the aluminum fishing boat.. He was not happy having recently fallen there from an overhanging cypress. A 22 caliber willow stick stopped the leak .. a bolt and washer and some 5200 was applied later.

If this isn't already a scene in a movie it should be!

Hilarious.