On TASHTEGO there is a plastic pipe (I can't see it but it feels like PVC pipe) which runs under the liner from the engine compartment to the bilge area at the top of the keel. In addition, the liner has been broken up just inside the engine compartment to allow access to the aft end of this pipe (and to run the 3/4" hose that bypasses it). On the forward end, it ends about 7 or 8 inches short of the bilge opening. From all this I gather that the original bilge pump was plumbed to a rigid pipe that ran aft under the liner (I have no idea where it went farther aft). There is not much room in this space and a 1 1/8" hose won't fit so my bilge pump is attached to a 3/4" hose. I have recently upgraded the pump but I have to neck down from 1 1/8" to 3/4" to get through under the liner, then back up to 1 1/8" once I get to the engine compartment. My question is -- Is this pipe removeable? More specifically, if I give it a whack with a good size hammer and a block of wood can I drive it out so that I can plumb with 1 1/8" hose all the way from the pump aft to the manual pump and the thru hull? Is it held on with screws? Is it glassed in? It seems to be pretty solid. If I knock it out will I weaken the hull or start a leak? Advice from anyone experienced with this odd bit of unused plumbing will be most helpful.