This would be worst case.. but what if you filled the ballast tank and unknown to you,, something got partially sucked into the hole at the bottom of the boat such that when you tightened the valve, the foreign object made for a poor seal. Then, you accidentally bump the glued on fixture and it breaks off. If this did happen.. I think the chances are very high that when you have full supply load (food, water, lots of gas in the rear, all those panel also in the rear) you would have a good flow of water come in through the hole.
If the boat is relatively lightly loaded, no problem - I know others have said they have no leaks with the stock setup but one time I had left out the inspection hole plug and the valve was not tight and I ended up with a lot of water under the starboard seat.
My moron proof solution (since I end up being a moron about 1/4 the times I go out) was to put a pool around the valve and access hole. As long as the water line does not go above the pool, the boat wont sink. The top of the pool is way above water line - even when I'm heavy loaded.
Yup, this protects against a condition which probably wont occur and probably is of no use at all if your always lightly loaded.. but sure gives me peace of mind when the whole family is on the boat in 300 foot of water..
By the way, nice job on the gas tank..
If the boat is relatively lightly loaded, no problem - I know others have said they have no leaks with the stock setup but one time I had left out the inspection hole plug and the valve was not tight and I ended up with a lot of water under the starboard seat.
My moron proof solution (since I end up being a moron about 1/4 the times I go out) was to put a pool around the valve and access hole. As long as the water line does not go above the pool, the boat wont sink. The top of the pool is way above water line - even when I'm heavy loaded.
Yup, this protects against a condition which probably wont occur and probably is of no use at all if your always lightly loaded.. but sure gives me peace of mind when the whole family is on the boat in 300 foot of water..
By the way, nice job on the gas tank..
. I guess I'd do what we did when I was a kid and we were canoeing down a wilderness stream that no one had been down for years and we tore a hole in the bottom of the canvas canoe. We put a cushion over the hole and my mom sat on it 