What to put in a holing kit?

[labatt]

I want to build a holing kit for our boat. I figure it's not a bad thing to have in an emergency. Can anyone recommend what to put in it?

I'm thinking rubber sheeting would be good, but I have no idea what kind or where to get it or how to hold it in place. I have wood plugs, large and small. What about wood squares? Would they help? What sizes?

Any other recommendations?

Thanks!

[Valiente]

Wood plugs of different sizes gauged to your thru-hulls. Keep them in sealable bags, and lash the bags to the appropriate thru-hulls. Unbagged, they can swell to a greater width, rendering them useless.

A "crash mat" can be a rubber mat with sturdy grommets that can be "fothered" on the outside of the hull, as can a sail in a pinch. A type of this device...and I've forgotten the name, but it's for a pretty bad hole, looks like a four sided umbrella: you poke it out of the hole (against the incoming torrent, presumably) and open it...it seals against the side of the boat.

I suspect that would work best if you were holed at the waterline, say, hitting a reef on a heeled tack. You could try to heel to the other tack, get the hole above the waterline, and give it a try, hopefully allowing a crippled and pumping-filled motor to the nearest lift or even to deliberately beach it.

Plenty of the older cruising books have tips on this sort of thing. Google will likely help.

[sailingdog]

Marine plywood in various sizes, to cover broken ports or hatches would also be a good thing to have in the kit. Marine epoxy that sets underwater would be a good thing to have, in the case of smaller holes or cracks, for trying to patch them temporarily.

Crash mats, while a good idea, aren't all that useful unless one practices with it.

The umbrella type thing is completely useless if your boat is such that you don't have access to the interior portion that got hit.

On a boat as big as yours, it might be wise to install a watertight bulkhead in the bow and the stern.

I have three water tight compartments forward in my boat and four aft... but my boat has three hulls.. so holing it is less of a problem in many ways. I also don't have a heavy chunk of metal trying to pull my boat under the surface.

[trisailing]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

Marine plywood in various sizes

You might already have these aboard. Seat backs, bunk boards, hatch boards. just look and save yourself from carrying to much around. Though you can store a piece of plywood under your bunk, why bother if you already have a board there. If you use wood your going to need some screws/ nails, bedding compound (caulk), forget epoxy, you want to be able to remove the patch later and it will probably not set well under water and do you want to be mixing that in an emergancy? I have seen rubber sheeting used under plywood patches and it worked well.

[SailorMitch]

Sell your Passport and buy an Etap?????????

[trisailing]

Ha HA. The "Boston Whaler" of the sailing world.

[trisailing]

Nice Boat though.

[SailorMitch]

Originally Posted by trisailing

Nice Boat though.

Yes, they are nice boats. Not for everyone, but at least Etap is trying some different things, and their boats have some nice features. They also don't have as much room below due to the foam inside the double hulls, but heck, you gotta keep those babies afloat somehow. Some of their newer designs are a bit too funky looking for me though.

[trisailing]

Never have to worry about condensation, at least from cold water. I checked them out at a boatshow, have a very scandinavian feel. Clean lines. Light and airy interior. A little to much venier for me though, even if it is wood.

[labatt]

I'm not getting an ETAP for my holing kit!! It'll blow my budget out of the water