How should I seal this hole?

[Perithead]

Recently on my Montgomery 17 I had to do some serious work to my centerboard. It was rusted up and jammed into the centerboard trunk and just wouldn't break loose for me. What I ended up doing to free it up was, I drilled a hole over top of the centerboard in the cabin so that I could get a rod on top of the centerboard and whack it with a hammer till it came out.

Now I have this extra hole in my centerboard trunk and it needs to be fixed. It is not under the waterline of the boat, I know this because I took it out sailing like this and when the boat heeled a little water would come in through the hole.



I would like to see if I could do a simple fix and "patch" the hole without alot of work. What I am thinking is just to sand the area around the hole and get some sort of rubber or something that will conform to the shape of the surface and epoxy it on there with some 5 Minute Epoxy that comes in the seringe like thing.

I think this type of fix would be fine since there isn't alot of pressure at the hole and it would be much quicker and easier than grinding it down and fiberglassing it.

What would you suggest?

[arf145]

I don't think rubber and epoxy are a good mix. I'm not a fiberglass guy, but I have a feeling this is a good case to learn on, and not that much to it given its location.

[Siamese]

Maybe you could just hang a picture there.

But seriously, why not just glass it? It doesn't need to be ground out like you would for a hole in the hull. Just needs a glass patching job and some paint.

[mitiempo]

Sand the edges in a taper and fill it with thickened epoxy.

[msmith10]

Agree with glass. This is an easy glass project. Be very careful with "5-minute" epoxies. Most of them are "water resistant" not waterproof and don't belong on a boat, even above the waterline. In general, the longer it takes an epoxy to harden, the more durable and resistant it will be.
Sand or grind the area for several inches around the hole. Cover the hole with a piece of gorilla tape with minimal overlap at the edges, or a piece of flexible plastic "tacked" in place with some JB Kwik. This will keep the resin from leaking inside the trunk, then glass over the hole. Use several layers of glass fabric and West epoxy, overlapping with increasing size in each successive layer.
If you want to do a quick job, use thickened epoxy as mitiempo suggests. If it's above the waterline and not structural, that's probably fine.

[boatpoker]

Go to your local auto supply store and buy one of the those pre-packaged "fiberglass repair kits". it will have resin, catalyst and a small piece of glass fiber cloth more than sufficient for your needs. use about three layers of the cloth in your patch. Simple, long term fix. Search youtube for a fiberglass repair video if you have not done anything like this before, my 9 year old grand daughter did a similar patch job for me last year.

No need for "marine grade products" in this application.

[msmith10]

Don't use Bondo!

[VK540]

I just had to read this thread after seeing the title "How do I seal this hole?" LOL! Thought I had stumbled on a XXX site for a moment. After reading the rest? Awwww....

[Perithead]

Ok, I'm sitting in the boat now and I've just sanded the area down real good. I have the fiberglass cut and ready, I have some epoxy left over from when I built my sailing dinghy about 3 years ago. Think it's still good? All of my 5 min Epoxy is to old and its hardened in the tube.....

I plan on taking the boat out Friday, that's why I'm looking for a quick fix.

[smackdaddy]

Dude it's a boat! Just stuff some cash in it!