It looks like the previous owner bought a couple of cutting boards from Walmart and slapped them over the holes!

How you deal with them depends on what your future plans are, and what your budget is. Do you plan to mount new instruments there in future?

Obviously the best solution would be to glass them over and redo the gelcoat, but that would take significant fiberglass skills, and even then, matching the gelcoat would be near impossible.

The easiest solution would be to do something similar to what the previous owner did, but choose better materials to do it! If you cover the area with a plastic or wood plate it also gives you the option to mount new instruments where you want at the same time as concealing all the old holes.

I did something similar on my old boat, and you will find another active thread on the subject on this forum that discusses materials a sealants to use.

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I would recommend using StarBoard plastic material and seal it with 3M 4000 which is water proof and withstands UV. StarBoard is available thur many suppliers but the best price and service is from Mcmaster carr supply. look up Marine grade polyethylene which comes in white or black and some colors McMaster-Carr like pt# 9785T809 about $20 for a 24" by 24" sheet. stole the pic from another recent thread to show how it can look when done right with the right marine materials in lew of the cutting boards that you have now.

 

I would recommend using StarBoard plastic material and seal it with 3M 4000 which is water proof and withstands UV. StarBoard is available thur many suppliers but the best price and service is from Mcmaster carr supply. look up Marine grade polyethylene which comes in white or black and some colors McMaster-Carr like pt# 9785T809 about $20 for a 24" by 24" sheet. stole the pic from another recent thread to show how it can look when done right with the right marine materials in lew of the cutting boards that you have now. View attachment 136982

That looks like the same material I used, so my pic above gives an idea how it will weather over the years.

You can see in one of the OPs pic what UV does to cutting board material. It goes translucent and brittle with little cracks throughout.

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I was also going to suggest teak as an alternative to Starboard, but I think those holes may be too big. I had one four inch hole like that, and I covered it with two teak switch plates that I stacked together. The plates were "blank" so you could cut your own holes in them for use as a switch or plug. I used it as a base to mount my new chartplotter. I sealed the plates with 4200. I thought it looked pretty boss, especially when the teak was new. Unfortunately, the unit kept getting kicked when anyone would move forward, so it had to go. That left the plates just sitting there for a couple of years. I had plans to replace the plates with a piece of Starboard, but I never got around to it. This is a picture of the area taken after I had unmounted the chart plotter and moved it to a foldaway arm. Note the classy white tape on one of the plates. It's covering the hole I drilled there to run the power/transducer cables. Note too the screw holes for two other projects that didn't last too long: The screw holes didn't go through the bulkhead, so I never bothered to fill them.

 

thanks all. I bought the starboard (or equivalent) from Mcmaster-carr. needs a bit of trimming. Can i just clean up the old sealant from the outside, screw the new plate on and seal it up with the 3M 4000. Will that do the job?

 

I would think so. Butyl around the top edge wouldn't hurt. (Butyl is just soft rubber that never hardens).

 

If I understand correctly you will also have to deal with the holes from inside the cabin. If so you can mount a new thin piece of starboard with 4200 and use a temporary piece of wood about 1" wide on the inside with a "clearance hole" Place the screw into 'thru" the clearance hold and then the back side of the new starboard with the adhesive. As you tight the screw it will pull the starboard tight to the fiberglass. adhesive will ooze out and that needs to be cleaned. Let the 4200 set and remove the temporary "clamping" wood strip. Now you can attach whatever material you want to cover the holes on the inside. You can use 4200 to adhere it... could be starboard, or teak... or any species of wood you like. Hold it in place with tape and remove the tape when the adhesive sets. You can also mount something inside like a box to hold something... a clock whatever.

 

Yes, good points about the butyl. I wasn't sure if the 4000 was more of an adhesive or a sealant. Sounds like both.

 

I'd go with glassing them in. It's really not that difficult and a good project to learn on if you haven't done any fiberglass work. It may be a bit more involved, but ultimately will look nicer and won't ever leak. Youtube is your friend if you go this route.

Alternatively, I would fabricate a cap out of starboard similar to the one that is there, and a backing plate of the same dimentions. You're going to need to thru-bolt it every few inches to maintain a good seal. I'd use butyl tape as the sealent vs a sealent/adhesive. The starboard plate and the fiberglass it's attached to will experience different thermal expansion so you can expect a need to replace that gasket down the line. Butyl will be much easier to remove and replace.