Drain Plug Hole - Exposed Wood

[Ekea]

I was crawling around my bilge yesterday and i noticed that on the inside of the transom, there is exposed wood where the hole was drilled for the drain plug fitting. The plug fitting is not as long as the transom is thick leaving a good bit of bare wood exposed on the inside. I didnt love seeing that. Im planning to either smear caulk over the exposed wood, or mix up some resin and seal it up. i am wondering though, since my boat only goes in the water 15 days a year and lives on the trailer with the plug out the rest of the year, should i leave it? is it allowing any moisture to dry out the 350 days a year its on the trailer?

 

[Sardinia306Canyon]

You should investigate how humid/wet the wood around the garboard/drain plug is before taking any action.
It will not dry out, except you don't use the boat, but using resin/5200 will incapsulate the humidity making it worst.
The level and size of humidity dictate what you should do.
Chris

 

[Ekea]

You should investigate how humid/wet the wood around the garboard/drain plug is before taking any action.
It will not dry out, except you don't use the boat, but using resin/5200 will incapsulate the humidity making it worst.
The level and size of humidity dictate what you should do.
Chris

i felt the wood around the hole, it feels dry and firm/hard. transom taps well around the hole as well.

i dont like the idea of leaving it the way it is to absorb more water. i also dont like the idea of trapping any moisture in there.

its been out of the water since september, so if i were to seal it, it seems like now would be the best time to do so

 

[DennisG01]

At a quarter century old, now... if the wood feels fine, I would just leave it.

IF you felt compelled to do something, first make double sure it's completely dry.

I wouldn't be a fan of using a sealant (5200, etc) just because I wouldn't completely trust it to work perfectly or not start to peel over time.

The one way to do this is to heat the wood and then use epoxy resin and keep coating the interior wood (easier to do by removing the garboard drain and doing it from the outside) - a pipe cleaner works well. Just keep doing it till it no longer absorbs in.

Ideally... tape the interior side of the hole and the outside - creating a small opening in the tape above the hole. Pour epoxy in (add more if needed) and let it cure. Use slow cure for this and do it on a cool day. Then re-drill your hole.

 

[SkunkBoat]

You know that all of the holes thru the stringers are the same ?

 

[Sardinia306Canyon]

its been out of the water since september, so if i were to seal it, it seems like now would be the best time to do so

If it feels dry and you can't get hold on a humidity tester then use the system Dennis mentioned, i use a little different version of it.
I did many jobs on boats or not using first diluted resin in several layers till wood is saturated, then for hard use fiberglass over it for light use just another layer of normal thick resin (i usually use epoxy resin for ease of work with).
Once the wood is saturated with resin then use paint or 5200 as additional protection layer, i would use a paint as 5200 or similar is not needed as it should not flex.

The basement for the batteries on my BW 23 Outrage was made of Okumé Plywood and then "painted" as i wrote above and it looked still nice 20 years later.

Chris

 

[seasick]

A lot depends on how dry or wet your bilge is. If there is constant water in the bilge, there is a greater chance of moisture absorption.
But as sort of mentioned, if it aint broke (after all these years) don't fix it.

Properly sealing the hole is a bit more complicated than you might think and requires the removal of the drain fitting, drilling an oversized hole, epoxing the inside surface of the hole, drilling the smaller hole to spec and remounting the drain fitting.
Just slapping some sealant/resin on the exposed are in the bilge opens up the possibility of moisture getting trapped between the resin and the body of the fitting. In other words it can get wet but not breathe.
I suggest you worry about something else