Bilge Plug Repair - (pictures)

[gerald]

is your boat still draining properly?...I was inspecting my boat for problems in this area and it felt as if the transom hole was open toward the inside of the boat but not more forward...does the bilge opening to the back drain come from the sides?..straight forward it seems to be solid fiberglass( where the self bailer is mounted)...I may just be looking at it wrong. oh and I did buy the boat I have been checking into: hull number 10169 1979 model dsII

[EberbachD]

The boat that you are looking at is very similar to mine, 1980 #10445. The part of the plug that mounts into the transom ideally should fill the gap between the back of the boat and the bilge. Mine was a 1/4 inch short allowing water to get into the transom and rot out the wood back there. We had resin injected to resolve the problem, but that's another topic. If you stick your finger through, you will hit fiberglass where the bailer is, but around the sides of that is where water should drain from the bilge and out the plug. If you take the plug assembly completly out, you can check for damage to the wood and get a better look at the issue.
You should be able to see where the bilge area ends and see the bailer area as well. Maybe your plug is the correct size and buts right up to the bilge.

In regard to my repair, we leave her in the water all summer, so I haven't pulled her out to inspect yet. But she is riding high on the water and doesn't seem to be taking water in through that area any longer. Now on the the center board

David
G-Whiz #10445 DSII

[gabond]

Aha! This discussion thread solves a problem for me about a 1974 DS II that I bought last year.

I now realize that the original bilge plug was filled at some point, and a new one installed near the starboard side of the boat--which I would think would leave a level of bilge water that can not drain. I noticed when I got the boat back on the trailer at the end of this season that there is a water oozing through the original drain location to the outside surface of the transom, and also to the inside at the seam between the transom and the floor, where I can see a couple of small cracks radiating from a center point.

Question: how do I fix this? Should I drill out the original plug and refill it, or install a new drain as described here and close up the replacement plug? What should I do about the inside leak? Or should I leave it all alone and bail more frequently?

I'd appreciate any advice. Thanks.

[Roger]

Interesting that the new plug is not where the original was! I suspect there was a reason for this. Either the wood was rotten or the po put in so much fill to fix the old hole that drilling here now, would lead you to a blind area.

What I have learned from working on my boat and trying to improve on others repairs, is that if a repair was fixed differently than expected, it was because the po ran into an unexpected barrier to fixing it in the standard way. The other reason that a non standard repair may be made by a po, was that they didn't know how to fix it properly. Either way, it may be wise to examine the area carefully to determine if a retrofit and restoration is possible. Drilling a small pilot hole into the area to see what is behind the gelcoat, may be a wise idea. If water does not come out, ie, the hole does not open to the bilge, then there is no sense in making a bigger hole there. I would still advise making a proper drain hole closer to the middle. At leas you would get better drainage. You could keep your costs down if you use the drain plug that is off to the one side, then seal the old hole.

Remember once you have drilled you new hole, to ream out the wood core in the transom with an allen key on your hand drill, then fill the collar area with epoxy, before redrilling the hole to insert your drain. This will keep water out of the wood core. Use lots of silicone when inserting your new drain as well.