Repairing holed hull while underway

John S-

Good product, but I'm trying to visualize someone trying to mix the two parts in a bucket or whatever's handy and get it into the hull's hole quickly.

Maybe they ought to make it in paired bags with a breakable barrier in between so that it could be quickly mixed with your hands and shoved into the hole before you're working in your "new submarine"?

An outer bag with some fabric strength would also help in getting it placed and stuck in the hole. The fabric ought to be somewhat porous to allow the epoxy to bond to the fiberglass hull.

Would be kinda like a big porous beanbag with an epoxy Bondo Bomb inside.

Could be housed in an outer plastic Zip-Lock bag for the mixing stage that could be removed for placement into the offending hole.

Another avenue would be to make it like Plumber's Epoxy Putty with inner and outer concentric layers, though that stuff is a bit stiff and would take some real hand strength to mix a large amount of.

Maybe what we need is a big ball of water-activated epoxy that's stiff enough to be shoved into a hole and will automatically harden in a fairly short period.

Too bad the insulation foam that comes in canisters isn't stiff enough to stay in place under water pressure.

I suspect there are plastics that could do this job out of a two-part canister set -up with some R&D. The market would also be there for an effective life/boat saver. Witness the price of the first mentioned kit at $325 or so.

Fun to think about!

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
I have had first hand experience using Splash Zone compound. We hit an uncharted pinacle rock off the coast of Turkey (Was on Admirality charts, not on DMA)...Pounded on the rocks for about 5 minutes before I got the boat off (30 ton vessel). No water intrusion, so that night I dove on the boat. The Spash Zone Compound was mixed on waxed paper, backed with cardboard. I put it over the area which was damaged, then used a "Spanish Windlass"--with several lines under the boat to pull the epoxy tightly into the crack. The next AM, we pulled off the cardboard and wax paper. The SZC was hard as a rock. We hauled the boat 8 months later, and I ground out the area, to relmainate the glass. The SZC had worked its way into the cracks, and was a good repair. However, since the hull was over an inch thick, there was only superficial damage. I don't think that SZC would be good for a large hole, just to put back fragments.

The TC 255 has a foreward bulkhead in the hull aft of this storage space under the bunks. The hulls come well above the water line there, and I don't think that if this flooded, that the boat would sink. On the other hand, I suspect that considering the way the Tom Cat rides, that impact would be aft of the foreward area, if the boat was on a plane.

We ran over several longs at 8 knots in our 3 years of cruising AK. Never any hull damage to the Cal 46. The logs, just sank down far enough to clear the rudder and prop, as the keel ran over them. There is always a chance of hitting a dead head--and that is why we prefer not to run at night in the PNW. But I do believe that the chances of damage are miminal.
 
In addition to the duct tape, expanding foam sealant, nerf ball, ect consider carrying a wax toilet bowl gasket to stuff into the breach.
 
Have a friend that swears by a $2 toilet ring of beeswax. Go to the inside of the hold, start dragging the beeswax over the hole, and let it fill in. Will fill and hold water out of small holes. Larger holes need more drastic action but the idea of jamming a water-proof substance into the hole and having no setup time appeals to me.

I bought one to carry but then sold my boat. When I get the next boats, there will be one in both of them.
 
John:

Most savy big boat cruisers I know carry Pro-line's Splash Zone as mentioned by Thataway. It is a 2-part underwater epoxy, I have the quart sizes. You will need 1 quart each of "Part A" and "Part B". I have used it on several occasions, but most of the time the call would go out for help and someone would gather up the fleet's supply of Splash Zone and respond to the unfortunate vessel. I put the ship's name on the cans so the beneficiary would hopefully replace them.
They always did!

Most often holes were a result of a collision with land, so the vessel would anchor up, stuff in mattresses, etc. and wait for the posse. Most repairs were accomplished by overlaying plywood, using splash zone as glue, then plastering over as needed from the outside. Pretty simple to use...low tech. Just grab a small handfull of each part, work it like modeling clay, and smear it on. We always did it with a just a diver with snorkle, and a wetsuit if needed.

This may prove a little chilly up north, but I would use a wetsuit, mask, fins and snorkle rather than a survival suit. Remember, you need to get UNDER the water and SEE what you are doing. 15 minutes in the water should handle it. I dove on our sailboat near Wrangel, AK in 47 degree water to clear a net from the prop with a 3 mil (6 mil in the middle) wet suit, so it can be done. Now I didn't say I was toasty warm, but I was in the water for over 30 minutes.

Here's a trick: As soon as it becomes apparent you will have to go over the side, have your mate start the tea kettle going. Get it hot, dump it into a bucket of the cold sea water, then pour that down the neck of your wetsuit. Feels good! Makes you want to pee!

With all that said, with our beachable boats, I think the best thing to do in most cases would be to quickly beach the boat and deal with it there. Hey, if you are on a falling tide, you have a free drydock!

Have fun out there!

Roy
 
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