Endelig would always have a bit of water on the floor of the cabin when we were done with a sail. I attributed it to the infamous squirting centerboard pendant hole. During a clean up I stuck my finger up the scupper hole and was surprised when my finger went right through the side of the aluminum fitting. I was only able to get a view of the interior of the hull by laying down in the port compartment and using a mirror. At 6'4" and 235 pounds this was not a satisfactory position to do any work.

We went to West Marine and purchased an 8" deck plate #6848030 and using the outside ring as a template, cut a hole in the center of the rear seat support. This gave me ample room to work and also made it easy to future check this formerly inaccessible area. I fashioned a new fiberglass thru hull tube by putting plastic wrap around a piece of 3/4" PVC and using it as a mold. Make the pipe much longer than you need as you will destroy the end part trying to get it off the tube. A little finish sanding and the new tube fit perfectly into the hull. Next I made a good and thick epoxy and coated the prepared hull opening and slid the new tube in. The inside of the fitting was then figerglassed in place and the original hose was double clamped to this new tube. Endelig is now much dryer and we feel quite fortunate that we did not not take on a great deal of water by having the original aluminum thru-hull disintegrate and fail while we were in open water.

Photos and Story by Bill and Darcy Sylvester