Thru hull leak

[regal_bill]

I pulled my thru hull and valve because I noticed it was loose. Turns out it was allowing water in, and the wood between the hull and the bilge is rotted as far as I can get my finger in (quite damp, too, 3 months out of water, though I did run a fake-a-lake recently). I've got a fan going and trying to direct the air into the hole, but no idea how far in the water got and how much wood is gone, and no real way to tell if/when it gets dry past that first inch around the hole. What's are my options? Fan it out as long as I can, then a new thru hull?
Thanks for any help.
1990 23' Regal Ambassador

 

[Chris1956]

So your hull is cored? If that is true, I would think you need to cut the rotted core material out and rebuild it with new core material and new inner fiberglass. Then a new thru hull fitting will be installed.

If you do not cut out the rot, I think it will continue to rot, even if you stop the leak. A lot of core material is balsa wood. That stuff is light and strong, but rots easily.

 

[alldodge]

The transom assembly is 2 inch thick. Use a small drill but (1/4 inch works well) and put a piece of tape around bit about 1/2 from tip. Drill from the inside down low at the transom. If wood comes out dark and wet, the wood needs to be removed. Can repeat this every 1 to 2 inch to see how far it goes

 

[KJM]

Fan isn't going to work. You need to get in there and find and replace all the rot/wet wood. Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst! Check your transom as well.

 

[Scott Danforth]

A 34 year old boat with rot...... Me thinks the motor is coming out and the transom is getting done

 

[regal_bill]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. The thru-hull isn't in the engine compartment - it's the head intake about midship, with a 6 inch round access panel. I don't see a way to attack it from the inside without literally gutting the entire cabin. That makes alldodge's drilling recommendation unfeasible. So would the "right" solution be to start removing the outside hull until I've found good wood, then rebuild and reglass?

 

[Scott Danforth]

no, the right solution would be to remove boat bits on the inside, then fix the rot, then put the boat bits back.

 

[KJM]

Yeah, there's no easy fix. You gotta go at it from the inside and remove all the rot. Sucks, thems the facts!

 

[Chris1956]

Fixing it from the outside would require that you can mimic the original mold for the hull, with it's smooth glass shape and strength from long glass fibers. Not an easy task. Rip the inside out....

 

[regal_bill]

Huh. Well, that's not awesome, but thanks. So - what if I just ... don't? Replace the thru hull and call it done? I assume there's some structural integrity issues?

 

[Scott Danforth]

Huh. Well, that's not awesome, but thanks. So - what if I just ... don't? Replace the thru hull and call it done? I assume there's some structural integrity issues?

What would happen if that thru-hull failed and you were 30 miles off-shore?

 

[airshot]

What would happen if that thru-hull failed and you were 30 miles off-shore?

Or running at 30 mph and had a structure failure at that point ?

 

[KJM]

Or running at 30 mph and had a structure failure at that point ?

Not to mention that you will know there is rot below and that it is spreading, getting worse, and making you doubt the integrity of your boat. If it was me, that would definitely take away from the enjoyment of using the boat.

 

[regal_bill]

Fair points, all. This is probably a death sentence, as I don't see a complete tear out and rebuild being cost effective. Thanks everyone for the input.

 

[flashback]

You could chuck an allen wrench into a drill motor and waller out the rotted wood if it's not too far back in there then fill the void with epoxy filler. I have done this to a fitting on a cored deck and it worked well.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Fair points, all. This is probably a death sentence, as I don't see a complete tear out and rebuild being cost effective. Thanks everyone for the input.

wait until you price out a replacement.