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Pictures of drain plugs in bilge

Dferr

Member II
Pictures
<HR style="COLOR: #d1d1e1" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->Here's some pics of the plugs I was referring to. I checked for water again this weekend, there was very little. My first thought was maybe this was some sort of water ballast system. If anyone knows exactly what thay are for please let me know.

Thanks,
Don
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Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
No water "ballast" involved at all. My slightly cynical "SWAG" is that someone in production intuited that water might accrue inside the molded sections and then, in turn, someone in sales decided that it would be nice if the first owner was not irritated by seeing this water emerge... :rolleyes:
Further, common sense would lead all to understand that at some point the condensation and/or bilge sloshings would add up and need to be freed for removal. ;)
Only a guess, mind you, only a guess...... :confused:

My Olson has big overlapped "hat" sections across the bottom of the boat, with the keel bolts coming thru the bottom of each "hat brim." All have limber holes thru their bases, and inside these limber holes are lots of historic black mold cultures... and the hats themselves seem to be molded over rigid foam pieces.

The way I would look at it: There is More than one workable solution to reinforcing the boat bottom and providing a structure for the keel to mate up to.

The TAFG has its quirks, as does the structure on our boat. :)

Best,
Loren
 
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Jason

Fellow Ericson Owner
I have no clue why someone would put those plugs in, but Loren's guess seems very plausible to me.

To keep the bilge smell to a minimum. I'd rough up the limber holes using a dremel tool and sanding drum then use epoxy (my choice) or bilge paint and a small paint brush to seal in that smell. (My wife can't stand smells on board so I'm constantly hunting down and eliminating smell. Small price to pay to get her to stay over night - she still loves to sail).
 

rwthomas1

Sustaining Partner
I can't say I would recommend ever sealing up any area where water can gather. A better solution to keeping up with odors is to clean, disinfect, bleach, bilge kleener, etc. and keep it as dry as possible. RT
 

Jason

Fellow Ericson Owner
I'm not saying seal the hole, just seal the unfinished edges of the fiberglass that could hold moisture.
 
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