Stay afloat emergency leak sealant free#

The captain was on deck at the helm when a crew member ran up to the cockpit and said they were taking on water. A sailboat and crew were making a delivery and were offshore at night. I read an interesting story that I will pass on. Be careful not to hole the can! It’s a bear to get off (at least ours was) and took Dave about 15 minutes to cut it off. IMPORTANT: Splash Zone comes with Part A and Part B held together with a plastic connector. It comes in several sizes we carry a half gallon. I’ve seen it in action twice where it saved a boat. It is designed to be mixed by hand and with “approximately equal” amounts of the two parts. It also can be used on most surfaces that boats are made of – fiberglass, steel, aluminum, wood and even cement. Splash Zone will cure underwater (or in air) and can be applied to wet surfaces with no surface preparation. This seems like it’d be much faster to deploy – as well as safer (diving under a boat with wave action can cause serious head injuries). We have helped with saving two sinking boats (when we were in the Sea of Cortez) and one of the problems with both is that it took divers to apply patches to the outside of the hull. It’s a fairly new product and I don’t find any reviews, but I like the idea that it’s flexible and can be rolled up and then deployed from inside the boat. If you watched the first video above, it’s similar to their tying a line to a cushion and pulling it against the hull, except that this is faster to deploy as there’s nothing to set up. The emergency hull seal uses the pressure of the water outside the hull to hold it in place and also can be tied in place from the inside and sealed with epoxy from the outside. We bought one from Defender as part of a larger order and one from Amazon when we decided we wanted a second:Ī 10” diameter circle that can be deployed from inside or outside the boat to cover larger holes or cracks.

We have two on board – they can be compressed by hand and/or twisted some to insert them into holes, but it does take a bit of strength to do so.Īgain, they can be purchased at most marine chandleries at widely varying prices. These are fairly new on the market – an earlier version had smooth sides the ridging on these makes them seal better. The base of the plug is 5” in diameter it could probably plug holes to 4” in diameter and slow the flow in larger odd-shaped ones (you can also use more than one to fill large holes). This is a fairly firm still yet still pliable foam plug that can be used in thru-hulls and also in larger hull breaches, including ones with irregular shapes.

Defender set of six plugs for holes 1/2” to 2”.

Amazon set of 9 larger plugs (holes from about 1” to 1-3/4”).

Amazon set of 10 smaller plugs (1/2” to 1-1/2” max plug size – up to about 1-1/4” thru hull or hole).

If you’re ordering other things from Defender, they have good prices (shipping will eat up the savings if not part of a larger order) otherwise Amazon has sets for both large plugs and smaller: You can get these from a number of places. Remember to put one on every drain and holes that are normally above the waterline, too – if the boat takes on some water, these could end up below the waterline and you wouldn’t water to enter here as well as in the problem areas! We have them for all thru-hulls and a bag of extras, too. There should be one tied near each through hull (not just sea cocks) such that it can be quickly grabbed and used in an emergency. Soft wood plugs can be pushed/pounded into a failed through hull (almost like a large cork) and do a good job of stopping the water.

But a few items designed to stop leaks can come in handy, especially if you have to travel any distance before the problem can really be fixed. You can do a lot to stop water intrusion with just cushions and odd bits you find on the boat.

EMERGENCY SUPPLIES WE CARRY TO STOP A LEAK As you watch the videos, think about the time it takes to set these up and remember that (a) they know the emergency is about happen and (b) everything is out and ready to go. Simply put, some of the techniques we’ve all heard about just take too long to implement.

Yachting Monthly’s Crash Test Boat is holed Part 2.

Yachting Monthly’s Crash Test Boat is holed Part 1.

Here are a couple really eye-opening videos showing techniques for dealing with water intrusion:

Stay afloat emergency leak sealant free#

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