Play Dough to plug a through hull in the water?

[George_SD]

I've done something like this before when I needed to replace a ball valve on a thruhull.

I used toilet seat wax ring to make a thin ring on a piece of plastic bag of medium thickness. Then I stuck this ring to the hull around the thruhull (it was one of thse slotted scooper types, not just a round opening). The wax sealed the plastic to the boat and the plastic then sealed the thruhull via water pressure difference once the valve was opened. There were a couple of ounces of water that came up (they were already in the thruhull), but it allowed me to remove the old valve and put on a new one.

If you have a regular round thruhull - you can use a chunk of toilet wax ring right over the opening. It will hold without issues as long as you use at least an inch or more of it. Press on the outside edges to seal it to the hull (don't forget to clean the area with a brush before trying, it won't stick if the hull is slimy and full of growth), DO NOT push it into the thruhull itself.

Be careful using wooden bungs unless you are in an emergency situation and ready to deal with a broken fitting. I've cracked a fitting with a bung before because it put too much pressure from the inside.

[Tsuru]

I'd consider plumbers putty or something like this>https://defender.com/en_us/stay-aflo...D_BwE#493=7890
Good luck,
In Polynesia I watched catamarans service sail drives floating the hull with an air bag. Seemed like they did it regularly as a routine thing. I suspect it depends on the weight and stability of the cat, but it looked pretty cool.

[JPA Cate]

Find somewhere sheltered by mangroves to beach the boat. We have actually used a plumbers friend (rubber dealy on a wood handle) to seal the outside, while working. Water pressure kept it on. Or, grease a wooden plug with silicone grease and force it up in there. (We have such plugs for all our through hulls, being a lead mine.) Tied there with bright yellow string.

In a real emergency, I bet you could make a plug out of anything you could keep inside a light film plastic bag that would expand in water. Rice, perhaps? Just a pinhole would let in the water, and it almost doubles in volume.

Good luck with it.

Ann

[Kettlewell]

Clamp a short piece of hose to the thru hull and put the wood plug in the hose.

That wouldn't help his situation where the fitting is leaking inboard of the through hull but before the ball valve. I'd probably try wrapping the fitting first with lots of self-amalgamating tape, possibly held tight with a hose clamp. In fact, that's what I did last year to plug a weaping through hull for my engine intake. Changed out the through hull and seacock at the next haulout.

[SailingHarmonie]

Geez...

If you can't do it right... you just get to do it over, and over, until the boat sinks.

[Tin Tin]

We carry these, never needed to use one though
https://www.forespar.com/products/sta-plug.shtml

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by SailingHarmonie

Geez...

If you can't do it right... you just get to do it over, and over, until the boat sinks.

The vessel in question is a catamaran, in Malaysia. It's quite probably going to be a beach-it job. The OP was concerned about squalls, but I am hoping s/he could find some mangroves to protect him from the stronger winds direction. He wants to limit sea water ingress till he can fix it properly, no indication he did not want to fix it. In fact, he was asking for ideas.

Ann

[sinnerman]

Originally Posted by wrwakefield

A chunk of sticky wax cut from a wax ring used to bed household toilets will do what you need- without having to enclose it in plastic wrap. And It stays pliable underwater.

FWIW

Cheers, Bill

Ditto:
Agree with Bill above..

[MattG]

Mr Zoggs Sex Wax :-)

Seriously... surf board wax cut to size. Use cool water type as its more pliable

[SpiritofGlenans]

Originally Posted by boatman61

I would suggest plasticine wrapped in clingfilm would be better.. a zip lock bags plastic would be to thick to seal crevasses properly and plasticine would be more impervious to water due to its oil base as opposed to playdoughs largely water base.

For those of you who speak American, Plasticine is the English name for Playdough. In Ireland we call it Marla, and cling film is the name for the product that Americans call Saran Wrap.

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by SpiritofGlenans

For those of you who speak American, Plasticine is the English name for Playdough. In Ireland we call it Marla, and cling film is the name for the product that Americans call Saran Wrap.

Thanks for that!

[hatyaiair]

Thank you everyone for your kind help on this. In the end I could only find the play dough which I wrapped in plastic wrap after shaping a large looking carrot. then went over the side and plugged the toilet throughhull with this and no water at all entered the boat during the repair! This seems to be a much better meathod than wood or the new plastic plugs as it was able to get around the 2 studs located on the inside of the throughull. I gently removed the plug when done and it all went very smoothly.