Filling the Thru-Hull

This boat still had the sink drain that exited just above the waterline on the starboard side. While I was originally not going to fool with it, James convinced me that it would not be an overly involved project to fill it.  Since we were in the process of fairing out the hull anyway, I said why not.  Here is what it looked like before hand.

The sink holding tank (fresh water for the sink) had already been removed.  This is important, as it blocks access to this part of the hull under the sink. James took an angle grinder, and cut off the thru-hull stub that the drain pipe was connected to, and ground down the inside of the hull.  It is important to grind both sides here to ensure that the plug made of epoxy filler won't pop either in or out.  After grinding, we taped the outside the hull in preparation for filling from the inside.  Since this part of the hull is close to vertical, we taped half a dixie cup the the top open in the up direction, to contain the epoxy resin mix and hold it in place.  In this case we used West system fiber filler with SystemThree epoxy to mix up a pretty gooey  consistency.  It was not quite peanut butter consistency, but much thicker than syrup.  You want it to run into all the voids, but not run too much so it all runs out.

After that set up, James ground out the excess (the half shape of the dixie cup) on the inside, and we pealed back the tape on the outside.  The epoxy had shrunk in slightly on the outside, which was just perfect for adding some QuickFair fairing compound and getting it perfectly smooth. Here is what it looks like after.  Once this is painted, you'll never know if was there.  Took a couple of hours to do, but in retrospect, it was well worth it.  Thanks James!