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Hull Plug

jimcleary

James M. Cleary
I drilled a hole in my boat today, good thing it was not in the water. Actually it didn't matter because I drilled it just below the gunnel on the starboard side just above the cove stripe. The hole is for a new vent for the holding tank which is now located forward in the V-bunk. The vent line that has served the tank is a 1/2" hose that runs from the tank to the transom up under the starboard caprail. The common knowledge appears to be that it is too small and too far from the tank to allow enough air movement. So I'm putting in an 1 1/8" hose and fittings that will be within 10' of the tank. But all that is not the reason for this thread! I'm posting a photo of the plug that was removed when I drilled the hole. I had never had a reason to drill this high on the hull and was impressed with the makeup of the hull, core and inner skin. The plug is just slightly over 1" thick. A slight skin of gelcoat, about 1/4" of the outer hull, 5/8" of an Airex type foam, And an 1/8" of inner fiberglass skin. While I'm not very well versed in types of hull construction, I am pretty impressed with this composite structure. I don't think more modern hulls are put together as well. Just another thing about these boats that make me like them more and more. That's very good considering that Dana just completed her 41st season of cruising the East Coast.

Jim

PS: Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah and a Happy New year to all.
 

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Jim, I have save a plug that looks just like that when I move my exhaust from it original location to a higher point so I could inspect the exhaust to assure that I was circulating raw water though the manifold. I saved mine to show others about the boat construction.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.
 
Jim,

Great photo. I agree that this is what you want to see when you take a core sample of a fiberglass structure. I believe the foam is polyurethane...

Merry Christmas!
Travis
 
Travis

So that Polyurethane foam is different from Airex foam? I wonder how far down the foam core goes. I've drilled drilled holes for new through hulls below the waterline and it was solid layup without the foam. At which point does the foam stop?

Is the photo of your boat taken at Catalina Island? Always wanted to go there.

Happy New Year.

Jim
 
Good thing you never hit dock hard, hey Jim?
Are you sure you want to be downwind of the HT vent? Too late now!

I found a Catalina 42 that I thought I might buy. I always thought that forward athwartship head to be the ultimate in comfort. (not counting using the head in a seaway). After crawling all over it I decided the Morgan was a tougher perhaps better built boat. I owned a Capri 22 for a lot of years and saw too many similarities between the 22 & 42. Decided to keep the Morgan & stay old school.
"Nothing too strong ever broke" as they say in Maine!
 
Dave

With the holding tank vent on the transom, there have been many times when a slight breeze from astern has carried not so nice odors back up into the cockpit. My thinking is that the vent located forward on the starboard side will not be that much worse. We'll see next summer. If I'm wrong, I can always plug up the forward vent and rely on the transom vent which is remaining in place.

A good friend of mine has a Catalina 42 Mk 2. While I drive him crazy by calling it a "cocktail boat", I've found the basic structure to be decent. The layout of the cabin and the complexity of the rig is not to my liking, so I'll stay with the traditional Morgan design.

Jim
 
Travis

So that Polyurethane foam is different from Airex foam? I wonder how far down the foam core goes. I've drilled drilled holes for new through hulls below the waterline and it was solid layup without the foam. At which point does the foam stop?

Is the photo of your boat taken at Catalina Island? Always wanted to go there.

Happy New Year.

Jim
Jim,
We are probably referring to the same thing. Airex is owned by 3M and they do produce a urethane variety. I am reasonably sure that Morgans have polyurethane core, and it begins right about at the cove stripe. You can see the transition from solid to foam core on the inside of the hull pretty well. I’ll try to get a photo.

And yes, that photo is from Ithsmus Cove, good eye. They assigned us the front-most mooring, right next to the dinghy docks, giving me the first opportunity I’ve had to get a decent photo of the boat out of the slip. Would love to get one with the sails up!

We are actually out here now for the holidays, albeit on the backside this time at Cat Harbor. Much nicer than the other side. Good fishing too! :)
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