In a recent thread about securing float bags in canoes, someone mentioned that if you run your lacing through holes drilled in the hull, that you should wipe the inside edges of those holes with "sealant". I asked the person who posted that advice what sealant to use, but got no answer so I'm asking here.
Someone here has mentioned that exposed portions of the ABS layer will deteriorate in some way (not from UV in this case, but from exposure to either water or air - I forget which). I assme this is the reason for sealing the holes, though a person might counter this by pointing out that the exposed ABS along the entire periphery of the canoe never gets sealed either. Still, holes drilled in the hull are more within the "working portion" of the hull, so I'd seal them if there was a good way.
By the way, my lacing ropes slide through the holes on a regular basis, so whatever sealant is used, it's got to be durable. Maybe something like epoxy? If I do this, I'll have to drill the holes to a larger size first. They are only "just" big enough to allow the lacing to pass as it is.
Goop “shoe goo”
http://www.idealtruevalue.com/servlet/the-152361/Detail
Used to patch holes in royalex as well.
I swab in SeamGrip, a urethane product
used for seam sealing tents. Wonderful stuff. Eric may be right about sealing being pointless, and I admit I haven’t always done it.
How about …
… Grommets for reinforcement and chaffing ??
Don’t worry about it
I have a fifteen year old OT Disco that I drilled a bunch of holes for the float bags, and I also have a OT Penobscot that I drilled a bunch for several years ago.
I have had no problem with either of them, and I have many times removed the ties.
cheers,
JackL
I’m thinking that too now.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to pursue this or not, and I sort of thought there’d be several people saying “don’t worry about it”. Since one of them is the guy who first talked about degredation of exposed ABS here in the first place, I’ll probably just leave the boat the way it is. Also, it seems the boat makers themselves might recommend this if it were important.
Of course, if no sealant is used within the drill holes, whether or not rope ever slides through those holes is irrelevant, so I’m not sure what Jack is talking about, but it is good to know that his boat is holding up just fine. In my first post, I only mentioned rope sliding through the holes as a reason that IF any sealant were used, it would need to be durable.
Thanks everyone.