Hi folks,
I just purchased a pre owned 2018 Tarpon 120 that was garage kept and never used.
There is a cutout near the stern above the drain plug that water could get into the hull in rough seas or rain. I am wondering if there is supposed to be some sort of seal or grommet in there.
Thank you in advance for any thoughts!
It looks like where rudder cables would exit the hull if you had a rudder. Have you contacted WS?
Thanks for the thoughts. Yes, I emailed WS, but 3 day or so response they claim.
That doesn’t look normal to me, looks like somebody cut it out. The other side with the small hole is more what you’d expect for a rudder cable. I have one probably about the same age I’ll look at in a bit but definitely doesn’t have a huge hole like that.
Thank you!
Definitely something you will want to seal before using.
I agree with @DianeCetan - that doesn’t look right nor like something that was sent out of the factory that way.
Looks like the area is a little large to plastic weld. If it is round, you could perhaps get a rubber bung stopper to fit in it.
Because patches can leak, you may want to put flotation inside the hull of the kayak (assuming you have access to the inside, like through a hatch). Inexpensive ways to do this would be to put pool noodles fed up into areas you don;t need for storage, fill extra area with sealed empty soda bottles, etc. Basically, this boat is a higher risk of leaking and filling with water - the more of that space inside the hull you can trap air in should the hull flood, the better.
The area is kind of a triangle with rounded corners. Agree it needs to be sealed. I was thinking I might be able to make a piece the I can insert into the hull via the drain plug and use 3M-5200 Fast Cure to glue it in place. A thin wire through the plastic piece could be used to hold it in place until the 5200 cures, then snip off. Thank you for the thoughts.
Sorry it took so long. I looked at mine and it just had the two matching tiny holes with a little grommet in it. So someone definitely cut into it. Probably can plastic weld it closed.
Thank you very much for the follow up!
