Re: Bad experience with plastic thru-hull fittings
They definitly deterioriate from UV radiation from the sun and I suspect that SOx and NOx from the air play hell with them too. If you have any of the white plastic thru-hulls that are over about 3 years old its pretty likely that you could lean on the stem of any of yours and breake them off very easily. Its just a matter of time.<br /><br />If you stop by a local West Marine or Boat US, probably Boater's World and 10,000 mom and pop boat supply places too, and look around you should be able to find a set of tapered wooden plugs. They sometimes are sold in sets of about 3 and they usually come in different sizes. If you break a fitting they are to be shoved in the hole. Because they taper they will find a resting point where they fill the hole and greatly slow, and maybe even temporarly stop, the leak. If you think sun-block, foam insulator sleeves for beer cans, spare keys, or wrist bands to stop sea-sickness are a good investment for a little money you should see how much these $5 sets of tapered plugs are worth when you need one.<br /><br />By the way,
Surplus Unlimited used to sell the highest quality stainless steel thru hulls I have found, and the 1 1/8" versions only cost $7. I replaced every thru hull on my boat years ago with them. They had them in a lot of different sizes too but at times they may be out of one size or another.<br /><br />Thom
