On Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:23:00 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

Hi all,
No rush for answers on this one, but I'm sinking... I found a bit
of water in the bilges and put it down to something benign, but on
inspection, found a blister on the paint inside the hull, which when I
burst revealed a ~2mm square hole in the hull on the bottom of the
boat. I've plugged it with gaffer tape, rubber mats and bits of wood
for now, but has anyone got any neat ways of fixing this without
taking it out of the water (boat is a 20 tonne wrought iron/mild steel
dutch barge, and a proper repair job would be ~£700)?
I'm thinking a bolt with a big rubber washer on both sides and
liberal use of silicon sealant. I'm hoping the rot is very localised.

cheers

Jim
UK

Off the top....find a big black rubber plunger cup and handle.
Dive this onto the outside of the rust through hole in the hull.
Build the hole edges in with a MIG torch from inside.


If you try this - have someone make a movie please? :-)

Brian W