On Jul 20, 11:23 pm, "
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

is the hole on a seam might be old porosity. its about 1/16 of an
inch in a 3/16ths thick hull from the sounds of the survey you got
some good steel. so get a buzz box and weld the darn thing shut. get
good penetration head over the side and look at it if its a good weld
paint it go back on grind the weld flush on the inside and prime and
paint. I assume from reading you are restoring the boat so it would
make me think of needle gunning the bilge and getting some good primer
and paint down. then i would not have to worry about how much rot i
have, i would know. checking out your zincs would be a good idea and
making sure they are welded to the hull in full contact with the
steel.
examining them would tell you if you have an electrolysis problem.