the M23's hull is solid fiberglass, no core. there is only core in the horizontal portions of the deck, and maybe in the transom where the motor mount and rudder are attached. I don't know the average thickness. from your description the thru-hull for the potti is 'straight over' from the head and not legal. removing an unused thru-hull and making a new fiberglass repair is the best practice. yes the book you want is 'Don Casey's Complete Illustrated Sailboat Maintenance Manual'. excellent resource with wonderful illustrations. for the hull-to-deck joint here is some discussion about doing the repair - http://m17-375.webs.com/hulldeckjoint.htm this is about older M17s, but very very similar to the M23's. :: Dave Scobie :: M17 #375 SWEET PEA - www.m17-375.webs.com --- On Mon, 2/25/13, stevetrapp <stevetrapp@q.com> wrote:
Linda, I found a book about sailboat maintenance by the author this guy refers to. It has a good check list for before and after sailing season, including some items I had not thought of. Steve
----- Original Message ----- From: "Robbin Roddewig" <robbin.roddewig@verizon.net> Sent: Monday, February 25, 2013 2:06 PM
Hi M-boaters, I attended a great seminar that other day about proper through hulls that convinced me I should remove the through hull on my M-23 that is connected to the holding tank. I never plan on using this as I have a porta potti, dont now if the attached valve is approved and am not planning on reconstituting the head system so this is just a hole in the hull for water to come in if it breaks. Any advice on how to remove the current plastic (or delrin or whatever it is) through hull and then patch the hole? I am not sure what the thickness of the hull is on the lower portion, cored or what not. I also need to work on the hull to deck joint in March and April as things warm up in Virginia. If anyone has a good reference or hints on this repair I would appreciate any info that you can pass along. I have had Jerry's recommendation to use 3M 5200 which is also what Don Casey recommends but I like to get all the information I can before starting a big project.
Thanks in advance!
Robbin M-23 and M-10