Garboard plug

[MattinRI]

I assume you pull it for the winter.  Do you store the boat level, or tilt up at the bow?  Is teflon tape on the threads the way to go when reinstalling the plug?

[gmacbam]

When I winterize our Rossie I store the boat level or slightly bow down. It seems a slight amount of water finds its way through the cockpit hatch and I want it to find its way out of the garboard plug hole.
 Any type of thread sealant will work fine. I like the tape no mess.
 Last year the bilge pump would come on and pump water once a day. I could not find a leak anywhere. When I removed the garboard plug I noticed the bronze fitting sort of twisted when I first started to unscrew the plug. I found the three screws that hold the fitting in were loose. There was no sealant on the screws or the bronze fitting. Used 3-m 4200 sealant, no more leak!
                                                                                              Bruce
                                                                                              SEE LIFE

[peteplatt2000]

Hi Matt,

We store "Sooner" with the bow slightly up & covered with a tarp. We leave an opening at the bow & stern to allow for some ventilation. I leave the windows & doors open and take out all of the floor hatches to let the air circulate. I've never taken the plug out of it's hole & it's never leaked a drop. We've never had any water at all in the bildge. One side of me thinks I should take it out & replace it every year with teflon tape but this has worked for 7 years so I think I'm going to stick with it. We used to take the plug out of our Wahoo every time it came out of the water & it always seemed to leak some. At one point, the whole receiver loosened & had to be taken out & reseated.

I want any water getting in the cockpit to drain overboard so I want the stern to be down slightly.

Pete "Sooner"