Hobie Drainplug

Kayaks were under cover for almost a year.  Yeah, it's been a while...

Last Sunday, the kids wanted to go kayaking with their friends.  So I hauled them up from the lower yard, washed them up and realized that the drain plug on the Revo was gone...  not open and still secured by the safety tab, GONE?  Where did it go?  It was certainly there when I put them to bed last year.  Yes, I know you can order up a new plug.  That didn't help me as I needed it that afternoon, not several days/weeks...

I didn't take photo's of the process as I was in a hurry.  I quickly scanned the garage for some inspiration and saw a jug of fiberglass resin.  Not about to mix and pour that directly into the kayak plug hole (not sure if it would stick or not? nothing seems to stick to these things).  I used tape on the inside of the kayak and made up a casting mix similar to Plaster of Paris (Casting Cement) it gets pretty solid in about 30 minutes.  after making a mold of the threads, I backed the plug casting out.  Somewhat fortunate that nothing really sticks to this Hobie plastic.  I then wrapped it in teflon tape and created reverse mold from that plug.  Then I mixed up some resin and poured it into the new mold and used a plastic bottle cap as the thumb turn for the new resin plug.  Getting the resin plug out of the casting cement mold was not as easy as I would have liked.  nothing a small hammer and a lot of gentle taps couldn't fix.  After all that, I needed a rubber O-ring and ended up using a rubber washer from a garden hose that I had laying around.

All in all, it turned out pretty good (still some casting cement on the threads) and it is easier to grip onto than the stock Hobie plug.  It was a couple hours of farting around but the kids were able to get out and play with their friends.

If any of you ever find yourself in a similar situation.  It can be done...

Thinking outside the box.  Very nice.  I will have to keep fiberglass resin in mind when I "lose" stuff. 

Great idea!

or duct tape

Nice 

or duct tape

You sir, are a man after Red Green's heart.  Your comment cracked me up!

Most of you in the US will have no idea who Red Green is...  look the Canadian TV series up.  It's funny as heck!

"And men, remember, if the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy" Red Green