Ribtec bung?

[Sloopinn]

Hi I have a ribtec 6.5 which I am over the moon with, best boat I’ve ever owned,get out of hayle in Cornwall and it’s never let me down in some serious waves. But the only gripe I have is she has a brass bung fitted to the bottom rear of the hull and this always tends to get full of water even if I’ve only been out for a couple of hours and I can’t seem to find how the water is getting in.
Was wondering if maybe it’s designed to take on some water when sitting, ballast ie fishing diving etc for stability and then when on the plane the water self drains?
Have heard of this in other boats.
Obviously for this to work I would have to leave the bung out?
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Regards Matt.

[Tim M]

The “flooding hull” is unique to Avons. A 4ish inch hole in the rear allows the water in and out.

What you have is a leaking drain plug! I also had this on a Ribtec and it turned out to be the sealant around the base of the plug fitting. I’d recommend removing the fitting (three screws if I recall), take it off, clean it up and then reseal with Sikaflex 291 or 3M 5200.

[jeffstevens763@g]

is it the keel drain your talking about if so it might need replacing or re-sealing.

[Sloopinn]

Thanks for your replies, but already done that one.
My next plan is to put the garden hose in the bung hole and fill it up an see if I can find it that way. I’ve got a stainless steel A frame on the boat and the two bottom feet bolt directly through the hull off the boat,and I’m thinking maybe the water is getting in through there??

[GuyC]

Is it a bilge drain or is there a separate 'keel compartment'? I'm guessing it's one and the same.

I'm guessing the only other through hull fitting is the bow eye, which may have come loose.

You could put some PTFE tape around the brass plug.

Is the bilge pump syphoning back into the hull?