Got bungs?

[Yngmar]

Do you?

 

[knuterikt]

And something else - foam cone, emergency putty

 

[ProDave]

I voted "other"

Outboard motor. Porta potty toilet. "sink" is just a bowl. = no through hull penetrations to need them.

I guess I ought to get some for the cockpit drains but they drain above the waterline?

 

[colingr]

I voted "other"

Outboard motor. Porta potty toilet. "sink" is just a bowl. = no through hull penetrations to need them.

I guess I ought to get some for the cockpit drains but they drain above the waterline?

Same here

 

[Spyro]

I've got bungs but probably more things lying around the boat that would be more suitable. Try getting a bung into a leaking sterngland.

 

[Yngmar]

I voted "other"

Outboard motor. Porta potty toilet. "sink" is just a bowl. = no through hull penetrations to need them.

I guess I ought to get some for the cockpit drains but they drain above the waterline?

Hah, no matter how much time is spent thinking about poll options, there's always one that isn't covered.

Above the waterline when heeled?

 

[Daydream believer]

I have bungs & they are each hanging by each hull outlet.
But here on hols in st peter port i have seen a gadget like a polythene brolly sold in pairs. One about 2 ins diam &1 about 3 ins diam.
You push them through the hole & draw them back a bit & water pressure forms the seal

 

[Yngmar]

But here on hols in st peter port i have seen a gadget like a polythene brolly sold in pairs. One about 2 ins diam &1 about 3 ins diam.
You push them through the hole & draw them back a bit & water pressure forms the seal

That's the Seabung™, I believe.

Bit pricey, unless you bought it to swap a seacock whilst afloat to save the cost of a lift, like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-P49Y-o6Y8

 

[Jamesuk]

I have a bung just above the keel so the bilge gets emptied when we are ashore

 

[Mataji]

Had to use one last month.

My stuffing box did not have a grease tube leading down to it but had a tube leading out from it which allowed water to vent out. This tube vented to air. When I bought the boat I didn't like the look of it but when I contacted the engineer who had fitted the gland he assured me that the gland only required the tube to vent to air 2 feet above the water line.

I had entered the Crinnan Canal last month and noticed the bilges were getting wetter than usual. I thought the stuffing box might need tightening but on closer inspection the drips were coming from the top of the gland where water tube came out. I took hold of it and it came away, it had totally corroded. Water was not quite gushing in but coming at a fair rate. The hole was about half an inch diameter and amazingly I immediately remembered where the bungs were. (If I knew how I'd post a photo).

 

[stranded]

Bungs are a bit of a sensitive subject for us, ever since, caught in a horrible electrical storm in Croatia when very new to sailing, and half remembering something I might have read or might have imagined about lightning strikes blowing out throughhulls, I sent swmbo and no 1 daughter down below standing by with mallet and bungs, while I tied myself to the wheel! But we still have them, one taped to every through hull plus a bag of spares.

 

[dylanwinter]

I cannot imagine a scenario in which I would ever use one

a plastic bag wadded up makes a perfect temporary repair until you can get the thing ashore - these things just take up space in the tool box

out with them I say

d

 

[Lon nan Gruagach]

I have bungs & they are each hanging by each hull outlet.
But here on hols in st peter port i have seen a gadget like a polythene brolly sold in pairs. One about 2 ins diam &1 about 3 ins diam.
You push them through the hole & draw them back a bit & water pressure forms the seal

Saw them on Dragons' den. Shame the boaty dragon was clueless about water pressure holding them in place. Shame the applicants only mumbled 3 bar instead of putting him right.
Anyway... I think they will not be as effective as you might like if there is much fouling or in heavy seas. And as for the price......

If this kind of thing is your bag then a short piece of bicycle inner tube as a stent in the through hull will be far more reliable.

 

[Yngmar]

I cannot imagine a scenario in which I would ever use one

a plastic bag wadded up makes a perfect temporary repair until you can get the thing ashore - these things just take up space in the tool box

out with them I say

They don't live in your toolbox, they spend their existence tied on near each hull fitting. That way, when your bilge pump alert wakes you up from an unplanned nap, they're hopefully floating right past your hand when you need them most, reminding your sleep-addled brain of their existence as you hazily blink at the rising water around your ankles. Quite unlike your plastic bags, which are stuck in the strumming box of the automatic bilge pump, which has just finished draining your batteries.

Perhaps slightly dramatized, but you get the idea

 

[Binman]

My boat came with a full set, with cord attached, they sit next to the battery, just lift the step on hinges to reach them, hope I don't have to use them

 

[dylanwinter]

I don't even know how you are supposed to use the blooming things

the well of my ignorance is profound

 

[pathfinderstu]

use a tampon, apparently they work well.