black plastic coming out of drain hole????

[phingson]

just purchased an older (70's) laser. sailed it for the first time. I moored it in the lake for 2 weeks. Kids had a blast sailing and flipping. I new I had lots of water in the hull. When I pulled the drain black plastic pieces came out of the hole. Does anyone no what this could be from?????

 

[vtgent49]

Hi,

The older boats had styrofoam blocks inside the hull for flotation. These were wrapped in black garbage bags to keep them from getting soggy. These bags disintegrate over time and start coming out, or plugging up, the drain hole. You can stick a batten in the drain plug hole to try to clear them out, so it will drain.

Later boats have plastic "bottles". The switch was probably around 20xxx or so.

Al Russell 61458