Inspection Port?

M

MichFish

Member
My new Sunfish Race (Pro) should arrive around the first of May. A lot of the advise in the Sunfish Bible (what an informative read!) and from the members of this Forum is to install an inspection port.

I'm considering a port centered between the dagger board and splash rail to provide drying when she's parked in the garage, and to keep an eye out for any serious leaks.

Does the installation of a port weaken the hull? I must admit, I'm not thrilled about cutting a six inch hole in the deck of a brand new boat.

Any advice?

Thanks
 
I have had 2 new Sunfish in the last 3 years, and before either of them hit the water, they had an inspection port. It does not weaken the hull.

My recommendation is to use a hole saw to cut the hole. They are inexpensive, and make this process quite simple.

Andy
 
A hole saw large enough for a 6" inspection port might give you a good jolt of sticker shock. No doubt the hole saw will give you a more round hole. I used a jig saw (sabre saw) with a fine toothed blade. If you use the jig saw, put down some tape to help prevent any marring of the gel coat from the vibration of the saw.
 
MichFish said:
My new Sunfish Race (Pro) should arrive around the first of May. A lot of the advise in the Sunfish Bible (what an informative read!) and from the members of this Forum is to install an inspection port.

I'm considering a port centered between the dagger board and splash rail to provide drying when she's parked in the garage, and to keep an eye out for any serious leaks.

Does the installation of a port weaken the hull? I must admit, I'm not thrilled about cutting a six inch hole in the deck of a brand new boat.

Any advice?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Much has been written on this forum about the pros and cons of putting an inspection port in a new hull. I favor not to mess with a good thing. Primarily because others have stated that, in due time, inspection ports will start to leak.
But I would keep an eye out for leaks. From time to time, put the hull on its (starboard) side and see if water leaks out through the drain hole.

We can start a poll on this issue, but the results won't be statistically valid for the class as a whole.

 
adavid said:
I believe that 5" port is the typical size to use. Anything larger and the curve of the Sunfish deck causes issues.
Click to expand...


Not so We've install probably 50 6" ports over the years and not one has leaked.
The extra inch makes a ton of difference if you have to do any inside the hull work (and as a side note do the work before you install the port for extra maneuvering room).

We've used both stainless and nylon hardware to install and both work fine. As for caulk we prefer using a Polysulfide as it's the standard for bedding attachments on boats. A urethane would be our second choice and what was the standard, RTV silicone, we no longer recommend.
Also any caulk with the words acrylic or latex should not be used. They are added to make the caulk paintable but will dry and crack from the stresses on the boat.
 
I had an old sunfish years ago and I did installed the inspection port. I've used 3M 5200 Marine sealant which is excellent.

The reason of my post: why you did not even mention this product ?
 
Hi MichFish,

What part of Northern Michigan are you sailing at? Summer finds me on Douglas Lake (near the Pellston airport) for the weekends. Winter and working life has me stuck in SE MI.

I use Stainless steel oval or flat head machine screws, SST washers and SST nuts to secure the flange to the deck. Some use SST screws but I prefer the nuts and washers rather than just a screw into the deck.

As others have mentioned, seal the port flange to the deck with a good sealant. 3M 5200 is about as good as they get. I don't know if that is a polysulfide sealant though. I also use it in the screw holes to seal the screws. Makes kinda of a mess when tightening the screws and nuts but at least I feal that I did the best to prevent any leaks.
 
I agree with Mike, the 6" port is the more popular size. I have used all three 3M products (Marine Silicon, 4200 and 5200) as sealants. As noted above and I agree, use stainless steel or nylon fasteners that match the type of screw hole in the flange, either countersunk or flat bottom. The deck curve is slight enough that you do not have to get the sides of the flange tight to the deck, just to the point where the flange starts to bend, the sealant will fill any void left.
 
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