kayak hole question

[N Florida Mike]

I have what may seem to be a stupud question to some of you.I have a 2 seater pelican kayak I bought for 80.00 from a nieghbor.Having never used a kayak before,I was suprised that  I got wet pretty much from the waist down.Lost a cell phone full of pics in this way, even though I had it in a zip lock bag.There are some round holes that go all the way through,so At first I couldnt come up with a reason why ,then I came to the conclusion they were to be used wih poles ? to keep it in place .But they get me wet.

My question: Is there a best way to plug the holes so I dont get wet? Drain plugs ?

I fish small,calm water bodies  dont need poles .Got a anchor anyway.

 

[Subaqua Adinterim]

Not sure exactly what you are describing. If these are scupper holes you can get plugs for them.  If they are just holes you want to fill, then you will need some plastic bonding material that will set up and seal.  Depending on the size of the holes you may need to use some fiberglass mesh to help you build up layers of bonding material and span the void.  You can get the mesh material at a Home Depot type store.  The plastic bonding material probably at a boat repair place or West Marine.  Not sure about getting that stuff shipped to you direct as it is flammable.  Others here are more expert on this and should give you more exact advice, as the plastic bonding material needs to have some flex to it.

With regard to keeping your stuff dry, plastic sealed containers made specifically for cameras or phones are a good idea.  For larger items like extra clothes, I find the most economical thing is a heavy duty plastic contractor garbage bag.  Put everything inside that and twist tie the top securely and you should be good to go.

Good luck in your efforts.

[Clinton john]

They are called scrubber holes, not real sure what they are used for.

 

My brother in law fish's from a yak often and he use's his to put down a stake pool so the fish can't pull him around when he sets the hook and fighting a fish.

 

But if I had to guess they are there to drain water from the inside so it doesn't build up and make the yak unstable.

[Hawkeye21]

Scupper holes are there so water will drain out if waves come over the side.  They are there to help prevent you from sinking.  They do allow some water in but they can be plugged.  Regardless if they are plugged or not you are most likely going to get water pooling up in the kayak.  Water splashes in, drips off your paddle and if you're catching fish they'll drip water in too.  If your butt is getting wet then you need a better seat.  Sitting on the floor of the kayak is not ideal.

[N Florida Mike]

Thanks.I realize Im going to get a little wet but with my weight (270) it pushes down,which pushes the water up and in,and from waist to knees I get soaked. mainly use it in the summer anyway when the water feels good and the lake gets real weedy. 

The holes are intentional ,so I hope theres a plug that will fit ,maybe west marine would have them,or a kayak outfitter. Or I was thinking maybe a cork would help.

I honestly dont fish out of it that much,but for 80.00 I had to get it.

[moguy1973]

Do a search on Amazon for scupper plugs.  Measure the diameter of the holes on your kayak and they should have some that fit to plug them up.

[CenCal fisher]

You get get foam golf balls at a sporting goods store that will plug the scuppers. I think you can get s pack for around $3 vs $15 or $20 for some scupper plugs. I use foam gold balls and they don't let any water in

[Fisher-O-men]

I have been told that scupper holes are also for added stability.  Probably not needed where you fish. 

[dwh4784]

This is one reason why I won't recommend the cheap SOT kayaks over SINK styles. You'll get wet, likely a lot wet. Those holes are there to drain out when it takes on water, which in theory is great (when you have a raised seat) but for the cheaper SOT's you better enjoy sitting in water a lot. For $80 though I probably try it as well, but if you plug the holes it's going to be more likely to sink if it takes on too much water over the side. 

[Gundog]

If you are talking about the 2 holes in front of the seat and the two holes behind the seat in the picture those are suppose to be there. They are for emptying water from your yak. The problem you are having is the same I have with my pelican yak. It is not well made. My yak will actually bend and become soft in hot weather. Also its weight capacity is not to be believed. My yak is rated for a max capacity of 250 lbs. Now I'm not skinny but am well under that mark and even with all my gear I'm still 30 lbs under the max. Still, if I'm not paddling the water will come up into my yak thru the holes. If I buy another yak I will pay more for quality.

[N Florida Mike]

Thanks for all the help.

[J Francho]

Get some foam practice golf balls, and plug them with that.

[Darren.]

2 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Get some foam practice golf balls, and plug them with that.

 

Yup, this or cut up a pool noodle and DIY it.

[Hawkeye21]

9 hours ago, Gundog said:

If you are talking about the 2 holes in front of the seat and the two holes behind the seat in the picture those are suppose to be there. They are for emptying water from your yak. The problem you are having is the same I have with my pelican yak. It is not well made. My yak will actually bend and become soft in hot weather. Also its weight capacity is not to be believed. My yak is rated for a max capacity of 250 lbs. Now I'm not skinny but am well under that mark and even with all my gear I'm still 30 lbs under the max. Still, if I'm not paddling the water will come up into my yak thru the holes. If I buy another yak I will pay more for quality.

 

I'm not sure it matters how much you spend on a kayak or how big you are, if the scupper holes are not plugged water will come up through them in some way.  When I first took mine out I didn't put the scupper plugs in and noticed a bunch of foamy, dirty water that kept coming it.  Plugging them helped a lot.  Now the only water I get in my kayak is from the fish I catch and the water dropping off my paddle.

[Choporoz]

50 minutes ago, Hawkeye21 said:

 

I'm not sure it matters how much you spend on a kayak or how big you are, if the scupper holes are not plugged water will come up through them in some way. 

 

I dunno....I suppose this might be true to some degree.  However, I've never considered the need to plug the scupper holes in my Wilderness Tarpon.  I think that enough water may have come up once to dampen the bottom of my pant leg at the cuff.  I'm not real big, but close to 200 and carry as much as 50# of gear. 

[Hawkeye21]

4 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

 

I dunno....I suppose this might be true to some degree.  However, I've never considered the need to plug the scupper holes in my Wilderness Tarpon.  I think that enough water may have come up once to dampen the bottom of my pant leg at the cuff.  I'm not real big, but close to 200 and carry as much as 50# of gear. 

 

For me it wasn't so much of actual water coming through as it was foam.  It left the floor of my kayak disgusting.

[J Francho]

I've been in many, many kayaks, and I can testify that scupper design does come into play.  Even some brand name boats have poor scupper design.  The OG Coosa comes to mind.  They were like little water jets pointed straight at your butt.  The front right scupper of the original Ocean Kayak PBG had to be plugged, if you weren't using a through hull transducer that it was designed for.  I can also tell you that increased load will invariably make bad scupper design worse.

 

All that said, remember this:

 

YOU ARE INCHES OFF THE WATER, YOU WILL GET WET.

[moguy1973]

My Ocean Kayaks have scupper holes UNDER the seat, and its a seat that sits on the kayak, not one of these fancy lawn chair seats.  It was the first thing I did after having a wet butt for my first trip and that was to get plugs for just those.  My kayaks have 4 other scupper holes, 2 in front of my feet and 2 in the rear deck well.  I usually plug the rear ones so my gear back there doesn't get wet but I don't worry about the other 2 since one has a transducer going down it and the other doesn't let much water in.

[J Francho]

Those OK under the seat scuppers should always be plugged.  In fact, I think my OK came with the plugs for them.  The rest I had to buy.

 

BTW, the  purpose of the scuppers is two-fold: they add rigidity to the top and bottom halves of the hull, and they allow the boat to be self bailing.  If you're not running rough conditions, you can plug them without worry.