Any boat with holes in it is going to leak, no matter what they're plugged up with- - - -the operative word is "when" not "if". A friend who made his living repairing onboard generators on big houseboats and cruisers gave me some good advice: "If you run a small boat, buy a BIG bilge pump- - - - - -little boats sink in a hurry!" Every boat I've owned since then has a good-sized pump so I can at least get within swimming distance of shore if not all the way to "feet dry" in case of a disaster.
