One of the requirements for participating in an offshore regatta is that a certain number of crewmembers need a certificate from a recent "ISAF Safety at Sea" training. While the requirements are a bit much for a typical BVI sail or charter trip, some of the stuff in the course can be quite helpful and it is both challenging and a lot of fun.

I did my refresher last month in Germany, at a naval base. We got to practice plugging leaks in a simulation chamber (luckily the water was sweet and warm), then went to a big fire hall to put out fires and the toughest session was a half day in a wave pool with liferafts and lifevests.

Since I'm still two weeks away from returning to the BVI for sailing and the weather outside today is miserable, I ended up downloading a trial edition of Adobe's video editing software (Premiere Pro CC) and put together a video with a mix of pictures and video and uploaded it to YouTube.

Click on the picture to open up the Youtube video:

That's tougher then a night at the Willy T. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" />

A thought about the wooden plugs sold for leaks
I've had over a few years 2 through hulls that broke, one was due to my negligence
Both times I've used wooden plugs top stop the inflow of water, the plugs were made of a soft absorbent wood I thinks it's named Tupelo wood.
When I put them in I tapped them about 5 or 6 times with a small hammer then in about a half hour I tapped it again to make sure they were secure
The first time I was up all night checking them every 1/2 hour or so.
Anyway they worked flawlessly and when I had to pull the plug out I had to use a 15" Channel lock pliers for about 3or 4 minutes to get it out.
Now the reason I'm saying this is because some marine retailers are offering high end (Price Wise) Teak plugs that don't swell and will pop out.
So beware when purchasing plugs. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" />

The recommendation is that one puts an aptly sized softwood plug next to each through hull, attached with twine.
Teak plugs that don't soak up water and swell won't work, since the movement of the hull and water pressure will pop them out in short order. Softwood that soaks up a lot of moisture is perfect, since they will expand and become hard remove, as you learned. I know of no teak plugs for stuffing through-hull holes, only of small teak plugs for plugging screw-holes in teak decks.

The one problem with tying them to the through hulls is water in the bilge will make them swell.
The teak plugs are sold by Defender

I always make sure to ask where the thru-hulls are (and where the plugs are). Don't want to be guessing about that while the hull is filling up.

It's easy to forget where an item Is stored if it's not used every day.
I keep my plugs packed in a double zip lock bag under the chart table
It's a place where everyone knows.