I have been asked about fitting deck leach plugs and the other day when I fitted mine I took a few pictures...It's not that hard to do.

In the past I've used a cheaper option by using a splade type drill but because the foam core gives the drill center no support it wobbles making an uneven hole.







It's no big deal if the plugs are going to be under the deck grip like mine were but it may look a bit messy if in the deck area..unless you're going to paint them.

This time I used the right drill for the job..A hole saw drill..and it gave me a nice neat hole.





The deck plugs cost about $5 each..It's sometimes hard to find someone to sell them to you...I got mine from Oak surfboards.



Once the hole is drilled I make some smaller holes to the sides in the foam to act like tree roots..and then half fill with 5 min Aroldite..and tape the plugs in place.





Once the glue has gone off I mix some more and carefully top up..and once that's gone off I slice them neat with the surface of the board...Job done.





This is the exact way most pro's do it..It can be sanded and painted if you wish.

I might put 4 or 6 in the deck of my big Naish to use for carrying stuff.

These two plugs are just for mounting my paddle to the board so I can keep two hands on the board while carrying it...Even in no wind days as I carry my board across the busy Beach Road St Kilda it just takes a big truck to zoom past and the wind from it make holding my board difficult because the wind blows it around.

These plugs could be put in boards like the Kalama that don't have a hand hole and you could use the paddle as a carry handle.

DJ

oliver said...

So if I took my board to the surf shop in mordy that's what they would do?

Ok, you've convinced me DJ I probably will do it myself this w/e. Thanks for the tip on the drill - I would have thought that the splade drill would drill a better hole.

That's exactly what they do.

You can use my hole saw drill bit if you like.

I'm happy to help you with it..

DJ

nice butchering job dj

you could use a jig that holds the drill from wobbling and lowers it down nice and straight so that you do not need the centre drill bit in the hole saw

when they fit fcs plugs on surf boards they drill all the way through to the glass on the other side and bond to it for strenght not that you guys need too

i used a mates cheap china made plastic fantastic jig to sink holes for foot straps into some of my short boards to use kite surfing worked very nice

anyway good idea for your fisho set oliver

im going for a surf

check ya gentlemen

I've got all the implements, and I'm just about ready to go. Should be getting the 6 plugs from trigger brothers tomorrow morning at $4 a pop. All I need now is some of the netting like this:



May try a kayak shop tomorrow morning.

I'm a bit nervous about stuffing it up cause I know when it's done DJ is going to photograph it from every angle and show any sign of human errors using the macro feature on his camera.

Just make sure you do the right board oliver......i hate to see your girlfriend go down you

I don't want you to take this the wrong way Sweden but I was thinking after you posted the pic of Perl, that my ULI looks pretty fricken hot compared to her.

Thanks for the info JC. I was thinking that I could put a layer of glass over the top. I guess I'll just see how it goes over the next few weeks. I do feel confident with it on the 11'6. It's a very well constructed board, which I enjoy for flat water and little waves. I've got the ULI for the rough and tumble stuff.

I thought my leash plugs turned out pretty good. I followed DJ's instructions step by step and it all worked well - the result looks solid enough for what I want it for. I'm going to try and also mount a camera somehow - casso style.

I went to buy some netting this morning from the kayak shop, they had something suitable but I didn't go for it - a bit pricey at $48. By the afternoon I managed to improvise another solution using the stuff I had around me. I had 5m of nylon coated rubber tubing and a packet of small cable ties. I just need another pack of them to finish it off.



Seems to work fine as I'll only be carrying my fishing gear to an island off the coast to relax.