: This will be strong
: enough but I doubt it will be water proof..since it doesn't have a real
: flat seal on the underside of the hull.
: Anyone have any ideas how this could be done, without taking the buckles off
: and re-sewing . or is more silicone the answer?

Just cut a patch of glass fabric, soak it in some epoxy resin until it is wetted out, and slap it on the inside on the boat, trapping dowel and silicone sealant. If you flip the boat over (bottom up)so the patch can lay flat on the inside of the deck you shuldn't need any clamping or weighting to hold it in place. Just let it rest until the resin sets up. Then put on another coat of resin and call it quits. if you want to be artistic you can pinch and shape the wet patch to fit neatly and snugly around the dowel and fabric.

Wear gloves when you do this, as even small pieces can be very messy.

If your dowel is moving around a lot, you can put on a double layer of glass cloth -- otherwise a single layer is fine.

Should you need to replace the webbing, you can cut through the glass and resin on the inside with a sharp knife or a small chisel. Poking further with either of these tools will sever the silicone and you can pop off the dowel and remnat of webbing. The deck slot should be unaffected, so you can quickly replace the webbing, dowel and silicone. Then just cover the area with a slightly larger patch, which will overlap and disguise the original edges of the first patch. After the second or third time you do this you may want to do some sanding to remove some of the build-up of patch remnants -- but that day could be decades away.

Oh, make the "patches at least an inch longer on all sides than the length, width and thickness of the dowel. so if your dowel is 1/2 inch diameter (thick and wide) and 2 inches long, your patch should be at least 3 1/2 inches wide and 5 inches long. Here is how I figure that:Picture in your mind the fabric going from left to right. I have 1 inch in contact with the deck, 1/2 inch going up, 1/2 inch going across, and 1/2 inch going down before coming to the inch of fabric that lays on the deck. That gives me 3 1/2 inches for the width of the patch. From top to bottom I have an inch in contact with the deck, 1/2 inch going up the end of the dowel, 2 inches along the dowel, 1/2 inch going down, and then the last inch in contact with the deck, for a total of 5 inches.

With a smaller dowel you can use a slightly smaller patch. If you have a bigger dowel, increase the size of the patch accordingly. When in doubt, cut a patch from newspaper, dampen it, and see if it drapes properly over the inside of your fitting. If it does, remove it and dry the area before applying your fiberglass patch.

Hope this helps.

PGJ