I stil cant believe how bad my installation of through hull rope passages came out on my CLC Mill Creek 16.5. The boat looked fine until then, only I seem to notice where the small irregularities are.

I was in a hurry to get the boat on the roof for a long haul trip cross country to deliver the kayak to a friend as a gift. I had not planned ahead to take enough time, and hurried through with putting 1.5" PvC channels throgh the hull front and rear. I did end pours after stuffing them through. They held OK on the roof. Terminal velocity and mileage was surprisingly unaffected on the roof of a 1999 RAV 4, by the way, with the boat upside down, (reminds me how some of the fastest airplanes in the early 1930's included some seaplanes.)

Contemplating a trip to visit him, I want to plan on undoing that mess. Any suggestions?

Thoughts so far -

- completely undo it, by cutting out the PVC, patching in new plywood sections, and installing the dowel approach I read here recently

- leave PVC in place, and make covers for the holes, either making them removable or make them permanent with dowels running down the center.

By the way, the friend didn't notice how bad it all looked, he naturally focused on how good the boat looked. His head is screwed on straight.

Thanks for any thoughts on this.