loose cable tube inside boat

Before changing out my steering cables on my older Fenn Mako XT, I noticed the plastic tube that guides the cable inside of hull from rudder to pedals, is loose. The tube is intact up front by the pedals, but has fallen into the abyss of the hull in the back. The cable is luckily still attached to both ends. How do I fix this?
I had hoped to pull out the old tubing with cable still running through both boat holes, then put new 1/4" tubing in, using existing cable as the guide. Two problems: 1) I cannot pull the old tube out from attached end as it barely sticks out of the hole in the boat and it is really glued in there good. I don't seem to be able to get a good grip to pull the tube. 2) the hole without the tube (in the back inside a tight compartment) is too small for 1/4" tubing (smallest I could find).
Surely this is a fairly common problem and surely it can be fixed without cutting the boat open. It is carbon fiber, so probably not as easy to patch back up. My cables are not in great shape and will not last much longer. Any ideas?? Thanks, MickeyA

Hi,

It is a common problem with Fenn`s and the repair is not that easy. It will take on a lot of water if paddling in rougher conditions.

I cut a whole in the deck just in front of the rudder compartment, usually about 6 inch by 4 inch, enough to get your hand in to work.

The glue they use is suspect, as you will find out when you work on it. It is a yellow sticky stuff, but not sticky enough to do the job.

I usually use a piece of composite tubing about 3/8 diameter 4 inch long and drill a 1/4 whole through the middle. The object is to extend the tube so it reaches the compartment. I glue the tubing into the drilled carbon tube with super glue and then drill the rudder compartment out bigger to suit the carbon tube and then glue that in under tension into the compartment with epoxy.

Basically I extend the plastic tube with composite tube and give it enough lemgth so it will not pull out again, the composite tube will bond very well to the boat.

After doing this I put the cutout back. I also usually do both tubes whilst I have it open.

My old Millennium did that a few years ago. I cut a hole, similar to the one mentioned above. I found that the tubing had actually shrunk and that it was not actually possible for the tubing to even reach the rudder box anymore. I was about to change the boat over to a single footwell, so I pulled all of the tubing out and replaced it with some sort of black irrigation tubing. I made sure the beginning and end of the tubes stuck through enough to get a purchase and epoxied the heck out of it.

It was taking on a lot of water previous to the repair.

What is the general strategy for fixing the this 6" hole once you have completed the repair?

The hole I made was probably more like a 5" keyhole shape and to repair I just made a carbon layup (no core material) and epoxied it over. I wasn't concerned with aesthetics. It didn't look any worse than the original rudder hatch cover.

I had a similar problem with a ski. Would take half a cup of water every paddle. I used vaseline at the site where the cable entered the boat. Stopped water getting in completely. Every few weeks I would just repack the vaseline. Doesn't fix the boat but is an easier fix than cutting the boat.

Thanks for the replies. I put a seal, or gasket, under and around the rudder compartment plate, totally keeping water out of the compartment (where the tube is loose). The front part of the tube is intact, so no water in hull from there. So, I am water-tight. My cables are also attached, so the ski is currently operable. I am just concerned about when a cable breaks--I will not be able to run another cable through the boat without breaking her open. I am not at the point where I have to cut into the boat yet.
I am going to try to pull the tube out of the boat without major surgery. I will have to do this from the front since that is where I can actually see the end of the tube.

My question: How are these tubes attached to the boat? Are they glued or clamped all the way from front to back? Or are they just glued near the front and back entry/exit holes?

This is important because if the tubing is just attached at the ends, I can cut a little bit around the tubing hole to get rid of the glue attachment, then simply pull the tube out around the cable. With the cables still running through both holes, I can then push a longer 3/16" O.D. polyethelene tube around the existing cable through the exit hole. I can then secure both ends of the tube to ensure they do not go back inside the hull. I can only pull the factory installed tube out if it is only attached to the boat at the ends? Hopefully it is not attached throughout the hull. Thanks.