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I would NEVER plug the outside of a drain tube. You may need to drain your boat in a hurry some day and you cannot reach the outboard ends of the drain tubes form inside the boat, at least not on anything but very small Whalers.

My 20 year old, saltwater use only Whaler still has intact drain tubes. I have replaced the transom tubes and found the originals were fine.

It is not a complicated chore to replace the brass drain tubes. I recommend it to any Whaler owner so they know that what they have is sound.

The plastic or PVC idea has its own set of problems I choose not to deal with.