Loose screws! What to use to feel the holes and re

You are right Pete. My suggestion should have specified that I was only talking about repairing the wood to hold a screw in the hinge. Wood dowels and even wooden golf tees also work for worn out screw holes in wood. I still need to use the epoxy for my rub rails where no wood is available.

The old woodworkers trick is to take either flat or round toothpicks, coat them in wood glue and just put them in the screw hole wntil it is full. When the glue is dry the hole can be redrilled or the same screw can be replaced with the glue still wet without redrilling. I have used this many years when refinishing furniture or miss drilling a project. In a water situation you may want to seat the screws in 3M 5200. This is the easiest most efficient long term fix I have ever used.

84SN2001 wrote: Just regular epoxy from the auto store?

The problem with regular epoxy you find at the auto or the hardware will be it's viscosity and the reason I mentioned "filled" to thicken it up. It may just run through the hole. You could try one of the epoxys that has the spiral mixing disposable tips but a couple applications may be needed. They usually come with a couple of the tips.

Brien,
No on the wood glue. Inject the hole with thickened epoxy and then redrill pilot holes after it cures.

BTW, Just because a boat has been garage kept, doesn't mean there aren't rot issues below. It goes in the water once and water gets into the wood. Once in there, it stays!!