Safe to drill into same decking area as engine mounts?

[Kevin7]

Hi!  I am planning to put a secondary (emergency) bilge pump into my 2007 240 SD and am looking at securing a couple brackets into the fiberglass decking that the engine mounts are secured into.  This is one level *lower* than the decking where the batteries are mounted into.  I would be securing the bracket about 12" forward of the port-side engine mount.

But before I drill, I wanted to double check and see if I'm safe, or if I'm going to accidentally put a hole where none should go.  Does anyone know?

Attached is pic - where the area which is (sort-of) cleared away in the middle of the pic is where I was thinking of securing a couple brackets.

Thanks!

[wingless]

Welcome to the forum.

Cannot tell from image if location is safe to drill.

My very strong preference when making holes like this is to make the hole larger diameter / deeper than required, fill w/ West System epoxy, allow to harden, then drill into the epoxy for the fastener.

Then, when the thread sealant fails the fiberglass hull doesn't start deteriorating from the water intrusion.

WRT to the fastener location, examine both sides of everything and fully understand the construction (as much as possible) prior to drilling. Use existing items that penetrate the hull for reference points.