I'm guessing that if you drilled ENOUGH holes (and I don't think nine would do it) and nobody noticed for a while, you might be able to pull it off. It would probably also depend on sea and weather conditions. They should be able to pump faster that the water would come in, while somebody else plugged the holes. I seem to remember about a year ago, the C.A.Thayer (153 feet) was leaking some ridiculous amount, like 2,000 gallons a day, or some such number, and had three pumps going 24 hours. When I expressed horror at the large number, the shipwright in charge said, "She's a big ship. She can take it."