If it was rope it wouldn't be leaking... My advice would be to pull it and install the rope. Do it right and it will never leak. The lip seals will.
Rope seals are two piece but they are a snug fit (hence the never leaking) and need to be trimmed to fit - so slipping one in is not as easy.

Well, art is art, isn't it? Still, on the other hand, water is water! And east is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does. Now, uh... Now you tell me what you know.