Oh, my non-Hobie experiences may shed light on survivability of a seam leak as well:
My only fast seam leak came at pump up time, and couldn't be missed. An electric pump could not reach it's target of 10psi but spun endlessly at 7psi. Removing the pump, I heard a weird whistle which I at first took to be some critter calling. Soon it was clear that a seam had parted over about a third of an inch where the factory had made insufficient overlap. I used it's patch kit (maybe only glue; maybe expired) and amazingly it welded together strong, in spite intrusion of a lumpy friction pad. This was on a convertible wind surfer / sailing skiff which had inflated ok before. I got mixed up with some weird valves on an oversize no-pedal lookalike to i11s, which gave an idea on how to simulate a slow seam leak. If you leave the outboard chambers full, but bleed off 1/3 pressure in the center chamber to simulate a central leak, test the rigidity of hull and chair. It might be surprisingly good, maybe even if you bleed 2/3 pressure. In fact (this is what surprised me) even opening the center valve entirely may leave a fair amount of air in the center chamber due to side chamber rigidity. Maybe you would need to sit directly on the soft floor to be able to pedal.
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