About every 3-4 months, we remove the drain plug on the AIs and hook them up to the exhaust of a shop vac using a small piece of drip hose. The vac connections don't need to be sealed, as long as air keeps pumping into the hull (duct tape!). All excess air comes out of the front hatch, so it won't harm the boat. Then we soap up the boat with a light mixture of some type of spe and water. Dish washing soap works well for us. Either use a spray bottle, or better yet a sponge and bucket and get soapy water over the boat, connection, screws, etc. You should see bubbles arount the front hatch, the steering handle, the up/down handles and the rear rudder line tubes, but that's it. Anything else that bubbles, needs to be tightened, sealed or cleaned.
It always surprises me where new leaks show up each time we do this.
Also, at the same time, CHECK THAT ALL HARDWARE IS TIGHT! I just found last week that my front aka support was loose. 3 screws loose, one completely out (but captured by my paddle leash). I don't want to think about what would happen if the front aka support, holding on the aka, ama and sail left while sailing
Remember to put back in the drain plug.
