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greshamrl:
From your description of events it sounds like you recieved a defective boat from the factory, If it were me I would simply return the boat and get your money back (if it comes down to that), regardless of what Hobies Warranty states, they have to sell you a boat that works and floats (kind of a given (like buying a brand new car with only 3 wheels)), it's simply not your problem if it doesn't work, and not really your responsibility to figure out why. My opinion is it's would be in Hobies best interest to get that boat back to their own factory to determine exactly what went wrong, and promptly get a new replacement boat on order for you (just good business).
If it ends up in claims court (hopefully not) of course you will need to present evidence to that effect, that since day one every time you take the boat out it takes on large quantities of water (ten gallons is not acceptable by anyones standards (you were sold a defective boat). Either you get your money back or a new boat, I wouldn't accept anything less. If it does go to claims court it will likely be a long arduous process where you will need to present compelling evidence to the judge that the new boat you purchased was defective from the factory, so you probably still need to figure out where the leak is and document, just so you can present your case (the burdon of proof is on you). lets hope it doesn't come to that. On anything like this that you purchase, regardless of what the warranty states, it is implied that the boat will work for the intent it was designed for (to float,,,, it's currently a submarine)
Thinking more about the front hatch which is above the water line of the boat, and 90% of any water hitting it is going to harmlessly drain off even if the bungy's straps are not attached, I would think it to be a stretch to be able to get ten gallons of water in through that hatch unless the bow was completely submerged for some period of time. Just because you found that leak first, doesn't mean this is the leaks that is causing that much water to come into the hull (pretty much all the front hatches leak a little just because it's 'not the best' design, but never ten gallons worth).
Just to make sure it's pretty easy to take the boat out with a garbage bag taped over the complete hatch area, using the process of elimination to track down the leaks.
I strongly suspect your problem has nothing to do with the front hatch, the most likely spot is below the waterline in the vertical scupper and drain holes thru the hull, where the top of the deck is connected to the bottom of the hull. When the boat is molded, sometimes the inner walls of those tubes come out too thin, and there is a void or knit line midway up the tube (most likely candidate, and very hard to spot), if this is the case, you get a new hull because this cannot be repaired (should have been caught at the factory, and the hull scrapped). There is a small percentage of defective molded hulls that come out of the mold, that are no good, and need to be simply scrapped (this is normal), it's important to Hobie to catch those bad ones, apparently they didn't catch this one....
If you are taking on that much water you should be able to just put the boat in the water, and sit in it with the hatches open and see where the water is squirting in, it will have the force of a small garden hose in order to get that much water into the hull (ten gallons is a lot of water). You can stick your I phone and a flashlight in there to see areas you can't normally see easily. Laying towels in two or three areas across the bottom will tell you if the leak is in the front, middle or back of the boat, with the hatches open sitting in the boat you will see the water rushing in (process of elimination). Also look closely around the new scupper drain area, that's a new design most of us are not familiar with, and you may have a bad one... I'm pretty sure where ever the water is coming in it will be very obvious, as the boat is sinking (lol). Actually we have a heated pool, that I use for all kinds of testing, during the winter (mostly just for somethin to do lol), if you sink the boat in the pool it is a real bear to get back out of the pool (just lettin ya know)
If it was me I would simply return the boat to the dealer, and let them deal with it, tell them you want your money back or a complete new boat. If the boat was shipped from the factory defective, I would not accept a repaired hull (basically any underwater leak on these hulls scraps the hull, and the hull needs replacement).
By the sounds of your description of events, this was a defective hull shipped from the factory in my opinion. Unless you pulled a real boner and tried to put the scupper cart in the wrong holes or somethin really stupid (not likely) (yes I have done that as well), there is not really anything you could have possibly done to breach the hull (they are actually quite durable).
Hope this helps, of course like always, my opinions are my own.
Bob
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I think I only had about a cup or two of water in the hull after a couple of hours of sailing/peddling.
We're always under SCW'S. Somewhere.