Massive Amounts of Water

Well, last year my H16 port hull took on a little. I never really worried about it too much. This year .... I open the plug after 20 minutes of sailing and I have to let it drain for a few minutes. If I had to guess I would say it's a couple gallons.

The only thing I can think of that would let in that much water is if the foam plug is missing. Am I on the right track with that assumption. I mean the hulls are solid there's no holes anywhere else. I can do the soap and water test but no little crack is going to let in the amount of water I am seeing.

Any thought?

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Division 10, Fleet 185
Hobie 17 and Hobie 14

Do the soap and water, vacuum on reverse test and get an idea of where the water is coming from. There are several factors that can make a small leak fill a hull quickly. Going from warm trailer to cold water creates a vacuum and pulls water in. The stress from sailing can open up cracks in seams etc. So get a base-line with the test and go from there.
Hope that helps.

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That smells an awful lot like a split hull/deck seam.

It's really the only thing that can leak like that on a 16.

That's what it sounds like to me too MB.

If it is ... is it repairable?

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Division 10, Fleet 185
Hobie 17 and Hobie 14

If not the deck seams, how about the rudder gudgeons?

If it's fiberglass, it's fixable! Find the leak first, then post some pix and we'll try to fix you up!

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A hull/deck lip leak may be too large for the "bubble test" - air is escaping too fast and doesn't blow bubbles.

Take the rig / rudders off and flip the frame completely upside down. Go along the hull/deck seam inch by inch and look for the split.

John - it's unlikely to be a gudgeon bolt - unless it's completely missing. From the description of how much water is getting in, it's a big hole.

The vacuum will work on the split lip, but an air compressor won't work that well. You need the HVLP of the vac rather than HPLV (relatively) of the compressor. Inspect the seam as MB suggested. Let us know what you find.

Tip: If you have an inflatable air mattress, the air pump from those works great. And the one that I have, the nozzle fits perfectly into the drain plug.

Let's start simple -

1) First sail of the year? Did you drain it before sailing? Could water have gotten in during the winter?

2) How close are you to needing a bottom job? You might be closer than your think!

Thanks for all the advise. I will bring the boat home this weekend. Its on the beach right now. Once I get a chance to go over it real well I'll post the photos and go from there. From the sounds of it its the deck/hull seal.







All the screws are in the gudgeon.

It wasn't the first sail of the season and always drain it before storing. The bottom has been done recently.

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Division 10, Fleet 185
Hobie 17 and Hobie 14