Water in Hulls

I know that last year when I put the boat away for the winter that there was no water in the hulls. Today I took the winter covers off and was getting the boat ready for it's first outing in a week or so and there is a lot of water in both hulls. It sounds like something over a gallon each. I leave the plugs out all the time, but I can't imagine water getting in there. The only other place is the pylons and they were completely covered all winter so no snow accumulated on them. And now how do I ensure that I get all the water out. I guess that I need to take the rudders off and hoist the bows up about 12 feet or so. Gotta be a better way. Anyway, what gives with the water. It didn't get the water last winter.

I noticed the same thing this year. I am thinking the boat was completely covered over with snow and when it melted it must have leaked in through the drainplug holes? I didnt have a gallon but there was a couple of cups in each hull. On another boat the plugs were in and no water had entered!

Hey, Same here! If I leave the boat on the trailer for a couple of weeks at a time I will have a good deal of water in my port hull but not the stbd. I drain it out, then next big rain I will have a repeat occurrence. I can leave the boat moored for 2 days at a time and there is no water in the hull at all. It has to be coming in from the top side. I think I am going to caulk around the pylons. I will let you know if that works.

Over the years there has been numerous tests done regarding this phenomenon. As mysterious as it is the solution is quite simple...move farther south

Now Rick, that was cold. (get it? Cold !) hehehe..... Was that corny or what??? Sometimes I crack myself up!!!

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Happy Sailing,

David

I'm as far South as I want to be, except for occasional travel. All that nice weather just invites the riffraff to stick around.

Speaking of riffraff, we'll all be at lake Havasu for HAVAMEGA in November. It's only about 610 miles from Utah. You can hop on the 15 for most of the trip...maybe hook up with Cooley, Howser & Davison from Colorado and get a caravan to the Lake. We're looking forward to seeing everyone.

Simple, the water comes from condensation. When we close down for the winter, we remove the port-hole covers from the H18's, and duct tape 5" HVAC duct tubing (the metal kind), so that the hulls can 'breathe'. email me - lunnjohn at magma dot ca, and I will email you pictures of our Home Depot $5.12 investment.

When we open the Club next week, hope there are not too many mice and other creatures in the hulls. Oh, no, I forgot, we put some screening in before the snow came down, so we should be okay.

I guess for H16's, you might park the boat for the winter with the nose quite high in the air so that any condensation will drain. We park our H16's with five tires under the front of the boat, and two tires at the stern, and we leave the plugs out. Either that or move south.

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2015 H16, with spin,
SOLD 1989 Hobie SX18 Sail # 1947 "In Theory..."
'Only two things are infinite, the universe, and human stupidity. But I'm not sure about the former.'

I am going with the "water enters through the open drain plug" theory... Try elevating the front of the hulls / trailer to a point were water could not collect in the hulls. Or move south. That actually comes with the added benefit of sailing all year and there is not much chance for water to pool in the hulls.

I'm from Saskatchewan and believe me we know cold! We set several records this past winter including the [b]COLDEST CITY ON THE PLANET [b] (twice this year). I now own a getaway but had a 16 for almost 20yrs. and I never had any water in the hulls in the spring. No way in the world (in my humble opinion) will you get a gallon (even a US one) in the hull through condensation. I always left the drain plugs out, but the boat sat level all winter with just a tarp over it.

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06 getaway -- always remember, man with both feet in mouth have no leg to stand on.

I, too, am going with the "drain plug theory." I just picked up the front of the trailer to drain some rain that had accumulated on the tarp I keep over my 16 in the winter and had water drain from the starboard hull for about 2 minutes straight. Nothing out of the port hull. I leave the drain plugs open in the winter (Wisconsin) so if there is any water in the hulls it can expand if it freezes. It looks to me like the tarp on that side drains off the back and almost directly into the drain hole. Will have to look out for that in the future.