Living Waters wrote:
I have had my TI for about 4 weeks now and I have got it out in the open sea about 4 or 5 times, each time I notice about 2 to 4 gallons of water inside the hull,....
That is a lot of water and indicates a significant leak or leaks. You don’t have to have a cracked hull to get that much water in your boat on a day trip. The most obvious source of leaks are the hatch covers. If the
Twist-n-Seal hatch covers are leaking they can allow considerable water in because (1) the horizontal ones may be submerged regularly, and (2) water sets on top of the horizontal ones and may seep in through the seal. In a long outing that seepage can be significant. The o-ring seal on these covers needs to be maintained with a light coating of
silicon grease, and it needs to be free of sand, fish scales, and other debris to be water tight.
The
front hatch cover is well designed for a rotomolded hatch opening. It is slanted to drain water. It is surrounded by a moat which drains water from the area. Lastly, if the
two tubular hatch seals are functioning properly, they seal the hatch opening. I’ve had 3 AIs (counting my wife’s as one.) On two of them, the front hatch did not leak in general. Even a good front hatch cover will leak under the certain conditions: (1) if something is placed under the hatch cover shock cords (e.g., a heavy line, a fish net, a paddle, an anchor,) this can distort the cover and serious leakage can occur. (2) The tube seal can come unglued from its fitting and cause leakage. Hobie is no longer using a glued top seal. Rather, they sell a “Trim-loc” molded seal which should be better. (3) The front hatch cover will leak if the hatch is too full of gear and exerts even
the slightest upward pressure on the cover.
I purchased a used 2011 AI. The previous owner apparently left the front hatch cover on and shock-corded down. That caused the top sealing tube to flatten permanently so it no longer sealed. That hatch cover leaked.
If you have leakage in the front hatch area, you also need to check the shock cord fittings. They need to be unscrewed and the threaded openings checked to be sure they are threaded properly and are not cut into the hull.
If you have significant leakage, as Living Waters has experienced, probably all screw fittings need to be checked.Keith