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Leak Hunting
The hulls are designed to vent with changes in temperature and altitude
pressure.
Hulls need to "breathe". Without the vent, the hulls will flex when pressure
changes inside as compared to outside the hull. This can cause damage to
the structure of the hull. If you hear a puff of air when removing a drain
plug, that is not "a good thing".
If your hull leaks beyond a small amount, you can find out where and repair
it fairly easily.
Force air pressure inside the hull in some way. There are many possible
ways to do that. By mouth, hair drier, vacuum exhaust, tire pump... whatever. DO NOT put more than a couple pounds of pressure into the hull. I prefer
the vacuum exhaust. Direct the flow into the drain hole, but do not seal
it tightly. Any positive pressure inside the hull will try to escape. It
will escape through possible leak locations.
Mop, sponge or spray soapy water around fittings and seams that are suspect. Bubbles will be formed by the air escaping from the hull.
Look at the keels. Are they wearing through? Look at the drain plug gasket. Is there one? Is it crushed and out of place when the plug is installed? Look at the bow tang fitting and shroud anchor pin. Holes drilled through
the hull may have pierced the inner hull cavity. Look at the gudgeon screws,
deck to hull lip seam and the pylons on a 16. Hobie 18s can have leaks in
the dagger wells top or bottom flange. Hobie 17s may leak in the centerboard
wells. Look at board fittings and hull/deck glue seams. On a 17, look at
where the centerboard spring contacts the inside of the hull. Boats with
inserted wings may leak in the wing tubes. Freezing water in the tube or
inserting the wings unevenly can crack the wing tube.
Happy Hunting
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