I had a problem all of last year with my starboard hull taking on 2-3 gallons of water every sail. Over the winter I pressurized the hull with a small shop vacuum through the drain port and soaped up the hull. I found a few small leaks and sealed those up.
This year the boat still was taking on water and driving me up the wall. I figured the last point of water entry had to be the drain port, so I replaced the hole unit, plug and housing. I diligently cleaned off residual crud and sealant and fitted with a new stainless steel unit. Resealed with silicone, everything looked fine.

Long story short after a few hours of sailing I barely made it back to the marina, which by then half of the trampoline was under water. The hull was completely filled.

Question: What the frig??

often leaks will be hiden under the beams.... it seems hard to believe that you could get that much water in that area to swamp a hull..

I am guessing beams you are talking about the side rails and cross beam etc for the trampoline. I pressure tested all of those areas and they are fine.

I am going to bring a level down and see if the transom is flat in that area.

Thoughts:

- Crack on the bottoms of your hulls? Sides below water line? Is there a repair that has come undone?
- Leaks around stantions?
- My bet is the bottoms of your hulls. Thats a lot of water it has to be below the waterline. When we see that on our beach it is always there.

I have found leaks by putting water in the hull, with the boat on the trailer. Have the bow high and the plugs in, ad about 4" of water. Remember water is heavy. Look for leaks in the stern. let the bow down and look for leaks at the bow.

My trac 14 nearly sank as well on my first trip out. It leaked through the track that the tramp slides in. They used rivits for construction that eventually worked loose. I drilled out all the rivits and replaced them with stainless bolts and washers. I had to make a new port hole for the fix.

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FYC, Nacra 5.2 "Chris's Flyer" & Nacra Playcat & Farrier Tramp
Previously owned: Trac 14, H14, H16, H18, N5.0, G-cat 5.0
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Have you done a lot of bottom work? If so we have boats where it all has to be rmoved and redone because water is really good at finding its way past these patches after a while.

I have the same issue.
Repaired a leak after having filled the entire hull with water and seen the leak.
Put the cat in the water and after a few hours it was almost swamped!

So after some advice, I put some air pressure on the hull and found that the upper top/deck and hull joint has a leak in the rear. When the rear of that hull goes under water it leaks some. But the surprising thing was that also near the daggerboard slot there is also a leak. With the daggerboard down, the water pressure probably easily makes its way up the board and into the hull even when the hull isn't slighty submerged.

Don't know anything about your type of boat as I am new to cat sailing myself, but thought I would mention that. I sealed the entire edge just to be sure, as well as the dagger slot where the top mates with the hull.

What I also was going to mention is that my hull has flotation foam inside of it...so I am a little more at ease that I can at least hobble back to shore even with a serious problem (knock on wood). I had almost half the hull swamped but the tramp wasn't dragging in the water.

Dan

I just chased down the leak in mine (haven't patched it yet) but it was hiding in the dagger well at the top. Since it was under the lip where the two parts of the hull meet it was hard to find using soap and water; I keep soaping down the hull and finding nothing until I heard the air and then covered the whole gap and found it.

lawrencer2003

Have you done a lot of bottom work? If so we have boats where it all has to be rmoved and redone because water is really good at finding its way past these patches after a while.

The only work I did when I first bought the boat it had a handful of deep scratches just about to the fiberglass. I filled them with marine tex (I know I know I wouldn't have done it knowing what I know now).

My question is if I have areas that need to be regelcoated would that be an area for leakage?

Is this on your H16 or the H3.5?

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Scott,
‘92 H18 w/SX wings
‘95 Hobie Funseeker 12 (Holder 12)
‘96/‘01/‘14 Hobie Waves
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Are you using the right kind of fiberglass? There are two kinds and I understand they are not to be crossed up. It looks like they bond... but actually delaminate under stress.

Additionally, if you press up your hulls with too much volume of air, a leak can hide because it is too large to effectively bubble up. Air flow is too high to allow the soap to form a membrane.

If water is used to find leaks... bear in mind that residual moisture trapped in a fractured area will certainly frustrate a glass repair. Water is not really the best way to locate a leak. It stresses trailers and it seeks the lowest point to drip from.

Boo dagger boards! The sol cat I used to have always had problems with that area.

Oh yeah sorry....Hobie 16....

The only repairs have been with epoxy (marine tex). Other than that silicone sealant where the trampoline pylons go into the tops of the hulls.
This leak has by far been the most frustrating part about sailing this boat....even more so than actually learning how to sail it!

Does exposed fiberglass "wick water through the hulls"? If so would a few small spots (1/4" x 1") be enough to take on 2-3 gallons in a few hours?

No..Don't see you did anything wrong. Year one with my Nacra the club wheels, sans cradles, cut deep grooves down to the glass plus I made a tactical error to close to shore in high winds and ran her up on some rocks (For this and a few other learning curve mishaps, I learned later my nickname name for the next two years was "Crash". I've since been absolved of my sins.). Filled all this damage with Marine Tex and four years later I barely get a trickle out of my hulls even after sailing all day in big waves. (Cat Trax and MarineTex .. I could pitch em like Billy Mays with absolute conviction)

The sharp "keels" of Hobies take a beating on rocks. If those cuts were actually deeper than you thought and the material has worn away, you might have an issue. Might want to have a look. This leakage has to be coming in under pressure and below the waterline. If you go out on a light day and you still have this much water, it is definately below the water line.

Also keep in mind the bulk of my taking on water was AFTER replacing the drain port (originally plastic unit), with a new stainless steel unit.

Has anyone replaced the whole unit (not just the plug and o-ring)? Are there any tricks to it?

A point after I posted that occurred to me! You mught want to start a new thread with that question.

mma600psi

Also keep in mind the bulk of my taking on water was AFTER replacing the drain port (originally plastic unit), with a new stainless steel unit.

Perhaps you can simply tape up the drain port (well) with duck tape and take her out (stay close to shore) to see of that is the problem spot

Waterproof duck tape! or Gorilla Tape.

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Also keep in mind the bulk of my taking on water was AFTER replacing the drain port (originally plastic unit), with a new stainless steel unit.

Well, sounds like you found your problem. As an added note, I replace my drain plug complete assemblies and I had a mysterious problematic leak, it was the "NEW" rubber washer to the plug. It looked perfect. How did I find it. We were taking the boat out on a trailer using the ramp at a local lake regatta. As it was parked on the hill I notice water leaking out of the plug while the plug was still in tight. I replaced the new plug with an the old plug and rubber washer that it replaced and viola!

BTW, duck tape is waterproof.

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Philip
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mummp

As it was parked on the hill I notice water leaking out of the plug while the plug was still in tight. I replaced the new plug with an the old plug and rubber washer that it replaced and viola!

THATS CRAZY!!!! whoda thunk a new gasket would fail! Thats probably the CHEAPEST fix EVER on a boat!

mummp

BTW, duck tape is waterproof.

Quack!

I wonder if that is my issue as well??? If you have seen the bad kitty rebuild in the tech gallery, you can see where I just installed the new metal brackets. The only issue I had for the trial run was taking on a good bit of water in both hulls. Considering she just got a bottom job new paint ald caulk, I was a little baffled at the water so I think i will be taking a very close look at those metal plugs

Thanks guys!!!