I am the happy owner of a new (to me) Hobie 21 I bought through this site. She is a beauty and in great shape. My inquiry is about a slow leak that I have in my left hull. My former Hobie 18 leaked through the base of the daggerboard slot, but that seems to be very tight on the 21. Any other ideas?

The leak detection regime I've heard recommended is to LOOSELY connect a shop vac in reverse, to the drain plug, which will pressurize the hull. Then use a spray bottle with soapy water to spray all suspect points until you see bubbles, indicating the leak(s). Do not use an air compressor, or connect the vac too tightly, it doesn't take much pressure to do damage to the hull.

Dave

In my experience, every Hobie I've owned leaked to some degree. If it's a slow leak, I wouldn't worry about it. If it's a significant leak, then you should try to fix it. The only way to find out where the boat is leaking is to lightly pressurize the hull and spray everything down with soapy water (use a Windex style spray bottle). The best method I find for pressurizing the hull is to just take a short length of rubber hose, jam it in the drain plug hole, and blow a good 10 to 20 lung-fulls into the hull. Then clamp the hose and spray.

The wing sockets are the most likely leak point, but really, you want to check the entire hull, especially any thru-hull fittings.

sm

first check o-rings on hull plugs. if ok you can pressurize hulls to a MAX of 3-5 psi with a compressor and spray all through hull areas with soapy water as dogboy said.. I've done this before with good results.

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Mike Conway
H16
Hilton, NY
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Great advice, thanks to all!

Quote

first check o-rings on hull plugs.

+1 but go a bit further, pressurize & spray the fitting..
We had a fair leak on the 5.0, put it on the boat lift & sprayed it, twice, to no avail. On the third try, I was giving the 10 puffs into the hull, then sticking my finger in the hull to hold pressure. By chance, one of the kids walked by & splashed me.
I then heard hissing from around my finger.
Turned out the previous owner kept it on the beach at Glencoe,(Chicago) & sand had worn the threads in the fitting to the point that it leaked even with a good O ring. With one person on the boat that fitting is underwater, & leaked all day
We changed out the entire fitting & now that hull is almost the definition of waterproof. After 5 days of sailing it only had a cupful.

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Hobie 18 Magnum
Dart 15
Mystere 6.0XL Sold Was a handful solo
Nacra 5.7
Nacra 5.0
Bombardier Invitation (Now officially DEAD)
Various other Dock cluttering WaterCrap
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freeheel100

Great advice, thanks to all!

Might also check wing tube sockets. Take wings out and fill tube with water, if level drops you have a crack in the internal tube (this is common on Hobie 17's - including mine). If a slow leak your might just live with it as suggested above as the internal repair takes some work.

on my cat most of my leaks are from the tramp track

the gromets have been pulling and bending for years and at some point i need to remove the tracks, re-epoxy/gelcoat and re-drill/rivet

I've read over the Hobie boards to check around the tops of the daggerboard jackets.

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Ron
Big Bear Lake, Ca.
1990 Hobie 18 Worlds
1988 Mac 26Dagger
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