After capsizing my 16 for the first time last week and pulling it up on the trailer afterwards I discovered I had a pretty serious leak in the hull. Previous outings I had a small amount of water in the hull, but after the capsize I had well over a gallon in the port hull, starboard was bone dry. I followed the instructions from the post by Matt Miller and put a small amount air pressure in the hull from my shop-vac and the leak-point was made instantly apparent.
Inside the hole where the shroud attaches to the hull it appears there is a hole through to the inside of the hull. There is no evidence of trauma to the area or excessive force. It almost seems like it was present from the time the hole was drilled but I can't imagine the previous owners living with it? (or maybe they did?) Either way I need to remedy the problem. I would appreciate any feedback or suggestions, but I'll outline my plan of attack below.
My plan (feel free to make suggestions)
- Inspect the hole further and make sure the surrounding area isn't too soft or rotten.
- If necessary use a die-grinder to clean the area up, taking care not to enlarge the hole any more than necessary.
- Apply a very very very slight vacuum to the hull (with shop vac or possibly a vacuum tester I have for automotive use.) This will help pull the fill material into the hole.
- Fill hole using either fiberglass resin mixed with some finely chopped fibers, or Marine Tex
-Let dry sufficiently
-Chase shroud anchor hole with drill to clean out any excess material left from repair
Any insight or suggestions to the plan would be appreciated. I've attached a picture of the hole. The picture is looking up from the bottom of the hull to the underside of the lip/hole.
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