New Pro Angler 12 180 Rudder Sound/Water in Hull

Hi All,

I’m new to this forum. Just got my first Pro Angler 12 180 last week and took it out for the first time this weekend. I wanted to just get a feel for everything, figure out the layout I want, and do some fishing on the side. I absolutely love this thing; it’s a gigantic upgrade from my old lifetime Teton kayak. However, I did have a couple questions.

1. First day out I ended up getting rained on. After getting home I noticed there was some water in the hull under the center hatch. Wasn’t much, just enough to where a kitchen towel was just able to soak most of it up, and I figured that certain gaskets or hatches aren’t 100% waterproof and probably leaked in some rain water. I dried it up and left the center hatch open to air out. The next day, I was out on a calm lake with no wind, rain, or waves for about 4-5 hours, and when I got home I noticed a little bit of water inside the hull again. It was an even smaller amount than the rainy day, and I was able to soak it up with a small rag, but I wanted to know whether or not this is normal? I read in a couple places that it is, but I just want to make sure. I’m in central Florida, if that helps.

2. I noticed that when using the rudder handle on the left side, especially when turning the handle from facing right to facing left, there is a popping noise that happens. The rudder worked fine in terms of steering but I still found this to be strange and knew it wasn’t right. This doesn’t happen when using the right side rudder handle. Today I tried to figure out what’s causing the noise and was able to take a video of the cause (see Vimeo link below). It looks like the rudder line is rubbing on the metal bar that moves with the handle and then slipping, which is causing the noise. Has this happened to anyone else, and how should I go about fixing this?

https://vimeo.com/744314259

Thank you,
Alex

Following this, as I took my PA 12 out for the first time Sunday, and I noticed this exact same thing.

The video clearly shows the horizontal rudder arm "plucking the spectra line"....just like a ukulele.
That seems to be a easy fix to change the arm elevation for clearance. See if the shaft will drop down about 1/4"

Re water inside the hull.....you are correct about slight leaks.
On my 2013 PA-14 I discovered water would leak around the fishing pole tubes on the bulkhead.

I used some clear silicone caulk to create a better seal between the plastic tube face and the bulkhead....just remove the front tub and 4 screws attaching the
tube housing, clean with acetone and caulk.....reattach the tubes to the bulkhead.

In order to prevent water from filling the rod tubes, I used part of a pool noodle to plug the 6 tube holes since I don't store any rods in them.

_________________
Dr.SteelheadCatcher
Warrenton, OR