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PostPosted: Tue Feb 26, 2013 5:08 pm 
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Location: Kailua 96734
Atango wrote:
Do the folks that get substantial amounts of water in their hulls have openings into the boat that can allow the hull to breath without getting water in
Just the opposite. Most have tight seals other than the front hatch and rear tubes. Those must be what's breathing.


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PostPosted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 7:19 am 
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Location: Gulf Shores, Alabama
NOHUHU wrote:
Hey! Save it for the race boyz! :lol:
Anyway, Jim should be easy to spot at Ft Desoto. No flag, but his wife is sewing him a spandex hero outfit to match. :wink:

Unfortunately only enough time for a hat this year. :P

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PostPosted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 7:53 am 
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Location: High Point, NC
There is another way to do this that is far more effective and guarantees a water tight front hatch. I just got back from a show and don't have time this week, but I'll take some photos and post them here next week. The answer is simple but requires a photo.


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PostPosted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 8:12 am 
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Location: South Florida
Far more effective then the Roids seal? Hard to be more than 100% dry. Let's see it Tom.

Keith

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2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon


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PostPosted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 1:04 pm 
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Location: Kailua 96734
HA! AMATEURS! DUCT TAPE RULES!!


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PostPosted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 4:18 pm 
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Location: High Point, NC
I will show it as promised. As I said, I need to get past my current project and I'll have the photos. Should be able to do it next week. This isn't hard, folks.


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PostPosted: Sun Mar 03, 2013 8:26 pm 
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Location: Kailua 96734
Using Kiwi's idea I fitted a smaller adaptor to the INSIDE of my pumps inlet, allowing me to dip (or install) my hose into the hull and work the pump from the cockpit.

Image

The 1/2" pvc adaptor is a good snug fit inside the housing, without interfering with the action of the 1-way valve there. The hoses are both reinforced 1/2" ID/3/4" OD tubing. Not going to collapse under the gun.

One side of the adaptor is threaded, so you can screw it on tight to the soft outer tubing. Or possibly other garden hose fittings.

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PostPosted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 7:28 am 
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Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 6:18 am
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Location: Sarasota,Key West FL
NOHUHU :
I finally was able to get out and do some sea trials on my tubing mod for the hatch seal on my TI and I have some good news and I have some bad news.

The bad news is I walked around at the EC launch last week and looked at the hatch seals on most of the AI's and my tubing mod (posted earlier in this thread) will not help on the older AI's with the side seal inner gasket, I am recommending Kieths 'Roid' seal ( viewtopic.php?f=69&t=46308 )

The good news is on my TI there seems to be some improvement, I went out two days in a row of 'DDS' sailing, utilizing both my spinnaker and my jib (which both put extreme extra stress on the front hatch seal) in 15mph plus winds and fairly rough water and only had to empty out a about 1 cup of water out of the hull (after two days). Previously I would get 1-2 cups per outing. Since I didn't change anything else on the boat, I'm concluding the improved seal (adding the 1/4" vinyl tubing below and around the inner seal) improves the seal and I will keep it (total investment is a buck, and 2-3 minutes of your time to put it on). While at home Depot I also saw they had 3/8 diameter latex tubing which is much softer, I might try that just so I can go out and test it over and over again.
Just to clarify, my opinion is on the newer TI's the front hatch seal from the factory works acceptably even if you do nothing at all (Hobie has done a nice job re-engineering the hatch seals), but if you go out into open seas and a little rougher than normal conditions regularly, perhaps adding the tubing might be a nice option (on TI's).
My plan now is to go down to Key West for a couple weeks of big open water sailing, I will lay 3 towels in the front, center and back of the hull to try and figure out where the water comes in. I will probably never get the hull totally dry but it sure is fun testing and testing and testing ( LOL).
Bob


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PostPosted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 4:26 pm 
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Location: Sarasota,Key West FL
NOHUHU:
I completed my second trial of the 1/4" tubing mod on my TI this week (see earlier in this thread). I spent the week in the Florida Keys near Islamadora. We had the boat out at least twice daily and kept it in the water moored offshore the whole week. Here is my TI moored just offshore on a mooring ball
Image.
Results, after 3-4 days of going out once or twice per day sailing in regular sailing conditions (winds 10-15mph) with typically 3 adults on board we had maybe a couple tablespoons of water in the hull. I never bothered to drain the hull but checked it regularly. We were using both the jib and spinnaker quite a bit and had some splashing over the nose as we went through waves. On the last day I took out 5 people, 3 adults and 2 kids (tweens) we went out sailing with both the the jib or the spinnaker deployed most of the time, and the boat actually sailed pretty well loaded down (I'm sure we were overweight). It was a pretty protected area and shallow in Florida Bay and we stayed fairly close to shore. None of them had ever been on a sailboat before so they had fun. Being that loaded down the bow went under quite often and at times just stayed an inch or so underwater at times. The next day when I was pulling the boat out of the water there was around 1/2 gallon of water in the hull. I'm pretty sure almost all of that occurred on the day before trying to sail with 5 people on board. On just about every trip out we would stop and snorkel, and while stopped everyone would be in and out of all the hatches getting gear and such. The twist and stow hatches were under water quite a bit of the time, and I don't think they leaked at all. We were still able to sail 7-8 mph, but I would need to back off on the sails a bit when the bow went completely under. If we had been able to to get more weight aft (maybe cantalever HAKA's), I'm sure we would have faired better, but the teen agers wanted to lean over the front AKA's with their masks on and watch for fish. I suppose I could have got the bow back up with my old hydrofoil setup, but I took them off a while back and they are just sitting in the garage at home.
Before recommending the mod completely I feel compelled that I must do an additional couple weeks of testing down in Key West in bigger water so we're going down there next week for further testing. We will likely be going out to scuba in open water on the coral reefs, and explore other islands. It's a tough job but somebody has to do it.
Bob


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PostPosted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 3:59 pm 
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Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2013 12:55 am
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Location: Pacific Grove, California Central Coast, USA
Leak testing, but blowing air into the hull to create postive pressure, and spraying with detergent solution can help you find points on your boat that leak (bubbles in the soap solution) . It can also make you think your front hatch leaks more than it does, because its design makes it resist pressure from within leaking out much less than pressure from outside leaking in.
For the AI, there is a handy port on the rear of the boat where the exhaust of a vacuum can be hooked up (In fact, this port is less than ideal for most other uses--very hard to drain the boat through it). But on the TI, the drain port is tiny, and hard to get enough airflow in to do the job.
My solution has been to use a spare hatch cover. I had the handle on a hatch break, and Hobie doesn't sell this part alone, so I had to get a whole new hatch. I drilled a hole in the old one the right size for my vacuum hose (and plugged the handle hole with duct tape, though a rubber stopper would work better). Now, with a hatch open, I can put the hatch cover with the hole in its place (I took the cover off its ring by driving the hinge pins out, but it can be used with the ring in place.
Now I can hook up the vac on blow, and get plenty of air to find leaks. Many of these can be improved by tightening things. Others require more.
Image
Image


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PostPosted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 4:18 pm 
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Location: South Florida
Looks good, Bb. Regarding draining your boat through the stern plug. I have never done that. I simply take a sponge, which I always have with me on any trip, and sponge out the pt or qt of water that I've taken on.

If you have any advice on stopping leaks you discovered, I for one would be glad to hear them.

Keith

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2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon


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PostPosted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 1:57 am 
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It is very hard to use this method to detect leaks at the front hatch. It is too big and the air pressure is lifting the hatch cover.

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PostPosted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 2:05 am 
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It is very hard to detect leaks by using this method at the front hatch. It is very hard to stable the pressure at a fix point. It is too big and the air pressure is lifting the hatch cover is very high. I suggest you do always start with low pressure then increase pressure slowly.

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PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2020 5:47 am 
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Wow. Hearing about these tablespoons or even quarts of water makes think I have a crack in the hull or something. After 3-4 hours of sailing it might have two or three gallons of water. Enough to make the boat ride noticeably lower. Even on sunday, which was calm lake sailing/pedaling for around 5 hours I had to pump my boat out once on the water and once at the landing, since it had a good amount of water.

I patched one crack in the hull near the bungie port at the front hatch, and added in a rubber seal, so I don't think its the front hatch, especially because there weren't enough waves splashing over the bow to add that much water, even if I'd left the hatch open.

Are there specific areas I should check on my (new to me) 2008 AI? I've got a shopvac and can easily make a plate to pressurize the hull, but is there anywhere i can look for the obvious stuff first?


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PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2020 4:03 pm 
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check rear rudder line sleeves if they are perished they will let a steady flow of water get in which increases as the rear becomes increasingly lower in the water. Front hatch leaks and the like will vary according to conditions and how much water comes over the nose.


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