Hey guys,

Took the P19 out the other day, was going pretty good but seemed a little slow. I opened one of the port holes after about 2 hours and the hull was about 1/2 filled with water. It is the side that I capsized on but I looked the boat over somewhat and didn't see any obvious holes.

Is there a good way to find the leak easy, I'm hoping its an easy fix.

Thanks,
Pete

get you hull all soapy. Apply LIGHT pressure into the hull through plug hole with a vacuum (on reverse). DO NOT apply more than just a little pressure!!!!! look for the bubbles in the soap.

Pressurize the hull with a vacuum cleaner. Spray a mix of water and soap on all the seams and thru hull fittings. Look for bubbles.

Thanks for the replies guys, the only problem is I don't have access to a shop vac. I'm going to inspect the boat real well tomorrow hoping i find something.

Really cheap and really great shop vac and you'll be able to use it for much more than just leak testing!

do you have a crew?

If so; you don't need a Vac;

soap up the boat; open drain blug and get crew to blow in carefully; also do you have any drain holes?

2 hrs for 1/2 a hull is a serious hole!

What?, incase your crew blows the boat apart - must feed them on good stuff down yur way <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

We always use a hair dryer. Put it on low speed and low heat and blow it into the drain hole -- do not hold it up tight to the hole.

Oh yes........ <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

With that size leak you should be able to put water in the hull with a garden hose and see where it comes out.

Yeah I think that is what I will try first because I don't have anything to create a pressure inside the hull. Just hope its something that can be repaired.

Check the back of the ceterboard trunks.

Anything can be repaired...it's all about how much effort it requires.

I would never pressure a hull with water and ideally not fill from the inside to find holes.

Having said that I found one that I had been looking for for about 12 months by forgetting to empty 1/2 cup full out and then spotting a small drip; It was an odd hole as it closed up under pressure (I'd been looking VERY hard for it with the soap-and-blow <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> method......)

I was married to a blow-hard. She lives down in N. Carolina, or S. Car. ??? want her number? she took the dog~~ gee I miss him, the only thing that greeted me when I came home... <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Yeah the centerboard trunks would be a good place to look. Im pretty sure im going to find something on the outside of the hull because thats what was i the water when it was capsized.
It is kind of bitter sweet thing because I can only imagine how fast the boat would have gone with out the 200+ lbs of water in it but on the same hand I hope its not going to cost me an arm and a leg.

It was SC and I was married to her too!

Alright so I went and checked out the boat and found the problem. In the bottom of the centerboard trunk (easy to get to I know....) there is a couple of cracks. So now my problem is how do I repair this. It doesn't seem like a structural area so can I just worry about waterproofing it?

Pete,

The guys are correct that the besy way to find a leak is the soap and vacuum cleaner method on reverse.

Let me ask a few questions ... as I own a P19

You say the water was in the hull which you capsized on???

Did you hit anything???

I'll give you a possiblity of a leak that I had sometime ago that no one else has mentioned yet and you do not need a vacuum cleaner for.

Dry the hull out ... screw in the hull port cover ... pour some water slowly around the hull port ... it is possible that the seal between the hull port and the deck is not watertight and you may need to re-seal the hull port to the deck. I was getting water in my hulls when I was sailing the boat in conditions were waves/water was crossing the leeward hull top but not in light air conditions. It is amazing how much water would get in the hull this way.

If not check the bottom for a "hit" from some floating debris as a small piece of wood if hit could create a small leak most likely at the "bow stem" ... and check the swingboard trunk and also the drain plug seal to the hull.

I've had leaks over the years in all these places ... the one that took me the longest to find was the drain plug/hull seal as the nozzle of the vaccuum cleaner covered the drain plug hull fitting ... but I could find no leak anywhere so I took some cardboard w/ hole & duct taped it over the hull port opening ... I felt stupid that it took me that long to figure that leak out!!!!

FYI: There was a "thread" sometime ago to define ... Daggerboard vs centerboard vs swingboard .... in the end the definition of a centerboard was that it was located on the centerline of the "VESSEL" not the hull ... daggerboards do not "pivot" ... so the correct terminalogy for a P19 is "swingboards".

If you have any questions you can "PM" me as my E-mail address is in my profile

Sail Flat, Sail Fast
HarryMurphey
P19MX w/spin, #86/CRAC
H18mag, #9458/ Fleet 54,Div11

Pete,

I just saw your post about were you found the cracks. Have you been getting water in that hull all the times you have sailed previously??? Did you stand on the "board" to help right the boat??? I've had friends with P-19's that have "poked" holes in the swingboard trunks due to small stones getting wedged/trapped between the board and trunk. I even have cracks in the rear end of my trunk due to flexing of the sides but they are watertight and are cosmetic only. Doesn't mean that those cracks are not the leak point .... but I would check further ... are the cracks near the bottom??? If so you should be able to fill the hull with 3-4" of water and see it drip out. If you put much more water in the hull make sure you support the hull properly as water wieghs alot and you could damage the hull if you had the boat sitting on rollers on a trailer

If that is were the leak is try sanding the area ... coat w/ WEST epoxy and with a vacuum cleaner "suck" the epoxy into the cracks ... recoat after suction ... let cure. You could use one layer of some 4oz cloth also but there is not a whole lot of room inside those trunks

Good luck
Harry