leak

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

Harry'

We took your advice and did the Statue....where were you?

I would never have gone to it had you not brought it up back in May. Thanks for the tip.

You're both wrong. It was California and last I heard she's in Gig Harbor, WA.

Yeah they are near the bottom, checked the rest of the hull and I'm positive this is my major problem. Not to say that there are other small leaks but this is definitely the big one. I'm going to have to figure out how to get sandpaper down in there, going to have to be on a stick somehow...

Pete,

A 5gallon paint stirrer work well ... but you may need to turn the hull over to work from the "bottom" ... mask the deck area as epoxy can run.

To Jack,

Congrats on your hanging in there and winning ... I'm planning on doing the "Statue" race next year when I hope to have the $$$$ (its been a rough year ... I'm unemployed again as of last Monday ... I'm having trouble finding steady full-time employment currently and the bills mounting)

Sometimes I know what I'm talking about, glad you enjoyed the race.

Sail Flat, Sail Fast
HarryMurphey
TheMightyHobie18/P19MX

We'll look for you in 2009. Good luck for now.

Hey guys,

I worked on fixing the leak for the boat, figure i'd share how I did it.

Parts List

West Marine Epoxy kit
Home Depot Paint stirrers (Two small ones and One Big one)
Home Depot 1" paint brush (As many as you need)
Home Depot sanding blocks, I got 60 grit.
Gorrila super glue (This stuff is amazing)

So I glued two of the small paint stirrers together. And then I glued the sanding block to the end of small paint stirrer (I don't have pictures but it can really only be glued on one way to work down in the slot).
Now you have your sanding tool. The reason I got the big paint stirrer is when you have the two small paint stirrers and the sanding block contraption it is hard to apply pressure on the sanding block to sand well. Well the big paint stirrer was in my other hand and I used it to push on the sanding block.
Once I was done sanding, I attempted to rip the sanding block off the paint stirrers, which didn't work well, that glue is really good.
Once I had the sanding block off, I glued the 1" paint brush to the end of the paint stirrers. And used that to paint on the epoxy.
I was even able to use the big paint stirrer to help lay the fiberglass down, which worked out a lot better than I thought it would.

Thanks again for your guys' help,
Pete

Pete,

That's a GREAT IDEA about using the Gorilla glue!!!! You taught me something ... I'm going to file that little trick away for future use.

HarryMurphey
TheMightyHobie18/#9458, Fleet 54/Div11
P19MX/#86, CRAC

In the immortal words of Elwood Blues, "This is glue. Strong stuff!"

I could not find a sound clip, but I am sure one of you will.

Sam

Actually, Elwood is more specific; "This is MARINE glue...Strong stuff!!"

"Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration, don't fail me now!"

It's about time I watched that again...I don't remember either of those lines (and for four years, I played in the horn section of a Blues Brothers impersonation band in Cleveland, OH).

Jake & Matt - with your small boat building experience, what would you say about Nida-core?

I see it's distributed locally (FL), but have to figure the cost is pretty high, even if you don't compare it to end grain balsa...

I don't deal much with cores. I do use balsa core for some of the structural components (primary bulkhead and subdeck/radio-tray) in my one meter but that's about it.

It looks like Nida-core makes a lot of different kinds of core materials...which one in particular?

I think they indicate the aluminum honeycomb vartiety is for marine hull usage...

Not that I have any idea how to design lay-up for composite boats, but it's fun to imagine...

radio-tray???
Lets see some schematics... where do you put a radio? where are your speakers? how do you power it? Inquiring minds NEED to know

nooooo...remote control radio and servos for a 1 meter monohull.

gotcha...

I was hoping for some inspirational new ways to blare tunes while sailing.... but no.. All i get are your controls for your pigmy racer!
<img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

THey have small speakers for an IPOD if memory serves.

Put those bad boys on the spreaders and point downward, or put them on the boom pointing rearward...

Full Wave Audio: Got a waterproof Ipod holder, Ipod controls, and 12v battery good enough for (rocking loud and great quality) tunes for an entire Tybee 500 leg and then some.

ThaT looks awesome.. where did you get it? what did it cost? when i google that i get parts, not an enire system

http://www.watercraftinnovations.com/index.cfm

That wouldnt produce enough sound to hear. I used to carry a boom box in a gear bag on the tramp, but even at max volume it was hard to hear when going over 7 knots and impossible on the wire. I currently have waterproof ipod case and earplugs, but it is a bit of a hastle with the wires around my arms and face.. plus i worry about not hearing other boats...

my kids gave me an Ipod mini and one of these for fathers day
I put it on the handle bars of my Motor cycle and I can hear it just fine upto about 60MPH with a helmet. I am thinking that I can stick it in an AquaBag(I think is the brand) and stap it to the boom.
They got it at Target for about $20.00 search for sonic impact p5

That was actually on Team Accelerated Chaos' boat during the Tybee 500 - and I'm pretty sure that Trip Burd made most of it and is in some way associated with Full Wave Audio. It isn't a product the company is actively promoting but they'll make you one if you ask them too. I think they ran around $1000. It's pricey, but I can attest that the sound quality and volume capabilities are unbelievable. Heck, if it can survive a Tybee 500 from the trampoline, that's saying something.

For $1000, i will hire Van Halen to play on a raft and drag them around behind me.... <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> thanks for the data Jake!

Just a thought as to a radio. Try Bed Bath and Beyond. Their cheap, but they make water proof radios for the shower. I used a splash dance for several years on the boat, before it died. I know their cheap, between $10-$30, but for us on a budget, just something to think about.

Thanks Mlcreek, i have looked at them before. i didnt think the little 1 speaker would fill my needs... but maybe worth looking at again.

Time for a new thread on this topic!