hull moisture

captainJack987

captainJack987

New Member
Now i now everyone talks about the inspection ports and how you need them to dry the inside of your hull out but are there any alternative ways, because i dont reely want to cut a hole in my boat that i have devoted so much time to and ruin it. Are ther any commercial products you can put in thru the drain plugs to air the hull out or are inspection ports the only way????
 
Here is something that I am trying as an experiment. I say "experment", but I don't really have a way of judging if it works. My boat is nine years old. It has never leaked a drop, but I supposed there is some moisture in there.

I went to PetSmart and bought a fish tank air pump and some airline tubing. I ran all the tubing in through the drian plug, and I am letting the air pump run while I store the boat in the garage over the winter.

Granted its not very much air flow. However given enough time it should displace any moist air in the hull with drier outside air. This will give any moisture inside the hull a better chance of evaporating. I would think over the course of three or four months it would significantly dry the hull out.
 
What you might want to seel up the drain plug with putty and have the drain plug open in the cockpit so all the moisture could escape thru there and the new dry air would repelace it.

ps, i thought of it a new way put the air pum in thru the cockpit drain plug so if there is ant moisture or water it will eventually run out via gravity!
 
captainJack987 said:
What you might want to seel up the drain plug with putty and have the drain plug open in the cockpit so all the moisture could escape thru there and the new dry air would repelace it.

ps, i thought of it a new way put the air pum in thru the cockpit drain plug so if there is ant moisture or water it will eventually run out via gravity!
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The drain plug in the cockpit is not connected to the interior of the hull, UNLESS you have no screw holding the bailer in. The only other hole in the cockpit besides the transom plug is the small vent hole under the hiking strap in the front of the cockpit.

A little air pump is a good idea and is supposed to dry the boat out if you use it all winter long, or so I've heard.
 
Air pump sounds a good idea to me as well. I guess its about a bit of air rather than a large hole. Large hole might make air movement more likely and easier. Over a period of time I would think a little slow movement would be quite effective (but I am no expert). I might do the same but might wait until summer (when the air will be warmer and lower humidity - as I keep the boat in a barn during the summer as well.

Ian
 
torrid said:
Granted its not very much air flow. However given enough time it should displace any moist air in the hull with drier outside air. This will give any moisture inside the hull a better chance of evaporating. QUOTE]

Make sure the "blow hole" which is a very small hole in the front of the cockpit just under the hiking strap/mainsheet block attachment is clear. Poke a small stiff wire through it and listen to see if you have air escaping from your fish pump...this way air will circulate and help the drying. Also try running a de-humidifyer in your garage/storage srea, place it right next to the hull and it will suck moisture out of the air.
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Hi,

As an alternative idea to the fish tank bubbler, I taped a small, salvaged, computer fan to the transom bung hole. The fan is whirring away 24/7 and blows air into the hull. I can feel a nice flow of air coming out of the vent hole beneath the hiking strap as well as out of the holes for the deck fittings that I removed for resealing just before the new season.

The air here in Canada is very dry in the winter and I hope that this flow over the next few months will make my hull as dry and stiff as a fortune cookie!
 
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