How to dry a Laser hull

When my laser had a leak it spent two months of water in the hull and has got considerably heavy and is damp inside. Does anybody know the best way to dry out a laser hull and loose the extra weight from water absorbed into the fiberglass.
 
if you have a port hole open it a put a fan next to it and let it dry for a while in the sun.
 
i think you blow in?? but is you leave the port open when you not sailing that would help
 
Since I live in Ireland we have a relatively wet and damp climate even tho the boat will be inside until june would the moisture in the air prevent the hull from drying out just by leaving the port open.
 
The key is airflow through the hull. No sense it blowing an bunch of air in one port if there is not an equal sized opening for the air to get out.

My boat doesn't have ports, but in the past I have bought an aquarium air pump and stuck a narrow, long rubber hose in through the drain plug. This obviously doesn't have a high volume of airflow, but I left it for several months during the winter when I wasn't sailing. I figure it circulated quite a bit of air through the hull during that time.
 
If you left the transom drainplug open would that be sufficient enough to get air to circulate from the bow to stern? Another problem that I am faced with is there is no electricity in the shed my boats is being stored in as it was an old farm shed for cattle that my grandparents own.
 
You can make the same type of thing as sold by Intensity. I made one using a fan from Radio Shack and an extra inspection port lid. There must be something similar you can find in Irland. You do need at least two ports as mentioned above.
 
The key is just to get some dry, preferably warm air flowing through the hull.

I brought a hull inside my house once after moving out from parents and before being married.

If you are married or living with parents this tactic might get you kicked out to the shed.
 
If you left the transom drainplug open would that be sufficient enough to get air to circulate from the bow to stern? Another problem that I am faced with is there is no electricity in the shed my boats is being stored in as it was an old farm shed for cattle that my grandparents own.

The Intensity fan gizmo looks like it would pump a lot of air in the hull. You would need an equal-sized opening, preferably on the other end of the boat, to allow air to escape. Otherwise it's going to try to inflate the hull.
 
Can you get dehumidifiers small enough to fit through the inspection port. I think that that might be a bit extreme it is probably easier to connect a computer fan to batteries a let that run or a few days until they run out
 
I would plumb it so the fan is pulling air out of the inspection port. Not pushing it in. Wire it to a bicycle generator. You might as well as get fit while watching your boat dry out.
 
So if i can get air to circulate in the hull with a pump or fan for a few months i should loose all the extra weight of the water absorbed by the fiberglass.
 
In AU it would be as simple as leaving your boat outside for a couple of weeks in the sun. I've seen several lasers that actually post cure the polyester resin so much that all of the reinforcing blocks show thru the deck. You can also see the mast step thru the hull. We need to keep our dinghys out the sun.
 
Was it wet with salt water or fresh? If it was salt, did it get rinsed out well? I think remaining salt helps trap moisture and makes it harder to dry out. . .
If you have room in your shed to store your boat on the transom that might help drain any residual water. If you can keep the boat warm and keep the air flowing through it as well that should definitely do the trick.
 
It was salt water and I rinsed it out with warm water. I am able to store the boat on its stern but would that not damage the gunnels and gudgeon at the stern due to all the weight being focused there or does that matter.
 
It shouldn't damage the boat - I believe they store them that way at the factory . You need to put some blocks of wood or something down so the weight is actually on the gunnels and not the gudgeon.

Like this, although you'd probably want it to lean the other way to maximise drainage.
lasers-on-wall.jpg
 
The following is a method I found to be very effective and cheap. You need an old canister vacuum and the bag should be removed. The hose may not be long enough so you can buy a length of hardware store hose and tape it to the end of the vacuum's hose. The joint does not have to be perfectly airtight. The idea is to snake the hose into the inspection port either forward or aft as far as possible. With the vacuum running, it will suck the moist air out of the hull and dry air will be drawn into the hull via the inspection port. NOTE: Extreme Care should be taken not to block the inspection port when the vacuum is running. If it is blocked even for a second, the hull could collapse because of the pressure differential. I usually tape the hose to one side to insure maximum air flow into the hull. the good news is that it will dry the interior very fast. An hour or so with the hose forward and the same time with it snaked aft should be sufficient. Hope this helps.
 
Thanks for that advice it sound like a good idea. That would be very plausible for me to do. Does it need to have 2 have two inspection ports I only have one forward of the cockpit could that damage the boat.
 
Does it need to have 2 have two inspection ports? I only have one forward of the cockpit could that damage the boat.

Repeat - Extreme Care should be taken not to block the inspection port when the vacuum is running. If it is blocked even for a second, the hull could collapse because of the pressure differential. I usually tape the hose to one side to insure maximum air flow into the hull.

Most household vacuums move about 120 cfm, and a quick calculation indicates that a 4" opening and minimal pressure differential will handle about three times that much. This being said, I am not there with you and it's not my boat or vaccuum, so proceed at you're own risk.
 
and this will fully dry out the inside of the hull with about an hour of usage. Should that remove all the moisture from the hull and get the boat back down to 55-60 kg
 
At the risk of sounding like a lawyer, I am not there with you and cannot say one way or another. If you want, try it and find out. It may take longer or it may not.
 
I also received the laser drain bushing yesterday in the post this should end my leak problem so I won't have to worry to much about getting loads of water in the boat
 

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