How to know if hull is dry

Just A Mom

Just A Mom

Member
Just me again. ;)

When looking at boats to buy......how do you know if a hull is dry? I don't understand the difference between water that normally comes out of the hull plug and a "not dry" hull.

Thanks again for tolerating my asinine questions.
 
Hey we're all pretty happy to help - there's not really any / many "asinine" questions + this is surely not one of those few. Everybody starts where they start and knows (doesn't know) what they know + don't know.

In my mind, there's a couple aspects to "a dry hull"

- most simply, how much water does it leak when sailing, especially on rough days. All hulls have a vent hole under where the hiking straps attach to the hull by the mainsheet block, so they'll all leak "a little." Beyond that common leak points are the seam between the deck + hull, the footwell autobailer, and the hull drain on the transom. These things are important, but are usually relatively easily repaired if there's a problem.

- beyond that, with water inside the hull, there's the possibility that it penetrates the structure - the honeycomb sandwich that the deck is made out of, the wooden backing plates behind where things are secured, or other. The deck can go "soft" - generally from very small cracks in the outside or inside glass layer that encloses the honeycomb, which compromise the structural strength and allow water to enter from either the inside or outside. This is a real problem - not easy to fix.

- then there's the mast step tube - if you fill it with water + it leaks down, this is a bad sign that there's something wrong. It's not so much that it allows water inside the hull - the real issue is that it usually indicates that the joint between the bottom of the mast tube and the bottom (inside) of the hull is compromised. That joint carries huge forces, and it has often let go and when it does, the mast tears up the deck as it falls over. This is much more of a problem on earlier boats (pre-1995-ish). But still worth checking on every boat. If the boat's been stored outside, right-side-up, in freezing weather, it's a real concern cuz if water in the mast tube freezes, that seems to accelerate + aggravate the problem.

Over to others for their thoughts. Please don't hesitate to ask questions + good luck with it.
 
I agree that the question is reasonable.
My short answer is that, if the hull is 'dry', there shouldn't be ANY water inside the hull. To check, just open the (stern) drain hole, lift the bow and poke inside with your finger to test for wetness.
I also agree with cskudder that in case the hull isn't dry, most repairs are easy, except the one for the mast step.
 
Thanks for the answers. It seems that the more ads I see or reply to the more questions I find myself thinking of.
 
-beyond that, with water inside the hull, there's the possibility that it penetrates the structure - the honeycomb sandwich that the deck is made out of, the wooden backing plates behind where things are secured, or other. The deck can go "soft" - generally from very small cracks in the outside or inside glass layer that encloses the honeycomb, which compromise the structural strength and allow water to enter from either the inside or outside.
Click to expand...


Can a hull become "soft" even if not used? So, say a boat was from 1979 and sailed from 1979 to 1990 (so, 11 years) and then sat in inside storage since then.

Thoughts on the above scenario?

((and yes, this is a boat I have seen for sale))
 
Last edited:
Just A Mom said:
Can a hull become "soft" even if not used? So, say a boat was from 1979 and sailed from 1979 to 1990 (so, 11 years) and then sat in inside storage since then.

Thoughts on the above scenario?

((and yes, this is a boat I have seen for sale))
Click to expand...

Yes, if there was water in the hull and it was stored in freezing conditions, particularly if stored deck side down.

And, BTW, be sure to get all of the water out even if you store your boat in your garage if there is any possibility of the temperature going below freezing. That could certainly happen in Ontario.
 
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