So you’ve out your boat in the water, and you’ve discovered a leak…

That’s exactly what happened to me a few days ago.

I freaked out, I imagined a big crack in the hull, or a massive gouge. But after I looked under the boat, I couldn’t see any thing. Here is how I found the leaks in my boat.

Shout out to the guys in the online forum, that gave me this idea! Cheers fellas.

Steps to Find Leak in your Boat

Step 1. Visually inspect your hull for any obvious cracks, or pitting or dodgy rivets. Also check your bung is screwed in properly, an old dodgy bung is often the first culprit.

Step 2. Now it’s time to fill the inside of your boat with water. The idea is simple, we will see any water that leaks out of the boat.

It’s really important your boat hull is level, otherwise your boat can flip backwards or sideways and cause serious injuries.

Step 3. Fill your hull with water, stopping every 5 – 10 minutes to check for drips coming out of the hull. If you want, you can add food colouring to the water, to make it easier to spot.

If you have a very small and slow leak, it might take a few hours for the water droplets to start showing through.

Step 4. Find any leaks that appear and mark them with a sharpie, so you can find them later. I highly recommend getting them professionally repaired, not using silicone at home. Because it’s too risky having dodgy repairs in a boat.

Conclusion

I hope this helps your situation!

Having a boat leak is a pain in the ass, but the good thing is – you can find the leak at home, rather than having to pay a professional thousands of dollars.