Re: just bought P15: help

Lars S. Mulford (mulford@bellatlantic.net)
Tue, 01 Jun 1999 15:45:01 -0400


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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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JH wrote:

> Just bought 1980 P15. For the past two sails out in moderate breeze, been taking in water. about 3
> gallons worth. cant figure if its coming in from (old?) selfbailing drain plug and in between hulls,
> or from somewhere under the waterline. We plugged up the centerboard trunk so it's not coming in
> from there. Anyone have any experience or suggestions on locating and fixing the leaks?

Hey there!

I'm willing to bet that you are suffering with what a number of P15 owners have suffered through...
fractured cockpit drain tube. Check the cockpit drain from the OUTSIDE, looking in. The tube is
flexible and you can sometimes eyeball the tear or fracture in it. Another way to test to see if it is
the cockpit drain tube is to (if equipped - your boat would not have had this standard so it would have
to have been added later) run water into the cockpit while the boat is sitting on the trailer, bow a bit
high. This will cause the water to run out the cockpit drain. IF SO EQUIPPED, open the bilge drain
plug. If water runs out of the bilge drain, you've got a fractured cockpit drain tube. Fix is easy.
Getting the original endcaps out can be a bear though.

--
"Sea" ya!

--Lars S. Mulford, President East Coast Potter Association (ECPA) Come visit us at http://members.tripod.com/~SpeedSailor s/v Aqua (sailing the greater Chesapeake region) "Forgive, and live. Life is worth the challenge of living." --LSSM "Love is good; Love hurts; Love sustains; Love remains." --LSSM