Could this be a toon leak?

PRaudio

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Just noticed what sounded like water running under the boat so jumped in to find this:

All my lifting strakes bubble when first submerged, but the starboard strake continued for about 15 mins before I pulled it back out. No visible cracks, excessive water running out when lifted, notable sloshing, or dense sounding toon when slapped. The boat does sit a couple inches lower on the port side, but that could be extra weight on that side (raised helm, etc). I can put my finger on the spot and it stops bubbling (doesn't move down the strake). Maybe a super tight fit between the toon and this strake so air is trapped at this highest point escaping from a small gap? The strake does not have a continuous weld (not saltwater optioned).

Guess my next step is to let it sit in the water for an extended period and see if it stops or shows evidence of taking on water before taking it to my dealer. He said there is significant disassembly so a local welder can access ports to pressure check. No leak and I'm responsible for all costs.

Has anyone experienced a similar bubbling situation? Thanks.
 
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You can do a search .There are a lot of posts regarding leaks

Thanks. I did a search regarding leaks; I was just curious if anyone had input regarding how long their strakes expelled air before stabilizing. It's probably nothing, I'm just antsy because I cannot re-test for a couple weeks :)
 
Members here that have a trailer , put it on the trailer and rock it , while someone listens for water sloshing in the toons .
Last year I had a catfish stuck in one of my strakes . After I finally was able to remove it ( spikes were extended out ) a few seconds later and second cat fish came out .
 
PR - mine does this, kinda annoying since it scares the fish away! See my post in link below.

Best I can figure what is happening is mine are not the sealed versions so when on plane, air enters the strakes. When I come off plane air trapped in the strake then slowly leaks out where there are open weld points leading to bubbles and a gurgling noise for about 10-15 minutes. It eventually stops. Get on plane again, run to another spot and bubbles again.

If it were a toon leak I don't think there would be this repeating pattern, but I don't have a trailer to check.

 
Members here that have a trailer , put it on the trailer and rock it , while someone listens for water sloshing in the toons .
Last year I had a catfish stuck in one of my strakes . After I finally was able to remove it ( spikes were extended out ) a few seconds later and second cat fish came out .
Wow! You need that youtube catfish noodler girl to pay your boat an annual visit.
 
My last boat didn’t have sealed strakes and they bubbled. I’m sure you’re fine if they stop and the boat isn’t listing.
 
Yes our old boat used to bubble for awhile. It had 6 lifting strakes and they were not sealed. Like Jack said put it on a trailer and you can easily tell if there is water in there.......
 
Guess my next step is to let it sit in the water for an extended period and see if it stops or shows evidence of taking on water before taking it to my dealer. He said there is significant disassembly so a local welder can access ports to pressure check. No leak and I'm responsible for all costs.

Has anyone experienced a similar bubbling situation? Thanks.
I agree with others and it is probably just air escaping from unsealed strakes. Best bet is to test it on a trailer after it has sat in the water for awhile. Worth the effort to just be sure you don’t have an issue.

However, I wanted to respectfully BUT STRONGLY disagree with what your dealer told you above in what I quoted from your post.

There is NOT significant disassembly needed so a local welder can access ports to pressure check unless they choose to do the pressure check in this sort of expensive and unnecessary manner.

Many (if not most people) that have had small leaks, myself included on the port pontoon performance foils in the summer of 2020, was able to have it taken care of with a local welder WITHOUT any dissassembly at all. They drill a hole in the pontoon chamber. They pressure test it. Depending on what they find, they resolve the issue if there is one, and then they put in a threaded plug that then makes the pontoon accessible in the future for pressure testing. There is absolutely NO disassembly.

IN total the costs for two weld repairs along my port pontoon performance foils was under $500. And since it was leaks along poorly done factory welds, it was covered by warrant and cost me zero.

Just some food for thought here on what your dealer told you.

Browse through my post below from when I had my issue. Tucked along in the various replies are videos and pictures of my problem as well as the pictures of the pontoon after the repair. At least one of them shows a picture of my new threaded plug where they drilled a hole to pressure check it.

My Turn - Leaking Pontoon

Dug up the picture so just posting it here so it‘s easier to find for you:

F447668E-0CFB-4F81-9390-6412CD5FC121.jpeg
 
Same thing on my boat, helm side sits a bit lower in the water so I asked for a check end of last season. Two of the toons had leaks in different compartments and several holes were drilled so they could insert a fluid extractor and suck it dry. Mine didn’t get any plugs but did get pressure tests on all 3 toons. All was covered under warranty. And it still leans but water sloshing when I load it on the trailer. Also, it’s not labor intensive to get access. Just saying
 
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