Boards do leak and slowly get heavier....

[TallDude]

Recently I noticed my custom 9'4 board was getting slightly heavier. In fact, when I held it by the recessed handle the tail would drop. It use to be balanced.  I left it in the sun for about 30min. and noticed water bubbling out of various spots. I then left it in the sun for two days, and the bubbling eventually stopped. I mark the spots with tape then repar them.

[getsupngo]

The finbox would be supported better and less chance for leakage if its set in a closed cell high density foam block.  Route out the old box and let the area dry out and then do the closed cell foam block.  The rails look like they may need some more glass.     

[PonoBill]

Yeah, that fin box is going to be a problem. At this point I'd use a pretty big Divinycell block. It will let you cut out more of the saturated EPS. While it's open for surgery, I'd pour in a bunch of distilled water, then stand it on end in a warm, dry place for a couple of days. Get some of the salt and minerals out and then get it pretty dry. Not a monster project, but time consuming in terms of drying span, etc.

Last time I reset a fin box (I've done TWO, so now I'm a pro) I made the PVC block slightly plug tapered (very slightly, like maybe 1/16" top to bottom for a roughly 2" deep part) and pushed it in backwards (wide part down) into a thin layer of well-moistened Gorilla glue. I put down waxed paper and weighted it, but it really kind of sucked itself in, which was sort of the idea. The Gorilla glue expanded to fill the tiny void around the edges, which was less than 1/16". I screwed it up when I routed the finbox hole and made it a little too wide for a snug fit, so I added some microballons (the sloppy glasser's friend) to the epoxy and it's holding up well. Use a finbox template if you can, they come out pretty perfect whereas routing to a drawn line is a bit bush league.

[Cardiff Sweeper]

Sorry to read about your board.
I weigh mine once a month.

My SB 8'0" was 13.8 lbs naked, 15.5 lbs (dry) with the X-Trac pad and tri-fins. I've nicked it once, minor resin fill-in, and still weighs the same.

My other board, well, unfortunately it has gained weight.  

[TallDude]

My board is so thin in the tail, that the fin box goes all the way to the deck. Maybe an 1/8" of foam covering it. The wood stringer still runs all the way to the tail on the deck, but there is not much left at the fin box. No so sure about cutting a big hole in the tail of my board for a little leak, but maybe that is the right thing to do? I'm thinking another layer or two on the rails is needed for sure. It's just a typical 4/6 glass job on 2# eps. Maybe I should just glass in a fin, or run it as a quad? Then remove & glass over the center fin box.

[PonoBill]

PVC foam really beefs up the structure. I'd be tempted to try removing the foam almost to the glass and replacing it with divynicell. EPS has so little strength, you'd probably wind up with a better board. If the fin is wiggling around enough to crack out the box it's probably not helping your surfing. I'd also probably try a really good rail guard before I reinforced the rails, unless you think the board is flexing too much. Railsaver pro is pretty bulletproof

[starman]

That is one poorly built board. The shaper may have been great but the glass shop dudes were idiots. To have a board leak around the fin box is inexcusable.

[PilonSUP]

Wow,Ward..easy on the beaver!  

For custom boards try losing the stringer & glassing the snot out of it.

Xtra on the rails & such comes out with the same weight and a better total flex pattern.

[starman]

The fin box should be something that is trouble free unless you run into a rock. Bill's advice is spot on. The only problem is TallDude likely has a nice custom that now has to have the tail rebuilt because the board was glassed by someone who was either ignorant or didn't care. It may not get it fixed but I would be having a conversation with the board builder as to how this could happen just from regular usage.

[PilonSUP]

^word!
Lots of speed bumps to hit at DogP.
No HD foam laying around,try old school windsurf style with LOTS of cloth.
I've fixed custom's with riped out leash cups with no cloth wraped on them!
Not even caped with cloth,nada!!

[jd]

I had a board Eps/epoxy a few years ago that had what looks like a similar problem.  little pin holes in the glass job.  noticed one day about 5 different spots where it was bubbling.  shaper took the board back and gave me a new one.  I think these pinholes are not uncommon with epoxy.

id just double cap your fin box with some glass and be on your way. 

[PonoBill]

^^Not a good idea unless you consider this a disposable board. By now the finbox has probably wiggled against the EPS, collapsing it and there's probably nothing really holding it. Put a long fin in and give it some shoving. If you see the finbox move then putting a band-aid on top won't fix the broken wrist underneath.

[TallDude]

Pono is right. I hit nicked the reef last week, wasn't paying attention to the tide. I just put a fin in and flexed it side to side. The side with the leak is flexing in, and you can see the foam is really spongy there. I think I'll replace the box. As for the shaper (me), he's a kook. The glasser (he's a buddy) , well you get what you pay for. The board rips, but there is no Naish like finish for sure!

[magentawave]

When I windsurfed on Maui in the 90's and thrashed my board while surfing it would suck up water like a sponge. To get the water out, or as much as I could, I used to drill a 1/4" wide hole in the nose and tail and take it out to some guy in the jungle and that for $10 would spin the board super fast for a few minutes on this contraption that was basically an electric motor with a rack to strap the board on that would use centrifugul force to blow the water out of the ends. I'm not sure how well that thing would work on the tight closed cell EPS used now but it worked really well for the older EPS foam that had a lot of space between the foam balls. Sadly though, and in spite of the spinning, each time I got a ding or something that let water in (like maybe the footstrap inserts), my board would always gain just a little more weight.

Has anyone tried this method of spinning with the newer closed cell foam boards? If so, did it work?

Steve