Malibu Stealth 12 taking on water

[Robm422]

Hi,
Newbie here with a question. I recently bought a malibu stealth12 and have noticed that it takes in a lot of water. I was fishing the other day for about 4 hours in about 2 foot chop. I installed a bilge pump, thinking i wouldn't really ever use it, but flipped on after a couple of hours and it pumped out a ton of water! I couldn't believe it, had to be maybe 2-3 gallons. Anybody else have any similar experiences with these kayaks?

[ful-rac]

Yep that's normal. The side hatches leak, you might want to take them off and reseal them with some sort of sealant like goop. I always had my bilge pump go'in on my stealth when I had it.

[Fishin' Magician]

I have an older Stealth 12 that I bought a couple of years ago off of a guy on CL. I get about a few ounces of water every trip, even when it's pretty dry out and not taking on too many swells. Mine doesn't have the baskets on the sides. One the right hand compartment it's completely on the inside and the other is completley opened so that you can't really put anything in there without it goling all the way down into the recesses of the yak.

My buddy has a newer Stealth 12 that has the red bags in both compartments but he seems to get a lot more water in his for some reason even though we have the exact same set up otherwise. Go figure. Mine might have a different type of seal to it so that it's a little more watertight.

[jsunmkly]

I've done some research on Malibu kayaks and many were having problems with the leaks.
Especially because of the 2 side hatches that the Stealth has in the middle.
The Stealths are wide enough so that people can stand on it, which they stand on the side hatches.
It might worsen the leak over time if you use it often because the weight of your body might stretch the outer lining of the hatches.
Some people put light blocks of styrofoam inside the kayak so your weight doesnt bend the kayak, stretching the leakage.

Malibu kayaks are great kayaks whatsoever!

[Robm422]

Hmmm, so the side hatches are the culprit... I will have to try and seal these up better as advised. I wonder if those front rod holders take in water too?

[jorluivil]

If you do a search you might come across a thread that Frank (wiredantz) posted a while ago regarding some water sealing options. I don't recall how well it worked for him and I could be wrong but I believe he had the same kayak

[chuckt]

I have malibu x13 and the front hatch doesnt seal that well and always getting water inside. On top of that, the hatch itself has water inside. I still try to figure out how to drain it without drilling a hole.

[alanw]

Yep the side hatches leak like mad, especially when the leaky bait tank overflows the sides from swell action or whatever. Even paddle drippings make it inside the yak. Remove the screws around the perimeter and seal it up with marine goop or cut a nice foam gasket. Once that leak is fixed then you need to fix the inner lid seal by replacing it with some weather stripping or whatever you find that works.


And Chuck I drilled a small (1/16") hole in the bottom end of the hatch for drainage. It's about the only way to drain it.

[Fishin' Magician]

That having been said, I love my Stealth 12 as it is very stable. I've never tried to stand on it though, so far I've not had a need to. But I wanted something that wasn't going to flip every time I tried to cast.

A few weeks ago while I was fishing San Diego Bay, some guy in a big powerboat ((with a whole 'crew' of cute women as guests) decided that it would be fun to see how close and how fast he could get to me while I was in the middle, fast to a large fish. The wake that he was putting out was huge, or at least it seemed as though it was to me at the time. I had to quickly jam the rod under my thigh and turn my kayak into the bow wave so that I could take it straight on. Good thing I did! I was almost pitched completely out of the thing, but somehow I managed to hang on and still landed the nice spotty, which proved to be the largest (and last one) of the day.

When I got back to Tidelands, I was surprised at how little water I'd taken on as that wake wave broke over the top and everything got soaked pretty good.

So check your seals and see if that helps. Malibu Kayaks is located in So. Cal. and you can take it directly to them. I bet that they'd take a look at fixing the problem for you if it persists.

[Robm422]

What an a-hole! I can't stand when you are fishing in any size boat and someone does the high speed drive by way to close. Anyhow, check my hatches and see if anything can be done to imorove it. So glad I installed a bilge pump!!

[Limits]

Excellent feedback. The knowledge of the members on this board never ceases to amaze me.

And that write up by ful rac on the in hull bilge pump system was awesome. It's got my creative juices flowing for a possible DIY project on my ride as well.


Thanks for the inspiration.

[Fishin' Magician]

I'd suggest taking to the Malibu Kayak factory. They're in So. Cal. but I can't remember what city they're in. Chatsworth? I've been there a couple of times and they seemed helpful enough. They might be willing to take a look at it and may even redo the seals around the hatches for you.

Either that or take it to Andy at OEX Sunset Beach and see if he can fix it for you. Leaks of any kind are not good, but if it leaks a lot, that's not very safe.

I also like the idea of the bilge pump and may look into that myself. Thanks for the suggestion and the tips on how to install! Sounds like a great DIY project for a weekend.

[tomahawk]

Malibu Kayak is in Paramount off Jackson street and my experiences with them have been great. My kayaks are blems off craigslist. Malibu replaced the small clear plastic cap on the bait tank lid and gave me the seat re-enforcement foam - no charge. They offered run there tap through the drain plug (threads fouled by previous owner) if I brought the kayak to their shop. I went with the compression plug. Honestly, I'd feel wrong asking them to address my leaks, as it is a blem and i am a second owner.

[Robm422]

So i sealed up the two side hatches with marine goop and found softer gaskets to try out. Still need to seal up the bait tank, can't wait to get out there and see how much of a difference it makes.

[jsunmkly]

Originally Posted by Robm422

So i sealed up the two side hatches with marine goop and found softer gaskets to try out. Still need to seal up the bait tank, can't wait to get out there and see how much of a difference it makes.

sounds exciting
i would be very anxious too
i hope for a great results