Bung fell out, water in boat.

Ive got a Fenn Spark Carbon Vacume, the bung came out while paddling and the boat took on about 1/2 liter of water.

I think I have most if not all of the water of it out by tiping the boat at various angles and leaving it upside down overnight to drain out the bung hole.

As I'm not sure how there constructed inside ie water getting caught up somewhere how can I make sure its all out ?

Should I leave the bung out when not being used to let any remaining moisture evaporate over time ?

Can it do any damage to have had a bit of salt water inside?

Thanks in advance for any info..

I would run some fresh water in there with a little detergent just to try and remove the salt as salt attracts moisture and it will never dry out. Leave the bung out after rinsing a few times and put in the sun for a few days. Not so much a problem with a carbon boat, but with a kevlar boat the kevlar absorbs moisture overtime so the boat gets heavier.

Most of us Fenn owners discard the bung and place a sticker or tape over the hole, should never get water inside the Fenn skis anyway that needs to be drained unless its damaged somewhere.

It is advisable to leave the bung out at all times (other than paddling)as pressure build up through temperature changes can damage the ski,especially those without the little straw type vent seen on a Fenn.

Also very few skis after some usage are 100% waterproof.For me I drive with my ski upside down on the roofracks and any small amounts drip out.

Paddling in the sea it is almost impossible to stop a ski from taking on water. If you take your ski out of a shady storage and put it on the car and drive to the beach it warms up in the sun. If the bung is in the pressure builds up and eventually leads to micro cracks normally around the seam somewhere.

If the bung was out. You put it in and put the ski on the water the air volume inside shrinks due to the cooling from the water (especially in Cape Town( and tries to pull air from outside whether this is around the bung or through micro cracks the ski ants to breath. If this opening is under water it will draw in water.

I have always used a technique learned from the old hands when I first started paddling surfskis. This is to drill a hole in the bung and push a small tube through this. This tube allows the ski to breath without stressing the hull. This was always more of a problem in the Cape than in Natal where the warmer water stressed the hulls less. On the old Oscar double ski the bung was at the tail. To stop the bung breathing water as the tail was often under water we would support the tube with a piece of wire leaving the ski's looking like warthogs running through the bush with erect tails.

I see that Epic have taken this into account and their plug has a built in breather.

I would avoid detergent in the hull as you are never sure what type of foam has been used for the ski stringer in question. Not knowing means you cannot predict if their may be a chemical reaction between certain detergents and the foam. You are also not likely to see the results until it is too late.

If you want to rinse the internals with frsh water do so carefully as too much water will do more harm. My advice is leave it. Take the bung out and store you ski out the sun in a dry place.

There is a product that builders of hollow core surfboards and SUPs use from Gore, called a Gore protective vent. It is basically a bung with gore fabric that allows air pressure to equalise and lets moisture out but stops it going in. A few online surf shops stock them. They appear to be popular with some builders, although I haven't used any.