Drying out ski - tips

Hi, this is probably more aimed at spec ski paddlers, however my spec ski has put on a bit of weight recently due to a couple of small leaks. I am wondering if anyone has any tips on drying out the internals of the ski to help it reduce it's weight?

It's difficult because the salt is so absorbent.

Salt is also very heavy! If it's built up over time you probably need to rinse the salt out by running some fresh water into the ski and letting it out again. Be careful not to fill the ski too much because this will put enormous strain on the hull and can cause the stringer to detach from the hull or deck. A litre or two should be sufficient.

Run the water in, drain it out - a couple of times.

Drain as much out as you can, then leave the ski in the sun for an afternoon or two with the bung out.

You'll never dry it out completely, but that'll reduce the weight.

The only way to dry the interior is to run a pipe into the boat - all the way to the end of the hull, and then pump air in with a compressor or vacuum cleaner. I've never done it, never seen it done! But that's the theory; you have to move the moist air out of the hull over several hours.

Like Robin says, several lots of water left to absorb the salt is the answer, but so too roll your ski so it sits in different spots each application. The last lot of water I would put in would be deionized water, that has the maximum dissolving "power". I would swirl that all around, leave it at different spots, let it absorb the maximum it can, and in the shade. I'd finish that off with a few flushes of metho, which will help absorb the water, and will take a day or two in the sun to all evaporate out, but so too will do so faster than plain water.

Never pump air into a ski, even blowing it up will damage it. If you don't believe me carry on, be my guest.
What is wrong with soap and water? As for putting in solvents, once again go ahead.
If you do not know what is inside the ski, how can you suggest these sorts of things, unless you have personally used it on the ski mentioned, which is not, please don't.

It takes a long time to dry out. If you have a drain hole at one end then just leave it draining, day and night, sun will evaporate the water on hot days and then it will condense at night when cooler. If you have a central drain hole you will have to keep tilting back and fourth to drain the condensed water.

I don't think Rob was suggesting you seal the bung whilst pumping air into the boat. I think just getting some good open circuit air circulation in the hull, like the way a hair dryer works, was the point.

Way back in dinosaur times a buddy of mine had a Huki ski that had a good size hatch with a little dry bag compartment set into it, kind of like your front pants pocket just hangs loose inside your pants.... Made it really easy to drain and inspect etc because it was really wide like 6 inches, you could stick your arm in there.

As others have recommended, just go for the fresh water rinse and drain program. I finally fixed a year long slow leak on my boat and it only took a couple half assed 2 min rinses a few days apart before she was bone dry and back in fighting shape.

Never pump air into a ski, even blowing it up will damage it. If you don't believe me carry on, be my guest.

I didn't make myself clear. Ranga is right - even blowing too hard into a boat (which is a method of finding leaks) can damage it. There's nothing like the sound of the stringer separating from the deck to ruin your day.

What I meant was: unless you displace the moist air inside the boat, you'll never get it 100% dry. The idea is to run a pipe to the extremities of the hull, pump air in so that it flows out again through the drain hole. (Mind you, look at the other comments on this thread... PSwitzer dried his boat out without resorting to anything too dramatic!)

As I say, I've not seen it done...