Help in finding Hobie Outback Leak

So about a month ago I went down to Ranch Seco to just peddle around not really fishing, more just kinda spending a day on the water. When I got back I noticed, for the first time ever, that there was about half a gallon, to a gallon of water inside the hull of the kayak which was a bit alarming. A little later I checked for cracks in the hull, and in the scupper holes to see if there was anything obvious but found nothing. I thought that it might have been a fluke, and maybe I had left the drain plug loose or something, so I tightened it up and went back out to Rancho to see if it repeated. Well it sure did. I came back with a little less water in the hull this time but if def made it's way in there.
So was wondering what the best method was to try to find the leak. I checked the Hobie website and they suggested closing up all the hatches, and lightly pumping air into the drain hole. Then you'd spray the fittings, and suspect areas with soapy water and look for bubbles. The other option was to throw the kayak on some saw horses and fill it with water and look for a leak. I was thinking this might be the better option, however I was worried the weight of the water might warp the hull. Any ideas? Thanks!

what year is your Outback?  do you have the inserts at the rod holders?

and the elastic cordage at the front hatch.  are there blobs of silicon around the black inserts?

It's a 2019 Outback. No inserts in the rod holders. I'll check on the silicone in the elastic cordage around the hatch, but I'm pretty confident it's not the hatch. I didn't get any splash around the top of the kayak at all when I was out testing it.

Contact your dealer if you can for some help.  There was also a 2019 Outback leaking thread recently, maybe useful.

I'll drop by Kayak City this weekend and see what they say. I get the feeling it's going to be a fitting or a grommet or something.

Several years ago (2015) I posted about a leak in my Hobie Sport.  It turned out to be near the drive well.  I took it to a guy in L.A. who did a great job of finding the leaks and then did a plastic weld to repair it.  I took photos of the entire process.   I'm still using that kayak now, 8 years later.   Here's the post that shows how up used a small air pump to "pressurize" the hull, use soapy water to find the leak, then drilling, and plastic welding to repair it.

https://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=68475.msg771968#msg771968

Dave 

Thank you! I might try that method first, and if I can't see any bubbles or anything, then I might pivot to filling the hull with water. I have a small battery powered air duster that fits the drain hole pretty well. It isn't too powerful, so I'm not afraid it'll do any harm. We'll see how it goes.