dad gave me his 1969 hobie 16 this weekend, after its been sitting up for two years with the hulls in bad shape. i love that boat, but i think its gonna be a summer long project getting it back into shape. the original hulls have been painted over, but the gelcoat on top of the hulls just in front on the tramp frame is cracked up pretty bad and seeps water in when you are flying a hull and have the other almost under water.

i'm gonna strip off all the paint, fill and smotth the gouges and scratches in the sides of the hull, and chip off all the loose gelcoat on top, put a a thin layer of resin on top of the hulls, and some glass to reinforce the area in front of the tramp that you stand on to reach the jib., then repair the patch job on the rudder mounts and paint the hulls bright yellow, and either powder coat or paint the tramp frame black. replace all the harken blocks and rigging, replace the mast base and saddle thats worn out, and replace all the rudder bars and linkages that are also worn out.

then if i get that done by september, its time to put that baby back in the water


on that note, does anyone know of any places that have hobie parts at reasonable prices?
o.e. parts are $texas$

4/17/2006 12:02:15 PM

i have no clue what you just talked about there, but it made me feel like I knew something about boats

Good luck! Take before and after pics, something us retards can relate to

4/17/2006 7:31:25 PM

seriously, contact maugan. i'm pretty sure he can hook you up via treyline.

[Edited on April 17, 2006 at 7:47 PM. Reason : ]

4/17/2006 7:45:57 PM

1969 eh? Damn thats going to be difficult to work with. If the hulls are salvagable, then you should be ok.

How has the boat been stored? Was ot covered? Was snow and/or crap allowed to pile up on it? Hows the tramp condition? If it hasn't been replaced since 1969 then that'll be one of the first things to buy.

As for parts, you're in luck, you have one of THE BEST second hand parts dealers in the nation right here in your back yard in a company called Velocity Sailing. Trey is the man you need to talk to. He can find you used but good parts for dimes on the dollar of new OEM parts.

Also you should probably bring the boat out to Jordan or Wheeler one day so we can see it and tell you what you need to get the thing back in shape again.


A couple things though:

Quote :

"i'm gonna strip off all the paint, fill and smotth the gouges and scratches in the sides of the hull, and chip off all the loose gelcoat on top, put a a thin layer of resin on top of the hulls, and some glass to reinforce the area in front of the tramp that you stand on to reach the jib., "

I'd be careful about chipping anything away from the hull. I'm not sure if 1969 hulls are foam core, but chipping away the gelcoat could leave the top layer of glass exposed, and that ain't good. The area in front of the forward pylon is a common area of delamination. Just let one of us see the hulls and we can help you out. In the meantime, theres a good link on restoration techniques here:
http://www.catsailor.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=Hobie16&Number
=53295&page=&view=&sb=5&o=&fpart=1&vc=1

I'd suggest if you want to really learn about the boat and how to restore it, join catsailor.com



[Edited on April 19, 2006 at 10:33 PM. Reason : .]

4/17/2006 8:07:17 PM

i've done an '81 14 before, and it came out great, but i am kinda worried about the hull structure on this one, it just don't feel right. i've sailed it since i was about 8, and there last time it was out, it just felt way too loose, didnt repond well and had a lot of flex. a lot of that i blame on tramp frame rivets backing out, and the rudder mounts need some serious work, but the pylon mount feel very solid, as well as all the guy line anchor points.

this boat was used for racing many moons ago, and i plan on setting most everything back stock, mainly the raked back mast with the base that has been trimmed to clear, makes it a bitch to step and the damn twin pulley main sheet block with at least a triple that doesnt take a left handed gorilla to operate. the tramp is a new nylon one that has been covered in storage as well as all the sails, pulleys, blocks and cleats, but i plan on replacing all the lines because they are mildewed from where they were stored


i'll post up some pics when i get some time tomorrow

and i don't mean take off all the gelcoat, just the pooped up spots where the cracks come together, and bevel the edges so the resin wil bond well and not leave airspaces underneath

i am also thinking about ordering a couple access hatches to put in the top so i can check out what kind of shape the foam, if any left, and the marine plywood backing in the transom is in

[Edited on April 17, 2006 at 10:15 PM. Reason : blah]

4/17/2006 10:12:41 PM

sounds like a crazy project, you oughta drop a 350 in that thang

4/17/2006 10:14:52 PM

nigga please, i can make pontoon boats my bitches with a 25+ mph wind, except with a flooded hull that rides 6" below the water line


and i just noticed a crack in that hull from the drain plug forward about 4", i do beleive that is where all the water has been coming from, never noticed it until i pulled the rudder mount off

[Edited on April 17, 2006 at 10:19 PM. Reason : i i know for a fact it will outrun an '83 bayliner with a 125 force, hahahahaha]

4/17/2006 10:18:38 PM

our boat will outrun any pontoon boat in anything more than 10 knots of breeze.

it will also humble any bass boat captain who thinks he can pilot his plywood around a choppy ocean inlet

Sounds like you have a lot of work to do. They make special curved deck ports for the area right in front of the pylons on the deck. Lot of people, instead of trying to fix the delam, just cut the area out and put inspection ports there.

4/18/2006 11:35:57 AM

"temporary" emergency repair










10 mins of sanding:

4/18/2006 12:54:54 PM

Good news: I've seen much much worse boats be resurrected.

Bad news: You have a shitton of sanding to do

4/18/2006 1:07:53 PM

hit me up if you get a chance this afternoon to come by and look at it, i'm gonna start taking the tramp off and maybe take apart the frame today

4/18/2006 4:30:30 PM

ok, so i am looking at combining a few options,first drilling into the surface of the delam area and filling with resin to rebond it, and cutting access holes in front of the pylons and filling the front of the hulls with flotation foam. the two part foam i found online is only $120 for two gallons of each part, enough for the 4 cubic feet i calculated were in each front hull. its 60lb foam, so i would only be losing about 20 lb flotation total, which doesnt matter much on a recreational boat, i mean hell, i could lose that much weight over the summer to balance it out, for the sake of good strong hulls.

[Edited on April 19, 2006 at 9:15 PM. Reason : biggest problem i can see is going to be somehow stripping old paint off the textured area]

4/19/2006 9:04:29 PM

try using acetone on the tops of the hulls to get the paint off. It might take some elbow grease to get it to come off though.

If the deck has no-slip texturing on it, getting the paint off will be a bitch.

Epoxy injection is the preferred method by hobie to fix delam. Putting an inspection port in also is a good idea.

I tried to swing by your place today, but I forgot what house number you were at, and I couldn't see any hobies from the street.

4/19/2006 9:27:29 PM

do you really need to fill that shit with foam? all the spider webs in it ought to be enough

4/19/2006 11:25:48 PM

sanding the flat spots should be no problem, on the non-slip, i geuss i will just use mild solvents and work up to paint strippers, until i can just get the paint off without softening the gel coat. a stiff bristle nylon brush and some acetone will probably be where i start. as far as the resin, what is the best to use and who has it, i'm sure it needs to be fairly low viscosity to fill the pores well, and how deep do the holes ned to be in the surface?

4/20/2006 8:11:09 AM

Filling it with foam is a terrible idea. Don't do it. Just epoxy inject the decks, and that should do. Adding loads of foam isn't going to do anything except for add weight, which the H16 already suffers from a lack of bouyancy up front (read: pitchpole!).

Trey

4/20/2006 10:17:49 AM

Oh yeah.....get some West System Epoxy (from west marine) and use it-it is quality stuff. The fiberglass on the deck should be a foam sandwich, but older hobies had balsa in them-so watch out. I really don't think that it will matter though as far as epoxy injection. Drill the hole through the first layer of glass (outside), and then just ease it into the sandwich, being careful not to go through the inner layer (inside). Pump the hole with epoxy, and move to the next spot.

On another note, this is a lot of work to be put into a boat that is on its last leg. Even with injecting the deck, don't expect another 5 years from the boat, as it will eventually fail. The injection is only a limited repair, and will not last for too long.

If you'd rather, I have a hobie 17 here that isn't in all that bad a shape (not soft), it just needs a few parts (tramp, etc), to be ready to go back on the water. There are 3 damaged spots on the boat, all of which I could repair in 1 afternoon (they aren't very major). You could keep your trailer and trade in your 16 towards this one, and we could work out the rest. In the end, you'd have a much nicer, faster, and more solid boat. 17s are pretty cool, ehh Maugan? There are pics of Maugan's 17 in his gallery.

Trey

4/20/2006 10:25:15 AM

17's are fun. A blast in waves.

The wings are awesome too.

(sometimes I wish the I20 had wings)



Before I painted her.

[Edited on April 20, 2006 at 2:04 PM. Reason : .]

4/20/2006 2:01:59 PM

only thing is this boat had sentimental value, it woulda been gone long ago if it were just any boat, but first things first, i need some access ports so i know what size holes i need to cut in the to see how bad the delam is, then i'll probably shoot in some resin and wait till that sets up well to start sanding, i don't want to cause any more damage than there is right now, i've been doin a lot of research online, and have found a lot of good info on repairing these things reliably, and that sanding is gonna take a long, long time, i swear it has battleship paint on it

4/20/2006 5:22:18 PM

deck ports: http://www.murrays.com/archive/42.pdf

you want the contoured version

4/20/2006 6:30:56 PM

alright, so i found some biodegradable paint stripper that will soften the epoxy paint enough to scrub it off the non-slip without softening the gelcoat, 15 mins and i got aout 10 square inches done, this is gonna get real old real quick

4/20/2006 10:53:51 PM

some hobie 16 footage from Alan, our alternate sailor on our team. This was from Spring Fever regatta last weekend:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9211663602094315021
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3241335810179738550
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2715429248305613805

4/23/2006 6:10:34 PM

ok, now for the update now that i had had some time to work on it

on the hulls i used 60 grit to strip the paint, then 150 and 220 to remove those scratches, filled the gouges and nicks and a few blisters, then hit it with cheapo automotive primer to find all the 150 grit scratches, then wet sanded with 400 grit until those went away. its a lot of work, but its gonna be an incredible finish. i'm going with the interlux 1 part epxoy white sealer/primer, so that the yellow two part topcoat really stands out, but that will be near the end of may before i even think about dusting off the spray gun.





the delamination shouldnt be too bad to fix, the resin will be here on monday, so i can start drillin and fillin, and it is a foam core, so it will soak up the resin into all the voids better than balsa. i cut the access port hole today to check out how bad it was, and the top and bottom layers are in good shape, so with a solid middle, it should cure hard as a rock. the sides of the hull are in great shape besides a few blisters here and there, still soild and most of the original gelcoat is in good shape.





i still havent decided what to do with the tramp frame, mast and boom yet, the cast parts look bad and the anodized parts are starting to show corrosion also, i was thining black because i have seena few like that and liked the color combo, but my sails are horizontal striped yellow and white, but a white frame would just look retarded in my opinion

the choices i have are in order of preference,

- sand everything with 400-1000 grit, prime and paint with black epoxy
-", have everything powdercoated black ($texas)
- polish everything and clearcoat it

also i need a cheap place to get the main and jib block slide rails, mast head, base, and frame saddle, and a lot of rudder parts, but that will be in a month or two when i start reassembling and rigging it. thank god all the blocks and cleats are practically brand new and were stored indoors, thats a good $600 right there, plus the tramp is fairly new.

5/5/2006 6:56:59 PM

Hit up Trey for any parts you need.

He just bought a practically brand new H16 yesterday for $800

5/5/2006 8:24:37 PM

i need to hire some mexicans to do some sanding for me, and get some dust masks, blue and yellow dust make green boogers

5/6/2006 8:23:28 AM

yeah the gelcoat isn't too bad to inhale. It'll just stop you up.

but if you start taking in fiberglass dust, then you need to wear a protective filter mask.

5/6/2006 10:07:22 AM

for future reference, if a hole or two pops all the way through, duct tape, a coat hanger, a mirror, and a flashlight are your best friends till the resin cures

5/8/2006 11:09:13 PM

I can't tell you how many times I've punctured the second layer.

You can keep yourself from doing that by putting a piece of tape on your drill bit 1/4" from the tip so it stops.

Doesn't take much at all to drill the top layer.

Use a bent coat hangar to scrape out all the foam in the middle.

5/8/2006 11:14:04 PM

yeah, most of it i was able just to suck out with a shop vac and the little nozzle from my inside vac duct taped to it. the center of the soft spots has a wider gap, and the edges are close together like they should be, thats where i went through a few times.

another question, instead of dragging my dad's compressor and spray gun down from va, homo depot has the 3 speed adjustable pattern wagner pro airless gun on sale, and i was thinking about spraying it with that, since i have a few other project that would work well on. has anyone ever tried spraying urethanes with this kind of gun? it says it will do anything from stains to thick latex.

5/9/2006 9:11:58 AM

I wouldn't use anything but a HVLP sprayer.

Hows the project coming? When we gonna see you on the water?

5/30/2006 9:52:12 AM

I wouldn't use anything but a HVLP sprayer any kind of air gun.

The Wagner units don't really atomize well enough to give what I call acceptable finish. Sure, they'll lay the paint on, but don't count on much more than that.

Hell, some of them won't even do that very well.

I'm sure there are compressors around here you can borrow. Hell, if you get mine back from arghx, you can use that. You will have to get your own spray gun though. They are cheap enough around here.

5/30/2006 10:56:41 AM

well i have one at home, but thats a matter of running up to virginia and getting the compressor and spary gun, and wiring my 220v dryer outlet for a 20a outlet here, but i'm still filling and sanding, havent had much time to work on it lately

5/30/2006 2:01:50 PM

to be perfectly honest with you, I've seen paint rolled on that looked showroom quality, its all in the amount of prep work you do on the original surface and how you sand between coats that determines the finish.

5/30/2006 2:05:15 PM

as thick as that two part epoxy is, it lays down fine, i have brushed it on before and it layed down smooth as glass, so i'm thinking with that 3 pressure wagner pro it will do fine, its not like thin laquer paint where an even mist is crucial, the shit is about as thick as latex paint

5/31/2006 1:29:14 PM

I'd actually thin it down. More thinner coats with 800->1200 sanding between works wonders apparently.

5/31/2006 2:37:06 PM