New (to me) Hobie 16 - a few pics and brief intro.

Hello all, I've been lurking on here over the past month or so, soaking up as much info as I can. I recently acquired a 1984 Hobie Cat (Nationals Yellow), from a very nice fellow in Iowa. I'm located in South Dakota and have already contacted my local fleet (fleet 291!) and am joining them very soon! Super nice bunch that have already invited me down for a BBQ.

As for myself, I'm not new to sailing, but I'm pretty green. I've only sailed a 14 foot mono-hull, which did have a main sail and jib, and I seem to be able to navigate around ok on that - but I'm fully aware these are nowhere near the same. I plan to hopefully sail with some fleet members first and perhaps talk them into sailing my boat as well to really get a feel for it all.

I have a bunch of questions, but plan on researching the boards/web first. Ok, on to some pics etc.!



This is the "after" from me cleaning the hulls with soap and water and a stiff nylon brush. Made a HUGE difference but I have more to go. The previous owner did some repair work so his color matching is more than a bit off, not sure if I'll attempt to play with that, or leave it as is.

The sails;



A couple before and after of the cleanup;





Cleaning up alright! I'm possibly going to try the 800 grit wet sand and then 3m or that floor polish trick to make it look nice. Again I have those blemishes from repair work, but I just don't know how crazy I want to get into making the hulls "perfect". Right now, I'm more concerned with getting it sailing and playing while there is still decent weather.

I have a few things to put on now, like the carpet is trashed so I got a neoprene kit to go on the rails. Also I need to redo some of the shackles and one big fix - the mast step! I saw some posts with how to do that and the pdf looks like the way to go. I'll be tackling that as soon as my heavy duty rivet gun makes it here as I have all the other parts. Also my trampoline has a couple tears in it that I'm thinking about replacing the whole thing to just be done with it. Shhh don't tell my wife the costs of those things...

Oh and the deal itself, I got the boat for $600!! Solid hulls, no delam that I can tell, came with trailer, traps, sails, and he even threw in a Hobie harness. It needs some TLC to be sure, but I'm stoked!! <- nobody says that anymore I'm quite sure, but slowly I'll bring it back...

-Lyle

Also let me know if these larger photos are a pain - I can resize them too through the imgur site so they are not so big.

Great work, looks like a great 16 for a great price! Force yourself to sail on the nice days. Make non-essential repairs and upgrades when the weather won't allow you to sail. If you're not aware, there are pretty cheap aftermarket mesh tramps out there. What's the issue with the mast step... I'm not following about a pdf.

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Bradley M. Davis - Hobie High Life YouTube Videos
2012 H16 (with 2018 Cayman Main) #115139

Yesterday we had a rocket ride with winds 15-30! Come on down and sail with us anytime. We ended the day with a screaming reach that ended in a spectacular pitch pole We will take you out and show you the tricks to cat sailing. and hopefully before the water gets cold can experience a capsize and how to correctly right the boat. It goes a long ways to get over that fear and know how to handle it. Hope to see you soon at the beach and don't be afraid to ask us any questions! Best sailing of the season begins now, good wind and few powerboaters!

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2012 H16 Hot Tamale

@bmdumr - sorry pdf wasn't too clear - what I mean is the document that Matt Miller did on mast step replacement here;

http://www.hobiecat.com/support/pdfs/h1 ... eplace.pdf

When I went to meet the previous owner, he was showing me how to set things up and we planned on a test sail. We attempted to man-handle the mast into place with 3 of us... no go. So then we looked for something we could pin the mast with, used a bungee after straightening the S out, and heard a horrible "ping" as we were raising it up. Turns out the mast step couldn't hold with that small of a diameter pin in it and this is the result;



The good news is that nobody was hurt as the mast came back down! We hung it up after that so I've never been through a full rigging yet. Luckily the mast was not damaged and the guy I bought the boat from picked up the cost of the replacement parts. He also picked up another piece for the mast that has a pulley in it that had deteriorated over time and needed replacing. On top of all that, he offered to take it back if I didn't want it and/or reduce the price if I did! I felt he had done enough - above and beyond what any normal person would do, so he just tossed in the parts and I paid the $600. The mast step alone was $100... Just an all around great person to deal with.

@play Absolutely, I'm down with that! I can't wait to get my feet wet "pretty much literally", and sail! I will definitely take you up on the offer to take me out and show me what's what! Very much appreciated! I do have 3 kids, and a nutty schedule, but will make it happen. Assuming you're sailing out of Yankton's Hobie Beach. I need to get my wife out as well and a good sail will go a long way to appeasing her as to my even buying the boat!

Did you have a step link in there? If not, I think breaking something is the expected outcome, And if you did, then probably the too-thin pin allowed the mast to go too far forward, so the post hung up on the front of the step and pried the rear apart.


Use of the link is described here: https://static.hobiecat.com/digital_assets/21380001.pdf

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'00 H16 #104691
'78 H16 #32692 ex-rental [gone]
Old Holsclaw trailer
My Hobie 16 pages

You are correct, no link step was used. Our "plan" was to raise up and remove the pin on the way up, which failed. I do now own 2 full mast step link kits as well as an additional bracket/link (3 total!), so that failed process will never be attempted again!

The step link has two holes for the mast base pin. Make sure you use the "16" hole for a H16.

I use a phillips screw driver to pin the mast base to the step link when raising/lowering the mast. It is a lot easier to use than the small pin. I also leave my step link pinned to the mast step all the time.

While standing on the tramp and raising the mast, after you have the mast up around a 60° angle, you may have to use one hand to pull back on the lower part of the mast while pushing the mast up with the other hand. This will help make sure the ball on the bottom of the mast base ends up in the pocket of the mast step and not allow it to bind on the front lip of the mast step (which can lead to something breaking).

Also, after raising your mast, make sure to remove the pin/phillips screwdriver through the mast base and step link and that the step link is down enough so that the mast will rotate freely.

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Tim
84 H16
82 H16
87 H14T
Tortola Sails: 115222
Blue Prism Sails: 88863
Clearwater, FL

I have this exact boat!!!!! 1984 Yellow hulls with the same stripes, same nationals sails, my frame corners are a bit different from yours though, mine are black and match the rest of the black frame and mast. I will have to figure out how to post pics. I got my boat just this past July. I am the third owner and my boat was babied all its life and is in pristine condition. It came with lots of paperwork and manuals, has a full cover, a set of new cat trax beach wheels and sits on a very nice Ez Loader trailer. I'll have to post pics.

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Marty
1984 H16 Yellow Nationals Redline, "Yellow Fever"
Lake Martin, 'Bama.

I also picked up the same boat this past summer. Previous owner had it since 87 and it's been sitting for 10 years or so unused. Sails are excellent with the exception of some water spots. I'll have to switch it to a better trailer as it's rusted away from sitting in the yard for so long. Stripes look to be beyond restoring on mine, I'll just remove them. One hull does have a small impact crack on the inside, so it doesn't need a bottom job just a bit of touch up. Some scratches but for it's age it is clean. With wet sanding, buffing and ZEP wax it should turn out nice. I really like the yellow color of the '84s.
If you want to color match your gel-coat , I would suggest a company called fibreglast out of Ohio. Large choice of colors from their color charts and you can order online.
I would be more worried about the type of material that is on it now, as you may need to grind it all off and start over if it's not the right material.
Some people just slap some bondo on it and call it a day, when it may need glass reinforcement before a finish coat.

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JKK
83 yellow/ white decks Hobie 14 Corando turbo
82 yellow hulls Hobie 16 Cat Fever
84 yellow hulls hobie 16 Yellow Nationals
plus a few extras that I'm restoring