Paint Job is Done!

What an idea! As long as you're painting the mast and boom, do the tramp frame and tiller arms as well! The younger crowd would go nuts over the monochromatic paint job. I'm half way serious! That would turn heads at the next race wouldn't it?

Anyway, thanks for all the "wow's" and "great jobs" from you guys. It means a lot. You can tell from the pics that the floor of the barn is pink from the overspray. If you look close at the doors and walls the spider webs are everywhere. I'm truely pleased with the results I got in what I call my "paint booth" of a barn. I may have even killed the spiders with the paint fumes!

I still can't say enough about Brightsides one part poly. Good stuff to get results like this. Even if I have to scuff and repaint every five years it's worth it.

Hey Dog,
Thanks for the nice photos. How did your customer/friend prep the mast and boom for paint? Did he have to acid etch the aluminum? Just curious. I am half serious about painting the whole darn boat! The only thing I worry about is halyard slap takeing the paint off the mast as I will leave the boat rigged all summer.

Tie off both halyards to the bridle.

Very cool paint job!

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John E gets credit for reposting the photo. I rarely post a photo unless it's one I took cause I'm pretty ruthless about enforcing my copyrights if someone steals from my website.

And you'll have to talk to Clint to find out about the prep. He may have just given the mast a good acetone cleaning. Or he may have started with a clear mast (I forgot how old his boat is). I get zero credit for helping him with the paint job (the main sail is another story ). And I haven't seen his posts, so maybe John E can bail us out again with Clint's userid.

Brian C

I know from experience that painting aluminum can be frustrating. Even worse if it's corrodid. The darn stuff expands and contracts so much that some paints just jump right the heck off. Maybe in Texas where you don't the extreme range in temps we have you can paint the mast. I got real worried when we moved to Indiana and learned that there is a hundred degree themp shift during the year.

I still think a monochomatic boat would look so cool. Or maybe just polish all the aluminum?!?! What else do I have to do all winter???

Painted masts and boom?

Very cool! I'll be seriously considering this upgrade over the winter.

Check out my '82 I bought 2 months ago for only $300. I had been searching EBAY for months and then I saw this orphaned Hobie sitting on a trailer by the roadside FOR SALE. No sails, 1 missing jib block and oxidized hulls.

Thanks to Ebay and the Hobie Forum for help locating these sails and parts. And after some sweat equity with polishing compound, I'm back on the water after being landlocked in Atlanta since '92.

Went out for the first time last Sunday and with 10 - 15 knots of wind she started singing and then flew hull. Awesome reminder of many great memories flying hull in Fort Walton Beach, Florida in the Gulf Coast.

I now spend my free time praying for HIGH WINDS for some EXTREME sailing - Thanks Hobie, you ROCK!

Holy Hobie,
Christopher

ps., look closely to see the "flying fish" on the rudder blades.




http://christopherdreyer.com/sitebuilder/images/jc_ceo_hobie_sea_trials-146x208.jpg

Yeah... No extreme temps in Texas.

I will admit it doesn't often get to zero around here, but we did 42 or so days over 100 this summer. And somewhere around here I have a picture of 6 foot tall snowmen we made on Valentine's day one year.

But a 30 degree swing in 4 hours is not unusual in the Summer.

Brian C

Brian,

Do it man!!! On the front page of your site all I get is a picture of one roto-molded cat, the rest boards and one yak.

It's up to you (as a dealer) and us (as fleets and individuals) to promote the fiberglass boats and class racing.

Our winter project will be a website.

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hobiejohn at earthlink dot net
Fleet 297

beery,

I emailed Clint and asked him to post something in "Help with repairs" regarding his process. Hopefully this will get done. BTW, the entire frame of Clint's boat was originally clear anodized.

In showing my son (an Art major) photos from around 1980 in an old Hobie pub. and asking him whether or not the boats looked too "old school" he replied enthusiastically "NO, they're COOL!"

He especially liked the oranges, yellows and blues.

You're not off track at all with painting the entire frame. We saw our first Formula (all white metal parts from the factory) H16 at a regatta a few weeks ago. Really a slick looking boat. Matt Miller had mentioned something about this process being a failure do to paint chipping (I believe it was powder coat?)? This particular boat was in very nice condition. I'm not the biggest fan of black anodized aluminum. It will fade worse/quicker than a painted surface and to varying degrees, depending on if it's a cast or extruded piece. And, it obviously shows scratches, more so (I think) than a lighter colored painted surface would.

NICE work on your boat. Looks great.

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hobiejohn at earthlink dot net
Fleet 297

I'm not the guy who did the pretty graphics for the website. I just upload product images and text. It's a 10Mb Access database along with 50+Mb of jpgs (and getting bigger)

But I agree that glass boats could use more coverage in pictures on the shops website. The reality of the biz is that the roto boats out sell the glass boats by a huge margin.



We do that by supporting the local Hobie Fleet (http://www.fleet23.com), and by sponsoring events like the Mid Americas and the upcoming H-18 and H-20 Nationals.

As many of the Roto boats as are out there, I wish there was more racing opportunities. The local fleet has tried to get those people involved, but has not had a lot of success. It seems that many of the people who we sell Roto boats too keep them at weekend places. Many of the Wave/Bravo owners don't even purchase trailers. They'll either show up with a flat bed or have us deliver.

I know of only one Getaway owner who races regularly at the sailboat club he belongs to.



Yeah, I spend a bunch of time in the winter on both the shop website and my personal site. http://www.thedoghouse.net

And just for the record (for those people who think Texas doesn't have winter):



And for those who think I might not be a real Hobie sailor:

The 3rd H-17 in Texas with the white sail at Lake Lavon:



With the colored sail down at South Padre Island. That's my younger sister on the hood of my car. Yes, it was 19 years:



Yes, I wish I still had that boat.

Brian C

Who said that?

OK, I guess we have to steal future fiberglass boat racers from somewhere. May as well be roto boat sailors too, they can't all be former mono sailors.

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hobiejohn at earthlink dot net
Fleet 297

I've been accused of being nothing more than a salesman by some nameless weasels who've never met me.

The reality is that I'm a beer drinker with a sailing problem (mostly windsurfing these days). My wife made me get a job after I retired from engineering.

And what better place to work than the shop I've been buying stuff from for the last 21 years?

As for the Roto sailors, most I meet are people who have never sailed before. And I'm pretty firmly convinced that many of them would have not gotten into sailing if it weren't for the rotomolded boats.

But sailing (all forms) seems to be making a comeback.

Brian C

I heard that the biggest problem with painting over the gel-coat is that any scratches will show the old color underneath. I talked to the fiberglass guy here and he suggested applying new gel-coat. He also quoted me $2,000.00 to do it.

I tried like heck to find an orange paint close to the gel coat. I could do it in automotive paint but I was put off by the guy's attitude. So I opted for red over the orange gell coat. I may have paid $200 in paint and supplies. I just can't justify a $2000.00 paint job on a $750.00 boat. All I wanted was the holes patched and a boat that is just one color! I'm happy with it. Now all I have to do is find yellow vinyl dye for the tramp. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Red hulls, yellow tramp and sunset sails. You WILL see me coming !!!
Jay

I was talking to a friend who, it turns out, is a master at painting aluminum. Specifically Ferraris. He says the trick is to first etch the aluminum before painting. He suggests using a good primer and PPG two part epoxy.

I also asked him about aluminum expanding and contracting due to heat. He said to add a flex component to the paint. It's the stuff that's used when the paint is applied to plastic body parts so the paint won't crack.

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