Creaking and groaning

I recently noticed some creaking and groaning on my boat while on vacation at the beach. Normally I sail on an inland lake and have not noticed the noise before. The water had some fair sized swells but nothing too bad. Is this something to be concerned about, or do all older boats make a noise or two?

A couple of years ago had some creaking and groaning that hadn't previously occurred. A few outings later........popped starboard shroud! Coincidence?

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UK Wildcats have 8 now!

1976 H16 27640
1985 H16 89112

It's not just limited to older boats. Mine has made noise since day 1 (a brand new '07). A 16 will creak and groan as the hulls work independently of the trampoline frame. It's mostly the pylons working against the corner castings. Nothing to be concerned about.

Also check your frame for rigidity. The rivets could be loosening. I've read on here that some old salt speed demons would drill out all the frame rivets at the corners castings and replace them with larger 1/4" rivets in order to bring as much stiffness to the frame as possible. Then there is always glueing (epoxying) the frame together.

I noticed some groaning when I first got mine but haven't done either of those, yet. But, I did determine my frame was 3.5" out of square. I loosened the pylon bolts, rigged cabling from corner to corner with turnbuckles and brought her back to square, then tightened the s$%t out of the tramp (leaving the cabling).

Since then she sure sails better and slices through swells like buddahhh, and the groaning is gone. It's probably just in my head but she seems to tack better, too, and the helm seems more responsive. That all could just be wishful thinking after the fact, but, the old salts stiffened their rigs for a reason so why wouldn't I experience a least some performance improvement as a result of what I've done?

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'81 H16

If it ain't a blowin', I ain't a goin'

Both my 1981 and 2008 Hobie 16's creak/groan but in differnt ways.

The 2008 is much stiffer, but sounds like a old wooden ship.

Has your tramp lacing loosened a bit? This will affect the stiffness of your frame, which in turn might cause noise.

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1980 18 foot class A Unicorn catamaran
1977 Super Sunfish (sold)
1979 Hobie (sold)
1983 Hobie 16 Hawiian Sunset (sold)
1981 Hobie 16 Tequilla Sunrise (sold)
2008 Hobie 16 (sold)
2023 Hobie 16
Founding member of the "San Dimas Yacht Club"
John

Thanks for all the replies! I will check the frame for square. The shrouds are less than a year old and the tramp was tightened just prior to the beach trip using a ratchet strap around the frame to deflect them in a little. I guess they lacings could have loosened but I didn't notice it.

We have determined that sidebars are the major culprit in new boats. We now taper the sharp ends of the sidebar extrusions so they do not chatter, grunt, squeak as they move in the castings.

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

My 1979 H16 did that when I first got it (a month ago) and what removed most of the creaking was spray Teflon (the dry kind) from Lowes. I sprayed it in profusely where the corner castings meet the hulls. I also sprayed the heck out of where the corner castings join the sidebars. It still has a minor creak once in a while but for the most part is not frequent enough to be noticeable.

Still learning my boat, but mine creaks and groans some, especially when powering up. It's kinda like its talking to me. Like the rudder hummm! It says "faster--faster--FASTER!!!".

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'81 H16 yellow hulls

I am completely new at this, but it seems that spraying a lubricant in the joints goes against a lot of what I have read. I agree that it would reduce the noise, but would also make it flex more, which is a speed penalty, right?

Is all the creaking and groaning due to loose tramps?

I am really not intending to be critical, but am just trying to learn.

Good wind to all!

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Steve
2017 Hobie 16 "Cayman" sails 114795
1985 & 1973? Hobie 14 "Sea & Ski"

HI Jman6631

Did you leave the cabling on the boat permanently? I'd love to see pictures of it. I've seen pro and con discussions here of a squaring wire rig under the tramp.
I have a lot of slop between my 1981 hulls. I've got a new tramp, my side rails were already bend in from previous tramps, but I ratchet-strapped on the new one.

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frank pichel, H16 Veribold, #71146

Hey fpichel,

I did leave the cabling on the boat. I've read the pros and cons too and so far I think the pros outweigh the cons. But that could change. I haven't had a lot of experience with them so far but I haven't had the "cheese-grater" effect or a safety issue with a capsize either.

See if you can access these from my picassa web album:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-VLzR ... 252529.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Jkkv ... 520Rig.jpg

It's not very complicated. You can get all the hardware at the local hardware store. One thing I made sure of was to push the cabling as far down to the topsides as possible. I reasoned this would provide the greatest clearance between the tramp above while also pulling from as close to the center of the pylons as possible.

What you can't see is the aft rigging. But it's the same as the fore rigging only one set of gear around the pylon, obviously. You can see it barely in both pictures but I didn't photograph it specifically.

What's also not shown are the pool noodle covers I zip tied over all this hardware to keep it from cutting through the tramp or otherwise causing an unpleasant scrape.

Let me know if you need anything else.

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'81 H16

If it ain't a blowin', I ain't a goin'

That's great. Thanks for the pictures.

I just noticed the rivets are coming loose on my front corners. I've got a bunch of slack between my hulls now. I guess I'll insure squareness before re-rivet. Then try the epoxy frame stiffening method or your hardware method.

thanks again

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frank pichel, H16 Veribold, #71146

Great, glad to help.

Since you're re-riveting anyway why not go all the way and install 1/4" rivets as I describe at the top? It'd be the perfect time.....

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'81 H16

If it ain't a blowin', I ain't a goin'

Those cables look freaking scary. Think I'd go the epoxy route or just live with some squeeks.

sm