Some friends and I bought a used Hobie 16 last summer on a lark and had little time to sail it before Minnesota's short lake-sailing season was over. We waited all through the winter staring over the icy tundra for the day we'd get to put our cat in the water.
On Saturday, that day came. We got it rigged, in the water, had a short sail, and everything was wonderful. On Sunday, I went to meet my friend who had already taken it from the buoy and was coming back to the dock to pick me up. He took a jibe in a strong wind and turtled the boat—without having yet put up the jib. It was just sitting on the trampoline.
And now it's lost.
We've set about to find a replacement, but it's looking impossible to find. It was the "flamer" pattern from the mid-70s, and it matched our main sail. We're really not keen on buying a white jib that would do nothing but look hideous with our otherwise gorgeous orange-hulled, flamer-sailed catamaran.
Is there a place one can find these sails reliably, either used or new with the same colors?
Alternatively, this lake isn't huge and the wind usually blows in the same direction—if these sails float, it may yet turn up, provided the city doesn't find and decide that it's trash, first. Do sails float? (Obviously a novice question, but as I said, we bought it on a lark and we're very novice.)
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