H18 vs Seaweed help?

Seaweed is really bad in the gulf right now so I need to be able to pop my rudders up while on the water to free the seaweed build up. Any tips on setting up my cams so I can manually release them on the water? Last time I tried the cam stop plate just bent the cam tip it did not release and I could not get my rudder back down because the cam was locked down.

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Floyd
00 Tiger
http://www.HobieFleet33.com
10 Mile Surfside, Texas
Join us on our Facebook group: Surfside Sailing

Your cam tension screw is too tight? The big, plastic screw under the bottom rudder casting.

I had a similar problem. I inspected the cam closely it had a crack which allowed the rudder to pop up without releasing the cam tip. It was hard to see the crack it was so small. The crack allowed the cam to flex enough to let the cam follower by. So when I wanted to rudder to lock back down it wouldn't cause the cam was still in the down position, just like you. I would take the main sheet tie it in a loop and then lasso the cam and give it a good yank upwards and FWD to get it to pop up. I got good at lassoing but when I saw the crack I replaced it and my lasso skills are going to waste.

If it has no crack then its what SKIPSHOT said.

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ALLEY CAT 1984 RED LINE HOBIE 18 MAGNUM
Sail # 10505 or 277

Buy some sailkote and spray it on the cam, top and bottom. The cams get sticky over time from salt and sand, some dry lube goes a long way. My screws are in tight and the rudders pop everytime. New cams is always a good idea. You can also pop them if stuck down while on the water by hooking the main sheet around the bottom of the cam, do not pull on the arm, and jerking it up with a swift, strong motion.

I bought a new cam and a fish weight scale so I can set how many pounds of force it should take to pop up the cam I saw post somewhere about this magic number.

_________________
Floyd
00 Tiger
http://www.HobieFleet33.com
10 Mile Surfside, Texas
Join us on our Facebook group: Surfside Sailing

I do this in a race if time is important, otherwise I take a screwdriver from my tramp bag and jump in the water with it and stick the screwdriver between the cam and the plunger and pry the cam loose. I think I may have screwed up my lower casting by using the mainsheet method too many times, because now the plunger squeezes out the wrong way from the casting when the rudders contact the bottom and pop up.

I bought the tool in the catalog for $6.10 you just drill a 3/16 hole on the bottom of the cam and the tool works like charm. I set my rudder cam to 15lbs with the fishing scale and they release when I pull up on the bar now. The mainsheet trick bent my cam so I replaced it.

_________________
Floyd
00 Tiger
http://www.HobieFleet33.com
10 Mile Surfside, Texas
Join us on our Facebook group: Surfside Sailing

I set mine at 15lbs but they are kicking up due to the seaweed I think but not sure there was a ton of seaweed on the beach this weekend and some patches in the water so I may bring the tension up to 18 and see how it holds next weekend.

_________________
Floyd
00 Tiger
http://www.HobieFleet33.com
10 Mile Surfside, Texas
Join us on our Facebook group: Surfside Sailing

The other thing you can do is tie bungee around your rudder/rudder pin. Hobie & Murrays sell flared washers that you install on the lower rudder castings (on the outside of the casting) that act as guides for the bungee.

The advantage of using bungee is that you get increased hold-down force on the rudder without having to increase the pressure on the cam spring. This means your cams will still rotate when you lift the tiller arm. If you simply continue to increase the pressure on the cam spring, eventually the cam won't rotate anymore (the spring will be bottomed out).

sm