Shake Down Sail on My New Old 16

I don't know how old it is but the Sail number is under 2000 (1096 IIRC; could be 1097 but who's counting although I'm a bit curious about when that sail number was from ). My last 16 was just north of the 20000 number back in '81, again IIRC. We live on Plum Island in Newbury, MA where we ended up in landing from my '09 lay-off out in OR. Our house is two streets north of the main road ending on the beach and four houses from the ocean. I bought the cat late last summer but it rigging was a tangled mess and due to time restraints never got in on the water. This spring I finally took the task to heart, sorting out the rigging, inflating the cat trax, repairing the old style needle valve on the trax tire so it wouldn't pop out when inflated, buying a used 6:1 block assembly and main sheet, replacing shreded blue carpets with neoprene ones, getting the trapezes, ready for use, installing a new righting system and buying way too many small parts to get it ready for use. Not trusting the Trax tire, we didn't inflate it fully and I'm sure it really added to our caloric use having to push/pull the cat to the beach and down the sand and back with a fairly flat looking tire.

After some serious effort including two intentional dry capsizings to deal with issues associtated with getting the main sail hoisted we finally got 1096 rigged and ready to go in the water. Ther was a fair on shore breeze and a light shore break. I had my son and daughter in law with me so in total we were well over 500 lbs heading towards the 600 lb mark of crew and skipper weight. We made it through the shore break totally drenched in the cold Atlantic Massachusetts North Shore water and were totally suprised that with the jackets on the cold water wasn't really too cold.

I'd pretty much avoided giving too much of a lesson in sailing before going out; trying to explain the responsibility of tending to the jib sheets and getting a "new to sailing" crew to participate in rigging a boat is a lot to ask. We took off heading south of the getty away from the rocks. Noticed that the cam cleats on the jib blocks seemed to be unable to release the sheet without close-up protection to keep the sheet out of the cam; this wasn't good.

Since time was limited and I wasn't sure of the water tightness of the hull so we were only out for about a half hour. Deciding to head back I chose to tack but to know avail, between the lack of speed and 1 1/2 to 2 foot swells I couldn't tack. Jibe ho. Having made the jibe, we were now on our way back to our launch site. A nice surf ride and we were back on shore to survey the results of the shake down cruise.

Results: 1) although apparently in excellent shape, the hull are taking in water is this pylon or drain related; I don't know yet. Recommendations are welcome.

2) The jib block were attached to the jib sheet at the high point causing the cam cleat to alway catch the sheet; I'll try a different attachment point unless some one has a better recommendation.

3) The jib stay popped off the stay adjuster and had to be reattached upon landing; get rid of the quick release adjuster and go to the more traditional clevis pin and ring ding.

4) Don't put your good multi tool on the tramp and then capsize on the beach; you'll never see it again.

5) Fill the tire on the trax or replace it (done, it holds fully filled, yeehaw).

Well, it's done, the boats been sailed and it's got a punch list of work to get it better; thanks for letting me share about the first sail. For those who were curious I've been sailing on and off for about 50 years; this is my second 16.

-Lee

The last 2 digits of the serial number on the boat should be the year it was made. I have sail number 9xxx (cant remember exactly) and it is a 1972 boat if that helps.

1: How much water did you take in? A small amount is normal, maybe a cup or so. If its leaking more than that, you should look into it. There are several threads on here describing the process. You basically want to lightly pressurize the hull using a hairdryer, vacuum, etc., and spay the hull with soapy water and look for leaks. Do not make a tight seal around your blower, and the hull or you could overpresurize and bad things will happen. Most common leaks are probably the deck/hull joint, worn areas on the keel from beaching, around the pylons, or around the plugs.

2: It sounds like your cleats are probably set at an angle that prevents you from being able to uncleat easily. There have been several designs of jib blocks/cleats over the years so a picture may help here. Sounds like you have the old ones where the block and cleat are the same unit, and the cleats can not be moved, but the pin you tie the end of the sheet off to can be. The "becket" that the end of your sheet is tied off to can be moved to change the angle of the cleat when sheeted tight. Having the pin in the top hole causes the cleats to point more down, having the pin in the bottom hole points the cleats more up. Adjust this to what works for you.

3: Not sure I understand what you're asking here. The "jib stay", meaning fore-stay is coming off the adjuster? Do you mean your halyard is coming off the cleat?

4: It only takes once to learn simple lessons like that.

5: A flat cat trax is better than no cat trax.

At any rate, thanks for the response; the pictures will be coming next week.

The forward pylons have a vent tube. Don't be too concerned to find bubbles around those corner castings. Check around the rudder gudgeons for leaks too. Make sure none of the gudgeon screws are stripped or loose. Check other high stress areas like around the shroud anchors.

Thanks for the tips on checking for leaks.

Here is a picture of one of the blocks and cam cleats for the jib. I'm guessing it is rigged incorrectly. Anyone familiar with this model? It looks to be as simple as moving the clevis down several holes however I don't like the way the terminal end of the sheet interferes with the roller.

I have a tapered jib sheet where the diameter at the blocks is smaller- less than 1/4" (maybe 5mm)- and they seem to work fine.

Yes, those are the same style I have on my boat. When I rigged it for the first time, I also could not release the jib sheets without crawling up to the front crossbar and pulling the sheet down directly at the cleat.

Move the pin that the end of the sheet connects to down and forward along the perimeter. This cause the angle of the cleats to point more upwards so it can be released from the back of the tramp. I think I have mine on the second hole from the bottom front, but can check when I get home. You might have to try it in a few different places to see what works best for you.

At the angle I have mine set, it automatically cleats whenever you trim the jib. To release, I can snap the sheet down, which causes a wave to travel through the sheet and when it gets to the cleat, it releases itself.

Perfect. Had you considered trying to attach a shackle to cleat to make sure the sheet is clear of the roller? By the way; the knot is what came with the boat. Clearly the guy hadn't heard of a figure eight. Thanks for the help. Oh and one other thing, does your block have both a clevis and cotter pin like mine does? Doesn it need both?

I have a very tight bowline tied around my pin rather than the stopper knot like yours. This eliminates the problem of the sheet interfering with the rolling of the sheeve. You might loose about an inch of sheeting by doing it this way instead of with a stopper know like yours is done. The clew of your jib may hit the knot when sheeted tight. This isn't a problem on my boat though with my old cut jib and not much rake.

If you keep the stopper knot, you may want to turn it the other way around. Have the line go in from the other side of the pin, and have the knot on the opposite side. This would keep more space between the line where it runs between this block and your clew block, so they wont rub on each other. The less friction the better on light air days.

No, I only have a pin with a ringding. I dont even see a cotter pin in your picture? I can try and get a picture of my setup for you if you need it, but it may be a few days before I'm able to get to my boat.

The cotter is in the second hole from the bottom and the clevis is in the top hole. Thanks; I was considering a bowline for the job.

Ok, now I see it. I dont see that it is serving any purpose where it is. I would get rid of it, but try moving your clevis pin to the same hole it is in.

If you go for the bowline instead of the figure 8, make sure you get the loop for the bowline as small as possible. You want the knot to be as tight as possible so it doesn't interfere with your jib clew when sheeted tight.

The bowline is the correct knot for the terminal end of the jib sheet. That jib sheet looks like it is oversized.

I bought my new main & jib sheets after finding these specs listed on a rigging kit:

Batten Ties - 3/32” (2mm) x 22” (55.9cm) - White (12)
Downhaul - 3/16” (5mm) x 5’ (152.4cm) - White
Jib Halyard - 3/16" (5mm) x 21' (640.1cm) White
Jib Sheet - 5/16" (8mm) x 32' (975.4cm) - Color
Main Halyard Assembly – Includes Line and Shackle
Mainsheet - 3/8” (9mm) x 46’ (1402.1cm) - White
Outhaul - 3/16” (5mm) x 8’ (243.8cm) - White
Tramp Lace Center - 3/16” (5mm) x 19’ (579.1cm) -White
Tramp Lace Rear - 3/16” (5mm) x 15’ (457.2cm) - White (2)
Trapeze Adjustment - 1/4" (6.4mm) x 3' 6" (106.7cm) - White (4)

_________________
Anderson, SC
1987 Hobie 16
Learning to sail.

Thanks, I was thinking that the line was just old and too well used; I thought about buying a new sheet when I was at the shop on Tuesday; I guess it's time. Time to get rid of the extra pin as well.