New hobie 16 owner is it a flop?

Filling the hulls with waterproof foam would be VERY expensive and VERY heavy.

I think that boat is a goner, and you will be wasting time, money and chemicals to try to bring it back. You can buy boats that are so much better for $300. The aluminum should get you some of your money back and the beach wheels the rest.

If you just want a raft, and are willing to put a layer of cloth on the hull bottoms, you could do that and still get the scrap money for the mast but you'd need something to replace the tramp. I sure wouldn't sail it unless your assessment of the hull condition is way off.

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'00 H16 #104691
'78 H16 #32692 ex-rental [gone]
Old Holsclaw trailer
My Hobie 16 pages

I would also be worried that an H16 with hulls full of foam would be extremely difficult to right, especially if it turtled.

the mast probably is worth a lot more than scrap value

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JKK
83 yellow/ white decks Hobie 14 Corando turbo
82 yellow hulls Hobie 16 Cat Fever
84 yellow hulls hobie 16 Yellow Nationals
plus a few extras that I'm restoring

I suppose it depends where the "fist sized dent" is.

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'00 H16 #104691
'78 H16 #32692 ex-rental [gone]
Old Holsclaw trailer
My Hobie 16 pages

Filling the hulls with foam will lead to more problems later on. I had a Hobie Monocat, a little 12' foam filled boat they made years ago. Small leaks eventually saturated the foam, making a crazy heavy little boat.
Trying to fix up a boat that is so far gone is too expensive. You have to pay "parts prices" for the parts, even used. And if you don't know the boat very well, you will likely buy parts that won't work with your particular boat. Some of the variations even within a particular model, are subtle but important.
If you truly want to sail, look for a boat that needs some TLC, but not wholesale restoration. There isn't anything easier to find than a Hobie 16, there have been a lot of them made. There's a house near me that has a Hobie 14 and 16 stacked on a trailer in their backyard that haven't moved in years. I'm sure they could be purchased for a modest amount. Just keep an eye on the For Sale ads in the paper and various boating forums or eBay, and Craigslist.

All my pessimism aside, the sails would be, to me, the deal maker/breaker here. If the boat was simply neglected for years, but the sails were stored properly and are in good shape, you hit the jackpot. Also, do you have the battens for the sails? They aren't cheap either.

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Yet another Bob!
"Firefly" - 2012 Hobie Getaway with wings and spinnaker
"Sparky" - 1978 Sunfish (OK, it's not a Hobie, but it's a fun little craft)
Too many canoes and kayaks

http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/Whobie1/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160629_111716-1_zpsbyd1ipgs.jpg.html?sort=3&o=4

Ok still haven't figured how to get the pics up but there is the link. I wasn't able to find any hull numbers, just some white hobie cat stickers near the back.. the sails seem to be intact minus one tear near the top of the jib. There are small wooden slats in the sails is that normal?
I also posted pictures of the punctures in the hull.. those are all on one side.. the other hull has no holes.
I figure at best I could patch it up and throw a trolling motor on it until I can maybe track down other hulls

Posting photos isn't rocket surgery:

That's a not a "puncture" - that's a large impact tear. Something came down on that hull hard. And those little brown dots? That's looks like the sign of a delamination repair. Those hulls are junk. Trash. Unsafe.

And these sails?

They are not Hobie Cat 16 sails. They come from some sort of dinghy (monohull) sailboat. Small wooden slats? They are NOT normal for a Hobie 16. A Hobie 16 has full length fiberglass battens - they go from one side of the sail to the other.

Short version - those sails will not work with that boat. They're junk.

To answer your original question (Did I get sold a pile of junk?) - Most assuredly you did.

So taking everyone's opinion into account I've decided to scrap the sailing part of this boat and power it with these 2 minn kota trolling motors I happened to find. One is pedal driven the other hand operated.
I've epoxied the hulls, going to see how much leakage I get after putting around the river, then I'll sand and paint them maybe a duracoat type of paint. I'll build a deck over the existing tramp frame mount both trolling motors, not sure what configuration will work best maybe one up front and one in the back. To offset the weight. I'm not sure side by side is do - able and I'm not sure putting them in one behind the other will serve any purpose. Unless I mount the to the transom instead of the deck which I'd rather not do because it's not strong enough I'm sure.. still peeling ideas around

I did this with 2 old hulls a few tears back...

cut 18 to 20 inches out of the cross bar width...

added oar locks... instant Row-B-Cat

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•Present boat -1998 Hobie 16 Solana Sails furling jib[/size]

14 hulls would make for a nice row B cat, not sure about 16s. Now I have an idea for a pair of blistered 14 hulls that aren't worth fixing. I would probably use a rear frame member up front as I have plenty of those. Did you use the same width for side frames as a regular row boat?

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JKK
83 yellow/ white decks Hobie 14 Corando turbo
82 yellow hulls Hobie 16 Cat Fever
84 yellow hulls hobie 16 Yellow Nationals
plus a few extras that I'm restoring

Looks like a parts boat to me. Don't feel bad. Parts boats are valuable, and you only sunk $100 into it. Get yourself another H16 that's more workable, and you won't need to replace all the missing parts with new ones. You'll learn a lot about the boat as you're removing all the parts.

Some parts don't go bad very often, so other Hobie sailors in your area may have some of those as spares. For example, I've got 4 or 5 booms. They don't really go bad. Things like trampolines, sails and rigging have shorter lives.

Pat
'76 Hobie 16

CPNSOO....

The 16 worked quite well... i cut as much out of the cross bars (about 18 inches i think...)
so i could re assemble the frame. If you cut too much out you won't be able to get it back together...
you could really get it moving.... and 2 people could row it...

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•Present boat -1998 Hobie 16 Solana Sails furling jib[/size]