Soft Hull spot...help please

i recently bought a 1976 H16. i have found a few flaws in her old age naturally, but hope that they're minor:-)

1.) a rudder cam has snapped on the hook part. can i replace the cam WITHOUT replacing the entire rudder casting? if so, how do i remove the pin which holds the cam to the casting?

2.) i found a soft spot 8'' or so in front of the right trampoline pylon on the topside of the hull. it's only a foot long at max....i discovered it when i was sitting on it while on the trailer in the driveway....i researched the Git Rot, but i am just a beginner, and i am not sure if i would be able to do the procedure correctly. how many breather holes do you drill? how deep to they go? would gorilla glue work just as well? what drill bit width would i have to use for the epoxy hole and the breather holes?
-i am just learning, but would it be ABSOLUTELY necessary to do this procedure? what are the dangers of sailing with this spot the way it is? eventually, i hope to get into trapezing....will this put more strain on that area? WOULD I REALLY NEED TO FIX THIS?

3.) on the back edges of my rudders, there are chips and nics. the largest of them is about the diameter of a nickel. will these chips effect the performance of the cat? is it worth fixing? how?

PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT TO DO!!!! THANK YOU!!!!

Richard

Hey 8690,
I'll help you with one of your problems. To change the cam, drill out the stainless pin that holds it. I use a 3/16" bit and wobble it out a bit until the head comes off, then use a drift to punch it out. Release the tension on the adjuster (Big flathand screw in the bottom of the casting) first and it will be easier to punch the stainless pin out. You only need to drill off the head of the pin, and be careful not to drill the casting. Get the Hobie cam kit, which has a screw to replace the pin.

When you get the cam replaced lube it with some sort of grease. This is the only part of a Hobie that you can use a grease type substance. Blue marine grease is what the factory uses. I use Lanocote. Any of that stuff will work.

Search the forums for delam repair and do whatever Matt Miller said, because it is the best way.

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Sail Revolution
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I agree 100% with all of Jeremy's advice on replacing the cams.

I just did this repair recently (and posted about it elsewhere on this
forum). One of the cams on my boat was broken. The reason for
this was that the plunger that regulates the force required to rotate
the cam was much too tight. You should check the ability to rotate
the cam to see if you need to adjust the delron screw to loosen it.

I think that you probably do need to do this.

If the screw cannot be loosened, you will need to replace it as well.
Search for 'delron screw' on this forum to learn more about that.

I would say that unless you are a top-notch Hobie sailor, it won't make much difference in perfomance. It's a low priority repair.

I did a similar repair to my other sailboat with excess West epoxy. Here is the thread that discusses that with photos:
http://www.laserforum.org/showthread.ph ... 39b&t=4691

You can use a different epoxy if you like. You will want to use a low density filler, since this is for 'fairing'.

Or you can leave it as is.

thanks guys. ill look into checking the tightness underneath the cams. do you know anything about reinforcing soft spots?

Use the Git Rot method, particularly if the soft spot is small. You need to fix it before you sail. It's not difficult to do, it maybe takes a little convincing yourself to drill holes in your boat but other than that the repair is pretty straight foward. I repaired almost the entire length of my starbord hull over the winter and it is rock hard, although after the fact I found out that the insides of both hulls were soft which equals scrap more or less. But nontheless the deck is hard as a rock.

Your injection holes only need to be big enought to accept the tip of the Git Rot bottle, the breather holes can be really small. I can tell you exactly the size bit I used if you need me to. Before you drill, mask off the area and mark the soft spot with a pencil. When you start drilling dril down the center of the pontoon for your injection holes. Drill the breather holes just inside where the grippy stuff is (1/2 inch-inch). They don't need to be big at all, and I found out through error that smaller holes are much easier to cover up later. When you begin drilling let the drill do the work. You may want to make a stop so that the drill bit only penetrates about 1/16 of an inch or maybe a little more. You'll be able to feel when you go through the first layer of glass, trust me. Make sure you don't go through the second layer. Like I said, let the drill do the work, only the weight of the drill, get it? I found that it really helps the stuff penetrate if you make channels in the foam using a bent nail, but it will work if you don't. Big difference in the speed of the repair though, and now that it's getting hotter you'll want to work rather quickly as this stuff really sets up quick in high temps. Follow the directions on the bottle and away you go. Fill em up, seal em with tape as they ooze out, and make sure that you do your best to do it all in one go. And from what I learned in hinsight, take the masking tape off right after the epoxy sets to make clean up way easier, and I mean way easier. I left mine on and half on the finish work was getting the tape residue off.

Ask questions and good luck on your repair. If it weren't for the folks on this forum I wouldn't have gotten out for a sail this year. I was totally in your shoes a year ago. This is totally a repair that you can do and you need to do it before you sail. The bow is under a lot of compression and can litterally snap off without that area reinforced. Plus, your feel much more confident in your boat which equals funner, and faster sailing.

If you want to see some of the progress on my repair and get an idea of how I drilled my holes check my beach cats albulm:

http://www.thebeachcats.com/modules.php ... _photo.php

It goes backwards chronoligically.
Good luck and tell us how it goes.

_________________
James
86' Redline Hobie 16
Sail # 76909

Oh, I forgot to say. Don't sit on your hulls, or stand on them for that matter. It will expediate the process of them becoming soft. Resist all temptation. They really were not designed for that.

_________________
James
86' Redline Hobie 16
Sail # 76909

thanks for the help james! im gonna do some more research on this stuff, and your pictures in your album gave me a clear idea on where to drill.

I really appreciate it!
-Richard

Glad I could help a little. Keep in mind that I feel that I used way too many holes, and that I did the repair in two batches which is why there are so many, again my soft spot was huge. Good luck, take pics of your repair, and tell us how it goes.

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James
86' Redline Hobie 16
Sail # 76909

i was checking out the way to do the port hole remedy...i heard from a friend that its easier, because you can just reach in and lay down fiberglass backing from there....how do the results from that compare with the drill and git rot method? what are your opinions on it? thanks:-)

Honest answer is I don't really know. I think that with a spot as small as you claim that yours is I would just fill it with epoxy, plus it will probably be much cheaper than installing ports. But, that may be something you want to do. I have heard that people with ports have had some issues with them leaking, but I think that those were older ports on older boats. If I were you I would try to contact Matt Miller, Matt Bounds, or some of the old salt's here on the forum. They would be able to give you a much more definitive answer but it is my guess that they would also tell you to do the epoxy method. Once you cut those big holes in your deck there is not really any turning back, whereas if you do the epoxy method and aren't pleased you can always do the ports later.

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James
86' Redline Hobie 16
Sail # 76909

I know this post hasn't had any replies for a while but it seems easier and tidier replying to this post rather than starting a new subject.

I've just gone ahead and tried to repair my soft hulls today but don't think I've done it properly. I used the method described by Matt Miller (and by others) but in only three instances could get the resin to bubble out of another hole. I started with small holes around the perimeter (1/16" as per posts elsewhere), a 3/16" hole in the centre (about 4" from the small holes). I used a plastic squeezy bottle and proceeded to squeeze with all my might. As hard as I squeezed the resin would not come out the holes.
So I tried a different tack - drilled all the holes at 3/16" and proceeded to fill each one. These were closer (2" apart) but only three holes showed any signs of communicating with the other holes. And now 3 hours after the event (after 26ºC days here - not sure what that is in ºF) the hulls still feel as soft as they did before. In my limited reasoning ability I think I've not done it right and the problems could be one of the following:
- resin was too thick (it looked runny to me)
- the foam was preventing the resin running to the other holes. (Does this mean my soft spot is not as soft as I thought? It sounded hollow when tapped).
- the squeezy bottle didn't give enough push to the resin and I should change to using a syringe.
- my holes aren't big enough/too far apart.
- some other reason that my impractical self hasn't thought about.

Can anyone point out what's gone wrong?

Thanks in advance.

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Anthony
88 H16 "Moonshine"

The first batch I did on my boat was kind of like that, I had to squeeze the bottle really hard to get the stuff in. Did you clear out "channels" in the foam to make it easier for the epoxy to get in? If not, you should try that, it makes a difference. Just use a bent nail or anythink that would to the trick, I think I used the curvy part of a wire hanger. And, be careful that you don't squeeze to hard, you'll put more epoxy in there than needed and it will just ooze back out on you.

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James
86' Redline Hobie 16
Sail # 76909

Thanks for your help James. I hadn't cleared out any of the foam because some posts said it wasnt necessary. It goes against my character to do something that isn't necessary. I think it's called lazy!

I'll drill some more holes (what's a few more?) and try it again in the morning. How far apart did you have your holes? And did you use one central hole like Matt Miller's recommendation or did you fill at each hole?

And how much foam did you clear out? Did you just try to connect the holes up or did you clear a radius (how big?) around each hole?

So many questions, I know, but want it to work next time I make the boat look like Swiss cheese.

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Anthony
88 H16 "Moonshine"

My area was huge, almost the whole length of the deck. So, I drilled several center holes, maybe about five inches apart or a little more, but for an 8 inch soft spot I think one would probably be plenty. As far as clearing out the foam, all I did was make four channels in each center hole just by pushing in the nail and then pulling it out. Does that make sense? I wouldn't really call it clearing it out, you want the foam in there, but it seems difficult to get it in there just from the drill hole. You just want somewhere for the epoxy to go, it will work without them as that is how I did my first batch, but it is way faster and easier with the channels.

_________________
James
86' Redline Hobie 16
Sail # 76909