80's 16, new to me soon...perhaps.

To keep a long story short...

I've been considering sailing for the past 10 years, circumstances prevented me from actually buying a boat. So I decide this year is the action year and I consider what to buy, best bang for the buck and all that. I like speed and anything technical but I would like to be able to take four out (family) as well on lighter days. Dinghies are too small, anything much bigger and the draft is too deep for some of our lakes (many many lakes close by to sail on including St Lawrence (I know, it's a river) and Lake Ontario for some bigger water). I also have a boat launch a stone's throw from our home to the Big Rideau system.

Hobie 16 made the most sense. Solo with some capacity.

Search resulted in boats no closer than 3 hours away...tough to manage.

On a lark I mentioned to a friend that I was looking and he happened to have one that he has only sailed once in the last two years in his boathouse...that he was considering selling as of last week. He decided he is selling, now he is just coming up with a price. Once he comes up with that and I am good with it we will probably take it out for a test sail and close the deal.

I need to do a little sweet talking to the better half though. My friend happened to mention to her that he was likely selling his boat to me (they work together, it was bound to come up), which isn't a problem, just that he mentioned how you can take it up on one hull to go fast... I need to convince her that it can be sailed as slow as you want, it doesn't HAVE to be fast all the time.

Condition is sailable, slight bend in the mast but not a show stopper. If I have it over the winter I will tear it down and do any hull work that is required...maybe just a good polish and wax job if I am lucky...replace the tramp, rigging and what not. I might put wings on it to make it more comfortable for the non-thrill seekers in the family. No trailer but I have a boat trailer that I can modify either with the various attachment kits or just make something up myself. I think that the wheelbase might be slightly too wide so I will have to raise the supports to be sure the hullls clear the fenders.

All in all I expected more of a hassle to acquire a boat, I'll wait and see if this is one of those too good to be true deals.

Jeff.

Jeff:

Best of luck. If you get this boat, prepare to walk around with a big smile on your face for at least a few months. My fun meter overloaded and exploded! The trick is getting the wife interested....

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Mims, FL

My wife is scared to death with any speed at all. She thinks she is going to die. She has no faith in my abilities.........to sail that is. At any rate good luck. Also I think you will find there have been a few folks on here that had luck removing a slight bend in their mast by supporting each end off the ground and standing (maybe with a slight bounce) in the middle of the mast. Easier said than done I suppose. You may inquire about this to others on here, but its worth a try. I would think even a slight bend would affect rotation of the mast during sailing.

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'88 Nationals Blue
Hobie Alter Signature Model
Sail #11

Hobie Mirage Classic

My wife gets sea sick and I sail the Gulf so her first trip out she threw up before we got past the breakers. We are going again this weekend she is going to take dramamine this time. Get a Hobie 16 because you want it not for any other reason. Im on my second Hobie 16 already and loving it!

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

The seasick possibility is an issue except that any sailing the my wife would be along would probably just be medium sized lakes, not really much in the line of wave action...I'll save the big stuff for me and the kids.

I have not seen the bend yet, probably going to have a look at the boat this weekend and MAYBE go for a sail. While it may affect rotation I do not expect that my sailing skills will be up to the point of noticing for at least the first season. I hesitate to try to fix it until I know I have time, money and the inclination to replace it already. It would be a shame to make it worse and not be in a position to replace it. I also expect a lot of tweaking, slight mods, upgrades and parts replacement will already be in order... I expect my entire hobby budget will be eaten up by this boat ...good thing that I replaced all the drivetrain parts on my bike already.

Sailing training is probably in the works next year at a local yacht club...I don't know if they let me use my own boat or I need to use the club boats though. I can learn a lot through just doing it but I am sure that some training would be of great benefit.

Jeff.

Ten years is too long to wait!

I bought my first H16 when I was 49 (three years ago) and now I have two - 1978 and a 1983. Beautiful boats that get a lot of attention at the lake and the beach.

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1980 18 foot class A Unicorn catamaran
1977 Super Sunfish (sold)
1979 Hobie (sold)
1983 Hobie 16 Hawiian Sunset (sold)
1981 Hobie 16 Tequilla Sunrise (sold)
2008 Hobie 16 (sold)
2023 Hobie 16
Founding member of the "San Dimas Yacht Club"
John

Sometimes you just have to wait for the right time...ten years ago I would have bought the wrong boat as I would not have considered a cat.

I just talked to the current owner...defintely selling. Now I await the price..I fed a few current prices for H16s so he didn't decide to go ape and get greedy. Set the market basically. I think he bought it for $1800 5 years ago. I think that, with a bent mast and a needed tramp at the minimum then that the price is too high with no trailer. I was aiming for under $1000.

Jeff.

Make sure the whole rudders systems is in good working order or you will get expensive real fast. Hobie tramps are also expensive even the aftermarkets cost around $300. Without a trailer I would not pay more than $600 but I'm in Houston and they come up for sale pretty often. I just got one with trailer for $500 the rudders were trashed but the boat & sails were in amazing condition.

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

I've done a ton of reading on this site so I think that I have a good idea what to look for and also how to fix most of the fixable problems that I might run across. There are not many for sale around here so the pickin's are slim...supply and demand.

This boat has been a cottage boat for most, if not all of it's life and the lake it has been on is not a big water lake...so real sailing that might stress big parts so I don't anticipate major components will need anything other than to be cleaned and properly setup. Also, the cottages and people involved take care of their stuff and store at least in boathouses or covered. It was last sailed last year, once...so it works.

I plan on doing any hull work first, replacing the rigging and ropes (as needed) second. Tramp third. mast perhaps fourth. I think that is in order of ascending price. I hope I don't need any of the blocks replaced or some other expensive parts though.

All this is still with the boat unseen, so a lot can change upon first viewing...I am the only buyer in consideration so I am not in a hurry or worried that someone else will scoop it at least.

What would be cool is to put it in the water and sail it home (we're on the same lake) but it is quite a hike. A lot could go wrong for a newbie.

Jeff.