Just want to share an update on my latest Hobie 16 refurb. It's a 2001 that was in a pretty sad state of neglect. Here's the before pic.
The black gunk was organic crud... guessing super baked on algae, boat probably stayed in water for too long. I was leary of gel coat or deeper fiberglass blisters, but none revealed themselves in the gel refurb. Several rounds of bar keepers friend and Davis FSR (both contain oxalic acid) cleaned up the black gunk. I scraped all the graphics, sanded with 800 grit on a random orbit sander, followed by 1000 grit (wet) on a hand sanding block, and finally 3M heavy oxidation restorer on a dual action polisher. Pretty happy with the results you see below. There are still some nicks and scratches I need to fill in the gel, but I decided to address these later this year.
After the hulls were in shape, I took care of updating/replacing every other aspect of the boat... for a proper, modern, and fully class-compliant Hobie 16. Here's the mostly final results. Rudders are missing (refurbing some original EPOs) and the new Hobie decals, as well as a few of my own finishing touches. I'll get a few shots of the final product at the 2019 Ocean Springs Ice Breaker and update this post then.
So, again, many thanks to this community of online and in-real-life people I've met that have shared their wisdom and experience upon me. I only hope I can return the favor and passion for Hobie sailing.
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Bradley M. Davis -
Hobie High Life YouTube VideosFormer Boats: '76 H16 Flamer #20060 / '87 H16 Blue Prism #90350
Current Boats: '01 H16 (Cayman) #115139 / '84 H16 Blue Hawaii #79922 / '85 H16 (81 Nat'l Boomer) #67318
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