Many boat are simply neglected and somewhat forgotten, waiting around for time to take it's tolls....
Some boat are not.
My Hobie 16 is an '81 that was in storage since '85. It was dismantled and stored in a garage, out of the sun in suburbia Chicago. It's trailer was left outside and vandalized. Even the axle was missing....
My friend notified me of this boat and I drove four hours to see it. Some critter had crapped for years on one hull and it looked bad. I did not find any soft stops on and thought, "What the Hell." I drove home, rolled my other 16 off it's trailer and drove back up to Chicago the next day.
This boat cleaned up very well and I started to give it some love.......
I ordered all new rigging from my old friend Don @ Salty Dog. I purchased new line from Eileen @ Sailboats Inc.
I had Howie King repair it's main sail, (small tear at bolt-line).
I found another 16 down in Taylorville, KY that was also in storage in a barn that housed Llamas....
This boat was completely shot. There was a PVC tube on it's trailer with Cat Fever sails in it. The owner told me that mice have eaten a holes in sails ....and I thought, well at least the battens would be OK.
The Llamas ate the ends off it's rudders....Oh well...
The farmer had pushed this trailer with his tractor and bent the tongue tubing. I paid $75 and
pulled this mess home...
All I wanted was the trailer...
This boat's hulls went to the dump. I looked over these Cat Fever and they looked really nice. Howie repaired these sails by adding a window and using the cut out piece as a patch over the mice damaged area which was pretty small. This gave me another set of beautiful bright sails...
I overhauled this trailer, new steel tongue 21" longer and new crossbars 1/8" side walls not 16 gauge. Many hours where spent on this trailer......but I knew how to do this as I have overhauled many trailers....and I like that work.
I could review all of the monies and time I spent on this project as accounting is sort of a hobby to me. I like to look forward but also know what it took to get there. I am OK with that. Monies come and go.
Thousands of Hobie 16 where made over a very long time, What 40 years? This one design has seen it's peak in production and sells as we all know too well...but it is still a just as fun as today as it was decades ago.
Look around and you will find what fits your needs. Some are given love and some where not....