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PostPosted: Sun Nov 06, 2016 6:50 pm 
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Joined: Sun Nov 06, 2016 5:21 pm
Posts: 24
Location: Southern NH
Hi all, I am new to the forum and to cat sailing. I am looking forward to getting in to Hobie sailing but my sailing experience is limited. I have a Super Snark that I sail and I have sailed a Sunfish once. I know sailing a Hobie is going to be a totally different experience than sailing a Snark but it looks like a lot of fun. I have been sailing the Snark for a few years and am ready to step up to another level. I am planning on buying a used Hobie 16 in late winter or early spring. With any luck hopefully I will be able to take it out as soon as it warms up. Oh,also. I have a 12 year old son that I want to be able to sail with me and I think the fact that the 16 has a jib is good because then he can help sail the boat and he won't get board. He gets board in the Snark because it is slow and there is only one sail so it is hard to get him to go out with me. After perusing the forum for a while I can see that there is a wealth of information and experience here and I am sure I will need a lot of guidance from everyone. So a thank you to everyone in advance for all of your advice and fellowship.


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PostPosted: Mon Nov 07, 2016 1:38 pm 
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Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2012 8:05 pm
Posts: 237
Location: New Hampshire
I'm a bit to the northwest of Concord, NH. Feel free to send me a PM and I'll send you my phone number and email.

You're more than welcome to come up some weekend and I can show you and your son the boat. My boat is set up and ready to go as I live on a lake. Even if there is no breeze, he can see what trapping out is all about, and you can get an idea of how the boat is set up. I'll be sailing until around 1 December, depending upon wind and schedule. Usually I stop a week or so before the ice comes in, but it depends.

Nearest fleets are in Rhode Island and Sebago Lake in Maine. I'm involved with the Rhode Island fleet and go down there when I can during the summer. They won't be sailing again until May.

Jim Clark-Dawe


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PostPosted: Mon Nov 07, 2016 6:13 pm 
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Location: Southern NH
Thanks for the welcome and the invite Jim. I am guessing you are wearing a wet suit when sailing this late in the year? I have only ever sailed in the summer but love the idea of being able to extend the season into late fall. Sending a PM.


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PostPosted: Tue Nov 08, 2016 10:01 am 
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Joined: Mon May 09, 2005 10:25 am
Posts: 4176
Location: Jersey Shore
You are absolutely right that sailing a Hobie 16 will be a toally different experience than sailing a Snark!

My advice, make sure you buy a decent boat. Don't get lured into buying an old, inexpensive, run-down Hobie 16 for a couple hundred bucks off of craigslist. You will almost certainly end up regretting it in the end. If you can find a decent boat from the late 1980's or newer, you will be much better off. Something from 2000 or newer would be ideal, but they are quite a bit harder to find on the used market.

With regard to sailing in cold weather, make sure you take this very seriously, especially when starting off on a new boat. In any breeze over about 10 mph, you could easily capsize if you make a mistake. Not too big of a deal in the summer when water temps are in the 70's and air temps are in the 80's or 90's and there are other boats around to help, but in Spring and Fall, you can run into real trouble if you capsize and are unprepared for the cold.

Stay safe, have fun!

sm


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PostPosted: Tue Nov 08, 2016 2:31 pm 
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Joined: Sun Nov 06, 2016 5:21 pm
Posts: 24
Location: Southern NH
Thank you srm. That is sound advice. I have seen a lot of old hobies on CL and only one that is a 2000 model. I marked in my favorites but it will probably be gone before I am ready to buy.
While I am learning and getting used to the hobie I probably will not go out in anything more than a light breeze, at least not for the first few times.


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PostPosted: Tue Nov 08, 2016 3:58 pm 
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Location: New Hampshire
For fall and spring, I wear a wet suit bottom and boots, a t-shirt, followed by a long sleeve boating top (thin but warm), and a spray jacket. A wool hat and full gloves complete the outfit. It works well for me, but there's a limit to how far from shore I'll go as the weather gets colder. The lake I sail on is less than a quarter of a mile to any shore.

Mentally pre-planning is essential to cold water sailing. The importance of knowing where to swim to if you lose the boat at any given moment, the understand of cold water shock on your system, the ability to get the boat upright by myself (shroud extenders) are all part of the stuff I think about. And knowing and understanding the wind as it applies to me is vital.

New England can get tight on the sailing season. If you're north of Cape Cod, the ocean is never very warm.

Jim Clark-Dawe


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PostPosted: Sun Dec 04, 2016 3:26 pm 
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Joined: Sun Nov 06, 2016 5:21 pm
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Location: Southern NH
A big thanks to Jim for having me and my son up to show us the ropes (my son's joke) on his boat. He showed us how to step the mast and rig everything thing up and we raised the sails. It was very educational. This will be a huge leap up from my Snark.


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PostPosted: Sun Dec 04, 2016 8:55 pm 
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Location: New Hampshire
Shame it was too cold for sailing. December in New Hampshire is not known for its warmth. It was fun showing my boat off.

Jim Clark-Dawe


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PostPosted: Mon Dec 05, 2016 11:03 am 
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Joined: Fri Jun 17, 2011 12:26 pm
Posts: 572
Location: Harsens Island, Michigan
I get out to Manchester, NH for business about every 2 months, so if you want to sail next summer, I would love to go out in the evenings after work. In light wind, it is easy alone, but if the wind picks up, you really want 2 people until you get good at righting it yourself and for ballast. Welcome to the madness. I was where you were about 5 years ago. I bought an older H16 to teach myself to sail, and now am addicted.

Good luck, and post pictures when you get a boat! Don't hesitate to ask questions here.

_________________
Steve
1979 Hobie 16 "Orange Crusher"
2017 Hobie 16 "Cayman" sails 114795
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 05, 2016 6:19 pm 
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Location: Southern NH
ASDASC wrote:
I get out to Manchester, NH for business about every 2 months, so if you want to sail next summer, I would love to go out in the evenings after work. In light wind, it is easy alone, but if the wind picks up, you really want 2 people until you get good at righting it yourself and for ballast. Welcome to the madness. I was where you were about 5 years ago. I bought an older H16 to teach myself to sail, and now am addicted.

Good luck, and post pictures when you get a boat! Don't hesitate to ask questions here.


Thanks ASDAC, I would be up for that. I will admit after seeing an H16 in person it is a little intimidating since all I have sailed is a Snark, but hearing that you taught yourself how to sail in one makes it seem less intimidating.


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PostPosted: Mon Dec 05, 2016 9:31 pm 
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Location: New Hampshire
I noticed you looking way up in the sky at the top of the mast sticking up there a couple of times. :lol:

Jim Clark-Dawe


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 06, 2016 3:47 am 
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Location: Southern NH
jclarkdawe wrote:
I noticed you looking way up in the sky at the top of the mast sticking up there a couple of times. :lol:

Jim Clark-Dawe



Yeah the mast looks quite tall when you are standing under it. I won't let a little intimidation deter me though, I know with enough sheet time I can become at least a half way decent cat sailor.


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 20, 2016 11:56 am 
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Joined: Fri Jun 17, 2011 12:26 pm
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Location: Harsens Island, Michigan
I still go thru waves of intimidation. I typically only sail alone during fairly low wind levels. That said, if I am with another experienced sailor, I am willing to go out in very strong winds!

I had taken my 20 year old son out in some big wind, and we had some issues getting it back up after a pitch-pole, and I think it kind of freaked him out. I had no concerns about it, but then I knew we had a rescue boat nearby, and was willing to walk away from the boat if I thought there was any danger.

_________________
Steve
1979 Hobie 16 "Orange Crusher"
2017 Hobie 16 "Cayman" sails 114795
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 23, 2016 3:56 pm 
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Joined: Sun Nov 06, 2016 5:21 pm
Posts: 24
Location: Southern NH
ASDASC wrote:
and I think it kind of freaked him out. .



I know what you mean, we turtled my Snark in some strong winds once, and the next time we went sailing my son was so worried about capsizing again every time a gust of wind would make the boat heal unexpectedly he was grabbing for the gunwales.


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2016 10:12 am 
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Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2016 4:35 am
Posts: 438
Location: Opelika/Lake Martin, Alabama
I learned to sail when I was 10 years old and my first boat was a Sea Snark, it was red with a red and white striped sail. A few years later I got a H14 and really learned to Hot Dog it on that boat. Fast forward a few more years, lived in a house on the beach in the Fl Panhandle and the house came with a Sea Snark. I used to take that little beat up boat out in the Gulf to the sandbar nearly every day. I never flipped the boat and had a lot of fun getting it literally up on its side with water pouring in and myself hanging out on the opposite side!!!! Man, that was a blast. You will find that going from that little Snark to an H16 is going to be like going from a Pinto to a Corvette. Keep the Snark, and just take your time learning the H16, you will get the hang of it, just take it slow at first. I like to practice setting mine up in the backyard just to keep on top of things. Happy Sailing!!!!!!

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Marty
1984 H16 Yellow Nationals Redline, "Yellow Fever"
Lake Martin, 'Bama.


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