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 Post subject: cruising a hobie 16
PostPosted: Mon Sep 18, 2017 3:19 pm 
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Site Rank - Deck Hand

Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2017 2:38 pm
Posts: 4
hey all,

so, I just acquired my first hobie cat the other day, never sailed one before... I was going down the road and saw one sitting on the side of the road, that I noticed had been there for quite a long time, and I stopped and looked at it, and a guy showed up and we got started talking, and he said it got left there and he wanted it gone, and I said all I have is 5$ on me, and he said he couldn't go any lower than 50$, so, yes, for 50$ I scored a hobie 16 that had brand new sails (from a Trac-14) and the only thing wrong was it was missing a tiller handle and center link for the rudders, but, being a boat mechanic, it was easy to fab something up..... so, 50$ plus 30$ at the hardware store got me a fully functional hobie 16 in pretty awesome condition, probably one of the best scores ive had in years....

had it out on the lake yesterday, was blowing solid 15 gusting 25, and my first impressions sailing one of these things were holy F that thing accelerates, doesn't tack or point for squat but, holy crap that is a bot that just wants to go.

now, even with sails that were 50 some less square feet than standard hobie 16 sails, it was easy to see what that boat was all about.

ive sailed for years, had a few fixed keel san juan 21s, cal-20s, sailed laser2s, fjs lidos, v-15s, hobie 33, catalina 42s... after sailing yesterday, it made me realize that reaching across a 1.13 mile wide lake doesn't take much time in a boat like the hobie 16, and kinda made the lake feel small...... seems like 10 miles or so could disappear pretty quickly under a hobies sails

and it got me thinking.............

I live in the san juan islands of Washington state, and I also grew up kayaking the islands, so, I know small boat camping is more than a reality out here in the summer time. if you are unfamiliar with the area I'm talking about, please look it up! we have tons of beach camping sites, state parks, marine parks, and beachside campgrounds with hot summer days, good sailing winds, and long days, granted the water will still kill you in 20 minutes without a wet/dry suit...

I am wondering what the thoughts would be on making my hobie 16 a beach camping machine...

first order of business would be a motor, that is mandatory out here because of the wind being so shifty, you can have it blowing like hell on one side of an island only to go around the corner and have it be flat calm, just to put up a larger genoa, to have it knock you on your ass 30 minutes later when the wind shifts again, kind of the story around here when it comes to sailing... for the most part you can get around with just sails, but, we also have a lot of current and tide, so, a gasoline engine is the only way to go, cant rely on batteries and electric motors, too limited on weight and range... how would that be possible? a 2hp aircooled Honda outboard would probably be the way to go....

next would be storage.... what about putting inspection hatches in the tops of the amas? I'm not talking about bringing everything including the kitchen sink, its a multihull afterall, and weight is critical... more like place to stash ultralight backpacking gear.... wouldn't be able to go away for more than a few days, but, there are also some larger lakes that id like to be able to sail too (lake Chelan, to stehekin which is like 50 miles) but, overall, it would be nice to do more than just day sailing with this boat...

for all you cold water sailors, what is your preference? dry suit or wet suit?

anybody else have these ideas? anybody done anything like this?

my vision is to have a capable boat for relative short distance inland/near shore/protected waters cruising, with everything neatly fitting in the hulls, with an auxiliary power source that preferably drinks gasoline, as I feel id be limited by a battery and electric motor...

thoughts?

thanks!


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 Post subject: Re: cruising a hobie 16
PostPosted: Mon Sep 18, 2017 6:00 pm 
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Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Mon May 09, 2005 10:25 am
Posts: 4176
Location: Jersey Shore
I think you would be wise to get a bit more tiller time in before taking your new (to you) boat on any long voyages. Hobies can be tame in light winds but turn into wild animals when the breeze is up. You need to get to know the boat a bit more as it is quite a bit different than the other boats you listed.

I would also recommend you give the boat a very thorough inspection before taking it out in any rough conditions or for long voyages. Usually boats which are practically given away are done so because the owner knows they are past their useful life and aren't worth putting any money into, so they just want to pass the problems onto someone else. Do some research on this forum regarding things like soft spots on hulls, corrosion, wear and tear on rigging, etc and give your $50 boat an objective once-over before considering it a great score. The last thing you want to have happen is to take the boat on a long journey only to have a hull snap in half because you didn't inspect for soft spots - this kind of thing is pretty common in older boats.

As far as storage, putting a lot of stuff inside the hulls on a Hobie 16 really isn't practical. There is a large foam flotation block between the pylons, so putting gear there really won't work. That only leaves putting an access port in front of the front pylon which isn't a great idea from a structural standpoint or from a weight and balance standpoint. Your best bet would be to use large dry bags secured to the tramp.

sm


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 Post subject: Re: cruising a hobie 16
PostPosted: Sun Oct 08, 2017 3:04 am 
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Site Rank - Deck Hand

Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2017 2:54 am
Posts: 1
Hi,
Have you seen this story already?
https://www.sailmagazine.com/multihulls ... a-hobie-16

and not a Hobie, but similar,
http://users.tpg.com.au/kkmiller/jessem ... rtin1.html

JWG


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 Post subject: Re: cruising a hobie 16
PostPosted: Sun Oct 08, 2017 7:27 pm 
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Site Rank - Admiral

Joined: Wed Aug 08, 2007 10:20 pm
Posts: 295
Location: South Boardman, Mi
srm is spot on about getting more tiller time and checking out your boat. Once you have done that stuff some dry bags between the hull and the tramp frame. Don't cut up your hulls for storage. Not worth the effort. The H16 can't carry much weight, anything that doesn't fit between the frame and the hulls is too much to take. If they made a 1HP 2 stroke outboard, that would be the right motor for your boat. My 2hp outboard pushes my H21 (double the weight) along nicely at half throttle. Anything above that and I just burn more gas and cavitate. Or maybe just a couple of oars... I have made headway against a 3mph current paddling with a extendable emergency paddle, so while it doesn't work great, it does work.


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 Post subject: Re: cruising a hobie 16
PostPosted: Wed Jun 06, 2018 5:08 pm 
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Site Rank - Deck Hand

Joined: Wed Jun 06, 2018 4:19 pm
Posts: 2
Location: Cayman Islands
Very interesting to hear about conversion to power. Can you guys please post photos off your cats with an outboard and perhaps the engine mount.
Cheers


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 Post subject: Re: cruising a hobie 16
PostPosted: Fri Jun 08, 2018 9:50 am 
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Site Rank - Deck Hand

Joined: Tue May 22, 2018 3:12 pm
Posts: 15
Location: Denver
I noticed you mentioned problems tacking. Be sure you leave the jib cleated on the wrong side of the boat through your tack until the main fills and provides forward power. After that, you can release the jib and recleat on the new leeward side. Backwinding the jib pulls the bows around while you don't have enough forward motion for the rudders to be effective. You might look at finding some Hobie sails too (or equivalents like from Murray's). The boat should point fairly well, all the way up to maybe 35 degrees off the wind.

Gain some good experience and once you've got a good amount of time and capsizes under your PFD, let us know how it goes!

_________________
1978 16, "Bifrost"


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