After relocating to San Jose I bought a 2005 H16 from one of the local fleet members. I discovered a couple weeks after bringing it home that the front crossbar was cracked. I worked out a deal out with the seller to get a new one ordered through the local Hobie dealer. After receiving the new one it took me about a month to get the old crossbar taken apart and begin installing the new crossbar, once I did I hit a pretty big roadblock.
At first, I ran into an issue getting the dolphin striker to thread into the mast base without if cross threading. After a few failed attempts at threading into the base with it attached, I decided to drill out the rivets and remove the base from the crossbar. With the base removed the rod easily threaded in. When I went to slide the assembly into the crossbar I discovered that the base does not seat properly, obviously, something is miss aligned/drilled (see attached photo).
My initial thought was that the issue had to be the striker rod I was reusing. I have inserted and spun the rod inside the holes in the crossbar while at the same time moving it up and down, no binding whatsoever. I have also rolled the rod on a flat surface, it is straight as an arrow.
The conclusion I’ve come to is that either the crossbar or the mast base is improperly drilled. Figured I’d run it by this forum to make sure I'm not missing something before I reach out to the Hobie dealer.
Thanks in advanced.
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Charleston, SC
Ft Moultrie BeachCat Sailors
https://www.facebook.com/groups/229735613710689/Fleet 53