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1971 H16, hulls a bit crunchy?
http://www.hobie.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=64830		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  feesh_stix [ Sat Jun 01, 2019 10:45 pm ]
Post subject:  1971 H16, hulls a bit crunchy?
New to me 1971 today. The top of port has one bad gelcoat crack + soft spot that is crunchy and soft.

I was feeling the sides of the hulls for soft spots by squeezing them together, and i was getting slight cracking noises. Is this common, and what is the best fix for (hopefully) the end of season in 4 months?

It might just be the sound of 50 year old thin fiberglass being stressed, I only have thick (0.25" inch plus) boat fiberglass and jet ski fiberglass experience.

Do the multiple layers of paint need stripped and some 1708 biaxial and then some 1208 twill need layed down?

The bottoms have been beached for 50 years, they need some love but I was planning on that upon initial inspection.
Author:  srm [ Sun Jun 02, 2019 3:26 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: 1971 H16, hulls a bit crunchy?
Very common on older boats that have been neglected. Small soft spots can be fixed by injecting epoxy. Large soft areas or just general crunching/cracking sounds when flexing the hull (what it sounds like you have) means the hulls are basically done. Hobies last a long time, but not indefinitely. You will waste hundreds of dollars and countless hours trying to fix hulls that are essentially not worth fixing. Every time you hear a crunch, it is the sound of the foam core breaking down and separating from the fiberglass skins. Eventually the hull will fail. You can not simply add a layer or two of glass to fix the problem. Sucks to find this out the hard way, but Hobie 16’s are so popular, you could probably find a replacement set of hulls or an entire boat in decent condition for a reasonable price and save yourself a lot of headaches in the long run.

sm
Author:  A1cnc [ Mon Jun 03, 2019 4:18 am ]
Post subject:  Re: 1971 H16, hulls a bit crunchy?
Fresh stix, Where are you located?
I picked up a 1983 16 last week with good hulls cheap. I would sell them if you are interested. I am in NH
Author:  feesh_stix [ Tue Jun 04, 2019 4:27 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: 1971 H16, hulls a bit crunchy?
srm wrote:
Very common on older boats that have been neglected. Small soft spots can be fixed by injecting epoxy. Large soft areas or just general crunching/cracking sounds when flexing the hull (what it sounds like you have) means the hulls are basically done. Hobies last a long time, but not indefinitely. You will waste hundreds of dollars and countless hours trying to fix hulls that are essentially not worth fixing. Every time you hear a crunch, it is the sound of the foam core breaking down and separating from the fiberglass skins. Eventually the hull will fail. You can not simply add a layer or two of glass to fix the problem. Sucks to find this out the hard way, but Hobie 16’s are so popular, you could probably find a replacement set of hulls or an entire boat in decent condition for a reasonable price and save yourself a lot of headaches in the long run.

sm


wouldnt a layer or two of 1708 and a layer of 1208 twill basically double the thickness of the outside hull?

i already have gallons upon gallons of epoxy resin and boxes and boxes of cloth. just a time deal for me.

I am in southern utah and hobies, much less CHEAP hobies, do not exist here since the 941 club disappeared 2 years ago. no cheap hobies here. I drove 450 miles each way just to get mine
Author:  jburkesbrew [ Mon Jun 24, 2019 8:51 am ]
Post subject:  Re: 1971 H16, hulls a bit crunchy?
I have an old 70’s era Hobie that had the same hull issues. I dont know the exact year, because the hull was painted once and I have no idea what the hull id number is now. The guy I got it from did not have it registered either, so its a guess. He basically gave me the boat, so hull issues were something I could deal with. Sails and everything else are in fine condition, for the age.

I spent a good deal of time, and spent about $500 doing repair to the hulls. But I enjoy tinkering with projects like this. Will the boat race ever again? No. But it floats and I’ve taught my 4 kids to sail on it and we have had a blast doing it. The hull may fail one day, but its been absolutely worth the time and money, and if they do fail, we’ll replace the boat then. So dont be intimidated by the work, especially if you have access to lots of epoxy - cause you are going to need it :).

That said, I did 2 things. One was rebuild the keels which had worn through from years of dragging on the beach. Google “Hobie 16 bottom job”. There is a guy that did a great restoration of of the keels and painted them as well. Very easy repair.

For the “crunchy” sides and top, I did the epoxy injection. There are plenty of guides on the net for how to do this, but its basically drilling small holes in the first layer of fiberglass all around the hull and injecting the epoxy to re-laminate the two layers of fiberglass together. No need to re-glass the outside of the hulls. I have some video i did I can post. It shows the soft spot, the injection process, and the results.

We just got back from the gulf coast and no water in the hulls. It was rough a couple days and the hulls held fine. I always have it in my mind they may fail - and if they do its been worth the money and time and we’ll search for another.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Author:  sashmeister [ Sun Jul 21, 2019 3:08 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: 1971 H16, hulls a bit crunchy?
Don't listen to the guy of the first reply. I do an epoxy injection thingy on my boat every summer to a certain area that comes lose after the last summer and it is good to go. In fact I did this summer's repair last evening. It took me two hours. I sail on the sea every year. No problems.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/j1B8qUKBGCEd4f1m6

Edit: BTW don't waste your time on additional layers off glass. I did it and it wouldn't work. I did not know about the epoxy shooting hack back then, so I spent whole summer grinding and gluing for nothing. If only I would have opened the internet ...
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