New to me Hobie

Hey guys,
I a really happy to have found this place lots of good info, but I will get to the point.

My father in law gave me a 70 something Hobie 16. His son and him used to use it allot, but they both went on to other things and it has been in the backyard ever since. The boat needs to be cleaned up and refurbished in order to be sea worthy.

During one of the many wonderful Florida hurricanes we have a pine tree fell on the bow of the starboard hull. I think the trailer helped absorb a lot of the impact as did the fact that the old boat has some slop in the framework between the hulls. The deck of the boat in this area is cracked straight through both layers of glass, and as a result of the cracks the deck has delaminated around the area and water has been allowed to sit in the hull. The good news is that other than this damage the hulls sound and feel very solid. I am encouraged that she can be saved as I think she means a lot to my father in law. So I am looking for advice on the repair.

My current plan is to remove the top layer of damaged glass and remove the foam core. I then plan to patch the inner glass layer with resin and chopped strand mat. Then replace the removed foam core and re-glass over it. I will then sand it smooth and move on to my next major project of repainting the boat.

How does this sound for a method or repair?

Where do I find foam to match the existing in the Hobie?

I do not think I will be able to recreate the texture on the front of the deck, but was considering painting on non slip surface of some sort to hide the repairs and blend them with the rest of the boat. Anyone given his a shot?

I will try to get pictures up when I get home later. They block my photo bucket account at work.

I appreciate any advice you all can offer.

Tom

The Hobie. She's rough I know



The Crack



Side View

Update:

Cleaned the hulls yesterday, and found they are actullt 1985 hulls. So the boat is much younger than origionally thought. The hulls cleaned up great and besides some spider cracking in the gelcoat and oxidation, the hulls are fine. I cut open the starboard hull and got a good look at the damage. It is not too bad, and I think it can be repaired with little if any loss in strength.

I will try and get pictures up.

Tom