New to me Hobie Holder 14 I have a question about rigging

Hi,
I just purchased a 1988 Hobie Holder 14. My wife and I want to learn how to sail with this boat. We have not gone out in the water with it yet, but I have practiced a small bit of the rigging in the back yard. I have a question when it comes to connecting the boom to the mast!
In the Assembly Manual it shows the part called the goose neck being inserted into the wide part on the rear of the mast. I get that. It then says to "push down", and the photo shows the boom appx. halfway between the lower cleat and the wide part where it was inserted.
Well, when I go to do this, after inserting the goose neck the boom easily slides all the way down until it contacs the top of the lower cleat. There is no stopping point anywhere near the "middle" of the two points mentioned above. I'm wondering If there is a part missing that is supposed to stop the booms travel before it slides all the way untill it contacts the lower cleat. I'll try to post pictures of what i'm talking about.
One other thing is the whole "goose neck" assembly is on a rod that can slide in and out of the boom appx. 4 inches or so. Is that normal too?
Thanks for any help!
Pete

Take a look at Page 9, Figure 27 of the assembly manual. You will see that after hoisting the mainsail, the top of the gooseneck gets pinned to the grommet located at the tack (bottom front corner) of the sail. So once the mainsail is hoisted, it holds the forward end of the boom up. Before you hoist the sail, the gooseneck will just drop and rest on the cleat as you described. So when sailing, the gooseneck should be pinned to the tack and it will move up and down with the sail.

The gooseneck pin sliding in and out on the boom is normal. When sailing, you should put a little tension on the boom vang. This will keep the boom pulled forward so it remains fully seated against the gooseneck.

sm

Sm, Really appreciate your taking the time to reply with that info!
Makes complete sense. I am a "super newb" in all regards sailing!
I hope to get the boat out within a week or two for the first time, cant wait to try it out.
I'm just going over everything, making sure I have all the parts and it all works!
Thanks again!

It’s a fun little boat to learn on.
Very forgiving. The outhaul tensioner will keep the boom where it belongs with or without the vang.

Make sure the hull isn’t waterlogged.

ok, good to know about the outhaul tensioner keeping that boom in as well. I've ordered a new line kit from Salty Dog Marine along with a new halyard clip for the top of the sail. One thing i noticed is the lack of cleats anywhere on the boat (except for the 2 near the mast base). I guess these were mainly used for beach launching and not trailered into the water and then tied up to a dock? I think i need some cleats to install cause i'll be doing that.

Usually on small sailboats, you only use a bow painter (single line tied to the bow hardware). You cleat this to the dock and allow the boat to swing with the wind. To enter the boat you can either scramble on, or pull the boat to the end of the dock to enter starboard or port side. This all assumes you can approach the dock from the leeward (down wind) side.