Recommendations for 1-3 people? Advice please?

Do you guys have any idea where I can look at videos for setup for the Wave? I've seen the Bravo. The nearest cat dealer is in Austin..a good 6-8 hour drive from me. Sometimes, it reallly sucks that Tx is such a big state.

If I could try out the two boats for setup..that would be ideal...but I'm not real sure when I'll get the chance.

Will be pickup toted. You are absolutely right though..lifting two 80lb weights is going to be a lot easier than lifting 1 200lbs item.

I forgot about that trick! I usually have my son around to help when I step my mast.

_________________
Jim

2007 Hobie Wave

I don't know if anyone has posted the video that comes with the boat, but it is very good. (I don't know how to do that, or if it violates copyrights.) Here's a link to a website that shows how to assemble the Club version, but it deals more with lacing the tramp than stepping the mast. (And even that's not as difficult as they make it seem.)

http://www.sailingtexas.com/Movies/Asse ... eWave.html

One thing I will add, that I figured out after the fact, it's easier to insert the comptip AFTER you've attached the base of the mast to the crossbar, so you have something to push against. That was the ONLY thing I had to ask for help with, when I assembled mine out of the box. I couldn't hold the mast and slide in the comptip at the same time. Then I realized the mast base could have done the job.

_________________
What - Me Worry?


2006 Hobie Wave 7358
"Ish Kabibble"

if possible take both the boats out for a test sail. Failing that go to a dealer and step the mast on each boat

Hey, I'm 50 and I cartop, assemble and disassemble my WAVE pretty much every weekend. I think it's a fun part of the experience. I like that I can keep all the pieces locked in the garage, hanging on the wall, out of the way, and don't have to deal with a trailer, insurance, storage space and boat ramps.

I built a roller to slide under my roof racks, so I only have to lift half the weight of the hull at a time. I lift the front up onto the roller, then lift the back up and "roll" it onto the racks.

I built some beach wheels, too, and "roll" her down to the water.

I find stepping the mast to be easy, as well, especially with the haylard hooked into the eyelet trick.

I even built some director style seats that slide into the tramp groove and overhang the hulls for a secure fit. Nice and comfortable for low wind, lazy sailing days and way cheaper than $650. *choke*

The big deal is that even though I mostly always single hand my WAVE, there are plenty of times when I have a friend or two or three that come along. It's nice to be able to stretch out, be comfortable, and not feel cramped and up in each other's face.

Strangers always come up and chat and compliment the boat as I put it together and take it apart as they seem to find the process fascinating. I find this fun, especially if there are bikinis involved.

Do you have any pictures of these? This sounds like something I might like, too!

This weekend, the tarp comes off my boat, the mast goes up, and if all goes well, I'll be on the water for the first time in '08. Gdbyrd, you're welcome to tag along!

Edit: I just got back from my first sail of the season! Mast went up easily single-handed, but it was even easier to tension the forestay after I "reversed" the halyard trick. Tie the bitter end to the bridle shackle, then cleat the hook end after the mast is up. This keeps everything straight in line. Otherwise, the hook end is wrapped around the mast, and it's trying to rotate the forestay away from you as you tighten it.

_________________
What - Me Worry?


2006 Hobie Wave 7358
"Ish Kabibble"

We have at least a dozen Hobie 18s in our Fleet on Lake Erie; at least six have wings, either as SX or add-ons. This boat takes a beating and can easily handle 600# on board for a day's fun sail. The wings say they are rated for 450#, but I try to max out around 350 because we had a few wings crack in higher seas (which we can get pretty quickly).

I know the H18 is no longer made because it was replaced by the popular racing boat, the Tiger. But it the H18 does seem to be more beach friendly, although somewhat slower; The tigers can usually beat the h18s to one of our beach bars , eight miles away, by a mile. I don't really care; I'm up on the wings and dry with a beer in my hand, enjoying the sights and sounds. We bungee a transistor radio to the boom, and life is good.

We also have no fear of taking the boat across the lake to Canada, a thirty -mile round trip.

My boat is a 1990, shows some a few glass repairs and is on its second tramp, but I love it. I keep the hulls conditioned with Vertglas.

Wyatt

_________________
Sails off Angola, NY, Lake Erie.

Hey IndyWave,

Send me a message at myspace with your email address, and I will send you pictures of the seats. I don't want to post my email or the pictures of the design here for public consumption and spider spambots.

But I am always ready to share with a fellow sailor!

http://www.myspace.com/zzcoreyzz

Well...after some careful...I guess I should say, negotiations. My wife wants me to buy a small boat for myself. Just a 1 person deal. So I think I'm going to look for the cheapest boat I can find. She said if I like it, take her out every now and then, then the Wave is a go.

So I put out an add in craigslist in my area, putting in a newspaper add this weekend..see if I can bring some new life to an old Sunfish or something similar.

So, after detailed research and investigation, in which all your concerns were addressed and questions answered... you do what the wife says!

Ain't married life great!

_________________
What - Me Worry?


2006 Hobie Wave 7358
"Ish Kabibble"

Lol...you're tellin me!

Shoot. She's been a steady housewife since the birth of our son..I've been working full time, YET, she calls the shots on where the money goes...I still don't understand how that happened...

It looks like a decent Sunfish is going to run me about a grand :*( I may just wait and buy a wave instead...see if I can get any bites off my WTB adds. If I don't hear anything...I'll just drive up to Austin the weekend she's visiting her mother and see how long I can hide a 13 foot sailboat.

If it hits the fan..I can always take my boat and sail the open seas...yarrrr

This forum (and others) is a tremendous resource for a new boat seekers.

I don't envy the dealers (thanks to those dealers who post here) their job of walking noobs through the process of narrowing down their new boat wish lists.

It must be hard sometimes, especially dealing with those (me) cheapskates (me) who don't go out and just buy the new Wave, FXOne, Nacra or whatever.

Seems like a flow-chart type of new boat buyer questions might be nice to make it more efficient, though.

Especially since new noobies show up and ask the same questions over and over and over again (me).

Yes, there are whole books devoted to this kind of thing.

Yes, there are nice new buyers guide lists online like this: http://www.abc-of-sailing.com/info/sail ... -guide.asp

So, I wonder, Gdbyrd and others, if you're laying out a gauntlet of questions for new boat buyers, what would that list look like?

Question 1 for me has always been, "Where are the locations to sail?"

"Is loading the boat and traveling a lot to those locations OK for you? (One of the first questions, Gdbyrd)

Then, "How do you want to sail when you get to those locations?"

(There are many fresh water lakes close around my location. Still would have to haul the boat even to them. About 3 hours to beach from here where sailing conditions are always good and hauling the boat is a necessity. Even though my family has a place at the beach, I don't want to store any boat in that salt air because it EATS stuff.)

Then, "Do you want to recreational sail or race once there?"

Once these first questions are answered, the choices seem to narrow down fast.

For example, if you want to recreational sail, do you want to solo or social sail and how many people do you want to put on the boat when you social sail?

If you want to race, how much experience do you have? There are good boats for beginners. There are not so good boats for beginners.

Again, for example, reading the pitchpole injury list at catsailor is pretty gruesome and some of those boats are just not right for beginning racers.

Of course, after the initial questions, then recommendations on boat types have to be considered, and there seems to be a lot of conflicting opinion about that!

For example, I found an H17 SE, reasonable price. It's a solo boat, but will handle 200 lbs of crew, so some say. Countered by: TELL THE TRUTH! NO, IT WILL NOT. IT LUGS DOWN WITH TOO MUCH WEIGHT.

HEY, NOT WITH MY MODS, IT WON'T...

At this point, the criteria of first questions seems to kick back in --

If you want a recreational sail, solo, with some crew in salt water locations where wind conditions are consistent, the H17 will work. In fresh water locations where air is light, it's a good boat to solo but only with light crew. As a social boat, it's boom (or boomlet) will probably make it uncomfortable.

Assuming that some are still awake at this point in the post (Karl this is to help you sleep instead of jet ski since the wind is down and honey-do list has been seriously misplaced), how do most here think people should be introduced to new boats?

Or maybe just make a separate forum for new boat buyers and let 'em play in their own sandbox!

Hehe, no joke. I keep saying I wish I had fewer choices in life. For me, I'm the indecisvie type.

My location to sail is 30-45 minutes away. The Gulf of Mexico. I have a very large bay that's beautiful. Only issue is a lot of it is shallow..2-5 feet...but crystal clear. The plan is to do most of my sailing there, but also play around in the ocean on good days once I know what I'm doing.

Rarely will be going totally alone. Will usually have people back on the beach while I'm out on the water.

I will have to take the boat back and forth. That's not an option.

Sailing will be leisurely. Mostly for fun and play. I will, however, like to have the option of speeding around when I'm alone. Racing will more than likely never be an option.

The main issue is I want to get a boat that will fill multiple roles. Something I can setup alone and sail alone..and something I can take out several people at a time with.


I wish I had been introduced to sailing a long time ago. In all honesty, when I was a kid I figured they had sailboats because they couldn't afford motors(As a really young kid). My dad sailed for a large part of his life..and we never talked about it. It was something that never even came up.

Man, the Wave is SO tailor-made for you...

If shallow water is a concern, it can skim over sand bars with the skegs and kick-up rudders that just don't care. It will blast through breaking waves like... a Hobie! Breakers that would roll a Sunfish or Laser are no problem.

The somewhat under-powered rig will tolerate the strong winds of South Texas like a champ. (My parents are in Harlingen, so I know those winds!) You'll be able to sail in conditions that will scare off most monohulls. That's when the Wave really shines. On high wind days, I pass the big boats and my mono-racer friends like they're standing still.

I've carried three adults AND three kids at the same time. Granted, it was kind of slow, but everyone enjoyed it, and it didn't matter if the kids wandered around or dragged their feet in the water. You sure can't do that on a Sunfish or any small mono.

I say buy the Wave; take your wife out, and she'll love it; then you'll get a lot more sailing time in, with her blessing.

_________________
What - Me Worry?


2006 Hobie Wave 7358
"Ish Kabibble"