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PostPosted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 2:31 am 
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Location: Kaneohe, Hawaii
I was given a Hobie 17. Why would someone just give a Hobie 17 away?
Well I'm not sure if it would sell for more than the repair work will cost.
Where do I start.
I've taken inventory and looked at the normal beach cat locations of trouble and the previous owner mentioned the rack ports leak. Oh, but that's not all! there is a 4' long groove down the outside of the port bow starting just behind the bridle tang and running back at about 6"-8" below the deck, it's very soft and I am guessing the foam and inside glass is damaged. There is corrosion at the location of the stainless dolphin striker plate on the underside of the front crossbar and definitely some cracking. maybe an issue at the front pivot hook of the centerboards. the mast, boom, steering system, trampoline and racks look good. There are two mylar mainsails and yes they are both delaminated and lastly a trailer in fair condition (needs fenders).

First, since this is my first Hobie 17 and I don't really plan on keeping her. What should I be looking for that I haven't already seen?
Second, Is there someway to repair a front crossbar? Puddle weld the cracks?
Third, are there any photos available of the inside bow sections of a Hobie 17? Just wanted to know if there are any bulkheads, foam or stiffeners that I should be aware of before cutting into the hull. How far down is the foam sandwich? should I go in from the good side across from the problem side or from the bottom where there is no foam core?

OK, lay it on me here Matt and Matt


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 11:23 am 
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You've caught most of the important stuff.

There are no bulkheads in the H-17 hulls. The only ancillary structures are the wing tube supports at the bottom of the wing tubes and the lateral centerboard supports on either side of the centerboard trunks.

The "dent" you describe sounds like the result of a collision - the bow of another boat hitting at an oblique angle and running along the hull. It's cosmetic for the most part - until it starts to get soft. At first, I thought you were describing a boat I knew - but it had the same damage on the stbd hull, not the port.

The foam in the hulls runs from just under the deck to within a few inches of the bottom (narrower towards the front). The best way to access that repair might be through the bottom. Don't cut through the deck forward of the front crossbar.

There's no way to repair cracks in the crossbar, except perhaps by gluing/riveting a reinforcement plate. The extrusion has very thin walls, and welding removes the temper on the aluminum.

There should be no "plate" on the dolphin striker - the rod passes through the extrusion (sleeved) with low-profile nuts on the bottom and top to hold it in place.


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 12:58 pm 
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Location: Kaneohe, Hawaii
Matt, Thanks for the reply.
I did read the crossbar corrosion blog after sending this out and the crossbar is in no way near as bad as the photos taken for that post.
There is already a port aft of the rear crossbar but none up between the front crossbar and centerboard trunk.
I found out this morning what happened was the boat was on the trailer and the previous owner (3 owners back) had backed up and slid the bow along a tree. shes pretty soft and am pretty sure the previous owner tried to do a repair but only fixed the outer skin. couldn't do gelcoat so painted the hulls (badly).
On the good side she has the Hobie 20 steering system and older EPO rudders (also painted). The mast is straight, boom looks new and trampoline set is in great shape.
I'll have to go back and look up "this old Hobie" article on repairing the centerboard hooks as they don't look good (lots of cracking).

for the bow I was talking to another glassman like myself and either I'd go in from the bottom or the opposite side to repair the damaged side, maybe 4 smaller slots on the bottom to reach the whole length of the repair. I did something similar on my Hobie 20 a while back.

BTW, I sold my Tiger only because I picked up the enemy dealership in my state and it doesn't look good to be a dealer for one mfg and sail the other mfg's boat.
I love sailing the Tiger and have done some awesome upgrades and would normally NEVER sell her but.....
The last regatta here was the Bart's Bash and I ended up being the top USA finisher!


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PostPosted: Mon Dec 08, 2014 5:10 pm 
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Location: Kaneohe, Hawaii
Going to try and add photos to the post. completed the front crossbar repair and have a photo of the bow that needs repair, I penciled the soft area of the hull and am looking for opinions on best way to repair this area.
Hope this works?!?
Nope, can attach photos, something about administrative rights on the forum?

Anyway the crossbar repairs look just like the blog photos from an earlier post and the hull photo is of the starboard hull outside bow the indent is from 8" back from the bow to the front of the centerboard box and about 3" down from the lip at the bow to 8" down from the lip at the centerboard box.
I believe the boat was sailed like this for a short time and there are now some cracks on the bottom (most likely from the hull oil canning).

I think for me, the best solution is the cut out individual sections in the damaged areas to see just what the problem is on the inside. Then determine if the whole side should be replaced, junk the hull or whatever....


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PostPosted: Mon Dec 08, 2014 5:45 pm 
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Photos need to be hosted somewhere - like Picasa, Flickr or Facebook. You paste the URL of the photo (right-click on the photo, choose "Copy picture URL") between the IMG tags ([img]-paste here-[/img]).


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PostPosted: Mon Dec 08, 2014 6:26 pm 
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I would suggest that as a first step, you cut a hole in the deck about 12" aft of the front crossbar so you can install a 5" diameter access port. This will allow yoi to look inside the hull to get another perspective of what's going on. The port will likely be needed anyway for the repair. Plus, having a port in this location gives you access for wing tube and centerboard trunk repairs. It is also provides a handy storage spot when you're sailing and allows you to dry out the hulls more effectively.

sm


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 8:01 pm 
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Location: Kaneohe, Hawaii
finally got the hulls home and washed from a year on a mezzanine at a fiberglass shop. Yuck! and what's this build up on just one side of the hulls? HA!
Yes there is a port already between the centerboard trunk and front crossbar! yeah!
I reached in as far as I could and could feel the inner skin crack right where the outer skin was repaired. So, I've got two 4"x12" holes cut on the side inline with the damage to reach in and repair the inside layer. I'm thinking of screwing a piece of stiff batten to "pull out the indent" before glassing the inside to see if that helps remove it. I'm not sure how to make the indent evenly pushed back out without making it wavy.
Wish I had something set up to load the photos but I don't at this time. maybe after midnight some night when I have a few minutes while sailing my VOR virtual regatta boat.
Anyway the hull was bubbling from the soap test only where the centerboard hook retainer bar gets screwed into the boat. I looked and sure enough the hole is all the way thru which makes me wonder why a machine screw with a lock nut isn't a better solution now that there is a port cut in the deck nearby. Is that the way to go?

Thanks for all the help forum users.

BTW, steering system completely rebuilt, wire rigging replaced so I'm down to the hulls and will need a sail (anyone out there have a used sail).
The boat came with two delaminated mylar sails. was going to just pull off the delaminated mylar and sell the boat as is after the hulls are fixed up a bit. wanted to sell a sound boat not one that will fall apart first time out.


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PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 3:43 am 
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dray wrote:
I'm thinking of screwing a piece of stiff batten to "pull out the indent" before glassing the inside to see if that helps remove it. I'm not sure how to make the indent evenly pushed back out without making it wavy.


Perhaps you can use the other hull as a template and cut out some wooden "ribs" which match the profile of the hull and screw them vertically to the hull to pull out the dent. Then glass the hull, remove the ribs, and fill in the screw holes.

Regarding the leak near the centerboard trunk, the other thing you need to watch for is the spring for the centerboard pushes up very hard on the trunk right near those screws. The spring can cause the fiberglass to crack and it will leak (A LOT). You may want to double check that the trunk is not cracked. Otherwise, if it is leaking from the screws, I would probably just re-silicone the screws and be done with it as long as they aren't stripped out. If they're stripped, then thru-bolting would be the logical repair.

sm


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PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 5:14 am 
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To add to what srm said and re: the sail - the mylar provides most of the strength and holds the shape of the sail. The dacron taffeta is there to keep it from tearing catastrophically.

A delamned sail is a dead sail. It just doesn't know it yet.


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PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 1:04 pm 
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Location: Kaneohe, Hawaii
Oh, I'm pretty sure the two sails know they are dead. Problem is the cost of a new sail will never be recovered when selling the boat.
I do have a quote from a third party which includes shipping to Hawaii for a 5oz. main $680.00 not sure I trust them to have the cut even remotely correct as they sell by volume to keep prices down across the board. Best to find a used main somewhere.
No matter what I do repair wise this boat will never sell for more than $2000 and I'll be putting that much into her not including the main.
Very time consuming wire wheeling all stainless and aluminum parts removing years of galvanic corrosion and rust stains.

Oh, had a previous 17 owner look at the boat last night and he noticed the bulge below the bottom gudgeon on each stern. He recommended going in and removing the plywood that has gotten wet and rotted, he also mentioned the base for the rear rack socket holds water under the socket which soaks the poorly sealed plywood in the stern. He had to completely remove the socket to rebuild his stern, then reinstall the socket.
Any suggestions here?
This might not be worth fixing and maybe just part it out. The boat is one of the 1988 Maui worlds boats so, she's spent her whole life in salt water.


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PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 6:52 pm 
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Joined: Mon Sep 12, 2011 7:28 pm
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Location: BC, Canada
dray wrote:
This might not be worth fixing and maybe just part it out.


From you description, this may be the rational decision to do. You still have lots valuable parts, such as EPO rudders, centerboards, blocks, tramp, etc. You could sell the parts and get yourself a sail ready H16.

I would be careful with 3-rd party discount sailsmakers. There were some bad experience of people loosing their $$$. Hobie OEM H17 main will run you $2000, and you will only get a white. I've got good experience with Chip Buck from http://www.whirlwindsails.com.

Saving a cat from a dumpster is a noble effort, but with soft hulls, corroded beams, delaminated sail, and possibly missing other parts, it may take you $$$$ to get her to water.

Good luck.

_________________
H17
Image


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PostPosted: Fri Dec 12, 2014 1:28 pm 
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Location: Kaneohe, Hawaii
I penciled around the weak area then reached in and used a mirror to see the inside skin crack. (the previous owner had repaired only the outer skin and if the boat kept sailing she would have broken up very soon.

Image

And here is what I call the white picket fence after cutting into the hull and using small white picket fence parts to pull the indent out.

Image

Can someone reply and let me know if the photos came out? I put them on google+ and copied the link.

I now have the inner skin repaired and will be installing the cut outs next.


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PostPosted: Fri Dec 12, 2014 4:58 pm 
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No images.

sm


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PostPosted: Sat Dec 13, 2014 5:10 am 
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I think the photos are behind your password - you can see them, but we can't. You might have to open up the security settings on those photos.


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PostPosted: Sun Dec 14, 2014 8:08 pm 
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I can't even see the photos in the forum. but no need for now. I'll just give updates and ask for help at turns in the road.
The inner hull is repaired and the two cut outs are back in except for the outer skin. the hull is pretty hard in all parts of the repair except at the cut outs as I don't have the outer skin replaced just yet. I filled in the gaps from the saw blade and will lay in some "nitex" cloth tomorrow. found out the previous used interlux pre-epoxy then coated with a poly paint. I may just test some appliance epoxy enamal paint from rustoleum to see if it is compatible and buy a couple of cans to finish the bow.
Then look for a mainsail.
What do you know, another club member approached me today looking for a H17 main also. So, might just go in and get two and share the shipping. Just not sure who to get one from yet. the OEM is way to expensive for a boat that won't be racing.


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