Mooring a Hobie

I would not recommend mooring a Hobie. If a good wind comes along, you may come back to a capsized boat, on top of the fact that it's not good for your boat bottom.

Here in MN, we keep our boats on the water on a rack made of 2 X 6's or 2 X 4's. Would the water be too deep where you are to do that?

All you have to do is make an 8 x 8 foot box, put a dock post in each corner, shove your boat up on that, tie down, and you're done!

I built a much more elaborate rack, which I really like, but it really isn't necessary for a bullet proof Hobie 16. put some carpet on there where your hulls go, and you won't scratch it all up.

Pardon my ignorance, but where is "LI"?

Good luck!

Tim J.

Unfortunately I dont think i can rig somjething like that where im gonna moor it.

L.I. = Long Island New York

Any boat that is going to be kept in the water (fresh or salt) will need bottom paint. Without it, water will get into the gelcoat/hull and eventually show as blisters (and a waterlogged hull). Bottom paint provides the sealant to keep the water out.

uh, my experience with lead sleds is that bottom paint is very porous and does not seal fiberglass. an epoxy barrier coat is usually applied onto bare fiberglass bottoms to prevent blistering and then bottom paint is applied to prevent fouling.

You're right, I lumped the two step process of barrier coat/bottom paint under the term "bottom paint"

I would do everything I could to get the boat on the beach and tried down. We had T storms a couple of weeks ago with wind gust up to 45mph and this will happen all summer in the LI area. I also think your rigging will take a pounding if you have any boat traffic or wind chop. So if your boat has not capsized it will most likely be dismasted when you return. Bottom paint is very slow and belongs on a powerboat not a beach cat.

on an '83, you're probably not so concerned with hull slickness for onedesign racing (speaking as the former owner of a '81). you just want to use your boat as a boat for fun daysails, am I right?

if this is the case, then don't shy away from bottom paint. whatever value some claim will be detracted from the boat with this is negligible on a boat that's probably not worth much more than $1200 to begin with.

your primary concern will be your rig. with the mast rotating back and forth with every wave and boat wake, wear and tear on the rigging will be accelerated dramatically. keep a very close eye on all of your fittings. I'd even go so far as to reccommend beaching the boat and laying it over so you can inspect the mast hounds and connections once a month or so.

sail for fun.

forgot to add..... don't worry so much about violent windstorms capsizing the boat. LI sound is a vast wind-free zone (I"m in new haven) for much of the summer, and all significant storms are forecast well in advance so you can go fetch your boat to the beach if need be.

I'd go as far as to put the mast-step pin in while it's moored to keep the mast from rotating all the time. What will you do about air expansion inside the hulls? On shore we leave the hull plugs, and maybe even a hatch in each hull, open to let the hot air escape instead of pressurizing things. Even so the condensation is a pain when trying to keep things reasonably dry.

Even better!

Bring your new hobie down to Field 7 at Heckshire state park. There you'll meet an avid bunch of cat sailors who will cheerfully take you out sailing, teach you the hundred little tricks of hobie sailing, take you out "yahooing" across Great South Bay out on the wire etc. And Great South Bay has 12-17 kts any sunny afternoon all season long.... fun sails, picnic on Democrat point, Lobsterfest, you name it.

Email me and let me know when you're coming down, I'll arrange to meet you or have guys on hand to show you the ropes!

Ed Norris