Funny how things work. Started with a Hobie 18 years ago. Upgraded to an I-20, then F-18 then A-class. As the boat got more complicated and more fragile, we spent less than less time actually sailing just for fun. Now I’m back to a Hobie 18, which I’m pretty excited about.
This was abandoned on a lake in NC and sold by the county. It’s a 2003 model, So far as I know, it might be one of the newest ones in the country. Already have some brand new sails for it. Unfortunately, it needs some work on the port hull deck. Has an area of de-lamb that appears to be the result of a tree limb falling on it. Looking forward to getting back on the water in the gulf and doing some island cruising.
By the way that tandem axle trailer is a double stack rig. I was skeptical at first, but man is it easy to push around.
Wow, nice find. 2003 would definitely have been one of the last complete boats sold in the US (although Hobie did do a short run of just hulls around 2010).
I also have a 2003 H18 and it had a small area of delam develop on the deck, a little forward of the rear crossbar, where the skipper often sits. I was able to inject with epoxy and it’s nice and solid now. Not a big deal as long as you address it early.
Enjoy your new toy….
sm
I loved our 1983 H18! She was more like a good, strong, fit Swedish woman. Built with heavy bones, she could take a hard punch and give it right back with a smile. My wife Lisa and I raced her most weekends up in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Michigan. We have had some crazy heavy-weather adventures on Lake Erie to prove her ruggedness.
So then we moved to Currituck, NC, about 30 minutes to the Wright Memorial Bridge going over to the OBX. The H18 didn't get much exercise there. Hardy Peters had a nice launching area.... 'North...' something or other, up in Duck, NC (OBX). I sailed and raced her up there maybe twice. It was kind of a haul in the weekend traffic. Like an idiot, I sold her on fleebay to someone out in Arizona of all places.
But within about a year, we decided we didn't like the isolation of Northern Currituck, the bugs, and..... well, so we found an amazing place on the Albemarle Sound in Kill Devil Hills OBX. Damn.... the H18 would have been absolutely perfect there. We had three slips on the property, thirty steps out our back door to a big, wide, deep canal leading out to the sound. What a moroon!