I did a few searches about fixing hobie hulls but I want to know how bad a hull can get before its beyond the point of repair. I found in searches the method about drilling through the first layer of fiberglass, then injecting epoxy in soft spots. However, my 14' is pretty messed up. It will hold my weight, but alot of the catamaran is soft. Still good?
Its not good if its soft, so can you fix it?
Basic answer is... anything fiberglass is repairable.
The choice is... weight / time and expense of a repair. The best repairs will add little or no weight, but will take time and or money. Is it worth it? That is the question.
Well the trampoline and sails I have are in decent condition. I havent used the boat for years and years, but maybe it could be a fun toy? Ill pull it out of where im storing it and check it out. Maybe Ill look on craigslist for one that has bad sails
For a boat where all three sides of each hull are soft, what would be my options for repair?
Again, Back to what Matt M. stated.
anything fiberglass is repairable.
The question is, Is it worth it? If all three sides are soft the weight added by epoxy could be significant as could the cost of the epoxy. Here in Abq we have a source for rather cheap hulls that are in good shape. again, depending on the extent of the damage, I would look to replace them if you can.
My first reaction is that the hulls are toast. If you were looking to buy this boat from some one else, I'd tell you pass this opportunity like it was smelly garbage. But, that's not the situation. You already own it, so it's really asking now what?
If you plan to race it, you need to replace the hulls. But, if its just for fun and giggles, then you are just looking for the cheapest way to get this boat sailing. You could just sail with soft hulls until something snaps, then duck the falling mast and wires.-Cheap, but a bit risky. Think of the story you could come back here and tell! And take pictures of the aftermath. We all just love those pictures.
If you can find a cheap source of epoxy, it would be worth an attempt to repair the hulls. But in the real world epoxy ain't cheap. It wouldn't take long to exceed the price of good used replacement hulls. Maybe you could find a supplier with
past the expiration date
epoxy for cheap.-It should still work for your needs. I don't know how large your soft areas are, but I'm going to wildly guess you will need 3 gallons of epoxy to do 3 sides. The repair is not usually pretty, but is functional for recreational sailing.
If your soft spots were just on the top forward part, I'd say try the injection repair. But any more than that requires serious thinking and special circumstances to justify the attempt. (-such as an outrageous deal on epoxy.)
In research before buying, I asked a hobie rental agent what goes wrong. He told me that the pontoons older hobies are not supposed to be stepped on. Once they go soft he cuts a hole in the deck and adds wood stiffeners glassed in to shore up the deck. If not done, the pontoon will buckle and break in heavy speeds.
Glassing is just messy... but once you get it down, just about anything can be fixed.