Soft Hulls

My 78 Hobie 14 has a soft spot near where you described. I have considered purchasing a 4 or 5 inch hatch cover w/ flange. I would then cut a 4 or 5 inch hole in the soft spot, remove the hull, turn it upside down on saw horses, and reinforce the area around the hole from the inside with fiber glass cloth and resin. Then mount the hatch cover.

I don't know if this is the best, easiest or even proper form of addressing the problem. You should get a second opinion.

I have a 77 H16 that I am restoring. I modified the epoxy injection method described at the links below to repair my delamination problems. Early Hobies commonly had these problems. I drilled a series of 1/4 in holes systematically thoughout the delaminated area and injected Traveco's Gluv-It epoxy sealer into each. The area is rock-hard now and the delamination has not reappeared. I emailed alot of manufacturers about what type of epoxy to use, Traveco was extremely helpful (they also make Marine-Tex putty). Gluv-It remains flexible to a certain degree, so this should reduce further cracking and weakening of the area. Hope this helps, and also hope it isn't a breach of protocol to link to an outside page.

Links

http://www.west.net/~lpm/hobie/archives/v1-i5/tip15.htm

http://www.west.net/~lpm/hobie/archives/v1-i5/tip16.htm

http://www.catsail.com/archives/v3-i4/feature1.htm

Follow the links in the above post. The article for the ezine On The Wire was done excellently and is a good starting point. If you still need more help/advice try the Beach Cats List:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/beachcats

Lance

Hobie 18 Magnum

St. Petersburg FL