i recently restored a damaged hobie 16 and it came out great.sunday was the big day and having never sailed a cat before i was a little nervous!!!!!!!!! set up went well!!!!!!!five min into the sail my right stantion anchor let go and down came my mast.my big day ended in a tow,thankfully nobody was hurt,after examining the anchor ,found it rotted from the inside out....iwill now be replacing all anchors on my boat/////////ps:family took it better than i thought they would
Hey- I'm also on the Gulf Coast in the Tampa Bay area. I keep my boat on Anna Maria Island. By any chance is your H-16 the one with gorgeous purple hulls hiding in the dunes?
nope i sail dunedin causeway and sand key and my hulls are yellow,sails green and yellow.ill be at dunedin causeway this weekend
Hi guys,
I just got back from Tampa this weekend, actually, Dunedin and Clearwater. Moving the family down there. Hung out at the Dunedin Causeway and watched some sailing. Looked like a great place to sail. Looking forward to moving there at the end of August. Where on Sand Key do you launch from?
John
look forward to meeting you !!!!!!!!!!!!!look for the 454,ss pickup towing the 16 with the yellow hulls and green decals 
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well i have launched from under the sand key and clearwater bridge ////but i enjoy the people and the conditions much better at dunedin causeway 
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well i went out today forthe first time since the big misshap and everything went great all day ,covered all the locaal islands and most of the intercaostal at the causeway((((((even got to fly a hull))))a little sunburned my son and i are though BUT IT WAS A BLAST [color] 
I just fixed up my dad's 1975 Hobie 16, and am having all sorts of cool adventures!!! However yours reminded me of a great Hobie story.
My dad and I took the cat out in small craft warnings off Point Loma. Sailing out on a nice clip, double trapped. I was at the helm. We got allmost to the end of the point, and decided to take over and go back down the bay.
I tacked over but got caught in irons, and back over to our original tack. Just as we get back up to speed and ready to tack back, the lee stay comes over swiming in the wind.. At first im like. WHATS THAT?! then realizing what it was, OH !*&@! So had to take the boat on a broad reach up on the rocks at the end of point loma, and tie the chain plate down with the jib halyward.
We where able to tack back over and sail halfway down the bay. We finally where able to get to a place called BALLAST POINT, where we could take the cat up on to the sand bar and make a more lasting repair (DID I tell you this is US Navy Property?). Good thing we did, the jib halyard was allmost cut through. Anyways, with the boat head to wind, and me staying on the trappeze wire, we where able to remove the chainplate, and take the stay straight to the base pin. We got the sails back up, and headed out, just as 3 security craft where coming around the Navy Dry docks (Could you imagine having to do that today?!)
Turns out, some idiot who needed parts for their cat, took the cotter rings, and the clevis pin took its time working through. FIRST TIME I have ever been glad to get the boat caught in irons (SNICKER).
Bottom line... ALLWAYS ALLWAYS ALLWAYS check your shroud hardware!
[color] wowthat is onr hell of a story ,dont worry i check it all now
OMG!!!! I need to learn how to spell 😛
My post was terrible. Hope you all could interperat. One of these days Ill post a translation guide.
for this post right off the bat. TAKE over = tack over. and swimming = swinging. (as in the shroud swining)
ARGH. Im so embarrased!
spelling not a real issue CHILL OUT brother your fine,enjoyed your story,cant imagine it happening with security now though