I've adopted a venerable 70-model H16 (s/n # 2381). Green hulls (fading to gray), blue decks, may have once had yellow rudders. Maybe they're just turning yellow. It's old, and has plenty of scratches, but I can't find any "soft" spots. Most of the hardware is relatively fresh.

There are three small dings that look like I ought to fix before it goes in the water. Someone has filled a dime-sized hole with some kind of resin, but it's chipping away, or has a new hole in it. There's another dime sized puncture below and to the left of it, that I should fill. I'm not sure what to make of a little quarter-sized bulge near the transom. It looks almost like some kind of hardware is forcing it's way out from the inside. Some sort of backing plate for the gudgeon? Anybody have a clue about this? Could it be old freeze-damage?


I'm afraid that if I try to start filling the scratches, it's going to turn into a whole hull re-finish. Any tips on trying to match the original green color? But really, for now I just want go sailing.

I am currently redoing my 1988 Nacra. The boat had been sitting in a feild for 10 years without a cover on it. A combination of intense sun and cold winters, took their toll on the hulls, trampoline and just about everything else.
I have sanded the oxidation and discolouration out, not down to the fiberglass but a good sand. I have also faired the bottoms and touched up any previous repairs with epoxy and filler.
After this, I have painted both hulls with Interlux Blue/gray primer. After it dried, I sanded with 180 grit until transparent. Interlux brightside was my paint of choice, two coats later and some 400 grit sanding and they look brand new.

Hope this helps.

Jay

glass the apparant holes, rig that puppy up and see if its all there. if yes then check out those wheels(probably replace bearings) and get it wet! don't do restoration yet, sail that thing and let it tell you what needs attention. after you get the kinks out then worry with some "prettying up". thats my used boat strategy, don't waste time or money on cosmetics when the boat could have pressing functional needs. i bought a 500$ boat last spring that we patched up and sailed a bunch(til we broke it) and now were doing paint and new parts upgrade. good luck! bill.

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bill harris
hattiesburg, mississippi
prindle 16- "BLUE RIBBON"
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I agree with Bill. I, too, sailed it until things started to break. At the end of last year, had a major wipeout in 35kts after the forestay chainplate tore out of the hull. Needless to say, major repair and it was time for some "prettying up" as Bill put it. Good luck. Jay

yep, we de-masted in 25 kt. winds when the upper forestay crapped out, having the time of our lives up until that point! oh yeah, check out ALL the running gear real good, look for rust/poped wire strands at the couplings on the rigging as well as everything you can see. try not to take it out for the first time when its BLOWING BIG TIME(over 15 or so knots). when your ready to spend some money on it, there is some links to some great companies on another recent thread(good source fo running rigging?) with great deals on line kits, standing rigging sets, and so on. now when you get to the hulls, patch and restore gel coat or paint is the question.

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bill harris
hattiesburg, mississippi
prindle 16- "BLUE RIBBON"
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Thanks guys. My impulse is to get it wet ASAP, although the river is still a bit... brisk.

Strange, I looked right at this several times without seeing the whole picture. Mismatched gudgeon screws, mysterious bulge, back part of the deck broken off. Looks like the port rudder may have been torn off at some time, maybe in a trailering accident. Seems to work OK, but we'll see how it behaves under load. Not sure how I'd fix that.

I did get it rigged without causing too much new damage. (Don't ask.) Everything seems to be in decent shape except for bungees and tramp bags.

BTW, around here, 15 knots is considered a light breeze. Although if it goes much over that, I might be putting away the cat and getting out the kites.

Someone has upgraded your rudder system to the new style one-piece gudgeon. That's nice because they make the rudder pin holes line up perfectly.

Those things don't match the old gudgeon screw locations, a lot of people buy them and don't realize what a pain they are to install.

So it's unknown how good a job was done drilling and tapping the new holes.

The damaged deck lip at the rudders is pretty typical of old Hobie 16's, I would just seal any exposed fiberglass with epoxy.

I would join in and say "Hey, it's a 40 year old boat, just rig it and sail it!"

But since you have a little time before the weather is good, try hitting the hulls with a strong mixture of Oxylic Acid (Barkeepers friend or Wood Bleach), wearing rubber gloves, mix a strong solution in a bucket, rub it lightly on a three foot section of hull, dipping brush often, move on to the next section. Leave on for at least 15 minutes, but don't let it dry. Rinse very well, that will remove oxidation so you can see what condition the gelcoat is in, you might be amazed how good it looks.

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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paint it camo and go sail! :)

My hulls on my '79 H16 were just as bad, 800 grit waterpaper and an electric sander brought the colour back, you will be amazed.





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TurboHobo
H14T
H16
P18
G-Cat 5.0
P16
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If you look at the transome on my cat, you can see the original oxidized gelcoat



Here is a contrast of old and new. (not my beer bottle)



finished off with Poliglow, a clearcoat.




edited by: turbohobo, Mar 10, 2010 - 03:22 PM

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TurboHobo
H14T
H16
P18
G-Cat 5.0
P16
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check it out .....http://www.thebeachcats.c…pictures&g2_itemId=72226

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TurboHobo
H14T
H16
P18
G-Cat 5.0
P16
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Awesome job on your boat Turbo, looks great, now does she go?!

How many coats of Polyglow did you use? I bought a kit last year and never tried it, never got the work done sanding the hulls, don't have a sander and would probably do more damage than good since I've never used one.

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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Sanding machine from Harbor Freight about $7,
Waterpaper from WalMart about $4 for 8 sheets
Sander has rubber bottom and clips on either side to hold waterpaper, cut sheet to fit, attach one side, pull tight over rubber block and attach to other side. Get out garden hose with spray nozzle, wet area and begin removing oxidization. If waterpaper slips off, rubber block does not do any damage, so easy even I could do it. And if I can, so can you. I used about 6 coats of clearcoat, it goes on very quick and dries even quicker, about 10 min on 1 hull to apply 1 coat, allow to dry while you do other side, then repeat.

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TurboHobo
H14T
H16
P18
G-Cat 5.0
P16
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a 7" angle buffer(like used in auto finish) and a quality rubbing compound(3m "cut and buff") will make quick work of oxidation removal. just make sure you use a new bonnett, make sure hull is free of all dirt and sand, and don't let the bonnett touch any dirt or sand(always set it on a clean surface) if there is any sand or dirt it will leave those "swirrels" you have seen on a bad buff job. a budget buffer runs about 75$ or so and bonnetts run about8$ and the cut and buff is about 20$ a bottle.

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bill harris
hattiesburg, mississippi
prindle 16- "BLUE RIBBON"
--

This is the orbital sander I purchased from Harbor Freight, it was on clearance when I bought it for $7

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TurboHobo
H14T
H16
P18
G-Cat 5.0
P16
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check these out too

http://www.marinestore.co…ml?cart=3351155118212388

http://www.myboatstore.co…yYx_uasaACFQ1nswodEyEmUg

I used a new product called BSinacan and it turned my cat from this:





To this:

That's what I like about you Andrew, you have a sense of humour........

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TurboHobo
H14T
H16
P18
G-Cat 5.0
P16
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Quote

you have a sense of humour........ icon_lol

stop spreading vicious rumors about me.. would ya...

andrewscott

I've got one of those!

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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you guys are such Barbies.....how did you get into such a manly sport like sailing?......

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TurboHobo
H14T
H16
P18
G-Cat 5.0
P16
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Now if we could just rig Barbie's catamaran with a jib.....

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TurboHobo
H14T
H16
P18
G-Cat 5.0
P16
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Quote

how did you get into such a manly sport like sailing?

The field hockey team was full?

Thanks guys. So far, I've tried the Barkeep's Friend treatment. As you can see (pic) it cleaned up the surface deposits, but did nothing for the mottled-gray discoloration. Less ugly, anyway.


Next dumb question: I've noticed that when I remove the hull plugs, after a sail, the port hull has a slight vacuum inside. i.e. The vent seems to be at least partially plugged. Is this anything to be concerned about? At least it's not vented through punctures!

(Mental image of flying a hull past spectators on the beach, when the leeward hull implodes and I power into the depths...)

toddster, nothing to worry about, put it on your to-do-project list, unplug vent. Also on your to-do-list, take sander as in above post with 800 grit waterpaper and remove oxidization, I don't think the grey discoloration can be removed but that white haze on the surface will disappear leaving a great finish. Done any sailing yet?



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TurboHobo
H14T
H16
P18
G-Cat 5.0
P16
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Yes, I've gotten a couple of sunday afternoons in on the water. Haven't found any real issues with the rigging & etc. but the winds have been mostly light. Hopefully we will soon shift from our feckless east wind winter weather pattern into the more constant west wind summer pattern. The few moments when the wind has actually picked up have been a blast. Literally going from taking a nap on the tramp on a long tack to hiking out and trying to hold it together while launching into hyper-warp. Then back again.
Also, the nearest boat ramp is inside a lagoon with a long narrow entrance channel that faces due east. If there's a graceful way to sail out of that into an east wind, I haven't found it yet.

Um... any tips on exactly how one unplugs a vent? Do you have to take the tramp and frame off?



edited by: toddster, Apr 13, 2010 - 11:20 AM

Quote

Um... any tips on exactly how one unplugs a vent? Do you have to take the tramp and frame off?

easy~! if you have any ports.. drill a very small hole in it.. done! (i did this myself)

New Dumb Question: How stiff is the frame supposed to be?

Today I beat up into 2-3 ft breaking swells for about 7 miles (setting up a couple of sweet long reaches coming home) and the rig got a pretty good "shake down." Sometimes, bouncing over the swells, it looked like the two hulls were "wig-wagging" a couple of inches, with respect to one another. That is, moving out of synch in the up-down plane. Is this normal? I got busy and forgot to worry about it. Didn't sink.

Again, there was quite a pressure buildup in both hulls, when I took out the plugs - obviously neither has a clear vent.

Um... what's this thingy? This small piece of rigging has been down in the bottom of the boat bag, but doesn't seem to have any obvious place on the boat. I've been through the manual but don't see anything quite like it...


Seems to sail OK without. (?)

Pretty sure that is an old hobie after market boom vang. They stopped adding them and even the attachement point on the boom sometime in teh early 80s I think. I don't think any cat really uses them anymore.

D.



edited by: Wolfman, Jul 26, 2010 - 12:33 AM

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Dave Bonin
1981 Nacra 5.2 "Lucile"
1986 Nacra 5.7 "Belle"
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
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that slop in the hulls is caused from the pylons getting worn or corrodded inside the cornor castings. An easy fix to your problem is to undo and drive out the bolts holding the hulls to the castings and slide out the pylon. (secure the hulls first!) clear out the vent tube inside the front pylons with a hanger or something then cut up an old beer can or two and flatten it out. Wrap it around the pylon and use a rubber mallet to pursuade the parts to go back together. Drill or punch a hole for the bolts this will stop the hulls from freewheeling on you not that that is really a big deal UNLESS a pylon is cracked or otherwise seriously damaged. Util then I recommend trailering and parking with the plugs out so pressure does not build up in the heat of the day

Hey Dave, isn't that fiddle block the exact same thing you sent me? It works great, I can actually pull the wrinkles out of the main now.
I've had the Nacra out 16 days now, am off till Sept 10, so I hope to break 30-40 before mid Sept.
Got the kids out on the wire, & my wife in 20 kts, man does that thing fly.
I went out solo once in almost 30 mph, could barely keep it rightside up, even depowered. Blew it 4 times trying to tack, it is definitely tougher when the wind gets up. I chickened out, once I got it turned around I skedaddled for chicken harbour (home dock) & waited for the wind to go down.
Yesterday the wind was at 35 clicks (22mph)took my wife on a picnic. We had lawn chairs, cooler & anchor on board, & she didn't feel like trapping out, so I arranged the flight paths so as to sail a less powerful route. Went 8 miles down to a provincial park beach. Man, that is the life, those guys on the ocean have it made. It really makes for a great day to just pull it up on the sand & take a break.
On the way home, just off the beach, as we cleared some anchored boats a bright yellow Hobie 16 pulled up & chatted a bit. He asked what is a Nacra, & if we could get any speed up with all the crap we had on board. I told the wife to put on the harness & hook on. She is only 120, if I dunk her, & I didn't have a harness, so I couldn't utilize the full power of 22kts wind. I told the guy I was pretty new to Cats & jokingly told him to try & keep up as we headed over to 8 mile point. Man, it was easy to outrun him, I can see now how racing becomes an affliction. I kept things pretty conservative,as I didn't relish dumping with all that gear. He was quite impressed, with the speed & how smooth it rode, blasting through 3' swells & powerboat wakes.
So now the "fleet" is myself & 2 Hobie 16s. There is a Hobie 19 just down the shore from me, but I've never seen it rigged.


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Hobie 18 Magnum
Dart 15
Mystere 6.0XL Sold Was a handful solo
Nacra 5.7
Nacra 5.0
Bombardier Invitation (Now officially DEAD)
Various other Dock cluttering WaterCrap
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Some kind of boom vang was one of my guesses too. (The downhaul being kind of weak.) There's an attachment point on the boom, but I don't see where the other end would attach.

The other thought was some obsolete bit of jib rigging.