Except for members of TheBeachcats.com!
I'm a member of DSA and these boats are some real winners. Some of them have been on the lot for a decade or more and only moved to mow the grass. It's a real shame, like most clubs, we had a really active Hobie Fleet in the 70's, 80's and 90's but folks get old, move away and get other interests and all the younger people discovered the Internet and never came outside again.
Damon, the 18 looks like it's all there... tramp (there we go again).. mast, hulls, rudders.. just need boards and sails... is this boat worth buffing up and sailing? we'd have a fleet of 5 down in OS...
I ended up buying all the Hobies, not sure what I'm getting in to.
Rob, the 18 has a nice Sunrise tramp (line is rotted but tramp appears solid), and standard old-style rudder system, good mast. No daggerboards, blocks, lines, tiller extension, or sails. The hulls have a previous injection repair, nice job they went along the edge of the non-skid and then covered the holes with pinstripe tape (which is now gone) some crunch between the repair and beam. Not sure if it's worth making into a sailboat.
Abandoned boats is a on going problem, espically if they have damage or are older. Many owners get behind in club or assocation dues and walk away leaving the host group to clean up the mess. Sandy Hook Bay Catamaran Club in NJ has about 4 to 6 boats a year that get abandoned as their owners rack up storage fees that exceed the value of the boat. Of that number a couple are resold and an equal number are cut up and thrown away.
We have now added a clause to our annual membership contract that we can dispose of these boats when we are left with sitting on them for a calendar year of going into arrears. This is not a cure but does allow us to cut them up and salvage what is resaleable to recover our storage losses while also keeping our property in order. The intent was not to take boats but to make owners responsible for their property. The problem we cannot resolve quickly is regaining a title for trailers that are in good condition or the boats that can be put back together for a new sailor. The state has made it rediculously hard to claim the boat with legal nonsense. Many times we are forced to send the trailers to a scrap yard for salvage weight value and deny a member in good standing from getting a bargian of the trailer. The state basically walks away from revenue in title and registration fees from the controlling club left holding the bag.
-- 2007 Nacra F18 Infusion
www.fleet250.org
Facebook: Sandy Hook Bay Catamaran Club --
Yes, our club, like so many, had a very active Hobie Fleet and and a local dealer that sold a lot of boats in the 70's and 80's. We had never had a written policy about taking possession of the boats for non-paid dues before, so boats just sat year after year. Some of these that were sold had nearly $3,000 in unpaid dues, and the annual dues are just $225!
At least we don't have the problem with the trailers since this area doesn't license small trailers like these.