Hey guys,
I a really happy to have found this place lots of good info, but I will get to the point.

My father in law gave me a 70 something Hobie 16. His son and him used to use it allot, but they both went on to other things and it has been in the backyard ever since. The boat needs to be cleaned up and refurbished in order to be sea worthy.

During one of the many wonderful Florida hurricanes we have a pine tree fell on the bow of the starboard hull. I think the trailer helped absorb a lot of the impact as did the fact that the old boat has some slop in the framework between the hulls. The deck of the boat in this area is cracked straight through both layers of glass, and as a result of the cracks the deck has delaminated around the area and water has been allowed to sit in the hull. The good news is that other than this damage the hulls sound and feel very solid. I am encouraged that she can be saved as I think she means a lot to my father in law. So I am looking for advice on the repair.

My current plan is to remove the top layer of damaged glass and remove the foam core. I then plan to patch the inner glass layer with resin and chopped strand mat. Then replace the removed foam core and re-glass over it. I will then sand it smooth and move on to my next major project of repainting the boat.

How does this sound for a method or repair?

Where do I find foam to match the existing in the Hobie?

I do not think I will be able to recreate the texture on the front of the deck, but was considering painting on non slip surface of some sort to hide the repairs and blend them with the rest of the boat. Anyone given his a shot?

I will try to get pictures up when I get home later. They block my photo bucket account at work.

I appreciate any advice you all can offer.

Tom




edited by: Tscott8201, Oct 07, 2008 - 02:59 PM

unless you LOVE repairing hulls... and want to put a bunch of time and energy into this... i would consider looking for a used hull.... You can look to the hobie.com forums and even the catsailor.com forums for more technical input

Andys right....get another hull or 'two'... Yer repaired hull won't be as strong as it should be, could be alotta work for nothing and there's plenty of Hobie hulls out there......... I bought a pair for $99.00 !!!

--
~ Vietnam Vet 69-71~ 17 Hobie w/big jib, ~18 Hobie mag,~DN Ice sailor,
and other toys.......
~~ I live in NY state on the north shore of Oneida lake in
Bernhards Bay. ~~~~~~
--

If you have the time, the damaged hull can be saved. What you have proposed will work. I did a transom and added pressure treated wood blocks overlapping the seam from the cutout underside, to give the glass and resin a place to cure under pressure. This pressure came from SS screws. I posted pictures and a full description in the tech section of www.thebeachcats.com. Regarding the diamond pattern for the deck's non-skid, I have seen a kit that has a flexible plastic pad that has the diamond texture on one side. Apparently you just lather on gelcoat nice and thick, spray some Pam on the textured surface, press it down with some weight on it, and take it off after a couple warm hours. For the core material, try a boat repair place and beg for scraps. Balsa wood will work too. You cannot use just any foam because the reisn could dissolve it. Rigid urethane closed-cell foam is good. You can shave it to fit. Google it to find sources. Good luck and take pictures!

Find some used hulls and spend the time you would spend fixing hulls that are 30+ years old and use the time for sailing. Regardless of how good your repair is, the hulls are still over 30 years old.

I know it would probably be easier to buy new hulls, but I am looking at this like a fun winter project. I like restoring old things and giving them a second chance. I am not going to be racing this thing and chances are the wife won't even want to fly a hull so it will be mostly a family boat. I look at this like a personal challenge to see if I can do it. Worst case scenario, we take it to the lake or beach, it breaks and sinks and I'm out the cost of all the stuff I bought. Best case scenario, it lasts another 30 years and I have fun.

I will get pictures up tonight. I have been cleaning out the garage to make room for the project.

Danny thanks for the info. I figured balsa would work, but I like the idea of the foam as it can easily be shaved to fit. Now I know the type of foam so I can try and locate a piece. The area to be repaired is about 1 foot square, so I will not need very much of it.

I think based on what I know of fiberglass repair (mostly restoring old corvettes) the repair should be as strong as or stronger than the existing foam core construction as long as the new work is tied into good solid original glass and foam.

Tom




edited by: Tscott8201, Oct 08, 2008 - 08:23 AM

The Hobie. She's rough I know



The Crack



Side View







edited by: Tscott8201, Oct 09, 2008 - 07:24 AM

I saw the photos... can be done, but it will take patience. Cost should not be too much. West Marine will have all the stuff, even some color to add to the repair gelcoat. Expect materials to cost $125 or so, depending on what you already have. The paint will be in addition to the repair materials.
Good luck.

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I have found some more damage, but I am still confident it can be repaired. I think I have a pretty good plan, but it is going to involve opening up the entire front section of the hull, but hey what you gonna do. I am also on the look out for another set of hulls, as it would be nice to have a spare in case the repair does not go well. I will take lots of photos and keep everyone up to date.

Tom

WOW!!! Those are some really aged hulls.

I personally would not put my life in the hands of hulls that looked in that bad of shape.

A FUN winter project ? HHMMMMM !!! have fun & good luck

--
~ Vietnam Vet 69-71~ 17 Hobie w/big jib, ~18 Hobie mag,~DN Ice sailor,
and other toys.......
~~ I live in NY state on the north shore of Oneida lake in
Bernhards Bay. ~~~~~~
--

Update:

Yesterday I got to spend some time working on the Hobie. First thing was a bath. I cleaned the hell out of the hulls. All the dark coloring in the photos is gone. They look 100 times better. I also discovered that the hulls are both vintage 1985, so they are much younger than expected.

I also removed the starboard hull and got it into the garage for a real inspection of the damage. I cut out the damaged section of decking and found some stress cracks inside from the impact of the tree. The hull appears to have bowed out and cracked. The glass inside has a single flex crack in it on both sides of the hull and the gel coat has stress cracks showing from the flex. It sounds bad, but should be pretty easy to fix. There is also some damage where the decks meet the hull. There is cracked glass just as in the hull. Once again not the end of the world, the only real problem here is making the glass conform to the under side of the lip of the deck, but a piece of tubing with the proper diameter should work for a mold.

All in all I am confident I can get it repaired with little or no sacrifice in strength or durability. The wife has a new digital camera coming soon so I am going to attempt to document my repairs for the greater good.

Tom

Best of luck,

Fortunately, the Hobie 16 is fairly easy to repair. Just throw more fiberglass at it

Documenting this would be very much appreciated because I may have to do this in the future