When I had it home I started to look the boat over a bit better. The pontoons had some really bad soft spots, but they were 100% sealed. it seemed that the boat was all there mechanically, then I found and put this on:
The sail was in the capped 10" culvert that was mounted on the trailer. The guy was stating of how the sailbox broke off the trailer, but everything was right there in the pipe. The sail looks perfect. Its not brittle or faded, and the colors are sweet! I then cleaned the boat and played around with it while inspecting as I went. (and no, I couldn't propel my truck with the sail)
Cleaned the boat:
Once I decided that I would fix the boat, rather than use it for parts, I started working on the hulls. I started by stripping the few coats of red paint to reveal the original orange paint. I think the H16 version of this boat was the "Flamer" design. Here is a sail chart for 16's (cant find one for 14's). http://www.hobiecat.com/s…dfs/SailColorHistory.pdf
Oh ... looks as if my boat is a 1976 ... Pays to look at the title.
But as I was saying, My boat is like the #16 on the chat (1975). I also took the trampoline off to ease access.
Stripping paint:
After stripping / smoothing the faded and rough paint off, I started marking out my soft spots and making guides for my epoxy injection. The squares are about 2x2. This process went really fast. I used a random board with ~ a 2" width, and I used the straight edge on it to make the grid. Drilled with small bit (same size as small injector).
After marking and drilling I fooled around with some epoxy. I have only had time to do the front of 1 pontoon and it turned out ROCK HARD (YESSSSS!). I cant wait to get on it and get the sucker epoxied, sealed, and painted. I need to get on it!
WHEW! what a long post ... sorry for my rambling.
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Hobie cat 14 196?
Hobie cat 14 1976 Flamer
Coarsegold, CA
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Over the years, all the colored gelcoat hulls faded pretty badly including my blue hulls but the reds and oranges seemed to be the worst. No surprise there.
