OK, I need another Cat like a fish needs a step ladder, or maybe a chainsaw, or blender.
However, I saw an ad for a HOMIE CAT, (no shi*t, a HOMIE CAT),14', built in Markham,( a Canadian town).
Thing was, the photo looked bigger, & it had wings.
http://www.kijiji.ca/v-sa…earchNavigationFlag=true
Long story short, I drove 2 hr in the pouring rain to look at it. Turned out the seller has never sailed, but took the boat from the original owner as partial payment for building a deck on his waterfront property. The boat is an '84, with the Blue/white/red/white/blue Olympic sail pattern. It is completely original, owned by the same family since new, sailed on a rather small, ( 2mile x 2 mile) freshwater lake.
No patches, can't find any soft spots, although the boat is dirty, having sat for 2 years.
I think the tramp is the original 3 piece, blue, I'm not partial to the space down the middle, but it's serviceable
The jib is toast, & one board is severely de laminated. Seaway blocks,(jib blocks just look weird), with 3 singles on the boom.
Mainsail is old, but well stored, no patches, tears etc.
Has WINGS, (with "Magnum" sticker), tramps seem OK
Has Hobie Furler, seems to work fine.
The hulls are light blue, at least that is the oxidized color.
I spent a few hours reading H18 posts, to get a feel for it. (thanks Dogboy, Damon & a few others). I am going to pick it up on Wed. Was going to sail it, but with the water getting cold, & rigging looking old, I think we'll sail my N5.7 the last few days & just take this home to refit for next year.
Because it was pouring rain, I didn't take any photos to study.
How do I safely drop the mast?
It looked like several pins go into a base that is held to the front beam by 4 rivets.
Suggestions appreciated, I'll have more questions once I get it home.
I paid $500 for it.
PS...Can I just pull the end pins, fold the wings & tie them together for the drive home?
Will that get in the way of the mast, or should I unbolt them?
Edited by Edchris177 on Nov 02, 2015 - 09:51 PM.
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Hobie 18 sailors, intel, suggestions requested.
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Posted: Nov 02, 2015 - 09:11 PM
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Posted: Nov 02, 2015 - 10:42 PM
Great score. Wings are worth more than $500. To drop the mast there is a through hole in the mast base. The plate on the bottom of the mast is actually hinged. Stick a small screw driver all the way through and drop the
mast. No need to turn it like some Nacras.
You are right on the money with folding the wings together. Look in the technical photos. There is a really nifty
pvc rack to hold the wings apart. I built one and it worked great. Watch the diamond wires on the wing tramps when trailering. They like to wear a hole in the tramps. You will need to hold the wings apart in order to fit the mast between them. You are catching up to me with boats.
edit to insert link to wing support
http://www.thebeachcats.c…pictures?g2_itemId=11711
Edited by pknapp66 on Nov 02, 2015 - 11:12 PM.
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Pete Knapp
Schodack landing,NY
Goodall Viper,AHPC Viper,Nacra I20
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Posted: Nov 03, 2015 - 12:55 AM
There is H18 manual at
http://static.hobiecat.com/digital_assets/H18%26SX_Manual.pdf
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Jack B
Hobie 17
BC, Canada
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Posted: Nov 03, 2015 - 09:07 AM
Thanks, that's exactly what I needed. I'm pretty sure that step pin is in the base now, looks like they just left it in place.
The boat has those exact jib blocks, & the newer style rotator.
Glad to see the tramps come off without beam removal, though I might pull everything apart as a winter rebuild.
Those wing racks look pretty nifty. However I'll only trailer the boat twice, once to bring it to my main house for this winter, then up to the lakehouse next spring. I don't have time to build the racks, as we are going sailing today, (N5.7, took it out yesterday too, this is the end of the season for us) & picking up boat tomorrow.
I think I'll just remove the wings, as I may want to redo the tramp lacing over winter.
There is nothing in the manual about wings, do I just unbolt the main tube, are there any little parts that might want to fly into oblivion?
They are "magnum" wings. The boat is an SE, at least I think I can read a penciled in sail #, and
18SE on the little manufacturers tag at the base of the sail.
PS I just remembered, my trailer has cradles on front, rollers on rear, no problem for the skeg Nacra, is it OK for the Hobie hulls? Or should I build those blocks,(Dogboy's idea I think) for the rear?
I'll trailer it 250km.
Edited by Edchris177 on Nov 03, 2015 - 09:17 AM.
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Posted: Nov 03, 2015 - 09:47 AM
be sure to replace your stay pins.
there were several years when they were poorly crafted and are notorious for snapping. I learned this in the gulf one day on my h18. -
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Posted: Nov 03, 2015 - 10:43 AM
There should be no parts to fall off when you unbolt the wings. You should see a lock nut behind the wing main tube holding the piece in place. Almost all of the 18's I have seen have been on trailers with rollers both front
and rear. The hulls are quite strong. Your trailer should work well.
Great point by MN3 to replace the shroud anchor bolts. They bend and break quite regularly. Important to angle them correctly to line up with the shrouds. Several threads about this issue.
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Schodack landing,NY
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Posted: Nov 03, 2015 - 11:49 AM
Thanks. The wind is very light today, 25clicks tomorrow, so we are going to retrieve it today, & sail one last time tomorrow.
Edited by Edchris177 on Nov 03, 2015 - 11:49 AM.
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Posted: Nov 03, 2015 - 05:32 PM
One note about dropping the mast - make sure you keep the mast aligned to the centerline of the boat as much as possible (i.e., don't let the mast drift off to the side), otherwise you risk breaking the mast step hinge and the mast will come crashing down.
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Posted: Nov 03, 2015 - 11:36 PM
I second this! I've broken more of the mast hinge castings over the years than I care to admit, and they are over $50 now. The H18 is kind of unique in regard to how the hinge works.
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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN
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Posted: Nov 03, 2015 - 11:41 PM
Thanks, looking at the photo in the manual, I could see the actual hinge was quite narrow, therefore would not survive a side load. I folded the rotator up against the mast & tied it there, then spun the boat 180*, so bows were downhill, gravity is my friend. Undid the furler, then dropped it straight down, where my buddy caught it.
I had a bit of a tough time getting the mast pin out, had to twist & pull with vice grips. Turned out the pin is slightly bent, causing it to bind. I think the pin has never been removed in 30 years, the captive string was rotten.
10:00 pm, just got home, the retrieve went pretty easy.
My $70 Cat Trax saved the day.
Rather than paddle down the lake to the nearest boat ramp, we stripped the boat, put the Trax under it, & two of us pushed it up from the lake, through the yard to the van.
We had planned to get the boat just to the foot of what we both thought was a steep grass hill, turn it around, so the bows would ride on the lawn, then tow it up with the van.
When we hit the hill, it didn't seem like hernia territory, so we kept going. Surprisingly, two of us pushed it right up to the driveway.
One thing surprised me, how light the wings are. They seem about 1/3 of the wings on the 20' Mystere, (I think those are from a Hobie 21). We pulled them, though cursory inspection shows the tramps/lacing serviceable.
The boom...those SS straps that the blocks hang from could scalp a person, will have to pay more attention than on the Nacra.
I don't have much experience with Hobie rudders, & the manual said they changed them in '87, but, these appear to be a very stiff black blade. There is not a nick in them. There is a large plastic adjustment screw on the lower casting, & what appears to be some sort of black cam/plunger in the casting. I just saw this in passing, as we took them off & tossed them in the van.
Has an Arriba hot stick that works.
No dings on the bottom, but the gelcote is worn in a couple of spots, I'll put a 2" wear strip on in the spring.
Tramp is a little grungy, but seems solid. Hoping a good scrub will clean it up, though I'm not keen on the 3 pc design. Seems like lots of lacing & places for lines/gear to fall through. I do like the idea they can all be removed without undoing the beams.
Decks are grungy, but totally solid. Hulls solid, but chalky. I don't know what color of blue they will wet sand to, but I see several hours with automotive paper & power sander.
Mast is totally straight, still has all the stickers. The halyard ring seems to be old school, a simple ring vs the "Aussie ring".
Furler works fine.
Traveller works fine, but I like the Harken-on-track system of the Nacra better. Not sure what that large bail on centre of rear beam is for.
It has the sail "feeder" on lower mast, I can see that is not a great benefit.
I think the standing rigging is original, white vinal. I will change it all, along with shroud anchors. IIRC there are some threads re a short bar that goes under the deck lip, an upgraded system?
I will peruse all the H18 threads for intel.
Wife couldn't even complain, as she continually espouses the benefits of wings. She did mention that we had too many boats, & perhaps I should sell one if I wanted another. Being the in touch, modern feeling guy, I took that to heart, & sold one. We no longer have a canoe.
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Posted: Nov 03, 2015 - 11:44 PM
The wings will fold upwards, hinging on bolt at the beam inside the hulls once you remove the bolt or pin that attaches the wing to the tab on the outside beam bolt.
Once you've folded them up you need something to hold them in place, don't lay them on the mast, the diamond wires will cut them to ribbons.
Use something like this.
http://www.thebeachcats.c…pictures?g2_itemId=11711
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1992 Hobie 18
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Posted: Nov 03, 2015 - 11:51 PM
Do you mean that the boat was being sailed with the pin in all this time? I'm amazed you were able to get it out at all! Performance should be a little better if you let the mast rotate.
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1992 Hobie 18
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Posted: Nov 04, 2015 - 12:15 AM
Ahhhhh!
I never thought of that. While waiting for my buddy to finish something, I attempted to rotate the mast, via the diamond wires. It didn't turn. I thought it was way different from the Nacras, but didn't have time to investigate as we were stripping the boat, with no previous experience.
I think the pin has been there forever. The boat has never left this small freshwater lake, I didn't see any corrosion of any sort.
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Posted: Nov 04, 2015 - 12:19 AM
Yes, Peter sent me that link. I didn't have time to cobble something together, & wanted to have them available in the off season to fully go over the tramps & lacing, so we just removed them.
They are extremely light, compared to the wings on the Mystere 20.
I thought I could toss them in the van, but they are too long, so we ended up lashing them on the tramp.
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Hobie 18 Magnum
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Posted: Nov 04, 2015 - 10:01 AM
Black blades are not stock.. that's good, if you had original ones, they would probably snap on ya just from age
plastic adjustment screw is to adjust when the rudders kick
i am pretty sure (unless they are customized) those are newer version castings (post 86) The older had a metal cam (not a plastic one). my h18 had to older one until i hit shallows ad cracked the casting. i purchased the upgrade kit. $700
http://www.murrays.com/50-60331010.html
just like your mystere's, lube that cam every sail. will make kicking up, and pulling up much easier and could save your transoms from damage if they don't kick on shallows
Edited by MN3 on Nov 04, 2015 - 10:01 AM. -
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Posted: Nov 04, 2015 - 12:15 PM
They appear to be a fibreglass material, I can just make out some of the fibres in one spot that has a bit of wear. Condition wise they are about 9.8/10, there are not even any scratches on them
They definitely have the black plastic cams.
I searched to day for any cracking, or signs of corrosion on the beam ends, block fitting, can't see any.
It will need some new lines, the jib sheet is some Home Depot 1/4" line, & the main halyard has shed the cover in one spot.
I took a rubber block & 400 grit wet/dry & gave it a 30 second rub. It completely changed from whitish, to a sky blue, almost the same color as the tramp.
100 sheets of automotive paper, & a couple days work, it should cleanup very nice.
I tried to build an album, but the site won't seem to upload any photos.
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Posted: Nov 04, 2015 - 12:19 PM
I had a hidden crack in my rear beam
i can't recall what was blocking the view, but when the old chandlery guy took the beams off for some reason, and he saw some cracking. appernelty also not that uncommon on old hobie extrusions, esp ones that live in salt water and are ridden very hard and put up wet
I brought it to a welder who repaired the crack and was sailing that weekend. you may want to remove and inspect over the winter -
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Posted: Nov 04, 2015 - 12:58 PM
If the blades are black with fibers showing, then they are likely original EPO rudders. A stock upgrade from the standard lexan blades. If they sat out in the sun for many years, the fibers will start to become exposed. You will definitely want to sand off any loose fibers and re-coat them with epoxy and/or paint to seal them back up. Otherwise, they are very good rudders.
The bale in the center of the rear beam is the tie-off point for the traveler. Traveler line goes through the cam cleat, through the center of the traveler car, and then through the hole in the bale and tied with a stopper knot. Be sure to have a stopper knot in the traveler line to also prevent the traveler car from going out to the end of the traveler track. If it does, the car can pop out of the cutout in the track.
There are upgraded anchor kits for the front crossbar and the shrouds. The original was just a bent piece of stainless channel with a hole through it that the anchor bolt passes trough. The upgraded anchor has four holes in the side for 1/4" bolts to pass through the hull. 1984 to 1986 hulls had issues with cracking at the hull/deck flange. If your boat is from this vintage, then you definitely want to install these upgraded plates.
I definitely agree that you should pull both crossbars off and inspect. The front crossbars have a tendency to crack near the mast step rivets. Look them over closely. If the boat was sailed in fresh water only, then it's probably OK.
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Posted: Nov 04, 2015 - 08:41 PM
With wings you definitely want the upgraded anchor kit for the front crossbar. I think an '84 has them from the factory. If not get them. An '84 boat has the newer hulls that are not as strong as the earlier ones. Coleman took over around then and changed the way the hulls were made. Sounds like a great boat for the money.
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Pete Knapp
Schodack landing,NY
Goodall Viper,AHPC Viper,Nacra I20
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Posted: Nov 05, 2015 - 06:08 AM
An '84 would have come from the factory with the upgraded anchor plates at the shrouds, but not at the front crossbar. The crossbar upgrade did not come standard from the factory until a few years later. 1984 was right at the transition year when Hobie changed the hull layup process to reduce weight, so the boat may or may not be the lighter construction. You can pop open the deck port and look inside the hull where the deck is joined to the hull (will likely need a flashlight and mirror). If the glue that was used is red, then it is one of the lighter boats.
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