Hobie 16 Delam and Soft Spots - Sanity Check

Long time lurker first time poster here so first of all let me say thanks to you all for the great information that is on here.

I went up to check on my boat this past weekend and do some clean up only to find out the little soft spots I had in the fall had grown over the winter. Now my boat is an '81 and I understands these things happen with age. Although a new 18 would be tempting, I can't sell it in good conscience with the soft spots the way they are. It also has a fair amount of sentimental value and I'd like to do everything I can to fix it. After a few days of brainstorming/research I'm debating my plan of attack.

The obvious solution is the syringe and epoxy injection method, no problems here. The issue I have is the soft spots have grown to a fair amount of space (fronts of hulls in several areas). One method I am debating is installing an access port in FRONT of the front pylons. I have no idea what shape the inner fiberglass is in (or if there are any leaks that would turn into an epoxy black hole with injection) and wouldn't mind turning the hull upside down and applying a new layer of glass inside the hull, which should only reinforce the hull anyway. Go ahead, try to talk me out of the access port...

The other question mark is how dry the hulls are up there. I have no way to tell if they have soaked up a fair amount of moisture and I should let them air out for a few days before injection.

As some additional information, I tend to push my boat to its limits as is. If there isn't the possibility of capsizing its probably a day for fishing.

Sorry I know this is a bit duplicative of a few other posts so feel free to shoot me any links. Will definitely post pictures regardless of which way I go.

Adding a layer of glass to the inside of the hull is going to be extremely difficult to do through a single access port. I did some reinforcing of the bow on my 18 recently and had to cut two holes in the deck in addition to the access port already in the boat and it was still very difficult work. Plus, simply adding a ply of glass to the inside of the boat is not going to resolve your delam issue. Delamination occurrs when one of the glass skins separates from the foam core. Adding another ply of glass is not going to re-bond the delaminated ply.

The only way to fix delamination is to epoxy the separated skin back to the core and the only ways to do that are either by injecting epoxy into the laminate (and more or less crossing your fingers) or cutting out the delaminated section of the hull and re-building it.

A lot of times when it comes to delamination/soft spots on an older boat, the more you look for them, the more you find and it starts to become clear that the boat has reached the end of it's useful life. If you start chasing all the repairs, you end up doing hours of work and adding potentially gallons of epoxy into a boat that is destined for the dumpster anyway.

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Wow, this all sounds very grim, good luck with your boat. My boat is a 1984 model and doesn't have any soft spots anywhere and I'd like to keep it that way. I have read that to prevent soft spots, the boat should stay covered and dry when not in use, and don't step on the hulls in front of the pylons too much. Don't sit on the hulls too much, and avoid impacts at all costs, and leave the drain plugs out for venting purposes . I keep a fitted cover on my boat, and I also have a silver tarp that covers up the whole thing, and the boat is parked in a mostly shaded area in my back yard. I figure the silver tarp will help keep the boat cooler.
What else should one do to prolong the life of the hulls and prevent soft spots?

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Marty
1984 H16 Yellow Nationals Redline, "Yellow Fever"
Lake Martin, 'Bama.

I think you pretty much covered it - keep the boat dry, avoid walking on the bows, and avoid excess heat.

I would add that, if possible, keep the bows tipped up during storage so that any water that gets in will drain out.

Also, you might want to consider adding an access port behind the front pylon. The cover can be removed when the boat is in storage to really help keep the boat dry. You don't get much air circulation through the hull from just the drain plug opening.

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Thank you all very much for the replies. I think I've decided against the access ports. My plan was to do the glass inside in addition to epoxy injection. After additional reading it sounds like the epoxy injection may be the last hope...and just hope that holds up a few more years. Will keep you all posted with pics of what ends up happening.

The storage advice is particularly helpful. I definitely store with the plugs out but it is outside in the sun all day every day. I've always wondered if this would contribute to a problem.

Thanks again for the tips and advice.

Go to Harbor Freight and get the 11'x 19' silver tarp. It is cheap and will cover your entire boat.

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Marty
1984 H16 Yellow Nationals Redline, "Yellow Fever"
Lake Martin, 'Bama.

You need to be careful when putting a big tarp over the boat. If the tiedowns loosen up, the tarp will be able to hold water. If you get a heavy rain storm, you can end up with a large pool of water being held by the tarp which will add up to several hundred pounds of weight or more. If you have the tarp "tented" over the mast, this can put extreme load on the mast causing damage. It could also overload the hulls where they rest on the trailer rollers.

I learned this lesson quite a few years ago and ever since, whenever I have put a tarp over the boat, I take a utility knife and cut several drain slots in the tarp to help keep water pooling to a minimum.

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Good point. I am always quick to drain or sweep off any water that collects on my boat's cover. I have the trailer tongue jack lowered completely so that water drains off.

_________________
Marty
1984 H16 Yellow Nationals Redline, "Yellow Fever"
Lake Martin, 'Bama.

I store it with the mast up which is a major benefit but a headache for covering the entire boat. Currently have a tarp over the tramp but it is very snug and collects minimal water. I've always thought a fairly simple solution would be to get an 11x19 tarp as suggested and put a cut about halfway through one of the 11 sides. You could then wrap it around the mast like one of those dinghy covers. also put an anchor point right at the end of the cut and tie that to the main halyard to create an easy tent. On the other side you could fairly easily install some grommets or snaps to bring the two cut sections together. Issue I've always had is how to finish the cut tarp that is going to fray out very quickly. Prob just need to do some googling.