If mooring my boat is the only practical way to go sailing, what ought I do to diminish the wear and tear on the hull and rigging? I live in a city where I haven't got a place to store my boat anywhere near, nor a vehicle to tow it with. I can leave it moored on a
lake in the city, which I did last season, and had a blast.
A couple of the shrouds frayed, though, and I had to replace them. (This may have had as much to do with their age as with the constant banging around on windy days.)
Is there anything I can do to reduce the wear on the shrouds and forestay? (Short of taking the mast down and ... carrying it two miles to leave it behind my apartment building?)
The hulls had
lots of water in them when I drained the bilge at the end of the season. This may have had to do with a couple small leaks in the hulls, related to running aground on a rock at some point. (
There are three kinds of sailors...) So two things on this:
- What's the best way to patch up holes in a Hobie hull? My father has some fiberglass patch kits he use for patching up the bows of his canoes when they've had a few-too-many dry foot landings. Would these work, or is something else advisable?
- I've read about how the gel coat on Hobie hulls is somewhat porous and will, after a season of mooring, allow water to leak in and soak the fiberglass, which contributes to soft spots and the like. The damage done is already done, but is there something I can do to stop this problem from getting worse this season?
If it matters, this boat isn't for racing; it's mostly a platform for summer fun and shenanigans. And even then, at the end of the season, waterlogged and at my less-than-masterful hands, it was still quicker than most of the other dinghies and pocket cruisers around the lake. So I don't care if I make a few concessions to performance for the sake of keeping my boat afloat for a little longer.