Hobie 14 1982

Hello everyone. Let me start out saying that I really enjoy your forum. I just bought a 82 (same age as me) Hobie 14. The hulls were soft and the rigging was rusted, but it was only 100 bucks. Thanks to this website and others, I was able to fix the soft spots in the hulls and replace all the rigging by myself (I made the rigging myself for like 25 bucks). I am in the process of sanding the hulls down to prep for paint. I found some inexpensive paint (Black, should be nice and cool here in Florida) but I dont know if just sanding the paint that is on there now is ok or do i have to strip it? I have never had a sailboat before, any advice would be helpful. One other quick question ... Is my Mast supposed to have water in it? It seems like about 1/4 of the mast is filled with water.

Thanks,

Murphy

The mast is not supposed to have water in it, you need the air to make it buoyant. Take off the mast head or base, drain it and then reseal it and re rivet. You would be wise to also drill out all the other rivets and re-rivet them in with sealant. You really want an airtight mast.

I wouldn't paint the boat a dark color like that. It is usually the kiss of death on beach cats. The hulls heat up so much in the sun so they expand and they hulls end up cracking or delaminating faster. It may look cool for a while, but you would probably regret it.

I can't help you too much on the painting, but I hear Interlux is a great hull paint.