Getaway + No Outdoor Storage?

I've been oogling Hobie Cats for quite some time now and am finally ready to make the plunge. However, I have the predicament of living in an apartment in a city with no outdoor storage. Paying for a storage unit isn't an appealing option and would probably put me off to owning a Hobie. I don't mind the extra work of pulling stuff apart and putting it back together (from the sounds of it, a lot of Hobies can be assembled/dismantled in 15 minutes; I'd be OK with an hour+), so I intend on disassembling the boat and keeping it in my first floor apartment. I've got a medium pickup truck with a sturdy ladder rack (~500lb capacity); only one parking space so a trailer is not an option.

I've read another thread on nearly this identical subject which mentions the Wave as the perfect boat; being designed for repeated disassembly. However, I've had my heart set on the Getaway because of the more genuine sailing characteristics: functional jib (I know the Wave has an option for one, but I've read it is pretty useless), the size/capacity, and just plain sexiness of it. I was tempted to post this in the Getaway section of the forum, but I think my dilemma is applicable to all Hobies other than the Wave. Why is it so bad to repeatedly disassemble them? I've read about parts getting lose and needing to be shimmed over time. I find it hard to believe that whatever causes this problem could not be resolved with some tweaking. As an engineer with machine tools at my disposal, perhaps these wearing components with an interference fit could be modified to slide together with a tight precision machined clearance fit and then pin them to lock into place? Not being familiar with the boats, I humbly ask your input.

To put my inquiry simply; is it at all possible to modify a Getaway (or other Hobie similar to it) to make it conducive to repeated assembly and disassembly? I don't plan to race with it; but I would intend that any modifications not compromise the boat's worthiness either. Could this wearing issue be solved with some telescoping precision stainless steel tubes? Maybe structural framing that disconnects with bolts? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you!

I live in an apartment, and I got one space, and I park my boat in my space. I park the truck on the street.

Also taking the whole boat apart is a real pain in the ass. You will have to re-string the tramp every time which can take an hour alone. Id guess a 3 hour rig time. Also can your apt store a 25 foot mast. Moving all the parts is tough too.

On the issue of modifying your boat to make it take apart and go back together easier, there is not much you can do except keep parts lubed be careful not to strip any threads.

Good Luck

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ALLEY CAT 1984 RED LINE HOBIE 18 MAGNUM
Sail # 10505 or 277

Take windsurfing or kitting instead. Or find storage. Family, friends, sailing club, ...

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Marc...
1978 Hobie 16 Keoke, sail# 36 84

Where do you live?

Maybe someone here can help or point you in the right direction.

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What - Me Worry?


2006 Hobie Wave 7358
"Ish Kabibble"

Where did you hear they can be assembled and disassembled in 15 min.

Some can put the mast up and have it rigged in 15 min, but nobody can put a boat together in 15. Maybe an hour with 3 guys all the tools and they done it 20 times before can do it in an hour. Not including moving all the parts from home to car then car to beach.

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ALLEY CAT 1984 RED LINE HOBIE 18 MAGNUM
Sail # 10505 or 277

I am you! I want a Getaway, but don't live in a place where the Getaway would make sense. The mistake that I see you making is the "all or nothing mistake" You want the Getaway, but it's really not going to work for you right now, so instead you'll get nothing.

If you want the Getaway, and you don't live near the water, you need a trailer. It's pretty much as simple as that. Could you make due with your truck? Sure you could, but you'll NEVER sail. See if someone at work, a friend, or a family member has a place where you could store it. Also, budget for the trailer, it will make your goal of sailing a Getaway a true possibility, instead of just a dream.



I bought a Bravo as an intermediate boat. Is it a Getaway? No. But this whole, "more genuine sailing characteristic" argument is a bit of a funny one. The Bravo doesn't have a jib, but it's a true sailboat. You can fly a hull, you can tip it, and you can get moving pretty well. I considered the Wave, but two things brought me to the Bravo, it's by far the easiest to rig, and I found one for a GREAT deal. The easy to rig concept means that I can have an hour free, and spend 50 minutes of that hour sailing, and 5 minutes on either end to rig, and take apart the boat. An easy to rig boat is a boat that gets sailed. Nobody on this forum will disagree with that. If I was looking to stay in the smaller class of boat, I probably would have bought a Wave for the slightly higher performance window, and maybe the Wave is a boat for you, for now.

If your choice is Getaway or nothing, you're probably going to spend a lot of time in that apartment. You don't want to do that. Sailing any Hobie is better then sailing no Hobie! If you want to sail now, but really want a Getaway some day, you have options. A Wave, and even a Bravo or an Adventure Island could probably work for you now. The Getaway might have to wait.

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ArtofSS :
I'm in pretty much the same situation, I went to the Hobie dealer to purchase a Getaway about a yr and a half ago. My circumstances are I live in a restricted neighborhood (no trailers allowed). We also have a camper that we tow so I can't use the hitch, and always would want to bring the boat(s) along when we travel, so a trailer is out. Also we live in Sarasota Florida where it is extremely expensive to store anything (like a boat or camper, around $300/mo). We have the same situation at our key west place where there is no parking except the car in our drive. Any other parking is typically $2:50 / hour for just the trailer.
If I wanted to just keep the boat at one place we could have joined the local sailing club (you might want to look into that), where they have storage (for a fee) but is typically for members only.
To make a long story short, the getaway was not in the cards for me, but the Hobie dealer convinced me to purchase a Hobie Tandem Island. I couldnt be happier, I still can get my fix on sailing, but am able to car top the boat, and travel with the boat and the camper (we actually have two Hobies that we keep on top of the car when traveling). I have no problem down in Key West (just park in the drive, with locks on the boats of course). During the week the boats are stored in the garage.
The TI is actually larger than the Getaway but is designed to be dis-assembled, and is much lighter. It's also a pretty wet boat (closer to the water).
I can launch from anywhere along the side of the road, beaches, rivers, pretty much anywhere with at least 6 inches of water. An added benefit is it happens to be a great Kayak as well, so if there is no wind you can still go out. With the pedal drive system, you are not restricted by anything. I've had 4 passengers on several times (600 lb capacity, 2 on the tramps, and 2 in the seats)). It takes maybe 30 minutes to setup and your off and sailing. The Advenure Island is pretty much the same boat but is only 1 seat.
Now The TI is not going to have the performance of the Getaway, but it does hold it's own and sails well if you have enough wind, if not, you can still get around with the mirage pedal drives.
I have a little extra sail area on mine (custom) to suit the low wind conditions in this area, and a motor, and it gets us around pretty good. We use it as a scuba diving platform all the time and often take it 5-10 miles out to open sea (it's actually pretty seaworthy).
I'm not trying to convince you of anything, I'm just describing what has worked well for us in our particular situation. My other alternative was no boat for Bob.
Bottom line the TI is probably the most versatile boat on the market today, you can use it for anything you can think of involving water. Most Hobie dealers allow you to demo their boats, I recommend doing that.
Good Luck
Bob

I found an 18 Magnum about 4 years ago. We also live in a deed restricted community. We found a storage place for $40/mo but didn't like stepping the mast at the ramp every time. Most of the traffic at the ramps are power boats who want to get in and out and didn't like waiting for us to rig, even in the lot we were in the way.

We joined the Sarasota Sailing Squadron. Membership and storage are very reasonable (together less than the storage place). We store mast up and can launch (from one of 2 members only ramps) and be sailing in about 20 minutes. There are a lot of other reasons to join a club as well. There's an active racing and cruising community and lots of folks who want to crew or just lend you a dock line if you need one. And there's a cold one at the bar when you're done.

The TI looks like a fun boat. It is longer than a Getaway but there's not nearly as much room/carrying capacity or performance. Also there's no way I'd take one 10 miles out into the gulf with dive gear on it.

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The ox is slow but the earth is patient

Move to the country preferably by a lake. Instead of commuting to sail commute to work.

So where are you primarily going to sail? Research the area find out what options are there for outdoor storage.

Get a trailer and a good cat box.

See if you can find a place to keep it mast up by the water In the summer either on a beach or on the trailer close to the launch.

Leave it there for the summer or all year depending on the circumstance. Strip all but the standing rigging in the winter and take them home.

A lot of the Lakes around me have a boat storage lot close to the ramp that you can rent a spot in. One even lets you keep your cat on the beach for $25 a month.

JSWoerner :
I will look into the Sarasota sailing squadron, who knows there may be a Getaway in my future after all.
Yea your probably right about using the TI as a dive platform, we have had it out to sand key, and cottrell key down in Key West maybe a half dozen times diving, my wife would much rather rent a deck boat for the day. When we go with a group, it's actually not too bad for everyone to chip in toward a deck boat rental, we tend to do that more often. Even with my gas kicker motor on the TI you could get in trouble pretty fast out there.
Bob

Cottrell Key isn't too much of a stretch because there are some other keys and sandbars along the way. Sand Key is pretty far out there! I was actually envisioning something more like ten mile reef in Sarasota. Ten miles of open water is a long way from help if something goes wrong.

Let me know what you think of the squadron. I'll be there both days this weekend. Mine is the 18Magnum with the bob parked right next to the dumpster. On the water you'll recognize me by the Cat Fever sails. (Blue on top and bottom, red/orange/yellow in between.

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The ox is slow but the earth is patient

JSWoerner:
I don't think we would attempt to go all the way out to ten mile reef (too far and not enough traffic), plus we seldom dive up here in Sarasota, we mostly dive in Key West, and the keys. We're down there about 1 week a month. Though we have gone out to dive near Egmont Key a few times, thats about 6-7 miles from the Ft Desoto launch. I've also gone up to egmont key a couple times lauching from city Island, but it's almost 20 miles to get there and takes way too long (wife gets bored).
I'll look for you, mines the yellow Hobie TI with the jib and spinnaker (the only one in existance with 265 sq ft of sail) and the jolly roger.
Bob

If you launch from city island then you're only about 25 yds from the squadron!!!

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The ox is slow but the earth is patient