Well, the search shall begin for another boat with solid hulls. My twin brother and I will start saving pennies from our college jobs and look at getting another Hobie 18. There is a 1983 model selling on eBay near me, but I don't think I'll be able to go look at it before it sells.
Honestly, when we were looking over this boat, the big, obvious soft spot was the only one we noticed. I didn't press on the hulls hard enough to hear crunching. The boat had been sitting in the guys yard for 8 years or so. For future reference, what is the best way to store a Hobie, without keeping it in a garage. Is a big tarp over it sufficient?
I take it the best course of action is to find another boat with good hulls, and then part out what we don't need? Is selling stuff on the forum probably the best and easiest way to sell parts? Also, where can I find a good list of prices for used parts?
Thanks for the tip on the hulls in Pensacola. I just emailed him. He did say on the listing that the hulls would be tossed out by July 4th, so he may not have them anymore.
Edit: And one more thing. How can I find about local places where I could take a Hobie to be repaired or re-gelcoated? When we first got this boat it was "oh, we'll fill a soft spot or too, fix some hardware, replace rigging, and take it to be gelcoated". Obviously we're not going to gelcoat shot hulls, but for future reference I'd like to know where we could take a boat like a Hobie to be surveyed or repaired.
_________________ 1987 Hobie 18 Magnum, white with Cat Fever (and Blue Hawaii) sails
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