New hobie 18 owner! (Pics added)

Enjoy the Hobie 18. It is Hobie's best all around boat. Read up on the posts and find someone close to you (Hobie fleet) to help you out.

I am suprised no one has told you yet: There is no such thing as a free boat!

Boat: A hole in the water in which one pours money!

At least with a Hobie the $$ is less than with most other boats.

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1989 Hobie 18 Worlds Boat, Magnum Wings & Spinnaker
1987 Hobie Holder 20 #273

dale.vanlopik"at"att"dot"net

Break Out Another Thousand

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Sail Like you Have a Pair
Bluish gray 73 - 83 H16
Super Nice Yellow 84 H18

Thanks for the heads up regarding the meaning of BOAT.lol. I did have a 35 ft trawler a few years ago so I know all about it!.Hopefuly the hobie will mostly labor and time ....I got plenty of that.Will check on the dagger boards tomorrow,could I take some meat of the dagger boards to make them slide in the pockets easier?I picked up some epoxy today to seal the pockets.
cheers

oh by the way the 2 best days of boats ownership.....the day you buy it and the day you sell it!
Another boat meaning....Bring On Another Thousand

I have three H-18s and four sets of dagger boards. All four sets of boards have different widths. I did not buy any of the boards new so I can't vouch for whether they are Hobie built or aftermarket. My thinnest set of boards fit easily in all three boats. My thickest set don't fit in any of them. The two in-between fit in some boats but not others. Bottom line, I think the dimensions of the dagger wells and the boards have changed slightly over the years.

The dagger boards have a fairly thin layer of gel coat on top, then a fairly thin layer of fiberglass, but are mostly foam core. If you are lucky, you might be able to take a very small layer of gel coat off and get the boards to fit, but I doubt it. I tried it with one set of boards but had to stop before I went all the way through the gel coat. You don't want to sand into the fiberglass. If you do, you give water a chance to get to the core and then your boards will swell even bigger.

If it is just the last few inches of the board that won't go down, then you can just live with them not being all the way down. Unless you are racing, you probably won't even notice the difference.

If you absolutely must have boards that go all the way down, my advice would be to look for a set of thinner boards. Ask your local Hobie dealer to guarantee that if you order a new set from him that they will fit and if they don't that he take them back. Finding good used boards is difficult and even harder to know if they will fit without trying them out.

Good luck. It is an annoying problem, I know.

I would check the daggerboard wells BEFORE you start spending money ....

... alot of times previous owners have tried to fix leaks ... mostly at the bottom of the daggerboard trunks, so look for marine-tex ... stick epoxy (JB Weld?) and stuff like that. You may find that is the problem ....

How do I know this .... I applied a layer of West Epoxy/Fiberglass Tape (4") to seal that seam ... and later I thought I had developed a leak at the trailing edge/corner of my daggerboard trunk and I put another layer there ...

... and that was too much. So I had to carefully sand down the the last layer using a file wrapped in sandpaper ... it took awhile !!!!

But my daggerboards fit so closely that I have no "thump-bump" from the sideways movement of my daggerboards ... though I have to store them in my trailer box when not in use to keep them as dry as possible ... cause they do swell if left out side in the weather ...

Oh ... the second thing ... take your boards and lay them down and put a "heat" lamp/incandescent light shining on the boards ... it will take awhile ... turn over everyday ... you are trying to dry them out ... basically you are trying to "bake" the boards at low tempurature ....

Now if this doesn't solve the problem ... then you'll have to spend some $$$'s

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HarryMurphey
H-18 mag/ #9458
Fleet 54 Div 11

Thanks for all the tips.I tried sanding the boards a little and got the gel coat pretty thin,still too tight, sailed on another 18 yesterday and the boards went down easily.I did put a little epoxy on the wells today to seal them from water, my boards are tight on the vertical centerline so may have to relieve the middle part of the well( deck and hull) then give them a thin coat of epoxy.Hopefully sailing this weekend!
thanks
opps meant to say the boat has not been in the water for a couple of years

looks like the closest hobie dealer is about 2 hours away. Gonna try and give them a call at least to check prices on standing rigging. Also getting a catalog from hobie website the same as from dealer?

Weird looks like my thread and another thread got combined....maybe moderator thought they where the same thread even tho they were different posters???

Hey Spencer, I am in Chattanooga and a new hobie 16 owner. We have put in a few times at Chester Frost but it really sucks trying to sail out of the channel.

We have been scoping out a ramp n the main channel by Sequoyah.... I know, sounds a little off to put a sailboat in near a power plant, but the lines are over 100 feet in the air

Anyway, what part of town are you in? Maybe we can help each other with the learning curves.

I met a guy who was sailing a H16 out of Privateer scaling Club, so that makes at least three of us on the lake! Maybe we'll have a fleet here soon.

Drop me a pm

-Jason

@jason Thats awesome that you said that. I put in around the power plant too. Sailed there this past weekend, and plan on going out a few times this weekend hopefully. (off work fri-mon) I know most people that sail in chatt put in at the dam and stay kinda in that area, but my lake house is near the nuke so i plan on putting in there the most.