i think I found a cat

Check the hulls for soft spots and any delamination at the deck lid lip where the top of the hull are epoxied to the rest of the hull. Also check for cracks in and around where the beams bolt to the hulls. Also check around the daggerboard trunks and rudders for cracks. Small stress cracks are probably expected but large cracks or flexing cracks are things to watch out for. $600 for a boat that needs some work sounds like a good price if you are willing and able to do the work yourself.

Also ask him to rig the boat for you. That way you know you have everything you need. If the boat hasn't been sailed in years, odds are something is missing. I would recommend replacing the standing riggings regardless of how it looks, you just have no idea how old it really is.

i agree, that is a pretty complete check list Scott gave you.

smfinley wrote: Check the hulls for soft spots and any delamination at the deck lid lip where the top of the hull are epoxied to the rest of the hull. Also check for cracks in and around where the beams bolt to the hulls. Also check around the daggerboard trunks and rudders for cracks. Small stress cracks are probably expected but large cracks or flexing cracks are things to watch out for. $600 for a boat that needs some work sounds like a good price if you are willing and able to do the work yourself.

Also ask him to rig the boat for you. That way you know you have everything you need. If the boat hasn't been sailed in years, odds are something is missing. I would recommend replacing the standing riggings regardless of how it looks, you just have no idea how old it really is.

well I have been emailing and waiting for the seller to find the daggerboards and the boom. she has sent me a bunch of pictures online but i dont know how to link them for you to look at and see if i am not seeing something. I have them on picassa web album, the boat is 1981 sail number 5242 very dirty she said she hadnt sailed it in a couple years. It has a comp tip mast was that an upgrade or did they always build them like that.
Ted

an 81.... LOOK IT OVER GOOD. age of a boat would be my first clue & where's its stored~~ in a barn or outside, covered or not... ETC ETC .

The comp-tip would have been an upgrade on a 1981. I agree you need to check the boat hulls very carefully. 30 year old hulls could easily be in bad condition, look for repairs that have been done and for any soft spots or delaminations. Also check where the side shrouds connect to the hulls, in newer boats they added reinforcement (stainless bolt on plates on the outside) at those points since they were a weak spot. Boom and daggerboards are important to find before purchase. They can be hard to locate used and even harder to ship. You could post the Picassa link here to show the pictures.

I sailed an 81 Hobie 18 for 10 years and did several small upgrades to it. The 1981 boats are very well built, not the lightest made but they are very strong.

So as others have said, when you get hands on the boat, press firmly (don't bang on it) with your palms on all areas of the hulls. The decks should feel solid, the sides will give a little depending on where you are pushing and how strong you are. But you should feel or hear any crunching sounds or any certain spot that is way softer than others.

At $600 if you find a small area of softnesss (delamination) and the rest of the boat is great, then it might still be a deal and fix the spot.

Don't even consider the boat without the daggers and boom unless you find them in advance. (Check with David Myers at http://www.thebeachcats.com/PresailedParts if you don't find them in the classifieds here.

Let us see the pictures, if you have a Picasa web ablum just give the link. Or create an album in "Beachcats People" with your name and put them there.

look out for "wavieness" in the hulls too.. look down them (from the bows or stern)... this could indicate delam, even if its not soft

hey all i finally figured it out and have posted the pictures she sent me have a look they are in my album in beachcat people
thanks,
Ted

looks ok to me. if the hulls are solid and dont leak looks like a decent cat.
the sails show some minor wear, esp on the batten pockets. very typical and they sell plastic tape/covers.

i would replace all the lines. probably all the rigging too to be safe..

i see a lot of cleaning in your future but could really be worth it.

PS my 83 h18 was "well tested" and a cheapie and i loved that boat.

Looks good to me as well. Just be careful with those rudders, those are the worst style rudders Hobie ever made.

the EPO rudders are good & lite... I have thoes on both of my cats~~ 17 & 18 Hobies. The white ones could and do break, happened to me 2 times and not from grounding, just hard sailing~~ have some spares handy, or spares of anything... Good luck & SAIL SAFE.......

Yes the white rudders can break, but also be careful of the rudder castings. Those are the old style castings and getting replacements is tough and upgrading to the new castings is probably the price of the boat. That style casting tends to break instead of pop-up if you hit something. Also make sure she has the jib, saw pictures of the main, but none of the jib.

Hopefully some elbow grease will get you a nice looking boat. Be careful of that tramp also, it may not last much longer before starting to tear, looks very sun exposed.

Good point Scott...... I didn't notice the castings, they will break when you go to beach it, so POP your rudders just before ya get to shore. If the cat is solid and ya like it~~ invest some money in it. The castings will expensive. Go in the want add's or post a note up there.

casting upgrades are more than the cost of the boat... i did the upgrade after i broke my casting on a hard beaching..

the white rudders are polyester and get brittle with age. i broke 2 in 1 month just sailing hard as well. it makes for an interesting day when you only have 1 rudder (esp when you fly a hull)

If you like it... go for it, i loved my h18

Well all I finally heard from the seller and she has the boom and daggers, they were in the cat box....i THINK FOR THE PRICE IF THE HULLS ARE DECENT, I CANT GO WRONG..
I am off to look at boat IT IS THREE HOURS AWAY SO i AM BRINGING CASH AND A SNOWMOBILE TRAILER IF IT LOOKS GOOD i WILL LOAD IT UP AND BRING HER HOME....WILL UPDATE TOMORROW, THANKS FOR ALL THE INSIGHT AND ADVICE, CANT WAIT TO GO FLYING AGAIN.
TED

Ted, where's this boat at?????

oh, and I don't another !!!!

popeyez7 wrote: Ted, where's this boat at?????

its in Sayre pa. which is just over ny border south ofIthaca as the crow would fly.

what do you mean i dont another is that the fact that yo own your own fleet already?
where do you go iceboating that looks like a blast, we used to go ice skate sailing on lake George.

I forgot the word 'NEED'.... Ice sailin in Sodus Bay, ny and went up to lake Champlain. It's on YouTube, do a search on there~~ ice sailin, sodus bay ny.
I had like 5 sail boats a few yrs ago. sold most of them, but kept my 17 & 18mag. I have a mono-slug (21 Pearson) that I'am going to sell this year, probably next month, gotta do a little work on it !! If the person is signed in his name will be at the bottom of the 'Forum page' clk on a name there

well I brought it home I am trying to upload picture here bt cant do it so will put it in album, boat is very dirty has been sitting in field for two years no cover or anything, hulls very faded some scratches on bottom, and can see through gelcoat in few places from beach wear. all in all i think a pretty good starter boat and we will see where we end up with after replaceing lines and rigging? good cleaning and sail it for the season, next year i can paint it or upgrade to newer boat????

congrats.
you may want to slap on some new epoxy/gelcoat if the bottoms are showing through to the glass..

enjoy

andrewscott wrote: congrats.
you may want to slap on some new epoxy/gelcoat if the bottoms are showing through to the glass..

enjoy

Andrew i am laughing cause after many years working with fiberglass I was wondering how the technique of slapping on some epoxy and gelcoat works, I have found that there is usually a hole bunch of prep work that happens before, then yo just stand back and throw it????
I am laughing it does sound easy but it always ends up being more complicated than that...
Thanks for the well wishes, I liked your advice from way back that said just find a boat and go sailing.....
Looking forward to fun summer.

Thats the way they do it in Fla. or maybe the way Andrew does it, they just "SLAP" it on. I was lookin at yer cat in the album section... It's a good start~~congrat's... Did yer dog help with the driving, or did he navigate?? If ya need any help, I'd be willing to drive out there, and be careful with the "old rudder" system, if the castings don't break~~ the transom will !!!!!! Oh and sorry about the kidding on the other post... thats just me, a kidder 😆

popeyez7 wrote: Thats the way they do it in Fla. or maybe the way Andrew does it, they just "SLAP" it on. I was lookin at yer cat in the album section... It's a good start~~congrat's... Did yer dog help with the driving, or did he navigate?? If ya need any help, I'd be willing to drive out there, and be careful with the "old rudder" system, if the castings don't break~~ the transom will !!!!!! Oh and sorry about the kidding on the other post... thats just me, a kidder 😆

hEY i love the kidding I usually am doing proposals numbers and serious stuff on the computer so some lighthearted fun stuff is great it make me laugh .... The puppy is ten months old she layed across my daughters lap on the way out and layed on my wife on the way back she is an 70 lb. golden retriever huge... I guese she made sure I was going the right direction anyway....
I untied the boat and got it off the trailer last night and it is yellow under all the oxidation, the straps had removed the oxidation where it was tied down, so she might still be a pretty boat... no pink paint this year.. my youngest Rachel will be sad oh welll..

I was wondering how the technique of slapping on some epoxy and gelcoat works, I have found that there is usually a hole bunch of prep work that happens before, then yo just stand back and throw it????

sorry if i over simplified things... i left out a few steps

Well.. it goes like this:
notice excessive wear
ignore excessive wear until it becomes super excessive wear
go sailing one more time to make sure

bring boat to repair guy, ask him to slap on some epoxy/gel

pick up boat
go sailing

ignore excessive wear until it becomes super excessive wear

andrew does this include dragging boat across rocks , gravel to improve excessive wear???

if your in a hurry, you can "sling" some on too...

a distinction must be made whether to sMather on the epoxy or sLather it on (a part of "slapping" on some epoxy)

sMather is what you do at work.. smather some spackling on the dry-wall...

sLather on is when you are gel-coating your beLoved catamaran...

when sLathering, make sure to smear that stuff over the entire repair, or you will have to slap some more on making you a full slam day behind scedule.