Regrets

What is left of the hulls after taking saber saw to the whole thing.

 It is with great regret that I admit defeat with this project.   I got some advice from a few people in the know and learned that this Hobie 17 was not as good a candidate for the restoration I had thought it was.

I got as far as rebuilding the crushed port hull and was working on a few stress cracks when reality came crashing in.  

I first noticed that there were a few tell-tail surface anomalies that indicated the H17 had been repaired at some time in the past.  That puts into question the skill and quality of whoever did the work. 

The second issue was that I could not break it down.  The Hulls seemed to be permanently attached to the crossbeams.  If/when I ever needed to change the 1-piece tramp, I would have to figure this out.  I saw no reason to put this off any longer than necessary.   What I found in the process made me feel better about junking it.


A PO had indeed glued the hulls to the crossbeams which was part of the problem with breaking it down.  The second issue was the use of backing plates and nylon locking nuts.   There were no-factory backing place on the inside of each hull.  They were held on with Nylon bolts.  When I tried to take the crews out, the nuts simply spun in place.   I never would have been able to get them off no matter how hard I tried.   The PO also put lock-tight on the t-bars.   I snapped two Alan wrenches and stripped one bolt before giving up.   Who does this kind of thing without thinking of the future?  How they got them installed without cracking open the hulls, I've no idea.  

The aggressive use of grinder took care of that problem.....again this was all before I lost faith.

More remains of the day

  

Not to beat this horse any more than necessary, but with several cracks in the mast that worried me of an at-sea cataclysmic rigging failure, I realized that the parts I could save from this boat could be better used to help some other Hobie 17 owner make theirs whole.  Also the money I may be able to make parting it out should go a good ways towards my next Hobie.