Maiden voyage...

cyrano138

Member
Well, with the exception of pulling the deck plate halfway out of its apparently rotten backing block, I didn't break anything when I launched the boat for the first time this evening and sailed it around for a while. It sails much differently than any boat I've ever had before. It feels very light and squirrely compared to the Hobie 16 I'm used to and obviously compared to bigger boats. But, I like it immensely. It moved along very nicely in the offshore winds we had blowing this evening and I think I can get a lot of use out of it traveling up and down the Gulf Coast short distances to go to some of my favorite spearfishing spots.

Now all I have to do is cut another hole in the deck find some aluminum backing plates replace and rebed the cleats and she'll be good to go.
 
Well, with the exception of pulling the deck plate halfway out of its apparently rotten backing block, I didn't break anything when I launched the boat for the first time this evening and sailed it around for a while. It sails much differently than any boat I've ever had before. It feels very light and squirrely compared to the Hobie 16 I'm used to and obviously compared to bigger boats. But, I like it immensely. It moved along very nicely in the offshore winds we had blowing this evening and I think I can get a lot of use out of it traveling up and down the Gulf Coast short distances to go to some of my favorite spearfishing spots.
Now all I have to do is cut another hole in the deck find some aluminum backing plates replace and rebed the cleats and she'll be good to go.

The "deck plate" is the upper bronze rudder support? If that wood block has gone away, replacement with aluminum sounds good. However, I'd bend the edges before installing, so it doesn't act as a "fiberglass punch" if stressed at some later date.

I once suggested using a scrap of artificial lumber; however, decks of Trex washed up following Hurricane Irma showed that the usual screw-type hardware would pull through. :eek: Trex would need to be through-bolted. :cool:

Starting out with a Hobie 16, I owned a Hobie 18 Formula, a Tornado, and the fastest of them all, a home-built 18'x10' catamaran. (Operating all of the last three in the same years). Although the thrill of speed was worthwhile, prepping for sailing, repairs, and sitting in windless lake conditions were frustrating. Although I could "get air", powerboat wakes would toss the cat in poor wind conditions.

With the Sunfish, repairs were mostly voluntary—and speedy. You can get out with five minute's prep when there's no wind apparent, and still sail around other sailboats. :)
 
That's what I get for using voice to text to write a forum post.
I pulled out the deck cleat. The one that holds the main halyard in place.
I was thinking the same thing about the edges. I figured I'd grind it down a bit and round all the edges so there aren't any hard corners.
I have to say the biggest frustration I had with the Hobie 16 was launching it and un-launching it single-handed. I loved everything about sailing it and to be honest I found them practically indestructible so I almost never had to do any repairs but it's just not a practical boat for somebody who's always sailing by himself. Also I drive a motorcycle now instead of a car so it would be pretty tough to move it around.
 
you also might want to put a cleat on your mast - this eliminates almost all of the tension at Sunfish deck hardware. you will still want to run the halyard down to the deck, so that the mast can't slip out and away from the boat if you flip it.
minifish-mast-cleat_22.jpg


for guidelines on where to put it:
sunfish-rigging-drawing.jpg
 

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