I have a chance to buy an '82 H16 (in pieces) for almost nothing. The main problem that I see with the boat is the upper deck lip at the transom where the rudder pin goes through is broken out of both hulls. Is this something that can be repaired or would there be just too much stress from the rudder casting to ever hold together?

Unfortunately I don't know the answer to your question, but I do have one for you. How did you find the boat? I've been looking for a cat, my first, and can't find anything within 150 miles of Tidewater.

Clint

Clint - join the local Hobie Fleet 32 and start hanging around with beachcat sailors. http://www.hobiefleet32.org/hb32.htm
Now, I'd appreciate it if you would delete your reply. I'm trying to get technical help and don't want my thread hijacked with boat offers and such. Thanks.

The deck lip cut-out is of no consequence.

It was often done on older boats as a result of shimming the gudgeons to gain more rudder rake (before adustable castings and instead of re-drilling the rudders).

So the rudder pin hole in the fiberglass lip provides no additional lateral stability for the rudder castings? In other words, the gudgeons are doing all the work? Should I shorten the rudder pins then?

The hole was typically cut out in just the rear, so that side-to-side, the hole would still provide some support.


Pretty much.


Why would you do that? The upper gudgeon is right below the deck lip. How would you get a cotter pin through the rudder pin with the deck lip in the way? You'd only be able to cut about an inch off the pin anyway. Trying to save weight?

The bottom line - if you want to fix the deck lip, fix it - recognizing that it's mostly cosmetic. Otherwise, leave well enough alone.

Pics would be really helpful here.

The hole wasn't cut out. A big chunk of the lip is missing from both hulls. There is no trace of the former holes. It is almost as if someone hit the beach hard and the rudders didn't pop up or something. The gudgeons are removed from the transom too so there is a good chance that however they are attached (hull inserts, backing plate?) might also stripped, broken or missing. The hulls are otherwise in pretty good shape except the gel coat. I couldn't find any soft spots. I'm buying this boat for virtually nothing....guy just wants it out of his back yard. Just trying to figure out of I should try to put it back together, look for better hulls or just part it out.

There's an aluminum backing plate glassed into the transom.

You can fix the deck lip, install the newer one-piece gudgeons offset from the old holes (drill/tap for machine screws) and be good to go.

Is there an upgrade kit with instruction? Or do I buy a standard later model gudgeon from Hobie and just wing it? The boat has two sets of rudder/tiller castings. One set appears to be the adjustable type with set screw in the tiller arm. I assume both types mount the same with the newer gudgeons??

You're on your own. Just buy the gudgeons and wing it.



The lower castings are virtually identical. You might have to grind some material away on the lowest portion of the casting to clear the gudgeon screw. (You'll know it immediately upon installation what I'm taking about.)

Okay I found the part in the Hobie catalog. Seems pretty straightforward. Thanks for all the help. Looks like I'll have another H16 as a backup to my P18.

The existing gudgeon screws on my old H-16 were #12 (don't know if that varied over the years). I was able to tap out the stripped holes in the backing plate to 1/4 inch (slightly larger). If you don't have any sheared screw parts still in the backing plate, you may able to do the same and avoid relocating the gudgeons.

Regarding the deck lip, I'd seal it with a coat of epoxy to minimize water getting into the laminate, then forget about it.

Thanks for the tip. Hobie sells a set of 16 nylon locking bolts for this. Not sure what diameter they are. If I have to offset the gudgeons I'm hoping there will be enough adjustment in the tiller bar to make up for it.

I picked up a set of the die cast gudeons. None of my screws are stripped but I had to drill the screw holes in the gudgeon plate out to 9/32 to get the screws to line up with the holes in the boat. Even still the screw heads were so wide that they wanted to foul the ribs in the plate and wouldn't go fully home. I had to dremel the ribs a bit on both sides. Do these screws go all the way into the hull or is there some kind of baffle to separate the transom from the interior of the hull? I'm wondering if I need to seal the screws and holes with silicone or something to keep water from seeping past the threads.

As I understand it, the one piece gudgeons are from Hobie Europe, and enlarging the holes in the gudgeons is required due to slght differences in distance between holes. There's no baffle or anything keeping the screws from going all the way in. However, when I retrofitted mine, they didn't quite go all the way home either. Never had a problem, and figured I could always drill and tap the transom for the two extra holes in the one piece gudgeon if I felt additional holding was needed. Regardless of the installation, always seal any thhough hull fitting. I prefer 3M Marine 5200 over silicone.

Thanks. That was going to be my next question...did you use all eight holes or just stick with six? As a general practice I'm thinking the fewer holes through the hull the better.

I stuck with the six and never had any problem. By the way, here's a link to some pix of the inside of the H-16 hull, including the transom (note the aluminum plate that's glassed in):

http://www.thebeachcats.com/index.php?module=pictures&g2_itemId=10731

Thanx. That was what I was curious about....if the gudgeon holes went all the way through or if the plate was thick enough and the holes stopped short of the screw length. Odd though...I decided to tap my holes out (#12-28) just to clean up the threads and the tap seemed to bottom out at one point so I didn't force it.