I have just started sailing and have found my mast weighs 2-3 times heavier than other Hobie 16's. I haven't heard water 'slushing' around when handling the mast to step or when lifting the trailer up and down. This weekend a small amount of water 'oozed' out slowly with bubbles from the base of the mast, but stopped fairly quickly. Righting the boat is not too much of a problem. It's just the extra weight in racing and when stepping the mast that gets me (and my back). Could the mast just be heavier...or are all masts made standard? Apparantly there is a rivet I can drill out too check, but I'd need some advise on making sure I seal it correctly..
Also, I've replace the grip on the side beams with E.V.A (what surf board grips are made from) It works wonderfully as a grip, but my trapeze cables are leaving indentations in it due to the shock cord tension. Not sure what to do at this point...
Thanks for any assistance possible
Clint - Durban, South Africa

Mast... sounds like you have water in the mast. Not all masts are the same. A comptip equiped mast will be heavier than the "old" type of mast. There is a chance that the foam plugs might have absorbed some water (explaining the weight and the lack of sloshing sounds). Find the area were the mast leaks (search old posts for that tasks) and fix it.
EVA... yoh! this is how it goes... not much you can do about it. Replace the stuff when it is due. I use a 3M product which is less grippy but more resistant to wear. Some people use neopren or carpet... nothing lasts forever.

Patrick

Thanks for the response...never new about the foam which might explain why there is no 'sloshing' Have also been advised that there might be sand in the mast addding to the weight. Looks like I'm in for a big job Cheers

Nee... not a big job... Not sure about the sand - It would be very difficult to get a lage amount of sand in a mast. Just drill the heads of the rivets on the mast head and check what comes out. Have new rivets, sleeves and silicon available. The whole deal should not take longer than an hour.

Patrick