I had a little delamination on the inside, sides, of my ammas on my 1980 H16 last year and I did not repair it. I went ahead and bought the west system this year to repair it by injecting. However, when I checked again the area from the bow to about the front crossbeam most of it made a crunching sound when I pushed a little on it, also just below the lip where the top attaches. There are a few hairline cracks by the bow, and in a few other areas. The ammas have ports, which apparently were not sealed with epoxy and I believe this may have caused the problem. I fixed one last year by laying fiberglass and injecting resin between the layers at edge of the port- did not drill holes, but alas I did not repair the other hull, and now I need some help.
I have downloaded the Hobie delamination fix and the beachcats delamination repair. ( The difference I see in the two are the Hobie one says to make one large hole for injecting and several vent holes around the perimiter, while the beachcat method has several injection points and the use of 404 density filler, which the Hobie method does not mention.)
So I probably have a four foot section that has delaminated or is starting to delaminate.
Now for the questions:
1. Is it worth it to try the repair?
2. Is one method better than the other?
3. Can I do the injection with the amma still attached or do I need to detach it from the rest of the boat? The delamination is on the side of the amma.
4. Do I need to turn the amma on its side or can I just let the injected epoxy flow down between the fiberglass and foam when I inject it?
5. Should I use the syringes I have or should I get the caulk type tube?
6. Is the crunchy sound when I push total delamination or something else?
7. Should I use the 404 filler?
8. I have 1 quart of 105 epoxy resin and 7 oz of 206 slow hardner, do you think this is enough?
9. It was nice and dry when I was geting ready to do this project, but now it is raining, any idea how long after it quits raining to let the hull dry out from humidity?

The boat is not used for racing, occasionally flies a hull- did not get to sail last year- doesn't look that good this year either!
Thanks for the help.
John

Maybe I got the word wrong, I guess I should have used the word HULL instead of ammas.
John

The "crunching" noise is the damaged foam making noise. My one hull was solid, until I stepped on it and heard a big crunch. -Then it was soft.

I've had to repair both my hulls. I used the 'On the Wire'/Beachcombers method. My first delamination was 26" long in front of the pylon. It took a pint of epoxy to fill the void. Your "four feet" sounds big. You might want to consider repairing it in two or more stages, starting with the lowest(to gravity) section first. My repair had some problems with epoxy flowing out the lowest holes, until the cure was well under way.

I fixed my first hull, then the next year I had to do the second hull. During the second repair, I noticed the first repair needed some additional repair. This is probably due to the nature of the repair being a quick and cheap fix. You live with your choices, and I've been satisified. Its a cheap way to keep an old Hobie going.

Its important to do SOMETHING before you have a structural failure. Warning: the repair can be messy so don't get discouraged if it happens, just keep going at the repair. And don't get comcerned, if you don't follow the exact details of the repair methods. Just get the voids filled with epoxy.

how soft can the hull be before its damaged? when I had my H16 on it's side for repairs and I was walkig aroud on the hull that was on the ground, I noticed a soft spot. I immediately stopped walking on it and i got down to push on it and see how sotf it was. It was still pretty firm, it supported my body weight when I was walking on it, but at the same time, I can push on it and make it go in a little it. It's not quite as hard as the rest of the hull, which wont budge. Is this somethign that is going to keep getting worse over time, or will it be ok?

It will keep getting worse,-quickly if you keep walking on the spot.

Why does this happen??? I think its a combination of age and moisture. Moisture over time seems to weaken the foam. I've heard some claim its the constant stepping on the hull that mechanically weakens the hull.-But I think that perceiption comes from that is the most locally stressed place where already weakened foam gives way.

A hull that has delaminated once is more likely to have future problems. But its worth fixing, if you already own the boat. But I wouldn't spend a lot of money on buying a boat with soft spots or delamination repairs.-Absolutely, never spend over $500, and try for $300 or less, depending on the parts value of the boat.

The lesson here, is to make the effort to drain and keep water out of your hulls after sailing.