i bought an old hobie 16 circa mid 80's. the mast was down, stays tied around the mast. is there a booklet or picture showing which stays go where? and, while i am here, what is the best way to raise the mast if one of the 2 people doing it is not very strong?
lit

you can raise the mast yourself if you have to. It always helps to have a helper though. I would hook the mast up to the little hobie bracket and then connect the side stays, then the strong person stands on the trampoleen and lifts the mast, being carefull to keep the mast base in the socket. You might ahve to pull it as some funny angles to keep it in there, i know its always hard to get it to stay with mine. then when you get it all the way up, stand there and hold it up while the less-strong person fastens the front stay. If you dont have the hobie bracket or you cant get the base to go in the socket it is possible to balance the boat up on one side, have the weaker person hold it still while you grab the base of the mast and lift it into place and then fasten the cables. that method is kind of more trouble than it's worth though because you are juggling all the different things that wont stay up on their own at first.

There are only 3 stays for the boat - a forestay and two shrouds. The forestay is the shortest of the three, and the shrouds are equal length.

You should really get the Hobie 16 Assembly Manual from Hobie Cat. It's $5 and you get a catalog with it.

The Hobie 16 assembly manual is available on-line at the Hobie site. There also is an ordering form there if you want to buy one.

I raise my mast alone with no problem. Remember to insert the teflon bearing (a disc of teflon that is flat when new but molds to the socket shape) before raising the mast. There will be a S/S clip at the rear of the socket for the mast. It has 2 sets of holes, one set for the H-16 and one set for the H-14 and the numbers are stamped in the metal. You put a pin in the mast through the holes in the clip to form a hinge that allows you to raise the mast. After the mast is up and the forestay is fastened, you pull the pin out so the mast can rotate through a limited angle. When you get ready to lower the mast, you put the pin back before releasing the forestay. They say everyone forgets the pin once but never more than that. It comes crashing down without the pin.

Howard

HAHA I forgot the pin once and *almost* forgot it twice, but that's it.