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Flying Boat and Trailer !!! #60481
11/07/05 03:04 PM
11/07/05 03:04 PM
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 292
Ontario, Canada
Captain_Dave Offline OP
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Captain_Dave  Offline OP
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Ontario, Canada
We had a big wind yesterday - about 30mph sustained with bigger gusts. As a result, my H16 and trailer, which were stored for the winter, went airborne and flipped into an evergreen tree upside down. WHAT A BUMMER!

Miraculously, the boat did not recieve a single scratch - I can`t friggin believe it! The tree, soft grass, sheer luck and the fact that all 4 pylons were secured to the trailer saved it. But, the tongue of my trailer got a little bent up (it was/remained secured to a fence post).

The boat/trailer was secured to the fence and the mast was secured over the boat and everything was tarped. I also had some ropes secured to a couple of cork-screw dog stakes in the ground. Well... none of it held! It seems to me the H16 is simply ment to FLY - even if it has to take the trailer with it.

This was a real lesson for me. And, I got off so lucky that I am still in a bit of shock. The moral of the story here is; be VERY, VERY careful about storing and tarping an H16 outside. I thought I was being careful (having stored/tarped many boats in the past), but clearly I was wrong!

At this point, I will settle only for indoor winter storage, or more practically, disassembly prior to storage.




Dave

-- Have You Seen This? --
Re: Flying Boat and Trailer !!! [Re: Captain_Dave] #60482
11/07/05 04:04 PM
11/07/05 04:04 PM
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 292
Ontario, Canada
Captain_Dave Offline OP
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Captain_Dave  Offline OP
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Ontario, Canada
Some more specifics on that wind:

I am learning that some of the sustained gusts were up to 60mph which is fairly unusual around here. So, for those who may be wondering how much was too much wind, this should help.

Whew! I can`t even imagine what those of you down south have gone through in terms of wind and weather. Especially considering what it took to turn my boat and trailer into a H16 kite.

I still have that "sick" feeling inside...just can`t believe I had the luck to dodge this bullet...


Dave

Re: Flying Boat and Trailer !!! [Re: Captain_Dave] #60483
11/07/05 04:09 PM
11/07/05 04:09 PM
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 306
St. Louis, MO
hobienick Offline
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hobienick  Offline
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St. Louis, MO
I used to have an H16 when I was living in Indiana. We frequently had strong sustained and gusting winds. Those thunderstorms and tornadoes tend to do that...

Anyway, I never had an issue with the boat moving at all while being stored. In the winter I would remove the tramp and rigging but leave the boat uncovered. I also never tied the boat/trailer combo down. In three years the boat/trailer never moved in strong winds.

The only time I ever had an issue with a boat blowing around in storage was when I was in Burlington, VT on a camping trip. We kept the boats (TheMightyHobie18's) on the beach all week with the masts up and the jibs furled. We had a really bad storm and my boat blew over. My buddy's boat was fine.

You never know.


Nick

Current Boat
Looking for one

Previous Boats
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
'74 Pearson 30
St. Louis, MO
Re: Flying Boat and Trailer !!! [Re: hobienick] #60484
11/07/05 04:17 PM
11/07/05 04:17 PM
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 292
Ontario, Canada
Captain_Dave Offline OP
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Captain_Dave  Offline OP
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Ontario, Canada
Well Nick,

I guess I now know one reason why you sign your posts with "Pucker Factor". I`m a little "puckered up" myself! - might even have to steal that signature for a while.

Dave


Re: Flying Boat and Trailer !!! [Re: Captain_Dave] #60485
11/07/05 04:20 PM
11/07/05 04:20 PM
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 393
Syracuse,N.Y
pbisesi Offline
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pbisesi  Offline
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Syracuse,N.Y
Did it look like this?

Attached Files
61022-treedhobie16.jpg (422 downloads)

Pat Bisesi Fleet 204
Re: Flying Boat and Trailer !!! [Re: pbisesi] #60486
11/07/05 04:24 PM
11/07/05 04:24 PM
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 292
Ontario, Canada
Captain_Dave Offline OP
enthusiast
Captain_Dave  Offline OP
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Ontario, Canada
NO ...thank god! It didn`t look like that. I think the fence post and tree helped immensely in my particular case.

But, come to think of it, I think the tree is also helping quite a bit in that photo too!


Dave

Re: Flying Boat and Trailer !!! [Re: Captain_Dave] #60487
11/07/05 04:31 PM
11/07/05 04:31 PM
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 393
Syracuse,N.Y
pbisesi Offline
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pbisesi  Offline
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Syracuse,N.Y
I also strip the boat down to hulls and rails only and leave outside uncovered. Most winter damage I have seen comes from tarps becoming sails or holding snow and bending the mast.


Pat Bisesi Fleet 204
Re: Flying Boat and Trailer !!! [Re: pbisesi] #60488
11/07/05 05:02 PM
11/07/05 05:02 PM
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 110
N
newbiesailor Offline
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newbiesailor  Offline
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Posts: 110
i dont have those kinds of problems storing my boat in the winter, but dave, why not go extreme? if storing the boat on concrete, get some climbing anchors ( http://www.climbhigh5.com/Climbing/Bolts___Anchors/Fixe_Glue-in_Anchor/fixe_glue-in_anchor.html ) and some chains, this system should do it, some might say its over kill, but your boat sure as hell wont be going anywhere. if you store it out on the grass, i dont know if you could anchor it down very securely

Re: Flying Boat and Trailer !!! [Re: newbiesailor] #60489
11/08/05 08:52 AM
11/08/05 08:52 AM
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 306
St. Louis, MO
hobienick Offline
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hobienick  Offline
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St. Louis, MO
It just seems that if your boat wants to fly, it will. That's why I have my insurence cover the boat. It won't pay for all the hard work you put into restoring the boat, but at least you can buy another one.

I do agree that the tarp invites the wind and snow to cause damage.

"Pucker Factor" derives from my ability to scare the hell out of my soon to be wife when we start flying hulls. She loves it. I think she likes the adrenaline. I've been told, though, that I am only allowed to put a lemon on the hull for a graphic.


Nick

Current Boat
Looking for one

Previous Boats
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
'74 Pearson 30
St. Louis, MO
Re: Flying Boat and Trailer !!! [Re: hobienick] #60490
11/08/05 10:39 AM
11/08/05 10:39 AM
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 292
Ontario, Canada
Captain_Dave Offline OP
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Captain_Dave  Offline OP
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Ontario, Canada
Nick,

I am definitely inclined to agree about the tarp issue - what a surprise eh? As you know, I`ve had this boat less than a year and this is the second time both the trailer and boat have become mobile because of wind. The first time was in my driveway (with no tarp) and this latest episode was with a tarp and 3 anchor points between the boat and the ground. It seems to me that the Hobie Gods are trying to show/tell me something, and I don`t think it is a new form of air-travel!

At least today the "sick" feeling has finally subsided.


Dave


Re: Flying Boat and Trailer !!! [Re: hobienick] #60491
11/08/05 10:39 AM
11/08/05 10:39 AM
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 66
Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South A...
Clint_SA Offline
journeyman
Clint_SA  Offline
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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 66
Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South A...
Not sure if this is true, but maybe someone can confirm this:
That photo might have been taken in/near Port Elizabeth I'm told by a local friend down here...go figure the worlds were pretty much blown out

Clint


Dubulamanzi
Re: Flying Boat and Trailer !!! [Re: Clint_SA] #60492
11/08/05 12:20 PM
11/08/05 12:20 PM
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 13
Denver Colorado
Tinkerntom Offline
stranger
Tinkerntom  Offline
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Posts: 13
Denver Colorado
I wonder what the local fire dept. guys thought when then arrived to get a cat out of a tree?

Dave, the shiny paint gods must be laughing at you now!

What you need to do to satisfy them is get a screwdriver, and gough a big scratch in the hulls in a couple of inconspicuous places. That way, they will get off your back for awhile. This always works for me when I get a new car, after the first scratch, or door ding, I am usually good for 100,000 miles or more before I have to deal with them again! TnT

Re: Flying Boat and Trailer !!! [Re: Tinkerntom] #60493
11/08/05 01:19 PM
11/08/05 01:19 PM
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 292
Ontario, Canada
Captain_Dave Offline OP
enthusiast
Captain_Dave  Offline OP
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Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 292
Ontario, Canada
Tinkertom,

I am laughing a good one. You know it`s true too. The damn boat is still a virgin (as they say) and the Gods don`t like it. But, I still say she`s too young for the screwdriver! Perhaps, they will spare me a little while longer.

Here`s to hoping.


Dave

Re: Flying Boat and Trailer !!! [Re: Captain_Dave] #60494
11/08/05 01:59 PM
11/08/05 01:59 PM
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 125
Clinton, Mississippi
rattlenhum Offline
member
rattlenhum  Offline
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Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 125
Clinton, Mississippi
I'm ever surprised when I see someone recommend the dog chain corkscrew anchors for tying down a boat....I'm sure they wouldn't even hold my (large) dog if he seriously resisted. At our club, we use the auger anchors that are made for tying down mobile homes. They're maybe two feet long with about a three-quarter inch diameter shaft and a four inch or so diameter auger portion at the lower end. You have to use a tire tool or such to screw-drive them in. They'll probably work in anything but sand. We've never had one fail to hold, including reported 70 mph straight line winds and 60-80 mph winds sustained for hours during Katrina. Getting everyone to keep their tie-down straps/lines in good, tight condition is another story....

Jerome Vaughan
Hobie 16 102614
Clinton, Mississippi


Jerome Vaughan
Hobie 16
Clinton, Mississippi
Re: Flying Boat and Trailer !!! [Re: Captain_Dave] #60495
11/08/05 02:34 PM
11/08/05 02:34 PM
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 32
Midland
Mac05 Offline
newbie
Mac05  Offline
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Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 32
Midland
We had the same wild windstorm on Sunday- gusts registered 93 km/hr in town, probably higher on the lake. I leave my Hobie Cat strapped at both ends to our 700 lb, 30ft long marine railway. I usually leave it about 3 feet out of the water, which is app. halfway up the railway. The wind got under the tramp and gradually pushed the boat AND 700 lbs of railway completely over. I would not have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. The entire railway was twisted over, and the Hobie was still tied to the cradle, completely and 100% not damaged. Not even the mast (the mast tip was resting on the shoreline in the water) was damaged.

We had to untie the tramp (the wind was still blowing at over 35 knots yesterday) just to try to get it back upright. It took 4 of us to disassemble the railway while it was lying on its side, and then right the section that had the boat in it. I should have taken pictures!


Cheers,

Mac

Re: Flying Boat and Trailer !!! [Re: Captain_Dave] #60496
11/09/05 02:24 AM
11/09/05 02:24 AM
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 493
Minnesota
Jeff Peterson Offline
addict
Jeff Peterson  Offline
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 493
Minnesota
Yeah, you gotta take the tramp off for the winter. I do it every winter, then there is nothing for the wind to really grab on to.

I've been extremely lucky with summer storms. Straight line winds (100+ mph) tore the shingles off my house and threw a 140-year red oak on my garage. But the house wind-shadowed my unsecured Hobie and it didn't move an inch! A couple years later, I watched a small tornado suck a few gallons of water off the lake 25 feet away from my Hobie, which was sitting unsecured on a standing H-dock.-Didn't move that time, either. After these incidents, I thought it was well worth buying a back-up boat, which is disasembeled and stored in my garage. I don't want to waste sailing time trying to buy a replacement boat.


Jeff Peterson
H-16 Sail #23721
Big Marine Lake, MN
Re: Flying Boat and Trailer !!! [Re: Jeff Peterson] #60497
11/09/05 04:02 AM
11/09/05 04:02 AM
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 66
Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South A...
Clint_SA Offline
journeyman
Clint_SA  Offline
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Posts: 66
Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South A...
Just to add my little chirp. The luckiest I've been:
Last month, I left my boat on the trailor in our boat yard next to the beach overnight as I was sailing back to back days. The following morning while on route to the club I got a phone call from a mate saying he had just stopped my hobie from crashing into a car. Some members of the club like to park there cars in our boat yard (when they shouldn't as it's a pain for the sailors), and the wind had picked up enough to push my boat and trailor 6m accross the yard and straight for some guys new car. I was quite releived that my mate stopped it short of the car and secured the boat down


Dubulamanzi
Re: Flying Boat and Trailer !!! [Re: Clint_SA] #60498
11/09/05 09:51 AM
11/09/05 09:51 AM
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 292
Ontario, Canada
Captain_Dave Offline OP
enthusiast
Captain_Dave  Offline OP
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Joined: Apr 2005
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Ontario, Canada
Jerome,

I have never heard of those "auger" anchors, but I would certainly like to get a hold of a few. Where would one buy them and how many would be used on a trailered H16?

Dave

Re: Flying Boat and Trailer !!! [Re: Captain_Dave] #60499
11/09/05 12:40 PM
11/09/05 12:40 PM
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 5,558
Key Largo, FL & Put-in-Bay, OH...
Mary Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Mary  Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 5,558
Key Largo, FL & Put-in-Bay, OH...
Dave, I have always wondered, too, where people get these ground anchors. I think what they are talking about is a spiral, like a dog anchor, rather than an auger. I know a sailor out west told me they sail at a very windy lake, and they all use what he referred to as "sand anchors" or "sand screws" or something like that, and they are at least 3 feet long. But I can't find anything like that.

I did a Google search, and here are a couple of the web sites I came up with:

www.spyra-base.com (They have a "hurricane anchor" that looks pretty interesting, and strong.

www.shadeusa.com/beach_umbrella_holders.htm (Although originally designed for supporting umbrellas, they look like they would work for most anything you are trying to anchor down.)

www.doityourself.com (Do a search on the site for "double helix anchors.")

Hope this is helpful. We should get some, too, to secure all the boats in our yard during hurricane season. Problem is that we have very rocky soil, and I don't know whether any of those things would be able to penetrate it without mechanical assistance. That Spyra-base one looks the most likely.

Re: Flying Boat and Trailer !!! [Re: Mary] #60500
11/09/05 01:38 PM
11/09/05 01:38 PM
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 1,187
38.912, -95.37
_flatlander_ Offline
old hand
_flatlander_  Offline
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Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 1,187
38.912, -95.37
Quote
I don't know whether any of those things would be able to penetrate it without mechanical assistance.


The sweetest mechanical advantage is a rotary hammer, nickname Macho Drill for a reason, that's what the guys that set trailers use. Will blast an anchor right through six inches of asphalt and underlayment like it was butter. If you can borrow one of these and find an anchor with a head setup for, or driver attachment to adapt to your anchor, it's the way to go. The alternative, like Jerome said is a tire tool or long piece of pipe or rod for a cheater bar. If the ground is hard, get your anchor started, pour a 32 ounce cup of water on it, wait a minute, twist some more and repeat if necessary.


John H16, H14
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