Detached rear crossbar of Hobie Getaway

Hi, I'm new in the sailing community and I seek the wisdom of our more esteemed and experienced colleagues.

I'm working for a resort and along with the beach, I'm in charge of several Hobie units, one of them being a Hobie Getaway. We've been using them almost daily without any problem until a week ago (Feb 9). Apparently the socket where the rear crossbar is attached to slightly detached from the hull and sank a quarter inch into the interior. I was told that this is a warranty issue and that it must be replaced. That's well and good but I've got guests who are aching to use it and we are on President's Day Weekend.

Could any of you give me an advice as to how I can temporarily fix this problem until I receive a replacement?

If you want to see pictures of the damage you may e-mail me personally at [email]amanyaraact@amanresorts.com.[/email]

Chester

Chester,

We've been recently discussing this here and the US Hobie Factory reps have been involved as well (they'll probably chime in soon). Repair of that is probably not very likely because of the cross-linked polyethylene used in construction to make it tough and cost effective - nothing will really stick to it well.

And to add to what Jake said.

If you are in the US dont do it. Knowing the case hungry lawyers, you make a temp fix and something were to happen you are looking losing your job and the resort at a huge lawsuit.

Tell the guest the boat is broken and cannot be used.

This does not look to be a problem by looking at this one picture. This is not related to any other discussion I have been having in these forums.

It is somewhat common to see the aluminum sleeve dimension not fit the plastic width exactly. It is possible that it has not actually slipped, but may have been in that position all along. The part "floats" a bit left or right in the mold. The molds are aluminum and expand a bit over time. We have had to modify the sleeve length at times to get a better fit.

The sleeve is a reinforcement for the crossbar tube. If there were to be an actual problem, the hull would crack as the tube is twisted. That is a subject we have discussed here. The problem (when cracking) is a plastic molding issue where there either is not enough material back there or the plastic is undercooked.

so... a non issue as far as I can tell from the photo.

If there is other damage not shown in this photo or you want to contact Hobie, contact the distributor where you purchased the boat first. You can also contact Hobie directly through our own website at www.hobiecat.com and through our forums on that website.

hah...I didn't even realize there was a picture...I had envisioned that the beam sunk downward into the hull. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

oh and please cut that nail, men with long nails, well that aint manly. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

he's proly one of those guitar player types, that may be a mitigating circumstance depending on what he plays.

Is the tramp as tight as it can be? Turn the boat on its side and use vise grips to pull down on the center lacing to get it real tight, then turn it back up and tighten the back lacing. There are no bolts holding hulls and crossbars together, the tramp must be as tight as possible.

This coming from a Neanderthal...that's pretty funny.

[geico caveman]What is that supposed to mean? Are you being funny? I find zero humor in that comment. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />[/geico caveman]


<img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Wow hey guys thanks a lot for the reply. Actually Hullflyer1 the tramps were just tightened that same morning so all of us were thinking that maybe we tightened it too much if it was possible.

Mmiler, if you take a look at the picture, it sank a quarter inch into the hull. I used a quarter so that it would be easier to see on a two dimensional picture. Ideally it should be on the same level as the hull.

Robi, thanks for the tip, I actually had that in mind. We're a high class resort in Turks and Caicos and a lot of our guest are from NY. So I definitely will not risk litigation. Besides we don't charge our guests for the use of the Cats. And I'll tell my guy to cut his nails. We came from the Philippines and cheech is right, he does play the guitar.

Anybody from Hobie in this forum? I already contacted our retailer Water-play.com but we have not received a reply. Help.

Um, better check Matt Miller's avatar again! I think he's probably got a pretty reliable point of view in this case...

Yep... that would be me.

1/4" sunk into the hull? Laterally, I am assuming, is what you are showing with the quarter (a dime I think). It looks fine to me. The "sleeve" is the molded-in tube the crossbar slides into. These do not typically slip after molding. There are hoops extending downwards that plastic forms around and ridges along the tube that the plastic locks into.

What is possible... is that the crossbar is not fully seated. I simply butts up against the hull on the inboard side. It would then appear to be recessed in the outside of the hull. Perhaps the stop plate on the inboard side is not up against the inside of the hull? If you were to sail it... that should pull together if the tramps are tight.

I sent an email earlier today. You could send more photos for me to see.

Nice resort by the way! WOW!



Gallery from their website:

http://amanresorts.com/yara/gallery.htm

I better come down and look at it.

<img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

What island is that?

575 miles southeast of Miami and 39 miles south east of Mayaguana in the Bahamas

Matt, need a hand?

Having been in the rental business since 1974 and a hobie dealer for most of that time I agree with Matt that there is nothing to worry about. There were a few hull problems with the very early Getaways but since then I haven't seen anything. However I am willing "under duress" to come down with Matt and Jake---Have a Moheto (did I spell that right?) and check the situation.
Capt. Kirk

Hey Kirk! Yeah. I will need a team. Those Getaways are a bit heavy.

I wanted to reassure Chester that if there is a problem with the hull, we will replace it.

Also, Ilan and the Waterplay gang are at the Miami International boat show this week... through Monday night, so they may be slow to respond.

I'll join Kirk so I can bug him in person rather than by phone <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

its spelled MOJITO! I guess ill have to come down myself to help Kirk out order his drinks. One for him and one for me please.

Well seems like a lot of guys wanna come over and help us out. Didn't realize that fixing this will take that much work . Amanyara resort is in the island of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands. It's located somewhere north of Haiti and the Dominican republic.

Guests here are paying $1600 dollars per night and so from that it will give you a pretty good idea how careful I have to be to avoid being sued.

Matt you're right it is a dime. Sorry just flew in two months ago so I'm still trying to figure out American coins.

Well you got my pictures let me know what you think.

"If you were to sail it... that should pull together if the tramps are tight."

How sure are you about this? Cause if you're positive that this won't cause further damage I can ask my guys to take it out and see. The tramps were just tightened that morning, a few hours before this happened.

Also I've attached another picture for those of you out there. I have my thumb (nails cut by the way) pressed against the hull. From this top viewpoint you can see the distance of the sleeve from the outside part of the hull.

By the shot... it is nothing unusual. The hull is not level on a vertical plane here, so the top of the crossbar appears to be near flush and the bottom inset. That in itself is not a problem. You may be able to see a similar situation in the inboard side of the opposite hull. The hulls are made from the same mold. The molds get distorted over time. As the hull mold distorts outwards, the sleeve fit will not be the same.

I just can't see anything, but of course there is no "before" shot to compare to. I suspect that it is possible it was just noticed... rater than changed.

If the conditions are not challenging, you could have your guys sail it to see if there is some distortion under load. You might be able to see that by lifting one bow on the beach too.

But for now... I don't see a problem.

The developments of this thread is that as of yesterday we sailed the cat in 3 foots waves and 11 knot winds with no problem. I asked a local sailing guru, Mike Rosati, and he showed me his Getaway and the sleeves looked exactly like mine. The most important part is that the rivets under the crossbar connected to the hull is still intact and not compromised. The loud noise did come from the suspect sleeve but not to the point that it made it inoperable. It's probably caused by one of my guys tightening the trampoline (lenghtwise) too much. So we loosened it up a bit to decrease the tension on the crossbar.

Matt still wants me to take a picture of the interior of the crossbar connecting to the sleeve. We'll probably do that today and I'll let you guys know what happens.