why a Hobie Cat?

Nanook

When My knee hurt and my back was killing me I gave up playing golf and sold my yacht, Nanook, a Noelex 22 which I owned for 15 years. I started to spend too much time in front of the keyboard, up to 17 hours per day. That was a mistake alright because this made my health worse.

To regain my health, I walked in the mornings with Christine, my wife; then in the afternoon, I go kayaking on Hamilton lake to get my upper body exercise. It was working but I needed something more to motivate me to continue with this regime of walking followed by kayaking so that I can get well again soon.

I post my health problems on FaceBook and received many helpful suggestions from all over the world! I was also under going acupuncture treatment, sticking needles in my back at the same time! 

Confucius says: the more needles you stick on your back, the faster you will get well!

Raglan

Hobie 16

I monitored this item for sale on Trademe for two weeks before I made my move. I called the owner in Raglan asking to see the Hobie cat. He was an engineer who helped to install all those 28 wind turbines near Raglan hills. His project ended, he is down sizing for going back to the South Island. I talked to him for an hour while he was showing me the boat. Everything seems to be there including a buoy for the top of the mast, a two-wheel launching trolley and some spare parts. We went to an ATM in town to get some cash. I paid him and towed the catamaran home. The whole transaction took 3 hours.

This item has been on my bucket list for 30 years; it is time to strike it off! I was a dinghy sailor in Miri for 15 years. I continued sailing in NZ for another 20 years, mostly on larger trailer yachts. This will be my first catamaran. Due to a crook knee and pain in my back, L3, L4, I was forced to hang up my golf set in 2013 and sold my Nanook, a Noelex 22, in April 2015. By May, I was regretting it and wanted to get back on the water again!

mast replaced!

It was not easy to find a replacement mast for my catamaran; but I managed to do it. A new mast would have cost more than this boat. I am a perfectionist and cannot stand the sight of the ugly dent left there by the previous owner. It bothers me too much to leave it alone; must remove the dent!

mast and rudder

I have checked, repaired or replaced some minor components of this 1983 boat. The mast is a bit battered but still very strong. I checked all the standing rigging on the mast: side, fore and jib stays and 4 trapeze wires and also the running rigs: the jib and main halyards and sheets. All the lines seem solid enough and have years of life left in them.

I decided to replace the two side stays and adjusters because on one of them the plastic cover was broken in many places, showing its age. I kept the good one as a spare for the fore stay which is used only during rig-up and rig-down. The actual working/running fore stay is sewn inside the leach of the jib sail. This wire plus two side stays support the mast when on the water. When hiking out on the trapeze, flying one hull, only two stays are loaded. When on the water, the side stay on the low side is always slack.

Gin pole and winch

I was slowly repairing the catamaran throughout last winter. I raised the mast a few times to see how it actually worked. At the same time I googled for an easier way on You Tube. I found a gin pole method which attracted my attention. Using an old spinnaker pole connected at one end to a point near the base of the mast while the top end is shackled to the bottom of the fore-stay which then connects to a 5:1 winch.

The mast can be raised slowly using this winch.Two temporary side stays must be installed to keep the movement of the mast in one plane so that it will not move sideways as it is raised or lowered. 

maiden voyage

This is the moment, launching my Hobie cat at Ngaroto. I have worked on it throughout last winter. It was parked on my front lawn since May 2015. I had some nasty surprises and learned quite a lot about catamarans. I also googled and watched some videos on You Tube posted by the manufacturer and also Hobie owners in Australia.

The catamaran is sitting on four rollers of its trailer. If I untie the ropes, would it just roll off into the lake by itself? I will find out soon enough.