Does it mean that the rigging is bad if the housing is shot? even though the wires underneath appear to be good? ... and do stains on the hulls mean anything... like a caramel color...?

1) Rigging – Check the wires carefully – I assume you mean the plastic (usually White or (now mostly) black) cover to the shrouds, trap lines or bridal. However – these wires hold either you or the mast up – if there are no frays in the wires but just the plastic is worn away – you are probably ok. Personally I change mine when ever they look questionable.

2) Carmel color – is probably just algae. Fiberglass is porous. You need to clean the boat with something like Zud cleanser (found in any major supermarket. I find it works best). After that – you must wax the boat because the boat is now more porous than before. Be careful not to wax the non-skid.

Most wire rigging failures occur at the nicropress or roller swage fittings. Check these areas carefully for corrosion or broken strands.

If rust stains are on the side of the hulls, it is from the anchor pin/anchor bar assembly. Even though they are stainless steel, they can fail due to corrosion. Take the pin/bar apart and if anything looks suspect, replace.

how tight should the wires holding the mast up be? if mine are too lose is there a way to tighten them? and what were they called again?

Depends. If you're just sitting there with the sail down they won't be real tight; if the mast is leaning one direction (say, to port) then the starboard one will get a little slack in it. This goes away when you raise the jib and tension all the shrouds. Then when you're out on the water in a stiff breeze you'll notice that the leeward shroud is loose again.

If the mast doesn't feel like it's going to pop out of the mast step then I wouldn't worry about slack shrouds.

Hmmm... there is a too loose. I bend a mast of my hobie stored over night in some severe weather. Mostly because of laziness (and because I would have taken the mast down to trailer the boat the next day anyway) I left the forestay in the top hole of the chain plate. Strong winds caused some whip lash motion and bend the mast between mast base and shroud attachment point. Patrick

I'm new to the sport, but here's the advise I was given. Please correct me if it's wrong. When the jib is up, and the tension in the jib halyard (leaving the fore stay loose), pull on the side stay on either side to check the tension. If you can pull it 1-2 inches, it's pretty good? Would this be a tight rig? Too tighten or slacken the side stays, adjust the tension on the jib halyard. This is all with the jib up..A friend of mine leaves his boat at the club, and to prevent the mast rotating and jerking around in the wind, he attatches his jib lines to the brindle chain plate, and tensions it...this pulls the fore stay in, and tightens the rig when stored..seems a good idea?

You can prevent the mast sloppiness that is present when the mast is up and the sail is down. All you have to do is shackle the jib sheets to the bridle and pull till tight. Now you don't have to worry about your mast popping out, or bending you mast

Matt G
Hobie 16 SN#1960
Burbank CA

Hmmm... I knew about the jib halyard option... and I could have pinned the forestay lower on the chain plate. I did not expect that the top of the mast could cause a sufficient momentum in order to bend the mast. Now I have a bend mast hanging from my garage ceiling reminding me. Patrick