Tips for checking out Hobie AIs

Hey all, my buddy back on the east coast is looking at buying a used Hobie AI from a coworker. I advised him to check for cracks in the hulls, but I'm not familiar with the AI enough to give him more advice. How would you go about checking out a used Hobie AI that you were considering purchasing?

*Check the tiny drain plug at the bottom of the stern.
*Open and check the quality of the sail and all of it's hardware.
*Check all of the AMA/AKA hardware for corrosion.

When I picked up my used AI from Zee, I took pretty much everything apart and cleaned up any bits of corrosion from the nuts and bolts and added dielectric grease or anti-sieze to combat any future salt nasties.

Cracks under/around where the seat is, cracks in the scuppers, and cracks around the crossbars (where the amas attach the the hull) are some of the most common problem areas that are fairly specific to older AIs. Of course always check the keel on the bow and stern to make sure they aren't about to wear through. INSAYN nailed the rest.

Check the rudder cord for wear, check the side cargo storage net for stretch, check the keel for wear/soft areas, and what everyone else already mentioned.

Thanks all, this information was very helpful. He detected minor cracks in both rear scupper holes, but decided to make the purchase anyways. For what he paid, even if the hull is a loss, I think he still comes out ahead.

Has anyone had experience with patching cracks in rear scupper holes? I'm reading that a West System G/flex 655, applied externally and internally, might do the trick. I'm wondering if it would be helpful to incorporate fiberglass cloth, too.

There were a couple of posts on that issue with a couple of yakkers in NCKA.  Not hard to repair if it is minor, can be more difficult if let go to long.

Here is a link to one of them: http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=54576.msg615111#msg615111 

and another:  Good Luck:

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=89748.msg1020261#msg1020261

There were a couple of posts on that issue with a couple of yakkers in NCKA.  Not hard to repair if it is minor, can be more difficult if let go to long.

Hey, thank you. This one is kinda a funny story. The 'buddy on the east coast' was actually me on the west coast; I had found a Hobie AI for a relatively small amount of money and didn't want to tip anyone off to the fact that there was one to be had around here. I traveled 3 hours one way to check out the boat, and identified what I thought were cracks. Because I was investing 6 hours into checking out the boat, and because it was priced pretty low, I made an emotional decision to buy the boat despite the apparent presence of cracks. I think I carried on the ruse of 'my buddy bought the boat' because I felt silly for buying a Hobie with an apparently leaky hull.

Anywho, after testing the scuppers in a variety of ways, I determined that the 'cracks' were not cracks and were instead seams. So, it turns out that I'm not just a dumb liar (for buying a leaky boat that I'd stated was on the east coast) -- I'm a dumb, lucky liar.

At least we can trust you with secret fishing spots and at the same time never believe you when you describe how huge the fish was. 

One easy way to test those scuppers is to eat copious amounts of asparagus a few hours before you plan to meet with the seller. Upon a cursory visual inspection proceed to pee all over the hull. Move the kayak a good distance from the testing site to the result determining location. Open all the hatches and smell for possible liquid incursion. If you find that a foul odor has penetrated to the interior of the kayak then kindly thank the seller for his/her valuable time and decline to purchase the kayak.

One easy way to test those scuppers is to eat copious amounts of asparagus a few hours before you plan to meet with the seller. Upon a cursory visual inspection proceed to pee all over the hull. Move the kayak a good distance from the testing site to the result determining location. Open all the hatches and smell for possible liquid incursion. If you find that a foul odor has penetrated to the interior of the kayak then kindly thank the seller for his/her valuable time and decline to purchase the kayak.

Remind me to never offer to sell you one of my kayaks... 

At least we can trust you with secret fishing spots and at the same time never believe you when you describe how huge the fish was. 

I wholly endorse this takeaway

So I'm new to the forum and wish I had my AI posted a while ago.  I'm so far away from being interested in sailing that I'm ready to sell this thing and move to a PA.