The long-awaited CompTip for the Hobie 21SE mast has finally arrived at Camp Parsons this weekend. This is a project that’s been in the works for the entire off-season, ever since the old CompTip (the 10-foot-long fiberglass upper portion of the mast) was damaged, along with one of the rudder blades, when the mast was unstepped at the end of last summer.
When it happened, I looked into purchasing a new rudder blade and CompTip from the Hobie dealership in Seattle, but the rudder blade was going for about $300, and a new CompTip would’ve cost us about $850. Fortunately it turned out that Brian Horch was able to fix the rudder blade himself (it looks brand new), but the CompTip was a completely different story.
Brian and I bounced around some solutions, but none of them were even close to adequate. The best one was that we could probably replace the entire mast with a Hobie 18 mast, which I could’ve gotten from the UW yacht club, but it would’ve been much shorter than a Hobie 21 mast, and we would’ve had to find a sail for it. Not only that, but the boat would never again sail as well as did before, which is a sad fate to befall a boat that is widely considered among Hobie enthusiasts to be the best model that Hobie ever produced.
Brian and I bounced around some solutions, but none of them were even close to adequate. The best one was that we could probably replace the entire mast with a Hobie 18 mast, which I could’ve gotten from the UW yacht club, but it would’ve been much shorter than a Hobie 21 mast, and we would’ve had to find a sail for it. Not only that, but the boat would never again sail as well as did before, which is a sad fate to befall a boat that is widely considered among Hobie enthusiasts to be the best model that Hobie ever produced.
For a few months, we looked on Craigslist for any local Hobie 21SE that was being parted out, but that search turned up nothing—which isn’t surprising, because Hobie only produced the 21SE for about five years before replacing it with the vastly inferior Hobie 21 Sport Cruiser model. Brian posted to Hobie’s online forum asking if anyone knew where to find one, and felicitously enough, a gentleman in Sarasota, Florida replied very quickly, saying that he had a 21SE CompTip that he was trying to get rid of.
He initially offered to give it to us, as long as we footed the shipping cost, but then he asked for $100, which was just fine. I sent him the check, but there was a slight delay, because he wasn’t sure how to box it (I suggested a local shipping store), and he wasn’t sure how he was going to transport it to be boxed. He eventually worked it out, however, and took it to be boxed at a store in the neighboring city of Bradenton.
He initially offered to give it to us, as long as we footed the shipping cost, but then he asked for $100, which was just fine. I sent him the check, but there was a slight delay, because he wasn’t sure how to box it (I suggested a local shipping store), and he wasn’t sure how he was going to transport it to be boxed. He eventually worked it out, however, and took it to be boxed at a store in the neighboring city of Bradenton.
I got to know the manager of that store fairly well over the next month or so. He offered to arrange the shipping for us and said that his store had a discount with FedEx. However, that “discount” still left the price at $550 to ship directly to camp, and not much less to ship to Seattle. There was no way I was going to convince anyone at camp to spend that much money, so I shop around and look into other freight services. I had heard UPS freight might be cheaper, but it turned out to cost even more. It was the same case for every other carrier too.
I was beginning to worry that the CompTip was going to sit in that Bradenton store forever. But then Mike came up with the idea of having Tom Rogers fly it back to Seattle on his plane—an elaborate solution, but a pretty cool one. The trick, however, was figuring out how to get the CompTip from Bradenton to Orlando Int’l Airport. The airport rules were such that the package couldn’t simply be shipped there—someone would have to drop it off at the airport shipping facility in person.
Tom had the idea of calling another pilot friend of his who lives in Tampa and commutes frequently between Tampa and MCO. Tampa, however, turned out to be a pretty long jaunt from Bradenton, let alone from Tampa to Bradenton to Orlando, and that friend had a busy flight schedule and didn’t have much time for this detour. Tom’s father-in-law also passed away during this time, so he was also taking some time off from the world in order to take care of his family.
I was beginning to worry that the CompTip was going to sit in that Bradenton store forever. But then Mike came up with the idea of having Tom Rogers fly it back to Seattle on his plane—an elaborate solution, but a pretty cool one. The trick, however, was figuring out how to get the CompTip from Bradenton to Orlando Int’l Airport. The airport rules were such that the package couldn’t simply be shipped there—someone would have to drop it off at the airport shipping facility in person.
Tom had the idea of calling another pilot friend of his who lives in Tampa and commutes frequently between Tampa and MCO. Tampa, however, turned out to be a pretty long jaunt from Bradenton, let alone from Tampa to Bradenton to Orlando, and that friend had a busy flight schedule and didn’t have much time for this detour. Tom’s father-in-law also passed away during this time, so he was also taking some time off from the world in order to take care of his family.
After about a month, the store manager was starting to get impatient, so I got permission from Mike to have him FedEx the CompTip to Max Frisch, who’s now living in St. Cloud, and who of course said he would be happy to drop it off at MCO for us, even though he had just traded in his big old Suburban for a little new Kia. The freight shipment from Bradenton (western Florida) to Max’s mother’s office in Orlando (central Florida) surprisingly cost $219, despite the fact that it was business-to-business.
It seemed like everything was finally ready to go, but when Tom went to make the arrangements with Alaska Airlines, he discovered that there was this thing called the “known shipper” list, and he wasn’t on it. So things halted for about month while Tom underwent the ordeal to get approval to ship cargo. The process even included having a TSA guy come to Tom’s house to verify that he did in fact live at that address.
Finally, Max called me last Monday and said that he had dropped off the package at the airport that morning (he had to wake up at 5:00 a.m. to get it there) and that the plane was leaving for Seattle that day. Grand total for the shipment: $24.
Tom picked it up from SEA two days later, but he wasn’t sure if he would be able to come to the work party last weekend. Come Saturday, however, there he was, CompTip in hand. Brian and I took it out of its box, and lo and behold, it was the right part, it was in very good condition, and it fit into its slot on our mast perfectly.
Tom picked it up from SEA two days later, but he wasn’t sure if he would be able to come to the work party last weekend. Come Saturday, however, there he was, CompTip in hand. Brian and I took it out of its box, and lo and behold, it was the right part, it was in very good condition, and it fit into its slot on our mast perfectly.
So it's been a long, rough, and expensive journey, but one that was entirely worthwhile. This is the coolest and one of the most valuable boat in camp, and it will be a thrill, not just for me personally, but hopefully for a scads of scouts and staff members this summer and in the future as well, to have that boat back in action. Thank you to everyone who played a part in this adventure!
Oh, it was quite the advernture for those who participated!
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