Water pouring in through the rudder line holes

I went on a long voyage in my Hobie Oasis yesterday. I was riding solo with gear in the front. The stern did sit low, and the bow was higher, because there was not a person in the front. I noticed when the waves caused the bow to lift, the rudder line holes would submerge.

As a result an excessive amount of water entered the hull.

What can be done about this? I weigh 215 lbs, I guess I should put more weight in the front when solo. Is there anything that can be done to keep the water out of the rudder line holes? This is poor engineering on Hobie's part.

Do you still have the battery and Minkota trolling motor mounted?
If so, I wonder if the battery weight could be moved forward somehow, to use as balast in the front, like stringy said in this thread/link below, and wires run through the hull to the motor in back.
http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewt ... ght=#61325

Do the rudder control lines run through tubes on that model?

I didn't have the trolling motor yesterday. I agree the battery would be a good ballast when I do have it. I guess the solution is to weigh down the front.

I was wondering if I could get some vacuum hose or some sort of tubing. Feed the lines though the hose or tubing. Then seal the tubing or hose where the lines enter the kayak.

The boat is a tandem and has to balance on its lines with two aboard. We have simple weight balancing guidlines for all tandems when used by a solo pedaler.

http://www.hobiecat.com/kayaking/tandem_capacity_popup.html

It would be impossible to design a tandem mirage that can have a mid seat (balanced solo) position, so the solo user has to sit aft. Balancing weight in the forward seat area is required.

Beyond that, there is a rudder line upgrade you can do to seal the tubes. Starting in mid 2008 we added an "o" ring inside each steering and up/down control line tube. The assembled tubes and spare line is available as a kit # 80020001

There are a number of posts about other solutions including a squirt of silicone, grease into the existing tubes.

The tubes were never intended to be submerged, but we understand that in some conditions this does happen.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)