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Dear Hobie,
I've been enjoying my 2010 Outback since the spring. While my initial outing was disappointing due to lack of speed, once I found the turbo fins, my fears were calmed. As a former cyclinst, I'm truely enjoying the innovative mirage drive and the stability of the kayak, even with my 90lb lab on the back. We've been exploring our duck hunting locations, but have already destroyed a pair of turbo fins in doing so. The waters we pedal are varied and include non-tidal rivers and inland tidal rivers with lots of underwater obstructions. The problem I'm having is bent fin rods due to grounding in shallow water. On two outings I've run aground with no warning. The fins were in the full down position and I had no way of releasing the pressure. As I moved forward in the kayak to release the entire drive, my weight just put more pressure on the fin rods. This resulted in two bent rods, both bent aft at the upper end (near the threads). Also, both rods protruded out of the side of the fin near the terminal end. What the fins need is a spring mechanism at the upper end that would allow the entire fin to flex if bottoming out, rather than the rod bending. Secondly, if the rod didn't extend all the way to the tip of the fin, it might prevent the rod from protruding out the side of the fin when the fin sweeps across a shallow bottom. Thanks for a very cool boat and hope you can make these changes that would make an even more pleasurable ride. I'd be more than happy to test anything you design.
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