Newbie to Hobie here. I sailed Sunfish and Force 5 boats before, but never had the opportunity to own a kayak until recently. I did some minimal kayaking with a school group in an estuary on the California coast and was HOOKED. I recently purchased a 2004-05 Hobie Mirage Tandem:
Did the picture come through?
Well, it is a light blue 13'11" long boat with Hobie decals. I checked the entire boat for a serial number, especially around the stern starboard side and underneath, to no avail. I purchased it Sunday, August 17th and told it was last used on Monday August 11th. The front person has a hatch cover at their feet that measures 6.5" in diameter. There are two small ones at the back person's feet that have 5.5" diameter covers, one right behind the back person that also measures 5.5" diameter, and one behind that that measures 9.5" diameter. The previous owner said he put in the largest hatch. He said he purchased it in 2009 and had been told it was 4-5 years old at that time. That makes it a 2004 or 2005 vintage. One Mirage Drive serial number is 34524 and the other is 33267. Can anyone confirm or deny the vintage?
We purchased it on Sunday, put it on top of the car (not easy loading it on a Toyota FJ Cruiser so I have been reading the car loading suggestions you have been posting over the past few years), went camping on Tuesday, took it off the car Tuesday afternoon, and had it on the water that day. It handled the white caps well, but had more water in the hull than I expected. After reading this forum I guess it didn't have too much water, so am not concerned.
By the way, why a Hobie? My better half didn't want a narrow unstable kayak. She also has two bad knees from too much skiing. We test-drove a 2014 Mirage at a local lake east of Sacramento, California where one of the local dealers was renting all types of Hobies. After an hour-plus of peddling her knees weren't hurting. In fact, they didn't hurt that night (they normally hurt every night) or the next day. We tried to get a doctor's prescription for a Hobie Mirage, but that was not going to happen.
Guess I have been more wordy than planned. Just wanted to introduce myself and my new toy.
