Jeff,
Sorry this reply got to you so late. I suspect the reason you have not received any replies is because there are not many places that rent Hobies. I used to know of one in Newport Beach, CA, but they stopped renting them because people who did not know what they were doing (primarily their entire rental pool) would damage the very expensive mirage drives. It became cost-prohibitive.
I suspect your best bet is to either find someone on this forum near you that would meet you to let you try one out, or get ahold of your local dealer and see if or when they are holding a "Demo Day." Maybe they will hold one for you upon your request in the interest of serving their local paddling community (by introducing someone new to the activity) and perhaps even getting a sale
Hope this helps