At last! Time to have some fun!

Yay, look what made it to OKC today!



Of course the irony is we've had several weeks of absolutely gorgeous, record-breaking-warm weather - and today it got cold! Looks like I may have a couple chances, perhaps Friday or Sunday, to get out before the real arctic stuff arrives again next week. (Saturday looks picture-perfect, but other plans interfere...)

Got it home and set it up in the driveway - the tree and the wind kept me from unfurling the sail, but it sure is pretty! A real bright spot on this gloomy day!



One concern was whether it would fit in my garage. It does - just barely! Have to angle it sideways, and get just enough room to close the door.




I helped unload the Hobie truck when it arrived this morning, was looking at all the other boxes. Gave the guy my condolences, he's headed right into the worst of the cold and winter. Indianapolis IN, Columbus OH, said his last stop is in Connecticut!

Congrats. That TI looks so good in that driveway of yours.

Winter....pffff..... You're gunna have to harden up Joe, now that you're a Hobie Islander. We sail in mid winter here. Not a problem.

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Don't take life too seriously................it ain't permanent.

I bought a wetsuit a month ago, been out in 40 degree weather no problem. (Of course our warm streak showed up right after I got it!) The issue today - and probably much of the next week - is the 25-30+ MPH winds. (40-48 km/h - or perhaps I should instead convert to 22-26 knots? )

Think I might prefer a slightly calmer wind for my first time out sailing...!

Next Monday / Tuesday it's also going to be snow, sleet, freezing rain.

Hopefully I can sneak away from work at noon Friday, or worst case go for a few hours Saturday morning before my prior commitment.

But yes, overall I'm a serious cold-weather wimp. Much happier sweating at 100F/38C than feeling the least bit cool on a winter day! The wetsuit really helps, especially if the sun is shining.

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Don't take life too seriously................it ain't permanent.

Wow - I'm impressed. That doesn't qualify as a "serious cold-weather wimp" in my book!

We went out this past Sunday with a water temp of 36 and the air temp in the low 40's. Had on wool long johns, a Kokatat Polartec dry suit liner, sweat pants, long sleeve T shirt, sweat shirt, wool hat and a dry suit. I wouldn't go as far as to say it was no problem. It was OK when the sun was out, but we were chilly each time a cloud shaded us.

We didn't plan on nor normally go out in that air temp. It was in the mid 60's inland and a SW wind of 10-15 kts forecast. We went out in the SW corner of Delaware Bay so should have been getting a nice warm land breeze. Surprise surprise! Got out there and could see the UD wind turbine still catching the SW wind, but we were catching an easterly 5 kt wind from the bay/ocean blowing over that mid 30's water for miles, thus the low air temp.

Slaughter, I just assumed you meant in July - when i'm sweating freely!

It took a lot for me to get myself out the door on that 40 degree morning, the past few winters (ever since a massive ice storm that left me without power for several days) I have been freezing my butt off anytime the outside temp drops below 60. Sometimes I'm feeling cold wearing sweats and a coat - while sitting in my house heated to 73F! Mostly psychological, that ice storm was MISERY.

When I get outside in the cold, I'm okay as long as I don't start feeling cool / cold. If that happens I'm just miserable even if I'm nowhere near the danger point. On that 40 degree day there was plenty of sunshine, and the wetsuit (a 4/3 thickness if I understand the terminology right?) is black so I was quite warm with all the activity I was doing - there was about 1 1/2" of ice on the river and I was playing "icebreaker" with my Outback!

I have also been out on an overcast day when it was in the upper 40s and that was - eh - tolerable (I knew I was in no danger) but somewhat uncomfortably cool. I wasn't having fun.


Looks like I'll have two chances to get the TI out, this afternoon and tomorrow morning. Supposed to be about 10-13 MPH winds and in the 50-60s both days, with ample sunshine. Hopefully I'll get an idea where I want to put things like the FF/chartplotter and can spend next week's miserable weather in the garage kitting out with accessories.

Also going to get with my parents - they have the tools and machinery to help me build some spray skirts and hakas.

You guys are giving me the chills just reading this.
The temps in So.Cal. were near 90 degrees F yesterday !
We're running the air conditioners to cool off !

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Salty, I'm about to go for a day sail in South Australia.
Forecast is 105.8 F but still comfortable as it is overcast.
13 to 21 knots (15-24 mph) so will have to do some reefing even in sheltered waters.
Hope that makes you feel warmer.

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Cheers, Brian in South Australia
Tandem Island -

Got it wet today! Fairly light wind, but had fun. A friend who already had an AI came along for the ride.



At one point we were cruising along side by side for a while and I thought "hey, pretty evenly matched". Then he said he was having to pedal to keep up!

Had some rather humorous incidents - such as not cleating the rear seat mainsheet well. We started out going downwind, so not much load on the sail. When I turned across the wind and started tightening up the sail - all hell broke loose, rope and sail flying everywhere! What the heck?!?! Good thing the TI is nice and stable, because I sure wasn't as I lumbered around getting the sheet rethreaded on the water!

Also had some serious frustration with the rudder control, but I got it working well enough to go out - then wound up talking with a Hobie rep while sitting in the middle of the lake! He thought he knew what my issues were and told me what to look for. No way I was delving into that on the lake, so will check things out tomorrow morning. What he said makes sense and explains some things I saw, so I'm confident that'll fix it.

Mine came from the dealer with a knot tied on each end of the main sheet so that can't happen.

Nice pic - looks much more comfortable than my last outing referenced higher up this thread

Yep, i quickly learned to add the knots! I won't blame that on the dealer - eager beaver that I am I was there when the boxes came off the truck (even volunteered to help with unloading - good GRIEF that PA17 was HEAVY!) and actually unpacked and assembled everything myself.

It was quite a nice day, warmed up to the mid-60s. Headed downwind as in the pic both of us had our jackets off, but once we turned around quickly decided we wanted them on. The increased wind was cool on its own, throw in some occasional sprays with 42 degree water...!

This morning I'm just thinking WOW, am I ever SORE! I wouldn't have thought sailing would be more physically demanding than paddling, but I haven't felt quite this sore in a long time paddling!

RandomJoe,
Congratulations on getting your Hobie TI .
Your enthusiasm for getting it setup and sailing it in cold weather is outstanding .
Also enjoyed your posted picture .
I look forward to reading up dates on your progress getting your TI
Setup the way you want it .
I am planning on getting a 2015 Hobie TI in late spring .
I am an avid sailor and love fishing salt and fresh from a kayak .
I am curious what kind of water will you be sailing ?

Respectfully,

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Rj
Hill Country Texas
Near Canyon Lake

Yeah... that was me. I had no idea you were actually on the water. Wondered why the volume seemed so low! Ha!

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

Muddy brown!

Pretty much just inland lakes. It's a fair distance to the coast for me, I'm a home body. Still, we have several nice large lakes in the area and it's often quite windy around here. I have one of the nicer sailing lakes in the area just 10 minutes from the house, although at the moment it's 12.5 feet low and all boat ramps are out of the water.

Have to go a few hours away to get to lakes that have (relatively) clear water. One of these years I might even make it down to Florida, Keith's pictures of his Everglades trips sure are tempting.



Oh, okay! I'm never very good at remembering names, but would have thought yours would click having seen it here so much... I keep the phone in one of those vacuum-pack dry bags, it works but I do have to yell. Kind of surprising, I can hear callers just fine.

Thanks for the help, your description of how things work led me right to the issue, as I posted over in the repairs section. I'm sure it'll be just fine now, though it'll be a week or two before the weather's decent enough to try again.