Couple of questions after 1st sail.

Finally got my TI all assembled and took it out yesterday, not much wind left by the time I got there, but enough to move it steadily. I had trouble launching from the kayak area because it stays shallow a few hundred feet and with little wind I could barely get going toward water. Kept trying to peddle, but too shallow. So on my first outting, I did this to my fins:

The shaft is not bent, it's just poking through the flexed fin. I really don't want to spend another $70 to replace a brand new fin, so how much can I expect to keep using this one? I'm guessing this isn't going to affect performance too bad and I want to sail more than peddle.

Secondly, I found it near impossible to steer from the front seat, where you have to sit to sail. I kept feeling like I was going to break the lines from so much pressure to turn. The rear steering works fine, but you can't sail from there. Any idea why the disparity? I had to realign the handles when I got it because they were severely off kilter. But all I did was loosen both screws and adjust the lines to straighten the handles, then re-tighten.

You can use the fin as is. Just pop the mast back in. You can melt the material for a repair (weld) or patch with a variety of materials. There are some posts about repairs... I will try to find for you. Turbo Fins are $29.99 if it needs replacement.

In shallow water keep one foot forward and take VERY short - quick strokes to flap the fins like a birds winds under the boat. This moves the boat with amazing efficiency, but keeps them up against the hull. Feet together points the fins straight down, so always keep one foot forward when in shallow water.

Steering and sheeting should be possible from both seats, same level of effort.
Make sure the rudder goes all the way down and cleat it there with tension on the line. Steering could be slower to respond, but the same effort on the handle if your weight is forward. Should be easier sitting in the back.

Check the routing of the mainsheet system. Both seats should have the ability to sheet the sail with the same purchase.

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

Both seats can operate the sheet, but both can't operate the centerboard. You can't (shouldn't) sail a centerboard sailboat without the centerboard.

I will try the shallow pedaling next time.

I thought the fins had to be bought in pairs. That's a better price for one.

My steering is definitely not the same. Nearly impossible in the front. I was by myself in the front seat and it felt like I was going to break it pulling so hard to turn. With two people, the rear steers easily.

That happened to 2 of my Turbo fins. Take the little key ring off and remove the metal pin. Pull the fin down a little bit past the hole and get the rod back inside the fin. Pull the fin up, re-insert the pin and secure with the key ring. You're good to go!

_________________
Legal Disclaimer: Any information provided should not be construed as legal, financial, medical or spiritual advice and may cause retina bleeding if read incorrectly.

Thanks, I wasn't having trouble getting it back in, I was just showing how much it's torn. I peeled it out for the picture. It pushes back in readily. But it comes out readily too. Like I've said before, if you don't break something, you're not really sailing.

If you use the aft handle... does the front one turn with it?

I would look at issues with the mechanics. Check that the handle in the front can turn without binding in it's bushing. Check for steering lines inside to be sure they are not hung up on internal components, foam blocks etc. A small digital camera placed inside the middle hatch can help you see what is going on.

Again, weight (only) forward will make it sluggish / slower to turn, but should not be harder to turn the handle. Again... unless the rudder is not all the way down. That would make it very difficult to steer.

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

I repaired tears in both my fins a couple of years ago with a rubber patch repair kit and they're still holding strong.

_________________

You know what? I have had nothing but trouble since I wasted $6000 on one of Hobie's boats, so if you tell me I am stupid for thinking I can't steer from one position, I guess you are right. I must be too freakin stupid to know if it's impossible to steer from the front as opposed to the rear. I am steering the SOB the way it was shipped, so if you ship them to steer jacked up, then I guess it's working perfect. If you ship them with a pile of crap inside the lines, I don't see it, but then that's cause I am a moron and can't see stuff inside a boat. I would look at issues with being screwed up the a$$, but then I'm just stupid, not like a customer who payed a fortune for a boat that doesn't steer right and had the steering jacked up when it arrived. Do you normally ship out boats where the steering handle is splayed out to the port side with the rudder in the center position? I guess you do and I am an idiot for questioning the wisdom of almighty Hobie.

I'm sure you don't know how much I wish I had been shipped out the original 2012 model I payed for and waited a month for. I so wish I could have been sent a boat that had no defects and worked right like it's supposed to so I could have used it last month when I had off on days. I so wish I could have been sent a boat that had the seats that were supposed to go with it so I wouldn't have had to wait for special plugs to make the seats stick to the holes in the boat. It must be me. I must be a moron for not knowing how to make seat plugs with lugs in them fit in smooth holes when the holes were designed for special retro fitted expanding plugs. Oh stupid me, Hobie is the master of all things kayak.

Oh how I wish I no longer had to hear Hobie's condescending attitude about how it's my fault the piece of cr@p boat they sent me is so jacked up that it had to be assembled by the customer and still is so defective that it won't operate properly. Oh, the service from this company is so great, Hobie will take care of anything that you have a problem with. Oh, I am so overjoyed that I blew all my money on this thing. Oh the sweet smell of rotomolded plastic.

I could go on, but I am tired and nobody's reading this anyway.

Madwand
Actually, people do read what you write.
Certainly, I can understand your frustrations.
You are not that far from a local dealer. Would it not be a better idea to take your boat to a local dealer and have him fine tune it.
Just a suggestion, buddy so you can get to doing what you bought the boat for in the first place - Having Fun!
Regards
Trinomite

_________________
Always looking for ways to make good things 'Gooder'

Madwand
I can't understand your frustrations. You've been offensive with almost every post, including this one. You want to blame Hobie when most of your issues are set up issues that a dealer would take care of. When you're offered assistance, you take offence. Please sell the boat, I'm sure you will find a willing buyer who will enjoy it since you don't seem to.

Sorry for your problems, Madwand. Some of it is bad luck; other things your dealer can take care of. While we can all understand your frustration, ranting at Hobie is unjustified. Hobie is one of the best at taking care of their customers. Please go to your dealer and insist they set it straight, or, as suggested just sell the thing to get some peace of mind.

Keith

_________________
2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon

Chekika
He actually does not have a 'real' dealer as he bought it online from OR. Hobie and the Oregon dealer tried their best to correct the issue. The rest is a long sorry tale....

However, if there is anything we can learn from this thread is that Hobie has gone to great length to provide a dealer network to take care of their clients.
There is a reason for that....simply to avoid all the nonsense that can happen without any dealer support system.
Simply buying a boat does not make the buyer an instant expert in fine tuning that boat, (especially if the boat was damaged in transit)
Yes Oregon has no sales tax, but after all is said and done, is all the crap really worth it, when a dealer in New Orleans could have set the boat up, done a demo for the client whilst also showed the client a few tricks in use and maint and saved all of us thousands of bytes of typing of something that should never have happened in the first place if the client would have simply supported his local Hobie Dealer!

I have had nothing but a pleasant experience from my dealer on Vancouver Island, Canada. The dealer, Alberni Outpost, delivered the boat to me the same day that I bought it. As an experienced boater I didn't need the lessons in assembly. Yet I'm sure that if I needed it, he would have been more than happy to help me in any way.

THAT, Madwand, is why MOST people buy from their local dealer. The money I put in his pocket will indirectly come back to me as a fellow member of our local community. That is also the reason why this dealer will get my repeated business....cause it's the best for all 3 of us:

- Me
- The Dealer
- The Hobie Corp

Regards
Trinomite

_________________
Always looking for ways to make good things 'Gooder'

I don't have the means to haul an 18 foot long box great length. My utility trailer is only 10 and just the few miles I had to go to get it from the delivery truck had it almost dragging on the ground.

My dealer, as I have said before has done nothing wrong here. Hobie screwed up when they sent me out a replacement hull under "warranty." A warranty boat is a bare hull. Maybe instead of sending me a box of nuts and bolts, they should have sent me a third hull that works from the factory and picked up their hull later. This was not my dealer's fault. It might have happened the same way with any other dealer I had chosen because they would have all been remote.

I don't know what assistance I've taken offence to other than Matt telling me all kinds of reasons the boat's not supposed to work right when I get it. I've appreciated everyone who gave me help when I asked about what things were and where things went and I told them so. Wouln't you be offended after you bought a car and had it delivered twice and then you had to start working on the engine? I bought a new boat because I wanted it to work right out of the box. It doesn't. Not my dealer's fault. Yes, maybe I can tow the thing to some other far away dealer now and have them look at it. Not really their problem either though.

Madwand :
Where do you live, there may be other Hobie owners in your immediate area that you could meet up with and network with or just go out sailing together. There are quite a few TI's in my area and a great dealer support network in the Tampa Florida area. Just meeting up with people with similar interests is very helpful and I know I have learned a lot from just going out and sailing with others. None of us are born with the skills needed to maintain and keep any technical boat in working order. All sail boats are a little technical and it takes time to learn the in's and outs of it all, and learning from others is the best way. If there is a local sailing club in your area, or even a kayak paddling club reach out and meet some of these people and talk to them. If you lived within an hour or two of me I would offer to come over and go out sailing with you for an afternoon. I'm sure there are lots of people in your area who would be more than willing to go out with you and have some fun and help you answering questions and showing how to sail upwind tighter, or how to do a suicide jibe in high winds safely. Or just simple things like pedaling in shallow water without damaging your mirage drives (learn by watching others, thats how I learned). Like I said earlier this knowledge of sailing and sail boats is not born into any of us, we all learn from doing and learning from others.
When I bought my boat the local dealer (an hour from me) has demo days once a month where you can go out and test drive all the different brands and models of boats of all types and answer any question we might have prior to purchase. When I did buy the boat the dealer met me at the park where I launch from (an hour from his store) and helped me set the boat up and showed me how everything works and spent about an hour explaining all the in's and outs of operation of the boat I see him out every weekend with new TI owners doing the same thing. Whenever I have any problems I just call George at Economy Tackle in Sarasota and he is more than willing to advise and help answer any questions. I once had steering problems and called him, he said just bring the boat over and we'll fix it, he re-ran the steering lines for me (no charge). Several times I have just walked into the dealer and just pointed to another boat like mine and asked how does this work, and they are more than happy to explain what it does and how to use it, or just say no you don't need that, do this instead.
You related this situation to buying a car, well if you bought a Chevy out of state and took it to your local dealer because the dome light doesn't come on, or there is a blemish on the paint they are not going to be as facilitating if you didn't buy the car from them. When we bought our Solstice thee dealer re-painted the front quarter panel on our new car and warranted it in writing for the life of the car (no charge), and spent a half a day chasing down why the dome light didn't go on (no charge), I don't think they would have done that if I had bought the car from a different dealer in the next town. Hobie didn't drive a fork lift into your original hull, and likely only found out about the situation when the shippers insurance company called and asked them to ship out a new replacement hull ASAP to this address because we f--ked up. I've read through most of this and feel Hobie is doing everything they can to help you here in this unfortunate situation (that they didn't cause, thats why they have a dealer network, most of us never see all this little (censored), the dealers just take care of it before we ever see the boat), it was you that decided to circumvent the system to save a couple bucks.
I suggest you sell the boat (you won't have any problems selling it) and just buy a wilderness kayak at Walmart (no moving parts, rudder cables, sail hardware, etc) and just have fun, unless your willing to work with others who are trying to help, your just going to end up bitter, and who needs that, life is too short.
Bob

I live near Baton Rouge, so anywhere on the Mississippi coast would be a reasonable distance for me. I would love to meet someone who has this boat and sail with them.

As for comparing this to an issue of having to work on a new car, I said you would not want to buy a new vehicle and have to work on the engine to make it run. The part about taking it to a dealer was a separate thing I said. I said I didn't think another dealer would want to look at my boat, but I could try.

I am certainly willing to take any constructive help I can find. But I am really not interested in taking the entire steering system apart from the inside.

The jacked up steering is part of the reason I have a broken fin now. I got stuck in some shallows where the rudder would have worked but I had no steering and I kept trying to paddle to stop from getting carried into a marsh.

Regarding the shipping, I was not complaining about the first boat that the shipping company damaged. It's the replacement hull that they sent me under warranty, that has been the problem. A warranty hull is a bare hull with many things missing. I didn't mind having to put a lot of stuff together, but when an entire system like steering doesn't work, that is just too much for me. It's not like the steering is an easy thing to work on.

I really do understand Hobie was trying to fix the initial shipping problem, but Hobie screwed up the fix. The woman who ordered the replacement hull screwed that order up and admitted she did so. What that left was me with a bare hull and total of a month before I had a useable boat. I am very grateful for Hobie trying. A mistake was made on their end. They even threw in an extra water bottle with the parts kit. I am paying for that mistake now. I still think Hobie is a great company. But that doesn't make my boat turn to starboard.

I don't want a kayak or some other boat with no moving parts. You paid the same amount as I did for your boat and your moving parts worked when you got it. Mine don't. That's no reason I should get something else. All I want is what I paid for.