Hobie Islands - Insights for New Owners

I have a AI and in high wind the bow tends to go toward the wind I don't know how the TI behave it will be interesting to hear from the owner of the TI. I also wonder my AI is a 2010 model with the twist and stow I will think that the new rudder being longer is probably more efficient in high wind condition ?
Dan

That's weather helm and it is desirable in a sailboat for safety. Adjusting the Reefing of the sail should minimize the effect in different wind strengths.

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Hobie Island Sailing since 2006

Some of the useful things that I have learned when sailing my TI are:

Docking Lines:
I have attached docking lines front and back (I attached mine to anchor cleats I installed on the aka frames) They are very useful if you use boat ramps for launching/retrieving

Dry Storage - Hobie livewell
After getting tired of storing things in drybags and having to retrieve them from the hull and unroll them/roll them up again each time I needed something on the water I took a different approach. I had a livewell that was not not getting used so I removed the rod-holders and accessories and plugged up all the holes with silicon and made a watertight storage container that sits perfectly in the rear of the TI and gives me perfectly dry storage which is easily accessible from the rear seat (where I do most of my sailing from).

Self bailing scuppers
Not my original idea but I followed others on this forum who modified the scupper plugs with little valves from siphon pumps and its the best $5 investment I have made in my TI - I used to be sitting in water after a while (the TI handles act as a scoop - see note on this). Now all water drains very quickly and there is no water build up in the seat areas.

Water scoops on TI
On my TI model (2012) the depressions under the handles act as water scoops and dump water into the seat area as you sail. A quick and easy solution is to cut some styrofoam to shape (I used pool noodles) and just stuff them in there from the bottom side and that will stop the scooping action.


Downwind sailing
Any AI/TI sailor will quickly discover that in downwind sailing in light winds the sail is going to flap around without a boom. Lots of different ideas on the forum to tackle this - For me I chose to use two adjustable bungie cord straps attached to the AMA handles and just clip the appropriate one to the sail clew and adjust the length for tension. It's cheap and improves the downwind sailing quit a bit without having to hold anything.

Trampolines
I don't use them all the time but when I am launching from ramps with docks or taking small children out on the boat the tramps are great. Although I don't have a dog, many AI/TI owners take their dog out with them and the trampolines are perfect for that.

Beach Shade
When I know I am going to land on a beach and have a picnic lunch the Sport Umbrella as described by others here goes with me, strapped to akas. Getting a little bit of shade on the beach makes a difference and these sportbrellas are compact and easy to take along.

Paddle Steering
One day, when you least expect it the rudder may fail and despite 3 means of propulsion on the Islands, the loss of the rudder will largely prevent you from getting home safely if you cannot steer the craft. So every now and then, in a safe bay, I practice lifting the rudder out of the water and steering the TI with just a paddle which I always carry on board. Steering with a paddle is difficult and you should learn how to use it before you need to do it get home safely.

Rudder Lockdown
The Hobies have a rudder lockdown "feature" to keep the rudder operating efficiently in the water. If you fail to ensure your rudder is fully locked down, even just a little bit, the performance of your boat will be terrible and almost impossible to steer. I learned this the hard way and was convinced I had a seized rudder, until I tugged on the "down" line just a little bit harder and suddenly steerage was back to normal.

Furling the sail
There's nothing macho about not feeling you are in control of your craft. The roller Furling sail is the means by which you can exercise some control over the wind forces, and to that extent it is your accelerator and brake. The quickest way to bring a TI/AI under control in strong winds, in most circumstances, is to furl the sail until you have just enough to provide you steerage or to stop when fully furled. In addition, for Newbies, the furling sail can be considered your training wheels. Practice letting out just a little sail at first and then more sail gradually as you become confident in both your ability and that of the Hobie. Do this under different conditions until you get a sense of what is comfortable.

Complete the loop
One day when sailing I went to furl the sail and the furling line had somehow come out of the cleat and was dangling around the front of the kayak. No harm on that occasion but I later read on the forum that most people tie the end of the furling line to the end of the sheet - for newbies that's the rope (usually black) that you pull on to release (unfurl) the sail. I found that a sheet bend was the simplest and easiest to work with and by doing this it forms a closed loop between the Sheet and the Furling line so you never have to fumble for the furling line when you suddenly need it. Here's a link to doing a sheet bend http://www.netknots.com/rope_knots/sheet-bend/


Safe handling your boat at the beach
Never allow your AI/TI to get between yourself (or a passenger/crew) and the waves while it is still in the water on a beach. This goes for both landing and launching on beaches (and unprotected boat ramps). The force of even a fairly small wave acting on your craft will pick up your AI/TI and slam it into you. The fully rigged weight of a Tandem Island (without any load) is 190lbs and that's a lot weight being tossed at you.

These are just some of the things I have learned as a Newbie - hope it helps some others.

Happy Sailing !

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Life is the Journey - not the Destination

Lot's of good information here, very useful thread.

I was wondering if anyone uses 303 Aerospace Protectant on their boat and finds it useful. I found a few old posts about it but not many recent ones. It would be great if Bob (fusioneng) could chime in on this

Update on Sportbrella:
I have used mine on two outings and love the utility and ease of use of this product. But : The storage cover on mine is already coming apart in two places. The extension pole can slide completely out of the main pole if not locked by or behind the adjustment knob. I can imagine it's pointed end launching like a torpedo from the side of my boat . I think I may drill a hole through the extension so it can be locked more securely by the adjustment knob which is already a bit long.

Unable to resist the urge to buy gadgets for my future TI I now own this Bluetooth/waterproof, rechargeable speaker.
:https://ecoxgear.com/ecostone/
It sounds great and has a lot of features. I like the solitude of the outdoors but it's sure nice to pedal along to some music sometimes.

After much forum reading I have settled on 1 1/2" (38 mm ), grey pvc conduit for bunks on my TI trailer ( instead of cradles ). They will rest across 4 cross bars made of 2" (50mm) steel tubing and attach with some yet to be determined adjustable brackets. The outer two cross bars are 12 Ft. apart and there is a second level above for my Revo 13 and or storage box. The trailer will be 19 Ft. long with 18" reserved in front of the bow for a stop, winch and hopefully the spare tire. This should give me 12" of overhang at the stern under which I'm hoping to mount a cradle dolly on some yet to be determined hardware. It's interesting trying to do this without a boat to look at but the forum has been a ton of help.

Chris

Chris:
I'm probably am the biggest cheapskate there is when it comes to that kind of stuff. That 303 protectant is uber expensive, it's nice stuff and does a nice job but I just use the same stuff I use on my cars, plain old armorall, a 28 oz bottle is only six bucks or so and 1 bottle lasts a long time. All those products are very similar, they have a uv blocker in them that works like suntan lotion, basically suntan lotion blocks uv for a short period of time, and gets burned up over time, that's what the SPF number is based on. Think of 303 as SPF 50 really expensive suntan sport lotion, and the armor all as plain old copper tone SPF 40. They both do the job just fine, you just need to re-apply the cheaper stuff a little more often.
On all the black anodized metal on my TI (aka bars, etc), when I first bought the boat I clear coated everything with a clear coat of Krylon spray paint, which really helps on the corrosion. Also any areas of the bars that are susceptible to handling scratches I just wrapped them in black 3m electrical tape (like you would wrap bike handlebars). These little things were huge to making the boat look good for a longer period of time, especially in salt water.
My boats are anything but pristine, I go for function over looks.
Hope this helps
Bob

I use 303 or the Hobie brand on my sails to greatly prolong their life. On the hull, it can make it quite slippery so I don't use it.

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Hobie Island Sailing since 2006

Thanks Bob and Bob
I like the idea of using it on the sail.
Bob (fusioneng)) , does Armorall/303 do anything other than block UV ? I have been under the impression from all the Armorall marketing that it in some way adds something back, "Renews and Revitalizes", to plastic that is lost with age or weather/sun. It seems to restore color some but I would count this as cosmetic, maybe just a side effect of the slick residue it leaves. Been dying to ask a plastics expert about this.

Thanks
- Chris

What can be use on the sail ? the window part of it , mine is cover with salt spray and make it hard now to see through it. I Used water and soap before but did not made any difference .
Dan

Chris:
Really good question that requires a long answer (sorry in advance).
All plastics and rubbers are made of very long chemical chains (like your DNA). What happens over time is some of the binders ( like oil compounds )evaporate and degrade and the chains break down. UV light penetrates into the plastic and accelerates breaking down those chains. If you have something to block the uv this will retard the uv breakdown. Carbon black is the colorant used on pretty much all black plastic and blocks uv better than anything, this is why I always recommend if you have any plastic out side always make sure it black.
Even with uv protection the surface of the plastic is still going to have some evaporation of the oil binders, adding a coating like 303 retards some of that evaporation (like adding a pool cover to your pool). The whole trick is to add it often enough to have it evaporate rather tan the oil binders in the molecules. Think of it like a coat of house paint, it takes all the abuse, protecting what is underneath, but needs to be re-applied often.
Sails are normally made from Dacron (polyester) which is terrible when it comes to uv degradation, any thing you can put on to protect it will help with 303 or Hobies spray being the best. Sails are extremely expensive and uv rays are like x-rays they penetrate completely through almost all plastics, especially thin plastic sails. I know first hand that if I leave my sails in the sun, just a few days of direct sun exposure in Florida destroys them (another reason sail bags are usually black (uv goes right thru everything else).
Think of putting 303 on your sails the same as putting sun tan lotion on yourself. Plus think of a towel, if it gets wet, the water soaks in and is trapped, 303 displaces the moisture and doesn't allow the water to soak into the cloth which creates all it's own problems (if you ever left a wet towel in your hamper, you know what happens).
Hope this helps
Bob

So Bob, are you recommending wiping dry sails with Armorall? Including the clear parts? If so, I will do it straight away...

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Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker

I don't know, haven't tried it on my sails, I use it on everything else though, seems to do a nice job especially here in florida's hot sun.
I keep my sails out of the sun, and wash and dry them after every outing by hanging them in the garage with fans on them (humidity and mildew is really bad here).
So I have not tried it on my sails.

Actually I have about tons of sailcloth laying around all the time (just bought 250 sq ft for my new main wing sail), I will spray one swatch up with 303, one with armor all, and leave one alone then just leave them out in the Florida sun for a couple weeks and let everyone know the results.
Bob

Thanks Bob, I would love to see the effect on a clear plastic piece as well.

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Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker

I second this, very anxious to see what transpires.

Thanks Bob great information.

I'm thinking about adding a 6" pvc pipe sail carrier to my trailer. I found these cast aluminum doors and brackets at Northern Tool for 6" PVC.
I had considered just splitting a piece of pipe to use as a cradle for the sail in bag to sit in but after what Bob has said about UV damage I like the idea of the enclosed pipe. I will have to think of a way to add some ventilation that will also keep bugs out. Here in Texas it would become a wasp/roach habitat pretty quickly even in my garage.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ ... _200329433

Sunbrella ad nauseum :
The Sunbrella has several grommet attachment points and is provided with some small tent stakes to tie it down. They are not very useful on the rocky shoreline of my nearby lakes. I cut some 1 sq. ft. pieces of nylon cloth and installed a grommet in the corner. At the lake yesterday I piled a few rocks on them and tied the sunbrella to the grommets. It worked nicely, is lightweight and takes up little space on the boat.

- chris

As a new owner I thought this would be the best place for the first post. We love the boat, it is the most comfortable, easy to rig sailboat ever. Having been away from hobies for about 20 years we are finding out how much we missed sailing. Now onto some questions.
-Where should the trailer cradles be under the boat? I want to make sure it is properly supported.
-My wife has taken the back seat and gets hit in the head by the mainsheet block on every tack. She is learning to duck but is there some trick to avoid this?
-Getting wet when the wind picks up is part of the fun, but it is getting colder here in PA and we are wondering what gear is most effective to keep warm. A waterproof top is obvious, but for the lower half is a wetsuit or waterproof pants recommended.
-Bought this boat(2013) from a dealer but the rudder was not set up well. Tons of slop. I took most of the play out but was warned by the dealer that a certain amount of slack in the rudder lines is necessary. Yes I am making sure the rudder is down all the way and locked. Not liking the rope system at all, I see a hydraulic conversion as a future project.
-Finally, any other owners in the southeast PA/ NJ area? We sail at Lake Nockamixon, a beautiful local state park. Getting tons of thumbs up from other sailors but it would be nice to sail with other islands too.