Maiden voyage of my TI

Didn't go so well. Had to get a tow back in. My fault. Lessons learned:

1. Take the dang hobie wheels off the bottom of the boat when you go out!

2. Make sure the mirage drives work. Both of mine on one side of the flippers the pin broke through the hole it goes through in the black plastic thing that holds the flipper on!

3. So had to paddle and sail back in, but i forgot to let the center board down and couldn't turn around. Wind kept blowing me back whenever I managed to paddle the boat with wind abeam.

I wonder if the MD can be fixed.

TC

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I'd rather have a bottle in front of me, than a frontal lobotomy!

Minah! You only made one real mistake. Shoulda done all that first on the dealer's demo!

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The Wind Is Your Friend...

Bought it used.

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I'd rather have a bottle in front of me, than a frontal lobotomy!

Sorry that you had such a disappointing outing! It can only get better... Don't worry about your Miragedrives, all their parts can be serviced/replaced, so you should be able to bring them right back up to scratch.

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

I think most of us have forgot to take the scupper cart out from under the boat at least once. In my case I was out for at least an hour tryin to figure out why the boat was so slow, it wasn't till I came back in that I found the scupper cart under the boat (DAH). It wasn't my first rodeo either, didn't share that one with anybody.
I have never heard of those plastic clips breaking before ( I've been using my mirage drives weekly since 2007, It had to be some friek accident . With Mirage drives you naturally develop a light foot where if a fin touches the bottom your foot knows to stop rather than trying to pedal thru (this is when damage occurs). Whenever I'm in shallow water I always shallow pedal (pedal with one foot forward and one back, having the fins flutter like butterfly wings (never pedaling thru center when in shallow water). We are able to pedal thru water as shallow as 6-8 inches successfully without damage to the mirage drives.
Another thing we always do is whenever we are approaching shallow water I instruct the passengers to place the bungy onto the pedal, forcing/locking the fins against the hull where they are reasonably safe (we even sometime beach with the drives in and locked against the hull)
Hope this helps
Bob

Thanks for the tips.

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I'd rather have a bottle in front of me, than a frontal lobotomy!

Sounds like the Mirage drives were not in correctly. If the are cocked forward instead of each end sitting square in place (easy to do wrong on the water with the old drives/hull). Any pedaling with the rear high will pull (rip?) the rear drive flipper out. Since my first sail almost 9 years ago, I install the drives on land to be sure I do it right.

If you use a cart, I find it easiest to install the drives while sliding it off the truck/car rack or trailer. If the flipper isn't ripped, you should be able to disassemble and reassemble as new. If not, you will need new fin(s). Look at the price single vs the kit with replacement masts and a few other little parts.

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Hobie Island Sailing since 2006

I did have trouble putting the drive in. I don't think I ever got it in. I tried with the boat in the water at the dock. I would just not click in. The other drive was left in the car, and had the same damage. I've never used it. The boat was bought used.
I will take it to Stan at windward boats this weekend.

Only other problem is the furling line is too short to reach back to the rear seat when the sail is out. There was a smaller diameter piece of line that came with this TI that I tied to the furling with a surgeon's knot. Problem is, I then have to untie it to take down the mast.

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I'd rather have a bottle in front of me, than a frontal lobotomy!

Tcul:
Your furling line is fine (this is normal).
The main black sail control line is a single really long rope with each end of that rope sticking at each seat position thru the cleats. Most of the time when planning to sail from both the front or the back seat most people have about the same length of the black line sticking out thru the cleats.
However if you want to be able to furl and unfurl the sail from the back seat. What most do is release the front cleat and pull a liitle extra rope out of the back position (making the front rope very short) once it is pulled very short in the front cleat it down (you won't be using it).
Now take the now much longer rear black sail control line and tie the end to the end of the furling line with a simple knot (any knot will do).
Now you can furl and unfurl the sail all while sitting in the back seat.
This is the way most people do it.
Hope this helps
Bob

You put in at the MCBH?

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The Wind Is Your Friend...

Yeah, I launch from the MCBH dry storage lot. Going again tmw.

I broke the rear flipper (near adjustment screw) on the drive by not seating it right. Luckily, I have another one. Live and learn.

I will tie furler line to sail sheet. Good idea!

Thanks guys.

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I'd rather have a bottle in front of me, than a frontal lobotomy!

If it makes you feel any better, we also bought our boat used this summer, and, like you, had to figure it out on our own -- and we've made a large number of silly rookie mistakes. In another thread, I copped to forgetting to put the drain plug back in last time we went out -- and our new bilge pump came in handy!

Our maiden voyage took the cake, though. We launch from our local yacht club, and as we're the first TI in the area, we attract a crowd every time we go out. This very first trip, we managed to get the boat off the trailer and into the launch bay and started peddling -- but we weren't going anywhere. The launch is at the far west end of the docks, and there's a hella east current ... we didn't have paddles, and we were peddling like mad but just going in a circle while being pulled between this long line of big, expensive sailboats. Being the one who reads the freakin' manual, I'm sure we're going to bash an ama against one of these big boats and not only piss someone off royally, but snap an aka pin before we even got out of the docks -- and THEN how the heck were we going to get back to the launch ramp?

Through process of elimination, we learned that when Robert pedaled we spun in one direction, and when I pedaled the opposite. Somehow with teamwork we managed to execute a Y turn in between that line of big boats. I stopped pedaling and let Robert do the work and soon we were on a set course away from the docks and out into open waters, to the sound of applause from the on-shore audience.

When we were safely away from obstacles we did a quick experiment -- and that's how we learned that it is possible to install a mirage drive with the larger numbers toward you and pedal the boat backwards! However, I do recommend that both passengers install their drive the same way, as it turns out that working at odds to your partner may be good exercise, but does not make for efficient travel in any direction!

Someday I need to start a thread of Stupid Rookie Mistakes to spare some other poor newbies.

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........~ media1der ~........
............. Chris .............
2013 Hobie Tandem Island
--- Muskegon Yacht Club ---

A few weeks ago I launched my TI from a trailer at a boat dock for a solo sail. Got the boat tied up to the dock, got in, moved away from the dock and extended the amas. It was somewhat windy so things were happening fast. As soon as I let out a little sail, the boat heeled.. and the upwind ama simply dropped off.. I had forgotten to bungee the amas to the akas...

I sure did look like a goof ball trying to get the boat back to together.. but I did..

*Groan* Yeah, I did that once. Naturally, as is my fate, I had to have a most appreciative audience! Nothing ever goes wrong when I'm by myself at the ramp. That day there was an entire high school science class at the ramp and dock doing something with little fish nets along the shore line!

That was the only time I tried launching the TI with the amas folded in. Of course on the trailer they were held on by the cradles. Sliding into the water they stayed on. As I got ready to leave I sat on one side of the main hull, the far-side akas angled up - and the ama just started floating away!

I managed to grab it before it got too far away - let's hear it for boat ramps in nicely protected coves! - but I put on an entertaining show for the kids...

The way our launch ramp is set up at the club, there's just no good way to get the boat off the trailer and turned around to head out from the launch bay, and backing out and navigating a Y turn is just more dinking around than it's worth. We've learned the best way for a (nearly) foolproof launch is for Robert to back the trailer up and me to ease the boat off and into the water. He goes and parks the car and trailer while I hold the boat on a leash, then we pull the boat around the launch bay backwards, then pull it around in the water to the nearby beach. Once the TI is beached and facing outward, we can step up the sail easier, set the amas, and do a quick test and check before hopping on board and pushing out.

... and all of this gives me a huge respect for you guys who do it all as a one person operation. I suppose it would be possible to tie the boat in the launch bay for a few minutes while parking and come back and complete the same steps alone. And we probably will at some point, but sadly our sailing season in Michigan is about to be cut short all too soon, so it will probably be next year.

Unless one of you guys has figured out how to rig the TI as an iceboat.

~cfw

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........~ media1der ~........
............. Chris .............
2013 Hobie Tandem Island
--- Muskegon Yacht Club ---