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PostPosted: Sun Aug 21, 2022 3:53 pm 
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I hate to spend the $$ for a trailer & license when I’m not going far to launch. The lake is just down the street, less than a mile away. I have a VW Thing and can get a roll bar to use with T kayak lift assist. Or I can buy a hobie dolly and pull it with a bike possibly? I’m 5’3” and an older female so not super strong. Welcome suggestions.


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 22, 2022 4:09 am 
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Get the trailer, they're not that expensive. You said you're 5’3” and an older female and not super strong, so a trailer is going to be a lot less expensive than wrecking your back. I speak from experience.

Distance is not the issue, it's getting the AI on and off a car top or other non-trailer setup that's the problem. It's going to be difficult and you won't like it. I car-topped a 160-lb kayak for a while and it was miserable, the AI weighs even more. At nearly 200 lbs and very bulky, it realistically needs at least two people to make it work, but if you're solo it's very difficult. Unless you're big and strong, you shouldn't be trying to muscle a 200-lb kayak on top of a car by yourself. Most VW Things don't even have the capability to car top and you can't put it inside, so without a trailer, I don't know what you can do. The bike doesn't sound realistic to me unless it's a powerful e-bike, and those cost a lot more than a trailer.

If you don't want to spend the money for a nice galvanized boat trailer, then Harbor Freight sells a decent utility trailer for $500 that you can convert to carry the AI if you have some minor DIY skills. By the time you invest in a suitable kayak list assist or other such carriers, you'll have spent nearly the same or even more.

I once converted a Harbor Freight trailer for transporting and launching a Zodiac boat with a 25HP motor, which is even heavier than the AI. It worked great for years.


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 22, 2022 6:04 am 
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Thank you for giving me a reality check on what works best!


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 22, 2022 6:05 am 
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Joined: Thu Aug 21, 2014 6:43 am
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Location: Chalfont Pa
There is a way to do it, but given your age and strength it will not be fun. Especially after a day of sailing. I modified a ladder with pvc tube to carry a hobie ti. With a pulley system. The back of the ladder swings down and the boat gets winched up. You could do the same thing with the roll bar as a hinge point. It would take a bit of engineering, some changes in design during the process and still require a decent amount of strength. I would post pictures but on this site it has to be hosted somewhere. If you join the facebook hobie group I can share some shots. The design works and is the only way we can take the TI on campong trips when pulling a travel trailer.


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 22, 2022 6:26 am 
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Thanks for letting me know about FB Hobie group- following it now! Would love to see your photos for options.


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 22, 2022 9:08 am 
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Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2012 5:30 am
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Location: Gulf Shores, Alabama
I also travel less than 1/4 mile to where I typically launch and use a utv (but now am switching to a golf cart) to tow a trailex trailer with my TI. It's good having a trailer because you'll eventually want to take your TI to other locations.

An important factor with trailers is the weight of the trailer. Trailex is lightweight aluminum and I've towed mine all over the United States with absolutely no problems. It's light enough that I can lift the tongue easily to wheel it around the yard. I installed a winch on it which makes dragging the TI out of the water super easy. Just put the bow of the TI on the back of the trailer and crank the winch up to get it on the trailer.

When I was shopping for trailers awhile ago my dealer recommended a steel trailer he sold. It was super heavy and not easy to move around or lift. It would have been a huge mistake if I had listened to the dealer trying to sell his brand. Trailex is a little more money but I really like it.

Jim


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 22, 2022 9:20 am 
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Thanks for the great suggestions!


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 22, 2022 2:29 pm 
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Location: Chalfont Pa
SailerPenny wrote:
Thanks for letting me know about FB Hobie group- following it now! Would love to see your photos for options.

Ask the question on FB, I can repost the pics


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 22, 2022 8:01 pm 
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Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2015 6:38 pm
Posts: 199
Location: Pennsylvania - Philly Area
Short answer - trailer.

See a few photos of the trailer for my Hobie Tandem Island. Should work for the AI also.

My goals:
- Light weight (aluminum)
- Corrosion resistant for salt water (aluminum)
- Low deck profile for easy boat ramp launches and recoveries
- Low profile for towing (minimum wind resistance)
- Folding trailer tongue to fit in garage
- Easy tie downs
- Bow stop
- Full support for TI hull and Almas
- Centering roller on back of trailer for shallow boat ramps or beach loading.
- Suitable to cross country towing at reasonable costs.
- Vinyl coated wooden closet rods for main hull guides. (note - I removed the scupper hole venturi drains for both seats to help glide on the TI). No need to notch the guides. The vinyl coated guides can pop on and off from low profile support brackets. Very easy install.

Works great - the TI floats or slides on and off like butter!

ImageHobie Tandem Island Trailer by Jim Powers, on Flickr

ImageHobie Tandem Island Trailer by Jim Powers, on Flickr

ImageHobie Tandem Island Trailer by Jim Powers, on Flickr

ImageHobie Tandem Island Trailer by Jim Powers, on Flickr

_________________
Jim
Hobie TI 2022 - Offshore rig - Outboard - having fun!
Hobie TI 2021 - Offshore rig - Outboard - sold
Hobie TI 2016 - Offshore rig - Outboard - sold
Hobie Kona 2014
Hobie AI 2015 - sold
Hobie Rev 13 2014 - sold
Hobie Outback - 2008 - sold


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 22, 2022 8:08 pm 
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Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2015 3:13 pm
Posts: 656
Facebook lacks the quality of substantial information available on this forum, it's really a shame to post there rather than here.

Posting images here is not at all difficult. To anyone needing a place to store photos indefinitely for free, simply set up an account on imgur. Once you have an account, you can upload your images for free. Imgur contains excellent facilities to upload images and then retrieve the image tag required by this forum:

Image

For example, to display the image like the one above simply click on the Img button in the editor and then paste the image link in between the img tag like this:

{img}https://i.imgur.com/skHY5Kn.jpg{/img} (in this example the square brackets are denoted by the curly braces so it will not actually display the image).

It's that easy. You can copy the image's link from your Imgur account simply by clicking on the Direct Link button after selecting your image from your library.

Image

Please don't abandon excellent forums like this for Facebook just because it's a bit easier to post images.


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 22, 2022 8:09 pm 
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Thanks for the photos!


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PostPosted: Tue Aug 23, 2022 4:49 am 
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Joined: Thu Aug 21, 2014 6:43 am
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Location: Chalfont Pa
Maybe Admin on this forum should make posting pics easier. I don't need to start a hosting thing to post on any of the other forums I visit.


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PostPosted: Tue Aug 23, 2022 5:37 am 
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quattroguy wrote:
Maybe Admin on this forum should make posting pics easier. I don't need to start a hosting thing to post on any of the other forums I visit.

It's not that simple, there are many financial considerations and consequences involved.

This forum's software is outdated but it would be difficult and probably beyond Hobie's allotted forum budget to update it which would be a huge, expensive IT project.

In order to post photos directly to a forum, the forum owner must pay for the server space to host all of the photos. This can be very costly.

Most forums are paid for by advertising, which can be very annoying. Hobie does not do that here, rather they offer these forums as an excellent service to their customers, advertisement-free. This is rare nowadays. They even read and respond to our posts which is even rarer. Most companies appear to outright ignore forums about their products and rarely if ever respond to forum posts. This proves that Hobie cares about its customers and is willing to engage in product discussions. That alone is worth posting here.

Hobie appears to host this forum at its own expense, it would probably be difficult for anyone there to ROI making big, expensive changes to it when the money is better spent elsewhere and I don't see Hobie going to a commercial, advertisement-support forum.

It's no big deal and completely free to upload photos to Imgur or other photo hosting sites. Yes, it's a bit more work to do that than to post photos directly, but in doing so, you're actually supporting the forum and allowing Hobie to justify the expense of hosting and maintaining it.

Please don't let Facebook take over and own everything. These types of community forums are much better and convey information in a considerably more substantial manner than the blurb-type format that Facebook uses. For example, I could not effectively post my in-depth, detailed, multi-page motor reviews and user guides on Facebook.

In the long run, these forums serve the online community far greater than Facebook which is primarily a vast money-making machine attempting to control and profit from as much online activity as it can. I think we all realize that. I'm seeing far too many people migrating to Facebook at the expense of online forums everywhere. Such a shame.

You can retrieve over a decade's worth of highly valuable detailed information on Hobie products here. Try doing that with Facebook.


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PostPosted: Tue Aug 23, 2022 10:31 am 
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Joined: Thu Aug 21, 2014 6:43 am
Posts: 202
Location: Chalfont Pa
pro10is wrote:
quattroguy wrote:
Maybe Admin on this forum should make posting pics easier. I don't need to start a hosting thing to post on any of the other forums I visit.

It's not that simple, there are many financial considerations and consequences involved.

This forum's software is outdated but it would be difficult and probably beyond Hobie's allotted forum budget to update it which would be a huge, expensive IT project.

In order to post photos directly to a forum, the forum owner must pay for the server space to host all of the photos. This can be very costly.

Most forums are paid for by advertising, which can be very annoying. Hobie does not do that here, rather they offer these forums as an excellent service to their customers, advertisement-free. This is rare nowadays. They even read and respond to our posts which is even rarer. Most companies appear to outright ignore forums about their products and rarely if ever respond to forum posts. This proves that Hobie cares about its customers and is willing to engage in product discussions. That alone is worth posting here.

Hobie appears to host this forum at its own expense, it would probably be difficult for anyone there to ROI making big, expensive changes to it when the money is better spent elsewhere and I don't see Hobie going to a commercial, advertisement-support forum.

It's no big deal and completely free to upload photos to Imgur or other photo hosting sites. Yes, it's a bit more work to do that than to post photos directly, but in doing so, you're actually supporting the forum and allowing Hobie to justify the expense of hosting and maintaining it.

Please don't let Facebook take over and own everything. These types of community forums are much better and convey information in a considerably more substantial manner than the blurb-type format that Facebook uses. For example, I could not effectively post my in-depth, detailed, multi-page motor reviews and user guides on Facebook.

In the long run, these forums serve the online community far greater than Facebook which is primarily a vast money-making machine attempting to control and profit from as much online activity as it can. I think we all realize that. I'm seeing far too many people migrating to Facebook at the expense of online forums everywhere. Such a shame.

You can retrieve over a decade's worth of highly valuable detailed information on Hobie products here. Try doing that with Facebook.


Given what they charge for a new boat or parts it really doesn't seem like a lot of money. Some of the forums I visit that have photo capability are non profit, small operations. Not facebook, just used them as one of the examples. No need to get all worked up about the company. I use them and don't spend a penny on them nor their advertisers. Hobie on the other hand has gotten lots of my money in the 40+ years I have owned one.
Let's not derail this post please.


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PostPosted: Wed Sep 14, 2022 1:53 pm 
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Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2020 3:12 pm
Posts: 4
My husband and I (getting old and not so strong anymore) just moved to a lake front home. (This is a dream come true and I thank God every time I look out)
We walked my AI down to the lake on the Hobie trailer, with a wheeled trailer jack. It rolled fine thru the grass. Then we have a concrete path with a gently slope, but it does get steeper as we get toward the shore. As the slope increased, it was hard to hold it back. I definitely would not have felt safe trying to control it myself.
So unless the road is pretty flat I would be super careful about moving it by hand or bike.
We are already thinking about what to do when it's time to get the boat back to the house! But that is a problem for another day.


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