TI_Tom wrote:
Welcome!
I've launched my TI solo quite a few times and without a trailer it would be too much for one person (unless you're Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson). The islands won't be anything like you're previous sailboat with regards to maintenance.
First off I want to thank everyone who has replied. My first post left out some pertinent details.
I'm a software engineer whose in the past had mechanical engineering hobbies. I built combat robots, had a machine shop in my garage, etc.
I have a remote work position that I can do from anywhere, and I'm on the verge of retirement, which means, if I lost this job, for instance, I wouldn't look for another one.
I've decided to exploit this situation by changing my lifestyle from the sedentary one of a programmer to someone who is traveling full time. I have experience traveling full time (did it world wide for half a decade) and living in small space and going on long journeys.
So, what I'm in the process of doing right now is designing my rig. My land yacht, so to speak.
The current plan is a 16 morgan box with a 3 foot peak on a Ram 4500 Cab Chassis-- that is to say, a box truck with a roof that is 20 feet long. This was designed specifically to house the Hobie Tandem Island. I would build a cradle to hold the hobie up at the roof, with living space below it (I've been measuring everything and making sure things fit.)
The TI cradle will have a short slide and be hinged, the TI will rest either on the hobie cradle mounts, or the PVC pipe DIY version I've seen on this forum.
Let me show you what the box looks like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcEvXuWU-2cNow picture, after lowering that ramp, a cradle lowers from the back (via winch) almost to the bottom of the box. The Hobie has landing gear (wheels) mounted on it / or is on a portable dollie. The bow of the hobie is held in place with another winch at the front of the cradle.... and so when this is loosened the hobie slides down off of the cradle onto the ramp, rolling on its own wheels/dolly.... it could be lowered all the way to the ground-- I would just have to catch the nose of it before it left the cradle.
Maybe a little hard to describe this in words that make sense.
But the TLDR is that I've designed a launching system and am designing my RV custom to support the hobie-- not on the roof -- that would be terrible because I need all that real estate for solar power! (Planning to be near self sufficient power wise- this roof has enough space for 2kw! Though I'm going to just put 1.6kw up there because the panels are a lot cheaper)
While this may seem amazing/absurd, solving these kinds of problems I do regularly, and I have a secret weapon: 80/20. 80/20 is brand name for extruded aluminum that is easy to work with and attach to. 8020.net is the company but there are knockoffs. Anyway, as a result of this, its easy to custom build an RV interior in a Morgan box truck-- build an 8020 box inside the truck, run bracers across, and then build cabinets and furniture and the like attached to the 8020 frame. One really nice thing about this method is that unlike with wood, you can just reconfigure things if you like doing it a different way.
But I digress. My point is that I am less worried about loading and unloading the kayak from the vehicle than I would be otherwise (and by the way, I started off looking at regular RVs and never liked them so half the reason for DIY is the hobie, but it's really the excuse, I just hate the way RVs allocate space and the amount they cost.)
I'm much more worried about whether I can manage a TI by my self, holding it from the bow with its stern sitting on a nice pair of wheels.... and roll it into the water at a lake at state parks and the like. Or even down a boat ramp-- those are pretty steep!