Getting a new TI soon

Going to be getting a new TI soon. Was thinking about buying a cheap jetski trailer and extending the tongue and modding it for the TI. Problem, everyone around here wants $350 and up for their POS used trailer. I have a full size Dodge pickup and could just install a ladder rack http://www.harborfreight.com/800-lb-cap ... 11.htmland top it. I also found out that my local Academy Sports stocks jonboat trailers for $599. Has anyone used this trailer? http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/mcclain ... Ntk=AllThe boat should fit just fine on that trailer with support up front.

Now for the color choice on the boat? One dealer has Ivory dune in stock and another has yellow on the way to arrive mid April, which is no big deal to wait. I like the yellow better but the other dealer will sell me the ivory boat for $300 less.

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Chris


2015 Tandem Island-ivory dune

Either way it's going to take some work to get the trailers working for the TI. Either you spend the money on Hobie cradles or you have to make your own PVC bunks (a lot of people have done this and there are a few threads already on it). The johnboat trailer looks closer to what you would get from a Hobie dealer and would probably be the easiest to modify. I would stay away from trying to car top a TI, especially in your case with a truck. Trying to get that amount of hull that high in the air might prove cumbersome at the least.

As for the color...That's always a personal choice. Is the $300 difference worth it to you? You might be able to bargain with the other dealership. Who knows, maybe they will throw $300 worth of accessories your way if you buy the yellow. Have you asked the dealership about a trailer? I know when I pre-ordered my 2015 TI the dealership gave me "boat show" pricing, which basically just means they threw in the trailer.

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2015 Hobie Tandem Island Hibiscus
"Third Normal Form"

• Trampolines
• Hobie cover
• Davis Spar Fly
• Kayakbob's Sprayskirts
• Spine Board Hakas

WOW! Throwing in a trailer would be a deal maker for sure. I don't think they would do that because they only have one more coming for the year, supposedly. They have 2 in stock and they are already sold and one coming in April and can't place any more orders. Had 3 dealers awl ready tell me that they can't order any more boats.

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Chris


2015 Tandem Island-ivory dune

Hmmm...Maybe Matt Miller can comment on boat ordering quotas, but that seems kinda sketchy to me. I know my dealer told me they like to order boats in mass so that they can line up a bigger shipment from Hobie, but that was purely to cut down on shipping costs. They would have gladly ordered a single boat, but I would have had to foot the bill on freight charges (something like a few hundred bucks). I haven't heard that dealers could only order a certain number of boats. That's like a Ford dealership telling you they can't order anymore F-150's and that you have to take the pink one on the lot or none at all.

A quick look at the ACK website shows a TI in any color you want for $6,199 and they will ship it to you for $379. You would obviously have to put it together yourself (that could be fun).

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2015 Hobie Tandem Island Hibiscus
"Third Normal Form"

• Trampolines
• Hobie cover
• Davis Spar Fly
• Kayakbob's Sprayskirts
• Spine Board Hakas

Actually, it's quite easy. I was surprised. I helped unload my TI from the delivery truck, then dragged it off to the side and proceeded to assemble it with very little help from the staff. (They were busy with other customers, and I was too eager! )

It's pretty much already assembled anyway, aside from the rudder (flip it into position and install the pin) and the sail. Otherwise just plug in akas, mount amas, install seats. The stuff you'd do anyway in normal use. And lots and LOTS of unwrapping, Hobie does wrap them well with a tough bubble-wrap material. (I cut two pieces of it to use as cushions between the amas and hull when on the trailer.)

The biggest hangup I found is finding room to assemble the mast and spread the sail out to install battens and wind it around the mast. On a calm day doing it outside would be fine but it was very blustery the day I did mine. Since I was still at the kayak shop we just took it inside, but I wouldn't have had room to do that inside my house or garage.

Grandpa:
I see no reason you can't car top your TI, we did it for 4 yrs every single weekend (sometimes 2-3 times per weekend). Here is a pic of our setup.


Especially with a pickup, and ladder rack it will be much easier than my setup.

The main two reasons we car topped are:
1: we have a camper that we toe behind our Denali (using the hitch) so the only place left is the roof, and we are not about to go camping without our kayaks (we have over 250,000 road miles with kayaks on the roof since 2007, haven't lost any yet (lol)).
2: Our house in Key West has no place to put a trailer (parking is a premium in Key West), if we were to have a trailer down there it costs $2.50/hr to park your car, and another $2.50/hr to park your trailer pretty much anyplace on the Island (that is if you can even find trailer parking at all (at Simonton st boat ramp they have 3 metered trailer parking slots, you have to park your car somewhere else ), that's it on that entire side of the Island, unless you want to go miles north far away from anything of interest.

I'm not a big guy 5'8" 230 lbs in my mid 60's and not particularly fit at all. However we are long time kayakers (mostly Hobies) and my wife and I actually prefer tandem kayaks vs having to setup two complete singles every time we go out (one tandem is easier in our opinion, plus it looks bad when I leave her behind 5 miles from launch because she is tired (lol)). All tandem kayaks are large and cumbersome when compared to singles, and we are used to this. To be honest it is actually easier to load our TI on our roof than it ever was loading our old Oasis. The old Oasis had no handles of any kind and nothing to grab onto, I got hurt a few times loading/unloading the Oasis. Once we got the TI it has plenty of hand holds to grab, is only a few lbs heavier (since you only ever lift half the kayak, the weight difference was 50 lbs (TI hull) vs 45 lbs (Oasis), and the extra couple feet in length of the TI actually makes it much easier to lift half the boat.
The only downside to car topping is the setup time, I have extra sails, and motors on my TI because I mostly use the boat offshore so setup time when car topping is an hour.
Last year I did go out and buy a cheap Harbor Freight steel utility trailer ($140 bucks on sale), I modified and extended it with some aluminum, and PVC bunks (the PVC cost around $15 bucks) vs the Hobie cradles (around $250) which I simply couldn't afford. I have a couple hundred more in aluminum and a couple weekends of my time working on it in the garage, my only tools we an electric drill and a hack saw.
Now locally in Sarasota I pretty much only use the trailer, and store the boat fully rigged in the garage, it takes me 15 minutes to launch, and a lot easier, everything is just stored in the boat in the garage (ie.. motors, sails, rigging, anchor system, etc) and it only takes 2 minutes to roll out of the garage and hook up to the car. Life is good.

One other little note about car topping in salt water, I rusted out the roof on our Denali and it had to be replaced, because of the salt water, I have since been banned from using the Denali (my wifes car) for anything boat related (thus the trailer).

Here is a pic of my cheap harbor freight trailer setup. Of course it's a piece of junk and will likely rust out in 5 years, but who cares, it works..... I'm not about to win a beauty contest, I just want to get the boat to the water and back.


You have a ton of options.
Good luck
Bob

I car top (truck), but if I had the space at my house I'd trailer it for sure.

Get a good rack...don't risk 6k of boat on a $100 rack. I've had the thule xporters for years, truly quality products, all aluminum alloy with stainless hardware (including inserts). I rinse the boat with fresh water after use, prior to loading, When I get home I usually wash the truck after putting up all my gear as well.

Trailering is just so much easier. Cartopping gives you more freedom (easier to access different spots, don't need trailer parking, etc). However, it is a bear to load.

-RH

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2013 Tandem Island "Victory Lane"
Oahu, Hawaii
www.rotorheadsblog.blogspot.com

And unload, wash again, dry and stow everything.

It takes a lotta energy after a looong day fishing.

And you still gotta clean and cook da fish.

Well, sometimes,..

I'm also getting a new 2015 Tandem Island. I live in Hilton Head, SC, and I don't have the option of trailering because my community doesn't allow trailers, so I will be car topping mine using the Rhino Rack T loader. I see you are in upstate SC, why don't you work with the Hobie dealer in Greenville. I'm getting mine from the Savannah dealer who also has a store in Greenville, and Charleston. The reason I say this is Hobie trucks deliver without shipping charges, and you can rest assured it won't be damaged in shipping(which was pointed out to me when I discussed getting one). Mine should arrive in April, don't have the date yet.

I was in there last week, assuming that you are talking about HM outfitters. Actually, all shipments for their stores come into Greenville and are distributed from there. At least that's what they said. Big store with full basement for storing boats. They said they don't have one even on order this year for the Greenville store. They weren't much help at all. They said if they ordered one, they would have to charge me shipping, if they could even get one on order. Apparently, Hobie is so far behind, they're not taking new orders right now.

I go down to Bluffton several times per year to see my daughter. Maybe I could get with you and bring the TI when I come down. Would be fun on the coast. Can you launch from the beach on the island?

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Chris


2015 Tandem Island-ivory dune

Hi Chris,

I would like to get together and go out on the Tandem Islands. I'm new to the TI myself, we can either launch on the beach( i or at Mitchellville beach park on the north end of the island. The beach park is in Port Royal Sound so there isn't any surf.

In reference to HM outfitters, I just now spoke with Brian Jollys at HM Savannah. He said for you to call him at 912 201-9393 and he will get one delivered to Greenville for you. He verified mine with Hobie, after I read your message, that mine is on schedule for April, but still no hard date yet. He said if he can get one on his delivery trucks you don't have to pay shipping. Not trying to be in sales for them, but hey, if it works out for the best i'm all for that.

Sam

Sounds good. I'll pm my email to you. I'm sure it will be at least April before I can get one, maybe May. Did they cut you any sort of deal or freebies with yours? I found one about an hour away for 5900 but it's not the color that I want.

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Chris


2015 Tandem Island-ivory dune

I'm planning to car top mine as well on an SUV using the T Loader. What do you plan to use for hull support on your roof rack? I was thinking of getting the TI cradles and mounting them on Thule cross bars. My thought is that the cradles would allow the weight of the hull to be more evenly distributed to prevent deformation. However, if there is a less expensive and easier solution that would accomplish the same thing, I'd be interested. Is it okay to let the hull rest on some inexpensive bar pads?

scc:
The TI cradles are kind of hard to slide the boat over, especially when over your head, plus they are extremely expensive, and in my opinion don't support the boat enough (speaking from experience, cartopping in the hot Key West summer sun).
Also when you car top you pretty much have to remove the AMA's completely in order to be able to lift the monster up there. When we lift ours we are only ever lifting half the hull alone (about 50 lbs), everything else pretty much needs to be removed from the boat (empty hull, especially water.....).
I have had the best luck with inexpensive (about $15 bucks worth) 1 1/4" dia or 1 1/2" dia PVC pipe mounted on 11 inch centers. If you look at the underside of the TI there are two grooves extending the full length of the hull on 11 inch centers, my opinion supporting via these grooves gives you the most uniform support on the hull. Sliding cheap wooden broom sticks into the PVC tubing gives you additional anti sagging support if you so desire (optional). The PVC can just lay across your roof racks with the only attachment point being onto the rear Tbar (if you are using a T-bar hitch mount (recommended, because it supports the bulk of the weight). By making the PVC pipes easily removable, there is no need to leave them up there when not using the roof rack to haul the boat (leaving all that junk up there is a real gas mileage killer, and as we found out the hard way, puts a real crimp on getting into parking garages and McDonalds drive thru's when not hauling.
In our case once the boat is on the roof we just slide the sail along side the boat, throw the AMA's up there(one on each side), then strap the whole works down (we have a hundred thousand miles doing this and haven't lost a boat yet LOL). We don't really care if the grooves get scratched up by the PVC pipes (actually we have been doing this a while now with the PVC pipe stuff, and there doesn't appear to be a downside (beside lack of revenue from accessories to Hobie, selling their expensive cradles).

On the latest 2015 model Hobie, there is now a scupper drain in the right most groove, Hobie assures us that that drain can take lots of abuse, and only requires slight modification to the PVC tubes (maybe a slight sag in the PVC in that area (heat the PVC up with a heat gun and smash/melt it in inward, in the drain area kind of thing) to work around the drain, or do like I'm planning to do (just ignore it's there alltogether).

Hope this helps
Bob

Bob,

This is of great help. If I'm picturing this correctly, the PVC when attached to the t bar on 11 inch centers will follow the contours of the hull when sliding it up and then sit in the groves making attachment to the other crossbars unnecessary.

Attaching the PVC to the Rhino Rack T Loader would be problematic if one wanted to use the hinging feature though...

Thanks!