Drive well crack

I know Hobie continuously improves & addresses concerns, based on past issues customers have had, to keep their line of kayaks the best they can be, cudos to them for listening & acting!

Recently I had the infamous drive well crack develop on my '14 AI. I caught it early before I was getting too much water in hull, maybe a gallon after 3 hrs otw. I contacted my dealer before thinking of attempting any repairs & he has been very helpful w/advice & reaching out to Hobie. Past experience has proven Hobie to be very responsive & generous with honoring & prorating warranties that occur in this area that they deem irreparable. However, as my AI is a '14, any prorated replacement would have to be an older pre '15 model, as my aka's, ama's, seat, etc; are not adaptable to the newer hull design. The prorated price they offered for a leftover '14 hull, that they have in the warehouse seemed high to me, considering it's already a 5 year old hull. So, I figured I'd attempt a repair first before biting the bullet on an older replacement hull.

Those who participate in Hobie's forums have always been very helpful with advice & sharing knowledgeable solutions. In searching for options, dociry's post was very detailed & helpful. https://www.hobie.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=49210

I followed his repair tips & also drilled stress relief holes through hull in front of both sides of crack to help prevent further spread & used Loctite 3035, instead of the TamTech adhesive, to seal over outside ss mesh/plastic meld & to glue in an extra HDPE hull material around the inside of hull in front of & around drive well to further reinforce/thicken hull. Only been 2 weeks since repair, but sailed a few trips & took out in kayak mode to pedal hard a few trips in both calm & rough waters. So far repair holding, no leaks yet.

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Bob
Proud member Kayak Fishing Association of New York

Bob in which point of the drivewell? Consider that if it is in the place where the mirage drive touch the plastic probably u should also remove a little part of the drive lid

Crack was in front of drive well. I did file down a small bit of spline to allow for the added plastic that I melded in.

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Bob
Proud member Kayak Fishing Association of New York

I have a second suggestion. u could try to enlarge the mirage drive lid that touch the well so to have a bigger surface that support the pressure.
i used succesfully the moldable plastic named "sugru" sold on amazon. this plastic is moldable but adter some hours it becomes solid though also "soft" and at the moment sold the same problem u had. in my case i had to remove most of the lid