Hull Deformation

Forgive me if this topic has already been beaten up, but I'm a new Hobie owner and new to the forum. I ordered a PA12, which will be arriving this week. As I'm sure most have done, I have researched and researched in anticipation of my new boat. One thing I never expected to see was discussions and articles on hull deformation. Specifically during storage of the kayak. Our summer time temperatures can easily get into the mid teens, and by mid teens I mean 115+ degrees. At these temps even being out on 85+ degree water can make my bass boat fiberglass hot! Does anyone know the melting point or temp at which a Hobie can distort or be damaged? I'm not talking about storing the kayak outdoors. I'm talking about fishing and stopping for a burger on the way home while the kayak is on the bed rack of my truck.

This brings me to my other question of storage. What is the best method to store the PA12? I've seen a lot of folks using some kind of PVC on a cart and such. It looks like distributing the weight along the PVC would be the best bet. On the other hand my garage will be 100+ degrees in the summer and I don't want the PVC pipes to distort my hull. To tell the truth, I'm rather surprised that this is an issue with a $3,000 kayak.

I plan on transporting using a bed rack in my F250 truck. I see a lot of people with roof racks and bed racks transporting a PA with just padded crossbars. Is this acceptable to avoid distortion, or would using PVC on the roof racks be better. I really don't want to spend more money for saddles or the Hobie cradle. The PA12 and accessories are expensive enough. So what's your thoughts on this? Is the topic really an issue or is it paranoia and overreacting? Has anyone really experienced hull distortion? I hope this baby is worth it. I've been like a kid on Christmas Eve who can't sleep, waiting for Santa. I go to bed each night while watching videos of Pro Anglers.

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Cory
2015 PA12

So I have been wondering this same thing. After owning my PA for about 4 months now I can tell you it will deform in heat. It is Thermoformed polyethylene, as are most kayaks. Meaning that every single kayak will do the same thing. The PA is just heavy and has a very shapely hull so I think it is a bit more accelerated in certain situations. Last couple weekends my boat has been strapped in the bed of my truck with the bed extender and one little area on the back where a ridge on the tail gate was pressing against the boat was dented after I got home. No biggie, I temporarily just lay my PA 14 on the floor of my garage with a little thin mattress pad with a piece of carpet on it. I have all the materials to build my cart with PVC bunks, I just want to fish instead of work on it! Anyways, lay yak back in the garage and take that localized pressure off and VOILA!! it's like it never existed. That's the beauty of thermoplastics. I wouldnt worry too much, you don't want to keep it strapped to the rack baking in the sun for days with all the weight in a couple spots, but it will be fine I assure you. Any small deformations like that will want to find their way back to the original shape. Now perhaps if it were deformed and very rapidly cooled in the water it might hold but even then I serioisly doubt it.

I remember my old OK Prolwer got left on the cart in the sun on a hot day and the bottom was dented in like WHOA, it was serious. However it cooled down, got the weight off and BOOP right back to normal. So just make your cart for storage in the garage where it will be warm and resting for longer periods of time and don't sweat it too much. I know its sucks to worry about it but remember that quality of the plastic that causes it to deform in heat is the same quality that lets you easily patch a hole or a crack like it never existed with some carefully applied heat!

Thanks. That's good info to know. I think I'm going to build a cart with PVC rails for storage like others have done. What size rails did you buy? I see a lot of videos with people using 3". One guy recommended 2" so they would flex more with the shape of the hull. I also have some long rectangular air bladders that have a foam lining and are enclosed in a plastic vinyl kind of shell. turns out they are about 36" wide. They came from a mattress, kind of like a sleep number, that we got rid of. I took out the bladders and kept them for some reason. Glad now that I did. I think I'll use them as padding in my truck bed with the load extender. I'd still like to get the bed racks so I can put other things in the bed of the truck, but I'm going to wait until I get the PA12 and see what it's really like to lift up that high. I'm almost getting nervous with anticipation. The PA12 is at a nearby Estes Express hub awaiting delivery, which hopefully will be tomorrow!!!

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Cory
2015 PA12