Floating Fins

Went fishing yesterday and had about a hour into a 20 mph wind. After fishing for a little while I noticed my turbo fin floating by. Retrieved it and removed the drive and discovered the Lock Ring and Clevis pin gone. My pins were stretched from reuse and I guess it just worked loose. Learned two things ,fins float and this can be repaired with a small piece of rope. Came back (with the wind) no problem. Anyone use anything beside the Lock rings, or do you replace them after removal with a new lock ring. Thinking about a lock nut. Tested the floatation of fins in the pool. Regular fins float flat. Turbo bins float bottom up and can be hard to see in the water.

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I'm right 98% of the time. The other 3% I don't worry about.

gotta be the lock ring....(key ring thingy)
7 years ago when i got my first Hobie, i took it out for my first run....lost a flipper in just this same way.
FYI...you cannot get by on just one flipper....you just rock back and forth instead.

anyway, i got the new pin and ring from my dealer and have never had a prblem since.
I'd bet yours just worked loosed because it was stretched out. get new ones and I doubt you see that happen again.

on another note: i rebuild my drive once a year...more if it has a sand problem from some trips.
I replace those dang rings if they look stretched out.

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Don't lead me to temptation, I already know the way.
Syn

Yes, you can pedal with one fin. Short quick strokes with the fin straight down.

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

next time I'll give that a shot...I was trying to make full strokes.
I ended up getting home with that big stick that I carry around all the time....."paddle" I think they call it.

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Don't lead me to temptation, I already know the way.
Syn

Ranger, thanks for the excellent tip about the emergency use of rope as a substitute clevis pin!

A couple of other points:

1. Whether your Turbofins float depends -- some do, some don't depending on the density of the material. Both the inner and outer rubber has changed since these fins were introduced. The current Turbos are more buoyant than some previous versions.

2. The Drive works quite well with one fin, regardless of your stroke length or technique. (I made this statement on the KFS forum once and some unnamed member considered this to be a flagrant lie). The fins do not need to interact to provide thrust; only balance. At the same time, this rocks the boat and can be rather unnerving, especially until you get used to the rhythm. A single overtightened fin will do more rocking and less thrusting though. An Adventure (which rocks more than most) can maintain 5 MPH with one properly adjusted Turbofin at a fast cruise pace. Also, your cadence picks up quite a bit since you're pushing only one fin with both legs. Acceleration is not very good though.

I will verify Roadrunners statement of using a single fin. Effective enough to get you home..

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Thanks Dan.

Why not replace the split ring (key ring 'thingy') with a cotter pin before the split rings falls out?

Don't think you should use a cotter pin. My guess is that it would rub the plastic around the hole. Went to West Marine and found some pins that were a little larger and thread on from the middle. They don't streatch out the way the small ones do. "Cotter Ring" 7/16" 11 mm

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I'm right 98% of the time. The other 3% I don't worry about.

I've never had a ring fall out in nine years. I suspect that the ring can work its way out only if not completely inserted (easy to miss) or deformed (easy to spot, below right). BTW, these deformed rings were ruined using a different application, not with the clevis pin.


I agree with Ranger -- the cotter pin is not a good alternative for that job. If for some reason you don't trust the rings, you can do what Hobie did when Turbos first came out -- SS screws and Nylocs. Here's what it looks like (right side below):

(shorter 3/4" screw for newer Drives; 1" length for original Drives with fatter outhauls) Hobie went back to the clevis pin as soon as the fin outhaul screws could be redesigned to accept them (above, left).

Having used both styles, IMO the pin/ring style is vastly superior -- lets the fin slide freely, quick release, no tools needed. Just make sure it's in all the way.

PS Ranger, If you haven't already done so, try loosening your clew outhaul some and see if it doesn't make it easier to push those fins and maybe even speed you up a little bit.

Maybe it's a design flaw... gazillions of wheels, hubs and other applications are held in place with a washer and a cotter pin. Why would this application be any different, other than this is simply the way Hobie designed it?

You could be right. No doubt, Cotter pins are excellent for certain applications, such as the ones you mentioned. While there is nothing that would prevent their use with the outhaul clevis pins, IMO Cotter pins tend to work best with a non-rotating hole where the pin can be manipulated without squirming around.

Among the advantages ring clips have over cotters in this application are 1) they are removable without tools (very handy when you're at sea), they are reusable, they don't snag and they can be removed and replaced much faster than Cotters. IMO, they are 100% as reliable in this application.

The original Mirage Drives made good use of Cotter pins for years as can be seen here:

So it's doubtful that Hobie is ignorant of the uses and benefits of Cotter pins. Rather, it's likely that they have come up with better devices for these applications.

If you feel that cotter pins are the best way to go for the clew outhauls, give them a try and let us know how they work out.

Don't see anything wrong with Hobie design and didn't mean to give anyone the impression that the pins were bad. As I stated in the original post my pins were stretch. I made a mistake reusing them. I don't see anyway a new clevis pin would work loose. My fins are rather chewed up and I am on the oyster reefs just about every trip. I remove them quite often and was looking for a better pin (for me) that did not have to be replaced every time. The new West Marine pins seem to be the answer. Really, made the post to show a emergency repair that worked and let everyone know the fins float.

RR thanks. Forgot to back that one out after I tightened it when it was attached by the rope.

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I'm right 98% of the time. The other 3% I don't worry about.

Hey a little off topic but somewhat applicable seeing as we are talking about locking devices....

If you take the self locking fiberlock nuts off at any point in time make sure u reinstall new ones with locktite....otherwise you will end up 5 miles from anything with a paddle in your hand (i wouldn't know anything about this )

i removed all the nuts to change my sprockets when i changed to the turbo fins...reused the original fiberlocks and did not use locktite....bad idea....luckily the tide was the only thing against me that day...the wind was helping me

I think I will take my old fins with me and a clevis pin and the adjusting nut. If I loose a fin and can't find it I will install the old fin. I know it will be a little short so I will drill a hole in the tip for the (post or whatever it is called) to slip through.