Wheee! Want to see Outfitter performance in a chop?

Only filmed downwind performance as I don't have a waterproof camera but you get the idea. It was a bit stoory out there!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQwPA-Txe4Y[/youtube]

Parked



It's a bit wet Upwind, Drying off in the sun.


Loading up, note Flares and EPIRB in net pockets. I doubt anyone else on the loch would have these! It might be an inland loch but it has big sea personality. The panic bottle was a stowing idea but is too bulky and we left it in the van.

Great pics. Glad I wasn't the front seat passenger going upwind! Hopefully the water was warm. Where was this?

Here is how the Adventure performs in a little chop on a river.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dToCtg691s[/youtube]

This is our Oasis with my captain in the frontseat

https://picasaweb.google.com/1102806635 ... 8260870274

Loch Lomond, Scotland. Water temp - Brrrrrrrrrcold. Air temp - cool northerly. Weather SUNNY!
We have a wee spate of Forest Fires as well!

The Oasis looks much drier!

Cosy,

in my experience the Oasis is drier than the Outfitter but not by a huge amount.

The front seat passenger in the Outfitter sits so far forward that there's no foredeck at all to take any wash so it all ends up at their feet or, worse, in their lap. The hull also seems almost to have been designed to create airborne splash which, in any kind of a cross breeze, ends up coating the front seater.

In contrast the Oasis has a small foredeck so the splash has further to go to get into the front occupant's lap. Also the hull design seems to deflect waves more as waves rather than as spray. You also sit a bit higher up from the water in an Oasis.

We kayak in warmish tidal waters which are frequently quite breezy. The breeze creates chop especially when wind opposes tide. I looked at your video and couldn't really see any chop - all looked fairly calm to me (I know you were going with it - but by comparison the conditions we go out in are often a lot more choppy). We find that in any trip we can be almost certain that we'll be going with it one way and against it on the way back - heading directly into even small chop with a breeze in the Outfitter means that the front seater will almost certainly get a soaking.

As an Outfitter owner the only viable solution (other than selling the boat) was to cover the front occupant in waterproof kayaking clothing. This works reasonably well up to a point - keeps you dry but doesn't stop the salt water getting in eyes, hair etc.

My 7 yo daughter can still get pretty chilly despite the clothing... We're usually OK as long as we are selective about the days we go out on but what we usually do, because she is still small enough, is to have her travel with me on the back luggage area of one of our 2 Adventures using an aftermarket kayak seat that we clip in. The Adventure is much drier for both front and rear seat passengers but she still does get a bit of water up through the scupper holes rather than airborne spray.

By comparison the water in LL would almost certainly be cold enough to give her hypothermia (I certainly wouldn't want to dangle my tiggy toes in it for long periods).

We were taking green water occassionally over the bow going up wind! Lucky there is a big hole in the middle eh?!

I would love an tandem adventure or a double with the nose of the revolution but space is at a premium. Although I have noticed the Hobie is the "lets go now" choice of boat as opposed to my Folks 7M sea kayak which takes a bit of prep and means you have to think twice about taking a new paddler with you.......imagine an Aleut 2 with Mirage drives...speeed!

Thanks for the links, I enjoyed the videos.

I'm new here, live in the UK. I don't have a Hobie right now, as I have no way to either store or transport one. But when I retire in a couple of years, my circumstances will change, and I'll think seriously about getting one. Meanwhile, it seems like a good idea to read the forum and learn from other people's experience.

Mary

My wife is not a good swimmer and has still evolved into a good sailor in the front of our Oasis.

On our main local lake, on our return to the launch site, we got caught in a sudden surge of wind 10-12 mph with gusts up to 20. There was basically zero wind when we launched and this wind was a few hours earlier than predicted.

Fortunately, we were at a downwind angle to get back to the launch for about a mile. So I headed our Oasis into the wind, and we got a good cadence going with the Mirages and got back to the launch area with no problems. I had to do a fairly hard left to parallel the dock to safely land the Oasis. My wife got a little wet then from the spray as we did the hard left.

I was afraid that might be end of our weekly yak trips. She smiled and wiped the water off her face and said that was fun. Later that summer, we had a couple of similiar events and one time with another couple with their single Ocean kayaks. Besides being tired when they got back to the launch area, they were more than wet.

Our 2009 Oasis is a very safe and comfortable touring yak.

The 2011 Oasis may be even more stable in these high wind events.

_________________
2009 Oasis
2012 Freedom Hawk Pathfinder

Impressive!

_________________
2009 Oasis
2012 Freedom Hawk Pathfinder