THE HAKA BENCH SEAT - AN ALTERNATIVE TO TRAMPS

Nice creation. Simple, easy on/off. Light is good. Spacing of slats may require tramps or more slats. Thanks for posting.

Keith

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2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon

Check out the Hakas on this Hydrobike


I just learned that you can rent these here in Austin and the hakas immediately caught my eye. These bikes are made by Castlecraft in the US :http://www.castlecraft.com/hydrobike.htm - Many more pictures of this thing there

The hakas come in green. blue and purple and look like they are between 4-5 Ft long from what I can tell from the pictures.
I wonder of they would fit ? If it wasn't 30 degrees here I would be on my way to measure them.

- Chris

Those bikes look pretty cool. It would be pretty easy for a TI owner to make one of those with just a 4x6 piece of plywood with slots for the mirage drives and a couple lawn chairs. A lot of times once we get to our destination we shed the sails and AMA's off our TI and leave them on the beach, then just kayak around. Something like that would be fun for bumming around an area once you get there.
Just dreaming.... Might be cool to have though, the trick would be to make it small light and foldable so we could bring it along instead of just leaving the AMA's on the beach (like we do now).
Bob

Edit: actually having something like that would make the TI even more versatile , currently taking our full TI out on a very small lake is way overkill, we always have the whole TI along anyway (just in case we find water), something like that could be fun to bum around in. If I can make myself one for under $50 bucks in materials I will (but mine will have an outboard (or two) on it, just saying). I think the flotation on the AMA's is round 250 lbs ea.
Ok I'm not the hard core man vs sea type.....just want to have fun.

EDIT (again):
Oh crap..... now I just forced myself to go out and buy a 2015 TI cause I will need those CT vantage seats to mount on it... Now I just need a surrey (Bimini) with a fringe on top.

Somethings wrong with us when we look at that picture and it's the hakas that catch our eyes!

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Greg

2016 AI - Spinn & Jib

“Out of sight of land the sailor feels safe. It is the beach that worries him.”
– Charles G. Davis

When Buckaroo said "check out these hakas" I though I'd been referring to them by the wrong name all this time...

More Hakas here
http://austinwaterbikes.com/

That's an interesting idea Bob. Drop a mirage drive into your haka and use it as a tender when detached from the TI. I'm picturing something like a recumbent bicycle. Interestingly, the spine boards used by fire/ems can be ordered with pins in the handle holes that are used for clip in patient restraints similar to seat belts. I'm pretty sure a conventional clip in kayak seat could be put anywhere on a spine board that has pins.
I suppose you could steer with a paddle. And when attached to the TI; if the mirage drive fins would reach the water you could have four people pedaling ! This is really over the top but if neutrally buoyant with some planing fins and SCUBA ...........

- C

Especially when you look really hard and try to see if there are 2 of them !

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I'm still leaning towards spine boards, maybe because I've strapped more than a few patients to them in an earlier career. With 500-1000 lbs of buoyancy and the handholds plus pins as attachment points they are very appealing to me.
They are expensive and the color match isn't perfect though. I think I'll mock one up out of cardboard and see what it looks like on the akas after the boat arrives.
- chris

I bought a set of spine boards, their size is good. Their main problem to overcome is they ARE slippery! I have some stick-on traction material to try attaching soon.

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Hobie Island Sailing since 2006

How about some of the SeaDek material. I didn't see any kits for spineboards, but their site does say they will make custom templates. Might be nice and kushy too.

I'm still looking for someone to develop a haka that can stay attached and fold in with the amas.

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2015 Hobie Tandem Island Hibiscus
"Third Normal Form"

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

I'm hoping to do that when my new AI finally shoes up. Even trailering, setup is taking too long, as I do disassemble Aks & ama each time since I sail different combinations of 2 AI & a TI, and sometimes all three or with adding a friends Island.

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Hobie Island Sailing since 2006

Tom, check out pages 44-45 and 69 for examples of clever folding solutions.

I don't think I would trailer an AI with these in-place, but for launching and recovery at the boat ramps, these decks are worth their weight in Ahi! Makes it effortless to "walk the plank".

Haka do NOT have to be strapped on with intense pressure. They can "float" with a single bungee at each end. Loose enough that they will allow folding. Or you can add a quick-disconnect tiedown strap to the rear Aka when you want a tight fit.

I'm looking forward to strapping a pair on a 2015 and seeing how quick she can go. And looking forward to KBobs review,..

rough 'em up and spray the topside with plasti-dip!

There's a polymer sand that can be added to floor coatings to reduce slipping, SharkGrip or something like that. It can be added to water or oil based coatings but I don't know what would be appropriate for outdoor use on polyethylene. 3M has a good selection of anti slip tapes, I have had very good experience with their adhesive products.
Then there is always those anti slip decals you stick on the bathtub floor.

I have handled a lot of backboards and if I remember correctly some have lightly textured surfaces like you find on the gunwale of a Hobie and some are slick. After saying all of the above I realize that you could probably just sandblast the surface of the board to add some traction.
- Chrsi

I'm pleased as punch to contribute to this long-running thread!

I spent a couple days at my dad's house using his garage full of woodworking tools and his knowledge. I love woodworking, but the last time I did it on this scale was in shop class in high school - what, 25 years ago?

I got everything at Home Depot - wasn't too impressed with their wood. I bought "select pine" but I'd hardly say there was much "select" about it...! Couldn't find any rubber shelf liner as was mentioned here, but found some step guard stuff that ought to do the trick protecting the akas.

Anyway, got the hakas built and ready to finish. Brought them home to do that, since they'll require several coats. Couldn't wait, so here are some pics of the unfinished product. I was tickled to find that my pickup's bed rails are exactly the same distance apart as my akas. I set the hakas on the bed rails and gave them a try. With my 300 lb backside planted in the middle they deflect only 1/8" or so! Much better than I had thought. I haven't tried jumping on them yet...




The bathroom scale says these are 12.5 lbs each unfinished.

I don't know how I got the center braces offset between the two hakas, I clearly remember measuring the one and using those measurements on the other...!

Home Depot is getting stupid with stainless screws - at least the one near me. They sell them in baggies of THREE! Of course they didn't have anywhere near enough packs to do the job, never mind the cost of buying them that way. I used coated deck screws. They're "lifetime" warrantied to stand up to use in treated wood, so I figure they should be fine here.