THE HAKA BENCH SEAT - AN ALTERNATIVE TO TRAMPS

Oh good. Gopro footage of Bob hiking. Can't wait!

Is anyone having issues hiking on the Hakas with the new lawnchair seats?

A boring video of an old man and the sea, paying more attention to taking pic's than sailing. I forgot my hiking stick so steering was by my first mate 'le foote'



I hope to be able to tell you after this weekend. My 2015 AI should be "on the barge".


I did find a stowaway aboard:

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Hobie Island Sailing since 2006

Gecko! That's a good omen.

(You should see the ones in Australia. They eat small pigs)

Bob, I was thinking of doing something similar on the spine boards, someone mentioned Seadeck material previously.

I was wondering if you or others have a feel for whether a black spine board would be too hot in the sun ? My TI is Hibiscus Red and I'm pretty sure that a red spine board will not be a very good color match. Black would at least match the hardware on the boat.
Does the black jetski padding on your spine board seem to get any hotter than the yellow of the board ? I'm thinking that spine board hakas wouldn't have enough mass to retain much heat and would get splashed enough to stay pretty cool regardless of their color while on the water. Putting something like Seadeck on the main surface would make this question unimportant but I'm just wondering if black versus red would make any difference if uncovered.

Thanks

Chris

I've got gray spine boards and they get pretty darn hot in the sun. Enough so that you have to splash 'em down first before you can sit on 'em.

Dark colors in the strong sun can be a bit funny depending on the material. I notice the Hobie black paddle (carbon fiber) doesn't get very hot while the metal black aka melt the glue of the electrical tape we sometimes use to color trim the boats to id them. I have no idea on the spine boards themselves but the black jet ski padding did not get very hot.

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Hobie Island Sailing since 2006

That's what I'm wondering about the material. The boards I'm looking at are made in the US so maybe the manufacturer can answer whether there is much difference due to color. I know my hibiscus Revo13 get's pretty hot in the sun but maybe that's because of the trapped air in the hull.
The Seadek material would probably help a lot but it's pretty expensive.
Thanks
Chris

Given that the light gray ones I have get too not to sit on without a splash down, I'm thinking the color isn't going to matter much.
On the bay and ocean here they seem fine, when the air temp is below about 80. Up in Tahoe though, they get way too hot to sit on, and the air temp isnt that much greater, but altitude and dry air seem to make a big difference

I guess I should just accept that I will be sitting on something other than the bare board anyway. I agree that the color probably isn't going to make a big difference.
Thanks for the input.
Chris

Just got back from an Easter holiday vacation with family. Gave first-time rides on the TI to six people and the hakas were a hit! Unfortunately the wind was quite uncooperative (more like nearly nonexistent!) so we didn't get any exciting sailing in.

I was pleased to find the hakas work well with the tramps, which I think is excellent with little kids on board. I could use two bungees on the back without any trouble, the front we just used one on the outside corner. With the grippy rubber tread stuff I used on the underside they don't move at all.

One nephew took to this like he'd been born sailing... He was perfectly comfortable anywhere on board.


His dad and I had a few choice words for him when he started dragging his feet in the water while we were pedaling - very effective water brake there!


A bit later on my sister was in the front seat (she was the lucky one - we had a short period of good wind while she was out) and we rafted up with another nephew and her husband in my other kayaks. BIL brought the youngest along and he decided he wanted to ride with mom instead - underway transfer!


He'd move back and forth between the haka and the tramp from time to time, very handy having both options available.

Hakas/tramps/sprayskirts/tiller all work great!
Without a pax in the rear seat (two of us on the hakas) it was certainly nose-heavy, even when we were both aft on the hakas.

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2013 Tandem Island "Victory Lane"
Oahu, Hawaii
www.rotorheadsblog.blogspot.com

After much deliberation I decided to go with spineboard Hakas and purchased these US made ones from Iron duck
https://ironduck.com/product/ultra-vue-18/
I was surprised by the excellent color match to the satin finish areas on the TI.
I went with the 18" wide version after making a cardboard mockup to compare it to the 16" one. The two additional inches of width adds 6 lbs of weight for a whopping total of 22 lbs.
My current plans are primarily for day sailing or sailing from a car campsite so I decided the weight wasn't as big an issue for me and I could always make something lighter for expedition use later.
These spineboards have a weight capacity of 1000 lbs and can float 250 lbs.
A conventional kayak seat clips nicely onto the optional pins in the smaller cutouts.
I'm still deciding on a mounting method but leaning towards splitting pieces of 1 1/2" spa flex tubing and attaching with cable ties to protect the aka finish. Maybe capture a strap under the spa flex to cinch around the spine board then use bungee ball cords through the handholds.





Chris

Nice!

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Hobie Island Sailing since 2006

I like! What did they run cost wise?

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2015 Hobie Tandem Island Hibiscus
"Third Normal Form"

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

They were $204.60 each with pins, plus shipping. Not much more than a tramp set but a lot of advantages I think.
Great for water rescues, better pack some extra bungee cords.

When I started thinking about spineboards I sketched a preliminary design for a mounting method that would allow the akas to be folded. I may take that further after I use them a bit.

- Chris