New Hobie Owner

I sold my Malibu X-13 recently (great yak in its own right), and found a great deal on a 2005 Outback. Decided I would give peddling a try, so I went and picked it up yesterday. From what I can tell from various kayak forums, it is hard to find people who go back to paddling. The kayak itself has a great story behind it. The guy I bought it from lived in New Orleans when he bought it...only two weeks before Katrina hit. It became his only mode of transportation. He used it to shuttle a local deputy sheriff and firefighter...one of those (can't remember which) he carried three miles through the flooded city to his home. He had also been through Hurricane Ivan the year before and had MREs left over from that ordeal that he used his Outback to pass out to people in his neighborhood. Finally, at 3am one morning he heard a helicopter overhead and used his flashlight to signal them. They rescued him and his neighbor from their rooftops and he had to leave the Hobie in his home. When he finally was able to return, the Hobie was still there. A year or so later, he packed up his business and moved it to Huntsville, AL. Now he is getting ready to move his operations to Panama City Beach, FL and decided to sell the Hobie so he'd have one less thing to move.

I couldn't be happier with it and hope that the only history I add to it is to increase the number of fish it has landed. I look forward to hanging around this forum and learning as much as I can about Hobie kayaks and my Outback in particular.

Here it is:

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'16 Hobie Outback
'10 Hobie Revo 13

What biz is he moving to PCB?

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Brad Stephens
[email protected]
(866) 786-5266 <--- Advice HOTline
http://www.sunjammers.com
www.facebook.com/sunjammers

He operates a Gondola and paddle boat business. It's called La Bella Gondola, if I remember correctly. He said he has one of only a handful of authentic Gondolas in the US, one that was made in Italy. He told us that for Hurricane Ivan and Katrina he took all the "furniture" out of his gondola and sunk it with concrete blocks. Evidently it was a good idea because the thing looked great. He's been operating at an outdoor mall in Huntsville for the past two years but they keep shutting the man-made lake down that's in the middle of it for months at a time for repairs. He should do much better in PCB. We usually vacation at St. George Island, so we'll probably make a run over to PCB next time we're down there to take him up on a gondola ride. Maybe he'll let us fish out of it...

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'16 Hobie Outback
'10 Hobie Revo 13

Also, the serial number ends in S505. Would this Outback need the Mirage drive well strengthening kit?

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'16 Hobie Outback
'10 Hobie Revo 13

In the Kayak FAQ Topic: http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=12571

"S"505 is likely 5505?

According to the post on the kit... Outbacks with serial numbers A3753 through F2853

You need the letter before the number string to tell.

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

I'm sure you're right on the "S" actually being a 5, it just looks exactly like an S while the 5 next to it is clearly a 5. I had a tough time reading the serial number and actually had to do the old pencil and paper etching to read it. The serial number seems to read CCWA8087S505 but could be CCWA80875505. I looked inside of the hull and didn't see the patch on the front of the mirage drive well, so I assumed it either had not had the fix or did not qualify for it.

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'16 Hobie Outback
'10 Hobie Revo 13