Crack in Hobie Kayak Outback Drive Well

Hello Folks,
I bought by Outback new in July of 2009 from a local dealer.

I have just discovered a crack in my drive well where the rear nose of the drive unit fits into a slot in the hull. I can see the crack viewing forward from the inside from the middle hatch. It is vertical and about 1 inch long. Last year the boat was bone dry; this year it began leaking and that's when I discovered the crack. I use the boat on an inland lake and it has not seen much stress or hard use. Since it is a 2009, I think Hobie still has a problem in this area of the drive well. Other than that, the boat is excellent and great to relax in! I would include a photo but have not been successful in inserting it into this post.

Any advice on what my next steps are?

Advise? Contact your dealer and have them get our warranty depertment some information / photos.

It is possible a crack in the rear of the well may be due to improper installation of the drive, but we can still help with repair or replacement depending on the issue.

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

Thanks Matt!
I just took a look at the hull under the rear slot in the drive well and I can see another crack (barely visible but can be felt) in that area. How can I post a .jpg picture for you to see?

No need to post... just work through your dealer.

If you really want to share, we have an image posting FAQ: http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=12574

Cracks in the rear of a well are weird. There is no load there.

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

Thanks Matt,
I will take your advice and contact my dealer.
The location of the cracks surprises me too.
I am no power peddler and usually cruise along at 3 to 3.5 on the Kayak speedometer.
My cruises usually last about 2 hours.
However, I am grateful for this forum and the load of info on it!

I have emailed my dealer here in Angola, Indiana and will see if I get a response; in any case, they are only 10 miles away. I will keep you up on my progress.

Thanks for your help,
Rick Magalotti

I had a similar situation on my 2009 demo Oasis that I bought in Feb '10 from a local dealer. Thanks a lot to the dealer and Hobie, I got a hull replacement within one week after I contacted my dealer. What an excellent customer service.

Since mine was a demo, I could not know how it was treated previously, but I was always careful about inserting the driver into the well for the 5 trips that I made on that boat. I noticed there was worn on the rear bottom of the well where the driver sit. In my last trip with that boat, within about one hour, I had about 30-40 gallons of water in it. I was surprised to find there were 2-3 hairline cracks on that small area after I looked inside from the rear hatch. As Miller mentioned, there supposedly had no stress on the rear side of the well, I had no clue how that happened.

I hope this is not some sort of design issue, but I'll certainly watch closely with my new boat.

Thanks for the comments Blenny!
At the rear of the well is where my stress cracks are also.
I will be talking to the dealer tomorrow to see what happens next.

Matt and other Kayak folks,
Hobie and Cyndi at my dealership rock!!
Cyndi sent a warranty claim to Hobie on June 2 and my new Hobie showed up today sans seat, paddles, and drive unit. I merely transferred my old ones to the new boat. All other hardware was there.
I went to the dealership and picked up the boat still in its original shipping envelope.
The protective envelope is quite substantial - no scratches on the entire hull.

All I had to do was email photos of the crack to Cyndi and she took it from there.
You can't beat that kind of product support!!

RickM46