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PostPosted: Thu May 09, 2013 8:53 pm 
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Each person really needs to know their waters because it will vary a great deal. Where i fish the waters are shallow all over and in the past i bumped bottom no matter where i went pretty regularly.

Glad you like them though and i have thoroughly enjoyed reading your adventures, stay safe out there and i wish you much fun and success in the coming year.


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PostPosted: Thu May 09, 2013 11:30 pm 
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Location: Escondido
C4PZL0K wrote:
I went even faster with half the effort.

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You'll be able to go faster yet with even less effort if you loosen the "outhaul clews" (brass knurled nuts on the back of the fins) so that only about 1/8" of the top edges of your Turbos are sitting in the sprocket slots. This allows them to twist more as they wind up the mast, and direct the thrust in a more rearward direction. :wink:

cnnashman wrote:
Great review of the Turbos, i wish they were shorter and wider instead of just longer because i have had trouble with shallow water.
It's just a matter of practice and those Turbofins can take you just about any place...

"Fluttering your Turbos up against the hull (hint -- one foot forward) will take you in less than a foot of water
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A light touch and the fins will glance harmlessly off underwater stumps and debris.
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8)


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PostPosted: Fri May 10, 2013 10:24 am 
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Location: Knox County, TN
Roadrunner wrote:
C4PZL0K wrote:
I went even faster with half the effort.

Image
You'll be able to go faster yet with even less effort if you loosen the "outhaul clews" (brass knurled nuts on the back of the fins) so that only about 1/8" of the top edges of your Turbos are sitting in the sprocket slots. This allows them to twist more as they wind up the mast, and direct the thrust in a more rearward direction. :wink:


Thanks! I will try that. I ran them up as far as they would go. :s

I also use the flutter technique rather than removing the whole mirage system when entering shallow water. The issue for me is that added depth of the turbo fins make it more difficult to discern sunken tree limbs and submerged objects in time or at all to be able to avoid them in murky waters.

I wouldnt change the Turbo fins as I am very satisfied with their performance. We all hate it, but bumping the fins is just one of those things you have to be careful about and accept that sometimes it happens. Just something that comes with the fun. :)


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PostPosted: Fri May 10, 2013 10:39 am 
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The fluttering of the fins helps a little in some situations but even with the standard fins, you can use that method all day long and you still constantly run in to the bottom.


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PostPosted: Fri May 10, 2013 11:35 am 
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Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 6:18 am
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Location: Sarasota,Key West FL
C4PZL0K:
I actually think the turbo fins are more efficient when trying to negotiate shallow water than the standard fins. I assume because the fins are much larger, when you flutter with very shallow strokes, you can still make good headway (because of the larger fins). We tend to go in shallow water quite a bit and have gotten pretty good at feeling our way with the pedals, as soon as we feel something (the fin touching the bottom), we immediately reverse and go into shallow strokes until we are back in deeper water. I think the damage occurs only if you keep on trying to pedal through the stroke while the fin is grounded.
I think it's a touchy feely thing that's is a practiced skill, once you feel the pedal stop (hitting the bottom), you have to immediately reverse and get the pedal free, if you react correctly no damage occurs typically.
I have also had the problem of having both pedals vertical and stuck in the bottom (basically holding the boat up). What we typically do in this situation is release the latches on the mirage drive and pull it out to release it, rather than trying to force the pedals ( forcing things is a good way to wreck the fins) .
When we have new people on board I try to instruct them on how to feel, and what not to do, until they get used to using them. Knock on wood, since 2007 and 8 Hobie kayaks later, over countless miles (I'm sure in the thousands by now), we have never ruined a set of mirage fins (did bend a couple rods though, but they were easily straightened). To be honest we have even ran mild rapids with the mirage drives in on several occasions, of course we kept them folded under the hull in the rough stuff (probably not recommended though).
I think another important thing to do is if you are not using the mirage drive at the moment, is to tie the fins up against the hull bottom with the provided bungy. This is important to announce as you are approaching the shore, I usually yell out "PORT YOUR OARS", because my dad was an ex navy man and he always used to yell that out when we were kids going out boating and canoeing as we approached shore, Got no idea if it's a real navy term ( doubt they had Mirage drives in the British Navy in WWII), but I think of my dad whenever I yell it out. Obviously my family gets it by now (though I never explained to them why I yell that out) they just know to bungy their mirage drives.
Bob


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PostPosted: Fri May 10, 2013 12:09 pm 
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Location: Sarasota,Key West FL
cnnashman :
This is true, when in very shallow water, mangroves, oyster beds, etc our fins are hitting the bottom constantly.
However we literally hate using our paddles, we always have paddles on board, but never use them. We tend to negotiate shallows and mangroves using the brail method of pedaling, we pedal until we hit the bottom, then shallow pedal in the real shallow water, the fins are constantly touching and bumping into the bottom, rocks, roots, oyster beds, etc but we have yet to wreck any fins, they are surprisingly durable, way stronger than we ever imagined, as long as you remember if you hit something to stop and reverse. Trying to pedal through is where the damage occurs at least in our experience.
Even when we pull up on beaches, we seldom pull the mirage drives out, we just bungy the drive arm back (so the fins are against the hull) with the provided bungy strap, and the boat sits on the mirage drives in the sand (probably not advised by Hobie either LOL).
Bob


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PostPosted: Sat May 11, 2013 3:59 pm 
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Man, i don't know how you do it with the turbos but more power to you. I usually just take the mirage drive out when i am in really shallow water and walk the yak out to deeper water. I have only bent the mast a few times and i don't know who would continue trying to pedal once stuck lol. Seems like an idiot move.

I wish the mirage drive worked like the rudder so when you touch anything solid it would pop up out of the way. Granted the rudder wasn't locked into the cleat.


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PostPosted: Sat May 11, 2013 9:00 pm 
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Joined: Sat Apr 27, 2013 10:39 am
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Location: Knox County, TN
Well, I went out this evening after a few short storms rolled through. I was trying a new spot and found myself in very shallow water today. I am pretty sure I tore at least one fin and rubbed the bottom a few times and I think I ran right into a submerged stump. I'm afraid to look at them when the sun comes up. But it was fun and got me home :)

Still wouldn't trade for paddling.

Here are some pictures from today. I will take some of the fins tomorrow.

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PostPosted: Sun May 12, 2013 5:56 am 
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Location: Sarasota,Key West FL
C4PZL0K :
Looks like a beautiful area to explore.

In my response I probably should have specified where we kayak and sail 95% of the time. The SW coast of Florida, in and around Key West and the Keys looks nothing like your area. All the bottom and shores are made up of pure white sand with the consistency of granulated sugar. We are Scuba divers and snorkelers, the only fishing we do is spear fishing, and pretty much only in salt water. The main reason is down here in Florida every piece of fresh water is full of alligators, and being Canadian, I am petrified by them. My wife is native Floridian, and has no fear of them (I guess it's what you grow up with). I love to Kayak but it's not worth being eaten (LOL). We sold all of our other Hobies, and only own the Tandem Island now which easily holds 3-4 people and equipment. Just the size of the boat (21 ft long (with bow sprit), and 10 ft wide) restricts where we plan to go, so we never end up in areas like you show in your photos (we would be eaten alive (my greatest fobia)).
Possibly another big factor here is we have owned 8 Hobie kayaks now, and every one of them had the sail kit, so in shallow water we tend to loosen the rudder park the mirage drives and sail over the shallow spots (vs paddling), you can easily sail thru 6 inches of water. We also tend to be more of the excursion type people which probably also makes a difference as well.
Everything has a perspective, and different environments require different methods, I regret not clarifying this before convincing you to trash your mirage drive fins. With that said though, just from our experience we still feel the mirage drive system is much more durable than most people give credit to, as long as you have light feet when using it in shallow water, the mirage drive is surprisingly durable (that was my entire point).
Most people tear the ends of their fins a little eventually, Covering the end with heavy rubber tape (kind of like the material used in inner tube repair kits), usually does the trick (I've seen several posts on here how to fix them).
I had one set of fins with thin aluminum sheet 2 inch wide x 7 inches long folded and glued over the front edge, if I remember I used 5200 adhesive to glue the aluminum down to the fin. If I knew I was going to go down rapids, or really small shallow rivers I would put either those fins on, or a repaired older set. (replacement fins are not that expensive, and are typically easily repaired).

With a fleet of Hobies, you tend to have a lot of Hobie parts lying around, (ie... extra mirage drives, extra fins, repair parts, drums, chains, sprockets, etc) and get handy (over time) at keeping everything in working order. I actually like Hobies Mirage drive design because every piece is easily repaired or replaced. Even if you abuse the heck out of them, they can continue to give you many years of service, it's kind of a given that you have to take care of them (keep them clean and lubed), and fix/repair them once in a while, but once you get the hang of it, all your fear will go away (nothing is shiny and new forever).
In conclusion if you were to look at any of my stuff (ie.. mirage drives, fins, hull bottoms, etc) it all looks pretty beat up from use. Yet everything continues to work very well (as long as you take care it ( ie.. maintain and repair as needed)) cosmetics for me takes a back seat. Rinsing off your mirage drives after each use, and spraying with WD40 goes a long way to keeping them in good working order (though they look like (censored)). I'm just sayin, don't be afraid to use em, that's what their made for.
Hope this helps
Bob
By the sounds of it you might now have an old beater set of fins to work with (sorry bout that I should have clarified better in the earlier post).
Bob


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PostPosted: Sun May 12, 2013 6:45 am 
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Location: High Point, NC
All my boats with Mirage Drives are rigged with depth finders. I have the shallow water alarm set 2 feet (transducer is mounted to the inside of the hull bottom so this effectively provides a warning when I get in water less than about 2-1/2 feet deep. At that point, I feather the fins and go easy until I'm clear and back in deeper water.

Occasionally I do hit something, but I'm rarely traveling very fast if I do. The shallow water alarm is a very useful feature.

To date the worst damage my MDs have suffered is a shaft poke through because I forgot to take the darn thing out and couldn't figure out why it was so hard to drag the boat onto the trailer.


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PostPosted: Sun May 12, 2013 8:26 am 
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Location: Portland, Texas
Tom,
You're not the first to do that! :oops:

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2010 Oasis
Lucie Belle


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PostPosted: Sun May 12, 2013 8:28 am 
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Location: Knox County, TN
It really was not as bad as I had thought it would be.

As I suspected the front mast took a pretty good knock to the head. It is showing a slight bend. The rubber has a small tear in it also. Overall I am impressed how it stood up. I know when I hit that stump I was going pretty steady and did not get to brake at all before impact.

All the innards, bits and pieces look to be fine overall. I noticed my rear mast set screw had backed out a bit. I did not have any locking thread adhesive on it. I may try a small dab of blue locker this time around after I straighten everything out and reassemble. I will have to buy more fuel for my torch anyhow.

When I can I try to stay out of town and far away from city on weekends, but hardware shopping is ok. I hate the traffic and exhaust smell though.

All in all very fun day no troubles. The hull stood up very good. At least once I know I rubbed rocks and all I noticed was one new scratch. Nothing serious at all.

Before my water ventures I was riding ATVs down logging roads for 8-12 hours a day. So this tiny bit of repair and maintenance for this much fun is very welcome. A lot more fun than changing brakes, worn drive shaft couplers, and bearings. A whole lot less mess than changing oil and no gas cans to lug around.

In all honesty I will consider switching back to the standard fins during weekend fishing trips. I didn't really feel like I needed the speed or even used it yesterday much. During the week when I am on a schedule, yes I definetely use the speed and it makes all the difference.

Hobie engineers have made it so easy to switch out fins it would be better and super easy to downgrade when the extra reach, speed, and power is not needed. I believe I will be purchasing the st fins soon to see if they are that much of an upgrade over the standard fins. If they are I will fit the, onto the tandem.

Buying these Hobie Kayaks has turned out to be my best leisure toy purchase yet. Do not regret it at all.

Hobie is the best!

So much fun :)

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PostPosted: Sat Jul 27, 2013 2:38 pm 
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Location: Knox County, TN
The fleet grows! Now that I have three sets of proper v2 drives I can say without a doubt the threaded mast is a very good, and highly valued upgrade. If you have a v1 and are still on the fence, it really is worth it.

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 05, 2013 1:37 pm 
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Some may not like the mirage drive, but I've not come across one. After retiring early this summer and moving to our vacation house on the river, I went kayaking with neighbors, using a paddle kayak. One lady had a Hobie Sport. After paddling for a couple of hours, which was about all I wanted, she encouraged me to use her Sport the next day. Incredible. My wife and I bought a new Revolution 11, then an Outback the next week. We use these every day. We've put turbo fins on both. I'm 54, and not an athelete, but was able to make a 24 mile run in one day a week after buying the Revolution. Further, for fun I participated in a 3.5 mile kayak race on Weeks Bay Alabama two weeks ago. Against 93 participants, I placed 1st against tandem kayaks, tandem and single mirage drive kayaks and SUPs (about 35 boats). I placed 6th overall out of the 93, the only boats ahead of me being the 17-19 foot racing kayaks. I was darned impressed with the speed of the Revolution with the turbo fins. I make an 8-12 mile run everyday, including night fishing on the bay. That's where the Outback really shines - no hands kayaking gives me both hands to fish. I love it!

Cheers,

Mark

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Magnolia Springs, AL
2014 Hobie PA12, 2015 Hobie PA 12, 2013 Outback and 2012 Revo11


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 05, 2013 11:35 pm 
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Location: Knox County, TN
That's what I'm talking about! High five Mark! :) Yeah!


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