Power driving

Saturday I decided to enjoy the warm evening by putting the kayak in at Pelican Point (Eaton, WA) and going around the estuary side. At that stage I had yet to take the yak through the cut to the ocean, and had no immediate intentions of doing so. But plans can change in an instant; and they did.

With a south-easterly blowing quite hard and choppy water to deal with, it wasn't long before I decided to drop the motor and power through it all, and within minutes I was at the cut.... or should that be, "The CUT"?

The Cut is where the Collie River (Western Australia) flows into an estuary and the estuary flows to the sea. Great area for fishing, swimming, crabbing, picnics, and kayaking, &etc.

Anyway.... I had just gotten beyond the cut mouth when half a dozen dolphins started to swim with me, under me, all around me. It was fantastic. They accompanied me for about five minutes then went off in search of whatever the heck it is that dolphins go off in search of. But that experience will stay with me a long time.

On another thought, when and how do dolphins sleep?



And the motor worked beautifully through the hard chop and swell in the cut, although I am sure if it were any rougher I would have the common sense to not tackle it.

One thing I found was that with the Watersnake on slow speed, by peddling as well I could get the same speed or faster than with the motor on high speed. And peddling with the motor on wasn't tiring at all. I tried it out on calm waters as well and it just zips along nicely. So, for around $150 Australian plus the $80 battery, I have quite a neat package to make my kayaking time-on-the-water longer, less physically demanding, and with the reassurance that if I go to far on the outward leg, I will be able to get back home.

Next thing you know, you will be wanting an Adventure or Tandem Island to sail, as well as motor and pedal.

We seem to be very lucky with dolphins in Australia.
I have even witnessed a frisky one at the top of Spencer Gulf in South Australia, being rejected by it's girl.
Some things seem to space different breeds e.g. human or dolphin.

I'll keep Pelican Point in mind when I eventually get to WA.

_________________
Cheers, Brian in South Australia
Tandem Island -

That's exactly my point on using hobie mirage kayaks and adventures (AI/TI). You can easily have 3 power sources available to you (pedal, sail, aux propulsion either electric or hibrid). By using all 3 power sources at the same time whenever possible this greatly increases the range and usability of the boat. We never went out on our hobie kayaks without the sail kit attached to the side of the kayak, if the winds are right why not use it to help propel the boat. Many people remove their mirage drives when sailing or motoring, I say why. Why not just continue to pedal lightly 100% of the time. Since your using your legs the strain is no more than a long walk (we can all use the exercise). By doing this we can all triple the possible range of our crafts. I know in my case with hibrid gas engines, by sailing and pedaling at the same time I find I only need to run my motor at the most at 1/4 throttle, and get way over 100mpg when doing so, basically I can go out sailing all day traveling at really good speeds for under a dollar in fuel (1 liter of fuel lasts about 3 hrs of runtime (per engine)). This equates to about 24 miles per tank of fuel (that's about 80-100 mpg). Without pedaling and without the sails I get 30 minutes run time at wot (wide open throttle) which works out to around 20 mpg. I'm quite sure you can get equal improvements in range and power economy using the evolve or other electric propulsion source by using all the power sources at the same time, and on the occasions when there is enough wind just tilt the aux power source up and sail/pedal. If the wind dies completely or it's too windy to feel safe, just furl the sail and power/pedal back to safety. Obviously if your just going out on small lakes, this isn't important, but we discovered the ocean and inter coastal system in Florida is huge and it gets boring very quickly staying within a mile or so of our launch point. Before getting our Hobies we would rent paddle yaks and would not feel comfortable going more than a few hundred feet from shore and seldom more than a mile from launch, with what we have now, we can do 50 milers without a second thought. Obviously our rig is not your normal setup, but I feel everyone could extend their range and speed by utilizing the tri-power capabilities of their Hobies by not thinking "sail or pedal or evolve" but rather "sail and pedal and power (electric or hibrid)" all at the same time. That's my only point, why not exploit everything you have available to you.
Of course the choice between electric and hibrid (gas) is determined by your max range requirements and budget of course ( an evolve is roughly double the cost if a good gas setup (Honda), and I'm pretty sure you can put together a common DIY trolling motor and standard battery setup for way less. By carefully blending all the available power sources as part of your thought process when using you can do great things with this stuff, but you need to keep your mind open to the goal.
Obviously I feel pretty strongly about this stuff (lol).
Bob

Too true, Bob. When I was setting up, and often when I meet other kayakkers, they accuse me of cheating. "Why have a kayak if you aren't going to paddle/peddle?"

But right from day one when I had the thought of "I want to buy a kayak (read Hobie)", it has been my intention to have as many forms of propulsion as possible. I DO like to peddle, and I DO like to paddle. But I like the assurance that when (if) I have gone too far, or caught that big fish, I can always get myself (and it) home again.

My next purchase will be the sail.

BTW, my little Watersnake without any assistance takes me around on half speed for well over an hour without the battery showing any signs of running out. So, for $250Aust ($169 for the motor and $80 for the battery), I can troll, power through the really hard stuff, and get myself back to base without too much difficulty. For longer trips I will put a second battery. That way I will know when the first one runs out and I switch over, it's time to go home.