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PostPosted: Sat Oct 27, 2018 9:36 am 
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Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2018 10:30 pm
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I plan to get a Bixpy for my Oasis. I generally use it solo, and it is moored permanently in the water in the harbor. The plan is to use it in the unused rear drive well as an aid when I venture out solo into the ocean. The local hobie dealer has sold several of these and indicates good results from their customers. I have talked with one guy on a 13’ Revo, in the harbor, who seemed extremely satisfied.


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PostPosted: Sun Nov 04, 2018 10:52 am 
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More weight translates to a boat sitting lower in the water and it takes more effort to push it along. I had a 8 ft inflatable with a 15 HP outboard and when I bought a 14 ft inflatable that weighed twice as much the 15 HP motor actually moved the larger inflatable at a higher speed as the boat did not sit as low in the water with the increase in flotation and load support there was less drag overall with the larger boat.

Same effect with a displacement hull that has to move against the water as compared to a "sled" that gets up out of the water and reduces the drag involved. With a kayak one has a displacement hull, especially with people and gear, and any propulsion is going to take more energy as speed increases. A battery also has a limited amount of output per unit of time, even a lithium ion type. There is going to be a sweet spot in terms of speed and time with respect to discharge which the Torqeedo's CPU tries to calculate in real time.

Put a two hundred pound person in a Revolution 11 and I would expect greater power consumption than the same person in a Revolution 16. A TI adds the drag of the amas and so is going to take more power than either kayak. The TI is designed to be powered by two people to compensate for the increase in drag. For the TI I would rig up a standard trolling motor and add a sealed battery and pay less than $500 to do so.

But with a TI I would be using sail power once away from the dock or launch area and only use an electric motor to deal with strong current and augment my pedaling with the Mirage drive if the wind fell below 3 knots. In San Francisco bay for example and outgoing tide can generate 7 knot currents and with no wind, having to pedal a kayak against the current would be extremely difficult and a Bixby or other electric drive would be most welcome.


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PostPosted: Mon Jun 24, 2019 6:53 pm 
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So I finally got the Bixby for my Oasis. I sit on front, and have the Bixpy on the rear Mirage drive. Have only had it a few days, bit love it so far. With no pedaling, at the lowest power setting it propels the somewhat heavy Oasis right at 2.0 mph. Will get close to 4 mph at the top end (and no pedaling) which seems close to the hull speed on mine.

I keep the kayak in the Oceanside Harbor, and wanted to venture further up and down the coast, with less apprehension. I’m 71 and usually solo, and the Bixpy gives me more confidence outside the harbor. I also have an 11i, which I use mostly in the harbor. It’s great fun in the harbor, but not as comfortable outside the harbor as the much heavier Oasis.

As soon as we some nicer weather, I’ll do some longer trips, but I think at the first power setting it will last longer than I will.


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PostPosted: Wed Nov 06, 2019 5:52 pm 
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Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2016 12:22 pm
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I just bought a Bixpy with the Mirage adapter, an adapter for my SUP and the Scuba battery. I got a nice deal at the FLL Boat Show last week.

I have an Oasis which I purchased for my wife and I. She passed away recently and I was thinking of getting a Revol 13 or the Compass for myself. It occurred to me that my Oasis with a Bixpy could work for me solo with some added benefits. Gregbenner, why do you sit in the front and not the back? Is the weight distribution better.

The benefit is saving a few thousand dollars on a new Hobie and I get to power my SUP and I am an avid diver so I have an underwater scooter. :D
Ken


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PostPosted: Wed Nov 06, 2019 6:06 pm 
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Ken, It is weight distribution. I keep about 40 pounds of ballast in the back, where rear seat would go. If I sit in the back, I need more than 40 lb ballast, and it doesn’t seem to handle as well. I do sit it the back when I use the sail however. The sail seems to offset the weight imbalance a little.


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PostPosted: Sat Nov 16, 2019 3:05 pm 
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Joined: Sat Jun 29, 2019 2:25 pm
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Howdy from Australia. I have a 2017 Revolution that I fitted a Bixpy to. I did this because of illness that has reduced my endurance so I mostly power up on the way home. I fitted it to the Bixpy supplied Hobie rudder but found that steering response was greatly reduced when not using the motor and this became a bit dangerous in a big offshore swell. I then downloaded the Bixpy universal rudder template and cut my existing large rudder to suit. This gave much more steerage but then tended to blowout in reverse or sharp turns. To solve this I attached a length of 60lb leader to the Bixpy and fed it up through the transducer hole. It ends in about 8 inches of shock cord that clips to the seat clip. Thus, the bixpy stays on permanently and the shock cord allows it to be folded up for transport. The cord remains under tension with the motor down. The battery is shock corded to the front hatch. No blowouts and extra steering effort OK. This has worked for 9 months now and the Bixpy has been fantastic. I have used small zip ties to lock on both the motor mounting clips which are prone to work loose. All connections have been well greased and I only undo the battery connection each trip. I troll for billfish mostly and the motor does not put them off. Whales get a fright when the motor switches on suddenly. I'd buy another in a flash if I had too.


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