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 Post subject: Abrasion mitigation
PostPosted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 8:58 am 
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Hi,
We have a 2.5 month old Oasis. We use it 4-5 times a week as volunteers at a local lake. We launch and retrieve from a beach made of coarse granite sand and gravel. We can back the truck right to the water's edge and lower the kayak to the side. Then we load it up and slide it into the water. The other day I noticed significant abrasion of the bottom just forward of the front pedal hole. There's other abrasion around the hull, but a lot right there.
I asked the dealer if there's something we can apply to stop the abrasion of the hull. She called Hobie and was told to use the wheels. We tried the wheels once, the first day we launched, and that was not good. They are very difficult to get on and off with the very heavy kayak in the water. People launching kayaks are only allowed 15 minutes total time on the beach and we need to set a good example, so screwing around with wheels really isn't a good option. My wife is not strong enough to carry half of the loaded boat so we have been dragging it the 15 feet or so between water and loading/unloading position next to the truck. Now she is trying to at least take some weight off of it, but the boat still drags some.
I've seen where people put various tapes on their keels to prevent abrasion. As often as we use the boat and as coarse as the sand is here, I doubt that would be a viable alternative. We'd be re-applying the tape once or twice a week and that's too much bother.
I've seen where some people have used a truck bed lining. I have such a lining in my truck bed. It's heavy, but might be worth considering if I knew it would stay on. Has anyone here tried this method? Polyethylene is slippery. Will the lining stay on, given that we use it so often and never take it off the top of the truck?
I'm open to any other suggestions. Just keep in mind, this is essentially a work boat. I'm not nearly as concerned with appearance as I am with durability and longevity.
Thanks.

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 Post subject: Re: Abrasion mitigation
PostPosted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 9:50 am 
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I have an Outback that has a Torqueedo motor in the back along with my fishing gear, so not the heaviest, but still pretty heavy.

I use wheels.

Tip the empty kayak on its side and slip the wheels on. Load it up, tow it down to the water with the wheels submerged. Then the hardest part is lifting the back end of the boat and let the wheels slide off (I don't use the little peg to keep the wheels on ... it snapped off a LOOONG time ago :). It doesn't take me that long.

I also put gorilla tape on the bottom of my boat and yeah, it is a monthly or weekly application depending on how many barnacles I have to drag the boat over when i come back :)

I'm curious about how well the bedliner stuff would work. Anyone tried that?


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 Post subject: Re: Abrasion mitigation
PostPosted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 11:11 am 
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Yeah, putting the empty kayak on wheels then loading it up is easy. And taking the empty kayak off of the wheels to put it on the roof rack is easier than the actual lift. Getting the wheels out from under it in the water, or putting them back in to pull the boat is the hard part. We're old and the boat is loaded with trash and bottles and fishing line and all manner of litter when time comes to haul it. We tried the wheels and it was a PIB. It's awkward and the boat is heavy. And it takes extra time on a busy launching beach. That's why we drag it. At some point the water level in the lake may be such that we are forced to use the wheels, but we'd prefer to avoid it if possible.

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 Post subject: Re: Abrasion mitigation
PostPosted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 1:38 pm 
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Well the nose of the kayak is still touching the bottom, so I can leverage up the back of the kayak. If your lake bottom descends rapidly, you can angle your kayak so that the nose can still touch the bottom.

It's harder to do when I'm doing it solo as the wheels have to slide out, but with a helper to pull out the wheels it's much easier.

I'm not a spring chicken either and it is manageable ... the hardest part that I dread is getting the pig onto the car. Even with Hullivators, getting that initial lift is awkward with that beast. I can see a trailer in the future.


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 Post subject: Re: Abrasion mitigation
PostPosted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 3:30 pm 
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The launch beach is shallow. The bottom drags a bit just getting it to the edge of the beach.

I wonder if I can weld new plastic back on every now and then or even weld on wear strips.

My truck is a 4x4 Tundra with overloads on the back for towing and Yakima racks on top of a canopy. The rear rack is 78" off the ground. It really makes me feel my age every time I lift the Oasis up there. We, too, are considering a trailer. But we'll still have the bottom sliding issue.

Hobie makes a special set of wheels for the PA-17T. It incorporates a cradle similar to their trailering cradles so you don't have to lift that 200+ pound ship so high to get the wheels under it. It even couples nicely with their trailer. I wonder if I could make something like that from an Oasis trailer cradle...

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 Post subject: Re: Abrasion mitigation
PostPosted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 3:48 pm 
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daft wrote:
How about landing gear wheels that always stay attached, and swing up and down as on an airplane?

I actually thought about those, but the boat already weighs 95 pounds. The tires are removable on the ones I looked at, but I think the bracket alone will probably bring the empty weight up to 100 pounds or more. I can barely lift 95 and some days I sincerely wonder if I'm going to make it.

The peg rail thing is interesting, but on many days the beach is too busy to take up that much room. Also, doing it 4-5 times a week seems like I'll have to start worrying about abrasion on the gunnels as well as on the bottom.

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 Post subject: Re: Abrasion mitigation
PostPosted: Sat Sep 08, 2018 9:56 am 
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I love my C-TUG- so easy to slip on and off- folds up in the front hatch if needed- but i just strap it in the rear bungee. I use it on my Tandem Island all the time and never had an issue. I just use the standard hard wheels with it. I highly reccomend a simple cart like the C-Tug or Universal Hobie type cart rather than the scupper cart. Of course if I am at the beach on sand, the Hobie wheelez is the way to go.


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 Post subject: Re: Abrasion mitigation
PostPosted: Sat Sep 08, 2018 11:45 am 
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I had a similar cart to the C-Tug once for a ocean rowing shell. It was easy to get under the boat, but was always crooked and if you hit a rock or something with one wheel, the cart would twist. Is the C-Tug better?

Also, I knew that Hobie makes a special cart for the PA-17T and the TI, but there is one near the bottom of this page that looks like it will work similarly on the Oasis. https://www.hobie.com/accessories/carts/ Has anyone tried it?

Thanks

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 Post subject: Re: Abrasion mitigation
PostPosted: Sat Sep 08, 2018 10:51 pm 
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Joined: Sat Nov 12, 2005 10:46 pm
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Location: Escondido
FatBear, there are a couple of things you can do that will make your boat handling easier and make your boat last longer. First, learn how to use your wheels instead of the sand and rocks. Installing and extracting the cart is easy once you learn the technique. I do this on my Oasis with no problem:
Image

Second, use the bed of your full size truck to your advantage since you paid for it. With a simple bed extender, you don't have to lift that boat at all -- just shove it in the back of your truck. Then it's easy to slide off when you get home and keep it out of the sun.
Image

If I see you tomorrow at Hodges I'll give you a demonstration. 8)


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 Post subject: Re: Abrasion mitigation
PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2018 9:55 am 
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I secure a 1.25" foam pad on the C-tug.it protects the hull and grips it well. No movement once the straps are tight.


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 Post subject: Re: Abrasion mitigation
PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2018 2:02 pm 
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Roadrunner wrote:
FatBear, there are a couple of things you can do that will make your boat handling easier and make your boat last longer. First, learn how to use your wheels instead of the sand and rocks. Installing and extracting the cart is easy once you learn the technique. I do this on my Oasis with no problem:

Second, use the bed of your full size truck to your advantage since you paid for it. With a simple bed extender, you don't have to lift that boat at all -- just shove it in the back of your truck. Then it's easy to slide off when you get home and keep it out of the sun.

If I see you tomorrow at Hodges I'll give you a demonstration. 8)

Hi Roadrunner. How did you know this was me? The "Fat" part is obvious, I suppose. I'm working on it. Your face isn't in the photos, but I think I know who you are. Small world.

The wheel demo would be nice, but I didn't see you down there. We try to spend as little time on the launch beach as possible. Partly for courtesy, partly because of the 15 minute rule, and partly because loading/unloading isn't the fun part so we speed through it.

The extender isn't an option. We keep the boat on the truck when we are not using it because we have no other place to put it if we take it down. I'm working on that, but it will probably be a winter project. Or we might get a trailer which would solve many problems while introducing a new one (trailer hassles.) Having it up there does make finding the truck much easier in large parking lots and such. I had an orange canoe on top of my previous truck for 10 years, so it's actually pretty normal for me.

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 Post subject: Re: Abrasion mitigation
PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2018 11:56 pm 
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Location: Escondido
You passed my truck when you left today.
Image

If there's a will, there's a way! Sawhorses take up less space and are much cheaper than a trailer. Easy to load -- roll the bow on the forward sawhorse, lift the back on the rear sawhorse and flip the boat. Don't even have to remove the wheels.
Image

If you want to keep it on the roof, it is easier to handle if you lift only 1/2 at a time:
Image

That's how this monster gets loaded and unloaded.
Image

BTW, thanks for the great clean-up work you and your wife do at the lake. With all the fishing line (ie: bird entanglement) you remove, you could start a monofilament factory! It's amazing how much trash you get week after week! 8)


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 Post subject: Re: Abrasion mitigation
PostPosted: Mon Sep 10, 2018 7:37 pm 
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Hi Roadrunner,

Thanks. We've filled two full Rubbermaid heavy duty trash cans with line and litter. That's a lot more than it may sound when you consider that a large portion of it is fishing line and how slow it is pulling line. We've done both sides of the lake from the power line crossing to the dam at least once over and some places twice. Now we're working on the upper part. When the water level starts rising later this winter we'll have access to a lot of brush along the edge that is now way up the bank, so we'll start all over again. It will never end, but that's fine because I like the excuse to get out there a lot.

I think you said you live above the lake. Did you see us out there today? I actually went out with a different volunteer (there is a small group that I take out as my front seat crew.) We towed in a large buoy in that someone had hit and broken. We put the anchors in the milk crate behind my seat and towed the buoy on its own mooring line. Worked well: the milk crate held the line high enough to avoid the rudder controls. MAN was that a workout! It was a pretty good sized buoy that caused a lot of drag. It was about a 1.5 mile pedal tow. I pedaled and paddled, both, and actually got some good aerobic exercise. Just wanted to see if we could pull it off, and we did. :)

The front seat is available on Wednesday if you'd like a new and different experience than you are probably used to. Same offer to anyone else who is interested. Message me if you are interested.

Oh, by the way, my front seater this morning had to rush to an appointment so I loaded all the gear and the boat myself. (I usually do most of it, anyway.) I did use the wheels and it did work better than the first time. The first time we used them was our first day with the new boat, so I shouldn't be surprised. I'll have to train my wife up on the new procedure, but I think it will work fine. Thanks for encouraging me to try it again.

I have the old, round Yakima racks on my truck and I have those pull-out bars on both front and rear. I pull the rear one out fully and the front one out partially and then I do lift only one end at a time as you suggested. I lift the rear of the kayak onto the rear bar, lift the bow onto the front and slide it over, then slide the rear over. But I must lift from the rear handles which means I am doing a sideways clean-and-jerk of about 60+ pounds. It's hard for an old guy, but I haven't dropped it yet.
I transport ours upside down. Do you carry yours right side up then?

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 Post subject: Re: Abrasion mitigation
PostPosted: Mon Sep 10, 2018 9:07 pm 
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Location: Escondido
FatBear wrote:
We towed in a large buoy in that someone had hit and broken. We put the anchors in the milk crate behind my seat and towed the buoy on its own mooring line. Worked well: the milk crate held the line high enough to avoid the rudder controls. MAN was that a workout! It was a pretty good sized buoy that caused a lot of drag. It was about a 1.5 mile pedal tow. I pedaled and paddled, both, and actually got some good aerobic exercise. Just wanted to see if we could pull it off, and we did. :)
Great job on the buoy! They can be difficult, especially with anchors attached.
Quote:
The front seat is available on Wednesday if you'd like a new and different experience than you are probably used to. Same offer to anyone else who is interested. Message me if you are interested.
Thanks, but I have a previous commitment. The good news is, here's a small sample of what others have picked up at the lake. Think about all the stuff you don't have to collect! BTW, what you see in the first pic is all in the front seat of a tandem Oasis -- the passenger apparently had to swim. The guy reportedly had some difficulty navigating from the back seat. :wink:
Image

Image

Image

Image
Quote:
Do you carry yours right side up then?
No. I push them of right side up and then flip them when onboard, as the pics above show. 8)


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 Post subject: Re: Abrasion mitigation
PostPosted: Tue Sep 11, 2018 1:08 pm 
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Those are awesome loads and I'm very thankful I don't need to bring that all back! Otherwise I would. Mostly it's apples-to-oranges though. It looks like it must have been one of those big kayak cleanup events. We're out there four or five times a week doing more of a slow, thorough, deep cleaning. This morning we started our third trash can full of line and litter. We pedal out to our work area and then work for 1.5 to 3 hours, then either pedal around for exercise or pedal straight back to the launch beach. Sometimes we quit picking line and trash because we've spent enough time for one day, sometimes we do it because our bag and the milk crate are full. And when the lake rises in the winter we will start all over again. We will probably never be finished, but that just means we'll never run out of a reason to get out on the water.

What most people do not understand until they actually are out there with us is that the "work" part of the day is one of the most pleasant parts. We spend that 1.5 to 3 hours with the fins locked up and paddling along the shore as slowly as it is possible to go. We are usually less than 5' from the shore. It is meditative, zen, therapeutic, almost hypnotic. Completely unlike any other boating I've done. (I have 17,000+ miles in rowing shells and kept a canoe on top of my truck for ten years once so I could use it any time I got the itch.) It is completely unlike cruising along the shoreline just 5' farther out. Even pulling a tangle of line from a bush requires focus and forces all of the other cares and concerns out of your brain.

We see many birds and other wildlife up very close. We almost had a curious coyote climb right into the boat with us - he was about 2' away and still coming slowly towards us when I backed out a couple of feet. We're surrounded by them all the time in our neighborhood, but when have you sat there and looked into their eyes from 5-6 feet away for two or three minutes? Very cool. We're learning the territorial boundaries of the Great Blue herons around the lake. We have plenty of time to observe things like this and that enriches the experience. We've had ducks actually compete with us like we were one of them as we "dabbled" along the shoreline, racing to get ahead of us, cut across our bow, and search for the good food before we could get there. I almost bonked one on the head with my paddle as it passed between us and the shore just 2' away.

That's really what I'm offering. You are a way more skilled and experienced kayaker than we are and I appreciate the advice. (We used the wheels again today.) There's no doubt about that. I just thought you or someone else might be interested in something new and unusual.

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