Opinions please - fins, carts, SideKicks

Greetings workers.

I'm hoping to get some words of wisdom from the more experienced of us here.

I've not yet wheeled my new Oasis over soft beach sand using the standard cart I purchased. Is it going to be a struggle, especially if I'm also loading 60 lbs of ballast for a solo trip? I think it's going to be pretty difficult. Should I invest in the pneumatic-wheeled cart for these occasions?

Also, I have 4 x ST fins on order, but have just been reading that the ST Turbo fins might be much better for sailing purposes. Perhaps I should change my order for one set of STs for the front drive and the Turbos for the rear drive? Or maybe I should just try out the STs (non-turbo) and see how I go. Looking at the STs next to the standard curved fins, there doesn't seem to be much difference in area - makes me wonder if I'm going to see much of a difference between the two and that maybe I should simply buy Turbos. What do you guys think?

Oh, and one more thing, does anybody sail an Oasis (etc) with the inflatable SideKicks? I think the extra stability safeguard will encourage my partner back into the front seat for sailing, and make it more practical for my small kids to join in. Is there any problems with them e.g. do they tend to bury into the water and want to swing the boat around?

Thanks all.

Gorks.

G'Day Gorkle,
Can't help much with advice on sidekicks or the soft sand but I do think that the best combination for fins would be ST and Turbo. We use that combination and have found it to be very effective. One advantage with the shorter St's in the front is that when in shallower water my wife can warn me of obstacles. She can also pedal through water that is too shallow for the turbo's. The turbo's are definitely better for sailing providing a stronger centreboard effect upwind.
Have you tried the dry bag filled with water for ballast? It would save you lugging that extra weight over the sand. I find a 40 litre bag very effective as it fits nicely in the front footwell. It is just a cheap vinyl dry bag that cost less than $20 at Boots Camping.

If you look far enough back you can find just about anything! Here's a post comparing the STs with the Turbos and standard fins:
http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewt ... light=fins

I agree with Stringy recommendation for the ST/ST Turbo combination, but would hasten to add that because the fins, regardless of length, fold up flat against the hull,

they can be operated quite effectively this way by "trilling" them with one foot forward. So any length fin can actually be used to drive the boat in shallow water down to about 6" (15 cm?).

Using this technique, your Turbofins would be operating somewhere in this range (pardon the Irish pennants -- it must have been St. Patrick's Day for which the boat was required to wear some green!).




Sorry I can't help with your other questions.

Stringy. I'll give the drybag idea a shot sometime. Thanks mate.

RR, thanks for the great info. I think I'll stick with standard-length ST until I've built up my leg muscles a bit but will almost certainly upgrade to Turbos one day.

Edit: I've found lots of old posts about Sidekicks

The pneumatic-wheeled cart is much better than the standard (my standard wheels separated from the rims with no possibility to put them back together). The pneumatic wheels are much sturdier.

As far as the fins are concerned, I prefer the turbo, but they are too hard for my son or my wife. They require enough muscle power to be comfortable (i.e. you need to find whether it's easier for you to push light and fast than hard and slow; I don't know of any way to predict this).

Have fun with your new rig!

As anyone who has driven in very soft sand will tell you, you will become bogged down very quickly (sometimes even in 4WD), if your tire pressure is too high (i.e., normal street pressure). The solution, especially in vehicles like 2 WD dune buggies, is to simply let air out of your tires. A common reduction in a 4WD vehicle would be from, say 35 psi, down to 10-15 psi. This causes your tire to go somewhat “flatâ€

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Great explanation Apalach.
It highlights what I think is an area that Hobie could improve - provide us with a cart that is truly versatile. At the moment they have a great sand cart with the high flotation tyres but like a 4WD tyre try driving that on a bitumen road at sand pressure. The rolling resistance is terrible.
Why not provide us with a tyre that is deflatable for sand or a cart that has 2 sets of high/low pressure wheels that are easily swapped? The only option like that at the moment is Hobie's heavy duty cart which doesn't plug in to the scuppers.

I think it is all personal preference but... IMO...the turbos are the way to go. Shocking difference between the standard fins and the turbos. Don't notice a difference in resistance between the two but the performance is drastic. Again IMO, I would get a pneumatic tire cart but not something that plugs in to the scupper holes. My reason for this is that it causes undo stress on the scupper holes when the wheels hit something, when you go over a rock or curb, etc. Look inside the scuppers of someone who uses one. Maybe this is not something structural but when I am out a few miles and the sonar shows 500' it makes me feel better.

Joe,
You might have a point if someone really abused the Hobie plug-in wheels and was not careful about their use. I have been using my Hobie stock scupper plug-in wheels for four years on two different boats and have not noticed any problems--no cracks and no leaks. But I gently ease them up and over an obstacle, or down the same way so that neither the wheels nor my boats do any bouncing on hard substrates if I can help it. Just my $.02.

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Apalach - Went out your general direction a couple of weeks ago. Not to Florida but to New Orleans. Cannot imagine yakking where there are crocs. I think I would find another outdoor activity that involved carrying a large caliber gun if crocs were known in the area.

Joe,
Sorry--no crocs around here, although we do get them in the Everglades in a few places. But we do have plenty of gators, and some get pretty big. Generally though, if you avoid them, they will avoid you. In fact, I rarely see them, although we know they are out there. Oh--and believe the warning signs

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Speaking of alligators (we were, weren't we?), our Souteastern gators are doggone friendly sometimes (unlike those in Southern California where I grew up )



Problem is when they forget their key...

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