Assorted Outback pre-sale questions

My wife is having surgery and will be out of action until October. I've been thinking about getting a single and I guess now is the time to do it. We use our Oasis as a workboat and it gets some pretty hard treatment. I have been impressed with how well it holds up to abuse. I am considering the Outback because the advertising makes it seem more rugged than some of the other singles. It is certainly heavy for a single kayak and hopefully that means the bottom is really thick. So my first question is how thick is the hull? Especially relative to the Oasis which I am familiar with.

Another reason I am looking at the Oasis is that I think it has paddle bungees on both sides. Is that correct? I use the left hand bungee for a 6'-12' extendable boat hook.

In the Oasis I often find it more convenient to run over fallen saplings and underwater branches when the drives and rudder are out, rather than back up and go around. I am curious about that kickup rudder: it looks like there is a gap between the front of it and the keel of the hull. Is that true? Will it kick-up if a branch goes up into that gap? About how big is the gap? (In other words, how big of a stick can jam into it?) Is there provision to pull the rudder from inside the boat or somehow to un-hook myself if it doesn't kick-up?

I see there is a big bulging transducer shield on the bottom of the hull. Does Hobie offer a flush cover plate so I can remove the shield and the bulge? I spend a few hours every work day in extremely shallow water and a bulge makes a big difference in where I can go. I remove the drive units when working in shallow water because even the kick-up drives have a bulge below the deepest part of the hull.

Thanks for any help you all can offer!

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Brian Godfrey
kayakingforthebirds.org

I am not familiar with the Oasis so I can’t comment on the differences. The Outback rudder does kick up and can be raised from simply pulling a cord. The transducer “shield” is actually recessed into the hull. It is lowered by releasing a cord and then raised by pulling the cord. A fish finder is useless if you are in less than 2ft of water so having the transducer in the lowered position is pointless. The drive is also easily removed while in shallow water. I fish mostly in shallow water and frequently traverse my Outback in less than a foot water while fluttering the pedals or paddling.

Thank you, Matt!

So by "raised" does that mean the rudder is completely inside of the hull and that gap disappears? That would be best because I really don't want to get stuck on a branch. I once got stuck on a 1" stick that went into a scupper hole. It was really hard to get off of it (once I even figured out what was happening). The bottom has deep mud and/or quicksand in the area where that occurred and I really didn't want to get out. Bloop!

There are also a lot of rocks where I work and the bottom of my Oasis is pretty scarred up after just a year on this hull. (It's my second hull.) I guess I'm also worried about damaging that transducer cover and creating a leak. I guess I'll have to go to the dealer and examine it first hand. Maybe I can make a replacement cover, myself.

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Brian Godfrey
kayakingforthebirds.org