daft wrote:
I have the "old" steering technology of an ageing i12s, but if there are any parallels, I would say take total ownership of how your steering works and adjusting it. It is vital to me that there is nearly 0 slack in the steering or else the boat wanders. Mine stretched a lot when new, so I had to take up slack at the rudder end. Pay attention to which way the lines are wrapped around the screws; maybe take a picture for reference before you change anything.
I agree that one should know how the steering works and be able to adjust. I do; I am. That is not an issue. There was slack, and I fixed that with no trouble. This is a different thing. First there was slack and no rudder movement, then it was very, very stiff to move. It is all a moot point now, because I was trying to explain the situation to Hobie by email and while moving the steering handle to measure the amount of play, something inside gave, and all tension is gone. The handle turns but the rudder does not move at all. It is not an "adjustment" issue; there's trouble.
Jbernier wrote:
Who is the dealer? Do you have a serial number - I'd be happy to look to see if there's a claim in the system and figure out the path forward. We can always get it back here at the factory and re-work the steering system back to factory settings.
Jacques - Thanks, but you and I have already exchanged some emails about this. You've been very helpful, and the kayak was dropped off at the dealer today.
I appreciate how responsive Hobie has been about this. I've always said that any product can have issues, no matter how well made; the measure of a company is not if a product has a problem, but how the company responds to a problem. Hobie has responded well in this case.