Cradles with sand - beware

Always make sure your cradles foam has no sand. This can scratch your hull. Heres one sample I've saved from other forum.


Same thing happened to me but not as bad as this that's why I thought of sharing this. Also until now I continue to get small scratches under the hull even though I use boat ramp. Maybe there's something rough in my cradle scratching the hull when sliding in. I'll try installing carpet.

I only flip my boat over and look at the bottom of my TI once annually usually in the spring time. At that time I take a single edge razor to all the scratches held vertical and swiping back and forth quickly, which creates snow as it rubs off the top layer of plastic. It takes maybe an hour to completely clean the hull bottom so it looks like new, any deep scratches are filled with the handy Hobie welder (a must have for any Hobie kayak owner).
The hulls on these boats are suprisingly durable, and the bow and stern areas appear to be as much as 3/8 of an inch thick, and the average thickness appears to be around 3/16" thick. I'm just guessing here but thats enough material to scrape the hull annually every year for 20 yrs or more before getting thin enough to worry about (it would take a lot of scraping to remove .002" of material). Of course I try not to drive up onto concrete ramps, but I don't worry too much about dragging the boat up onto beaches. Most of the time I remove the mirage drives before beaching, but not always (the mirage drives are also much more durable than most people realize).
I ended up not buying the Hobie cradles, and prefer the PVC bunks instead (1" to 1.5" PVC mounted on 11 inch centers about ten ft long, which seem much less prone to scratching the hull and seem to support the boat more evenly, and are way easier to slide the boat onto the trailer even in a cross wind. I always launch and retrieve my boat with the AMA's out, then pull away into the parking lot where I remove the tramps, fold the AMA's in and remove all the rigging and just lay it all on the hull for transport. Doing it this way I only spend 5 minutes tops at the ramp (ramps here are always very busy with power boaters (who don't like us sailers much (lol)). Depending on overhead clearance in the launch I sometimes open the AMA' mount the tramps and sail and throw all the coolers and PFD's into the boat before backing down the ramp. Actually being able too see the boat while back up in my Pontiac solstice makes it much easier for me (with the solstice you cannot see the back of the car and with such a short wheelbase it's like tryin to backup a go kart). I'm not allowed to use my wifes Yukon Denali anymore after rusting out her roof with the salt water (oops), the convertible roadster is way more fun anyway (lol).
Bottom line we are having way too much fun with our boat to worry about a couple scratches on the bottom once in a while. The only reason I'm mentioning anything at all is It's pretty inevitable that the soft plastic hull bottoms will get scratched, I have noticed no speed degredation between a scratched up hull bottom and a clean hull bottom, so I stopped fretting about it, and just go out and have fun most weekends.
Obviously we love our TI scratches and all.
Bob

I got all upset about scratches when I first got my TI last August. I got over it rather quickly. Like Bob, I use the Hobie welder to fix any deep scratches and gouges.

It is good to know about sand and cradles, though. Just a quick rinse off can save a little of the bottom. Thanks for the post and heads up.

As an aside, that Hobie Welder is very handy for any type of plastics repair, especially kayaks.

I have the welder as well and when I go back to my dealer I will ask for a broken kayak so I can practice plastic welding. I already did it when I still have my pro angler but was not that impressed with the result.I guess I need more practice.
i think Hobie has more to change in the current design like adding/changing something to prevent capsize and adding something that simplifies capsize recovery. So if I see these issues addressed in the next version then I will immediately replace mine. So selling my TI for a good prize means hull must be in perfect shape.
next time I use the boat ramp I will do it just like how Bob launch and retrieve his kayak with the ama out. It was not fun spreading out the ama and installing tramp when on water. Ill be really happy if i can have everything ready before sliding out the kayak on water.

Nap:
Yea I just find it much easier for me to rig everything standing up with the boat on the trailer mostly because of my bad back. I was out Yesterday, the plan was to go up and explore the Manatee river (about 60 mile round trip) the winds were forecast 12-14mph from the east then switching to from the NE later in the afternoon. Things started out great I made good time to the north end of Sarasota Bay, but then the wind died and I forgot to check the tides, it was low tide and I ran aground in the north end of Sarasota bay a couple times (very frustrating to be up there at low tide with a sail boat because of the very narrow channels), so I also got some walking exercise (lol). I also tore one of my mirage fins (first time in years). With almost no wind I decided to abort and turn back before reaching the Manatee river. Shortly after turning around the wind picked back up and I had to fight a straight on head wind all the way back to city island (where I always launch from), the wind ended up coming from the SSE (was forecast from the NE). So needless to say by the time I got back my legs were rubber from having to peddle too much and I was spent, and my bad back was killing me. I was so exhausted I couldn't pull my boat onto the trailer so I had to use my backup winch on the trailer (a recommended extra). I backed the car to the beach, winched the fully rigged boat onto the trailer, with the AMA's out, then drove up to level ground where I could break everything down while standing up (IMO much easier). Then I came home with my tail between my legs defeated and soaked in the pool to cool down. Thinking about trying it again today with more favorable tides, but the winds are forecast from the SSE (straight on head wind) on the way back. since the wife has to work, I'll give it one more attempt. Will probably be even more tired after today (lol).
Bob

Sounds like a tiring trip, Bob.

Nap, that's a good point about the hull and resale value. I haven't thought about that. I'm pretty tough on my stuff, though, so I'll probably wear mine out before I can resale it (that's almost a pun).

On unloading, I do as Bob does. I was out today, and to me it is so much easier to pull the amas out, set up the tramps, get the sail ready, and put the hardening lines (or in my case straps) on before launch.

I have about a 15 item checklist I go through before launching. Once in, it's ready to go..

Maybe the rubber pad style cradles are easier to clean sand off than the carpet which can hold it in the pile?

I noticed some sand on my carpet rear cradle and to get it out I needed a car vacuum, there must have been a bit on the bow last time I loaded.

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Fair Skies, Max.

Strange problem... I always launch and retrieve my TI with trailer, so the cradles should never touch sand. I can't figure out your issue.

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Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker

Not everyone has the luxury of the boat ramps we have here in Australia Tony, in the UK and USA we quite often have to beach launch and retrieve. Loading the boat from the beach onto the trailer. I know this shouldn't be the problem in the OPs case as he uses a ramp, but it is in many cases

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Every day is an Adventure Island day