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PostPosted: Mon Mar 26, 2018 7:42 pm 
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I just purchased a used Hobie Island (2009) the boat is in great shape it was stored for many years and has no holes. BUt as I research more I have read threads that discuss cracks in the hull from this vintage of hobie adventure Island. I have some questions 1) What percent of the 2008-2009 AI develop cracks in the hull? 2) Is their anything that I can do to prevent this? 3) Should I resell and buy new since the boat is in great shape now (but hardly used) I paid 2k for the boat.

Thanks any advice is helpful, I purchase toys and keep them for awhile. I have read about this problem and I am worried that I made a mistake buying this boat (even though it is fine now). Again I do not know what the odds are of me having a cracked hull are, I cannot find any statistics on the problem.

Thanks for any avice


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 27, 2018 8:30 am 
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Joined: Tue May 27, 2003 12:44 pm
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Location: Oceanside, California
Failures were related to the drive well back then and Turbo fins usage mostly. It was a very small percentage of production. You could back up the front ledge of the drive well inside the hull in a few different ways. One is DP 8010. You can search forums for background on repairs.

https://www.hobie.com/forums/search.php?keywords=DP+8010&terms=all&author=&sc=1&sf=all&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search

https://www.hobie.com/forums/search.php?keywords=reinforce+drive+well&terms=all&author=&sc=1&sf=all&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search

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Hobie Cat USA
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 27, 2018 10:08 am 
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Joined: Sat Apr 26, 2014 6:01 am
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Location: Orlando!
I have a 2007 that has seen quite a bit of use with turbo fins and there is no sign of stress in the drivewell. As stated above, for prevention you can “bed” the drivewell area and mast base to add strength, (mine has not.)

If you want a new one, get it for the features, all of which have been refined/ upgraded since ‘09, unless your ‘yak shows signs of abuse or excessive wear.


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 27, 2018 12:23 pm 
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Thanks for the answers, I guess I am just looking for a number like 1 in 100 boats has this problem maybe this is just not common knowledge but I will not worry about it if it is 1 in 100 or less but 1 in 10, then I might do something. But at this point I just don't know the odds and it is tough to make decisions without probabilities.

Anybody know the odds of this problem occuring?

Thanks Again for an responses


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 27, 2018 3:01 pm 
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Location: Oceanside, California
It is a very small percentage, but we build a LOT of boats. It has been seen, so worth protecting against. Some people try to pedal as hard as they can and some fishermen brace pushing hard on both pedals at one time. Turbo fins seemed to cause more issues since you could really put a lot of stress on the pedal system.

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 27, 2018 3:39 pm 
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Matt thanks for the reply, the boat looks like alot of fun, and I will try to not put to much stress on the drive train. Thanks again for replying, I should mention that it says a lot about a company when they run a forum that contains information on the issues with their product. I appreciate the honesty, and I am excited to try the boat out.


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 27, 2018 4:08 pm 
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Joined: Tue May 27, 2003 12:44 pm
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Location: Oceanside, California
Thank you! We love to use the product too and always try to build it as best as possible.

Fyi... since 2009'ish some of what we have done:

Changed plastic suppliers
Come up with industry-unique testing on plastic fatigue. We test all of the materials and some after production to document (we require our suppliers to test cook batches of new materials).
Changed cooking methods
Added molded in brass reinforcements to the drive ledge
Changed the way the drives lock into the well (Now click and go)

Building these kinds of products is part science and part art.

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 27, 2018 6:54 pm 
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Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 6:18 am
Posts: 3058
Location: Sarasota,Key West FL
One thing you might try is to glue some rubber to either the thin pad area that the tips of the mirage drive sits on, (or glue to the bottom of the mirage drive on the tips), enough to spread out the point load over a larger area, (we did that). Also don’t crank those dials that hold the mirage drive down too tight, the studs, ( that holds the knobs on are known to work loose and pull out).
We have owned about 8 hobies since 2008 and use the daylights out of everything, (way more than you can imagine), I would just use and enjoy the boat and not worry too much about it breaking. Just a guess on my part would be a million plus Hobie mirage kayaks out there worldwide cumulative since the early 2000’s, if 500 ( a very good guess) had split hulls in the mirage pockets that would be a really small failure rate, (.0005 failure rate). I owned quite a few of those old boats and used the beegees out of all of them all with never with any issues. Many of us watch the forums, and it’s been many years since I’ve heard of any failures at all, think about people only post about bad news and problems. All their boats are near indestructable. Good job Hobie.
FE


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 27, 2018 8:32 pm 
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Location: Orlando!
I did have a 2007 outback that came with a crack in the mirage well. It leaked very little and when time came to fix it, the plastic weld repair went very easy so regardless, it’s nothing to worry about.

At this stage on my Island, I’m more concerned with an aka failing, and thinking of how to reinforce them. Possibly swabbing the inside with a gray two-part epoxy after giving it a good wire brushing.


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PostPosted: Thu Mar 29, 2018 6:43 am 
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For the AKA why not put some rust converter in their after swabbing and then the epoxy?


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PostPosted: Thu Mar 29, 2018 8:32 am 
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Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 6:18 am
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Location: Sarasota,Key West FL
Rust converter only works with steel, all of the aka components are aluminum. Don’t use 5 minute or any common epoxy on anything that will be used in water, ( read the label), it just turns white and fails quickly, you need a marine grade epoxy. I just used clear GE Silicone caulk on mine, worked fine.
If your boat is post 2012 the aka bars should already be glued in from the factory.
FE


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PostPosted: Fri Mar 30, 2018 8:17 am 
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Location: Oceanside, California
There is a really good anti corrosion treatment I have used. Forespar is a mast and rigging company. They have a few products for dissimilar metal corrosion issues.

Try Lanocote.

Quote:
LanoCote® works on these five basic principals: displaces water, absorbs corrosion, forms moisture barrier, penetrates and has high lubricity. LanoCote® prevents dissimilar metal galvanization. LanoCote® is extremely effective in preventing and stopping corrosion on all types of metals under all environmental conditions. Formulated to withstand salt water marine conditions, LanoCote® is particularly useful in preventing thread seizure due to all types of corrosion on boats and machinery. Applied during assembly, LanoCote® will greatly assist in easy dismantling years later. An example would be anchor shackles which are regularly immersed in salt water. LanoCote® also combats galvanization where dissimilar metals are fastened together, such as stainless steel fittings on alloy masts etc.


https://www.forespar.com/products/boat-lubricant-lanocote.shtml

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)


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