2010 Mirage Drive does not work

Good day,

I am so excited to be in a Hobie and can't wait to sail around Tobermory, Ontario! After two years of looking I finally found a used 2010 Adventure Island. I found everything to be in great condition with nothing broken. I sure hope this is a noob problem that you can help with.

I performed a bit of maintenance (silicone oil, tighten chain) on the Mirage Drive and it moves freely and completely when out of the hull.

In the hull, the fins only hug the stern on the right side and are quite far from the hull on the port side. There is also not much pedal travel on that stroke. I've included pictures to try and assist/show what I mean.

The masts and fins don't look terribly parallel so I expect that it could be a bent mast but I am not sure that would fix the problem on both sides.




Thank you for your ideas.
Paul

Hard to tell from photos but looks like pedals misadjusted. You need to adjust the pedals so they are both on the same setting. Looks like the left pedal is set back too far and/or the right pedal is set too far forward. When properly set they will be the same setting (same distance back) and at full extension your knee will be just slightly bent (not fully extended flat).

If not that, then during maintenance you jumped a cog or two with the chain and will need to loosen and correct.

Peter

Thanks Peter, your tip got me to this site, kudos to SLH for great instructions!!

https://slhobie.com.au/how-to-service-a-hobie-miragedrive/

I had only tightened the nut one turn during maintenance so it couldn't have caused the problem. However since it is new to me, performing the maintenance above is well worthwhile to ensure everything works as it should. When I put it back together I was able to align the sprockets so the fins hug the hull on both sides.

To folks reading this, taking it apart, cleaning, greasing is easy. Putting the chains so it is in the right spot took a good hour for me and the little rings that go through the pin on the fins was finicky but some patience and all good to go.

Once the fog lifts I'm out for my maiden voyage (just as a kayak the first time to get used to it).

Many thanks!!