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Flooded interior of AI
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Author:  Longfellow [ Tue Jun 26, 2007 4:16 pm ]
Post subject:  Flooded interior of AI

Disaster! I'm in the ocean at Topsail, North Carolina on vacation, and everthing is great when I see that I'm taking on water and sinking. OPen the hatch; the interior is filled to the top. I peddle my legs off to get to the beach. It seems earlier, when the AI slid sideways on the slanted beach the steel arm of the trak cart slipped out and the end punched a hole inside the lining of the slot where the cart arm inserts. I have now duct taped it and filled the hole with a carved off piece of pool noodle so I can keep sailing, but there is still some water getting through. So now what. Helisport in Huntington Long Island where I bought it says it can be welded but I don't know. The tear is up inside the slot. Matt, should the dealer try to weld it or what? The tear is huge and the body fills immediately. The cap on the cart was missing ,and I called parts for a new cap. The guy at Hobie parts took my address several weeks ago, and said he would send a cap but never did and it was that steel top that tore through the side of the slot when the cart twisted sideways on the hill :( Any advice of what to do now?

Author:  sf flyer [ Wed Jun 27, 2007 6:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Flooded interior of AI

Boy that is amazing the main hull completly flooded and the almas had enough bouyancy to stay afloat and and you could make it ashore :lol: [quote="Longfellow"]Disaster! I'm in the ocean at Topsail, North Carolina on vacation, and everthing is great when I see that I'm taking on water and sinking. OPen the hatch; the interior is filled to the top. I peddle my legs off to get to the beach. It seems earlier, when the AI slid sideways on the slanted beach the steel arm of the trak cart slipped out and the end punched a hole inside the lining of the slot where the cart arm inserts. I have now duct taped it and filled the hole with a carved off piece of pool noodle so I can keep sailing, but there is still some water getting through. So now what. Helisport in Huntington Long Island where I bought it says it can be welded but I don't know. The tear is up inside the slot. Matt, should the dealer try to weld it or what? The tear is huge and the body fills immediately. The cap on the cart was missing ,and I called parts for a new cap. The guy at Hobie parts took my address several weeks ago, and said he would send a cap but never did and it was that steel top that tore through the side of the slot when the cart twisted sideways on the hill :( Any advice of what to do now?[/quote]

Author:  mmiller [ Thu Jun 28, 2007 12:39 pm ]
Post subject:  Caps

Even the cap in place would not prevent damage if the cart is not fully inserted. I would think we would be willing to replace the hull at a highly discounted amount if that will help.

Author:  Longfellow [ Fri Jun 29, 2007 3:13 pm ]
Post subject: 

Thanks, Matt. Glenn at Helisport "thinks" he can weld it. He ordered yellow material from Hobie. I don't think he can weld up in the tube though. So, if needed, I'll take the discount and order a new hull and return the old one for you to look at. We'll see when I get back to Huntington, Long Island and show it to Glen at Helisport. Meanwhile, I used waterproof tape from Loews in the tube, jammed a scupper in the bottom opening of the tube, cut off the scupper at the bottom level, covered that with more waterproof tape, jammed another scupper in the top, and sailed into the ocean. Great sailing; very little leakage. But, of course, it's only a temp fix. However, it is amazing that the amas kept me afloat until I could reach shore, because I was out in the ocean with three foot chops and the hull was underwater. Broke the rubber pin coming in as fast as I could, letting the surf bring me in, and got tangled up a a shore fisherman's line, but he helped me drag it on it. Popped a new rubber pin in that I carried with me, did my temp fix and sailed the rest of the week. One way or the other, we'll fix it because I LOVE IT STILL!

Author:  sunjammers [ Fri Jun 29, 2007 3:19 pm ]
Post subject: 

we repair gouges in those tubes here at the shop. its not easy but we've been having good luck with repair. We also have been adding a bungi to the cart hold it up on the kayak.

Author:  Longfellow [ Tue Jul 03, 2007 2:57 pm ]
Post subject: 

Well, after hearing the price and shipping charges for a new hull, we're going to try to weld a new piece in the slot as soon as Hobie ships out the hull material piece to weld, encouraged by the the sunjammer report of success. Hobie might want to consider some kind of reinforcement in those cart slots, since my mishap was totally unavoidable. AI slid on the sand slope going to the beach, the steel piece twisted, and that was it. Maybe it's the extra weight of amas and akas and all because I've used a slot cart on my Ocean Kayak for years and never had a problem. Now that I've heard of it happening to others, it makes me think there must be a way to reinforce that slot. I'm taking no more chances, I'll tell you that. If we can weld this hole water tight, it's only a bottom cart from now on. No more steel poles in vulnerable slots on my AI. It put quite a damper on my sailing vacation, literally. Very hard to peddle to shore in 3 foot ocean waves when your craft is below water with only the amas keeping it afloat!

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