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PostPosted: Mon Sep 19, 2016 10:40 am 
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Joined: Thu Aug 25, 2016 9:38 am
Posts: 1
I have recently purchased an older model TI that had the older seats (not the Vantage seats) so for comfort and a little higher sitting position which makes going from sit to stand a little easier, I have adapted the 'Surf to Summit Elevated Kayak Sit-On-Top Seat'. Even so my primary sailing partners (ages 60 plus) are still having difficulty getting up from seat and in and out of kayak due to bad knees or back problems. Generally passengers are getting in and out of the boat from a dock as there in no place to beach the boat where we sail most times.
Has anyone installed a grab rail near the back seat to assist with getting from sit to stand in boat or to offer something to hold to while getting into and out of kayak from dock.
I have a walker that I have taken apart but to use a portion as the grab rail but still toying with idea on when to mount.
Thanks in advance for any ideas!
Melissa


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 16, 2017 2:12 am 
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Site Rank - Captain

Joined: Sat Apr 01, 2017 11:01 am
Posts: 67
Location: Northern California
Hi Melissa,

Welcome. Good to hear someone else is on the forum and out there with some physical challenges enjoying an island. I know for me it brought new life to a sailor often bound down by aches and pains and unable to find boats with comfortable enough seating and ability to lay down and rest, the TI does it for me. I am very grateful!

Do you always get in and out at the same dock? Do you have a photo of it? I ask because I was wondering if instead of modifying your TI could you perhaps put something at the dock to assist instead? Such a post or crane of sorts with simply a line hanging off, ended with a bowline so you have a handle to pull yourself up by? Maybe there is a rail or walkway above you to hang it from? You could even make it a block and tackle where you can pull or ease to assist your friend. My partner and I have come up with a few portable aids that help me and my specific needs (for a keelboat). Imagination and engineering can do wonders for people like us.

The other option I could see is adding a whole new chair like the latest model kind. We have been considering modifying a beach chair. I i actually recently found a YouTube video from a man, I think in Texas?, who found and modified a beach chair for his revolution (kayak). Very detailed instruction. Maybe that would help?

Cheers,
Sailorv

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2014 TI w/tramps


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 16, 2017 7:07 am 
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Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2017 1:46 am
Posts: 249
Location: Sweden, sjöbo
Hello Melissa!
I have been doing lots of mods and custom ad-ons on my TI.
One of the things that I think work grate are the handrails I mounted at the rear aka cross bar. (se the quote below)
The handrail helps a lot when getting up from the back seat by pulling the body weight forward.
Getting up from the front seat is also easier by leaning on the handrail.
Hope this idea might help.
You can find other strange ideas in the build blog.... https://www.hobie.com/au/en/forums/view ... 69&t=61162
:D
All the best!
Gustav

Husse0416 wrote:
Ok time to continue the project.

Next up are the rails and handlebars in the middle.
I am planning to mount the aluminiumrails under the "middle" aka crossbar. Removing the crossbar and drill thru the aluminium railplate and fasten the aka crossbar again ontop with longer bolts. This will raise the crossbar by 16mm. I am a bit worried about the lenght of the longer bolts and how they will be able to handle the forces from the akas. :shock:
I guess I will notice if the bolts brake!! :lol:

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On the starboard side at the front end of the rail it is almost impossible to fasten it with bolts thru the plastic hull. Sadly the dagger board slot takes up all the room under the gunwale. I will try to utilise the two brass nuts that are molded into the hull that otherwise hold the rear end of the dagger board cowl. Also I will use a fair amount of Sikaflex to glue down the rails properly.

I cut up the main pieces and ruffly "mocked up" the layout to get a feel of how it will turn out.
I think this will work. :)

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Looks pretty nice. The stainless handle bars will be good to grab when getting up from the seat. They will also serve for mounting some of the electronics. Ontop of the bars I will try to place a removable fishing/fighting chair. The rails will hold mounts to some of the fish finder transducers that can be folded down into the water on the sides.

Tomorrow I will work out how to get all this hardware securely mounted.
When this is finished I can finaly start to install some of the electronics. I sure have been missing my fishfinder.
So much to do... so little time...
:mrgreen:

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Sailing my TI and fishing.... thats bliss!!


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 16, 2017 8:22 am 
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Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Thu Jul 24, 2014 1:30 pm
Posts: 380
Hobies h-rail grab bar might be a place to start too and you could collapse while sailing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 16, 2017 8:36 pm 
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Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Thu Aug 16, 2007 2:25 pm
Posts: 2863
Location: Central Coast NSW Australia
Raising the seats does make it easier for those with mobility issues to sit in the TI.
You might get some other ideas from these posts to get your raised seat even higher!:
Raising seat- https://www.hobie.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=69&t=51971
Retrofit Vantage Seat- https://www.hobie.com/forums/viewtopic. ... 0&p=285040

Adding haka also improves access. My parents, who are in their mid eighties, find sitting on the haka and sliding into the seat relatively easy.
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I'm sure haka would make dock loading easier.

For a recent all day trip I added two seats side by side for them to sit in. It worked well.
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 19, 2017 9:47 am 
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Joined: Tue Jun 19, 2007 6:14 pm
Posts: 3323
Location: South Florida
Very nice, Stringy. Well done.

Keith

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2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon


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