Oasis ballast, I found a simple solution

I initially thought I made a mistake purchasing my 2011 Hobie Oasis after I realized that I wouldn't always have a "front seater" when I wanted to take my yak out for fishing or just a cruise. Now that I have found my ideal solution, I'm glad that I got this battleship of a yak, maybe more so than a single because it's fast, more stable, very safe and has great capacity and can handle sudden changes in conditions better than most.

Without a proper ballast solution, the bow is high and the yak isn't a practical solo craft. Some here have offered ballast solutions, lead, sand bags, weights etc. from their experience, and I appreciate people sharing their ideas. I hope that someone finds this useful for them.

I was going to use a 70 litre dry bag filled with water but when testing it I found it to seep, and after a day on the water the last thing I want at the end of the day is to have by bow up and control issues, especially if it gets nasty suddenly.

This ballast bag, has a 125 lb. capacity when filled. These are used for wake boarding but is a perfect solution for me. It is very durable and it has handles on both ends that won't tear, and the bag can be lifted when full without damaging it. Can't wait to get out on the water.

http://www.activewake.com/straight-line ... bs.html#sf

Larger image: http://www.slsports.com/img/bigbag/big/ ... sac125.jpg

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Tom

2011 Oasis Ivory Dune

Hi Tom,

Please keep us posted on how you like it. I've got a large assortment of lead weights and dry bags already, but I'm always looking for something more efficient. Since you wouldn't be using the electric pump, I'm curious to know how difficult it would be to lift 125 lbs. out of the water to put in your boat. I'm sure the two handles will help.

Thanks!

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Eric

2013 Caribbean Blue Outback

Eric,

Yes the handles will help, and the weight won't be a problem to lift because it will be in shallow water, waist depth or less for filling, but I'm not sure how easy or difficult it will be to fill by just submerging it. I was told by the rep that the fill opening doesn't have a check valve that would have to be kept open while filling.

The size and contour of the bag should be just about perfect for proper ballast. I suspect when moved forward of the front seat position, that it will probably require less filling also. I'll let you know how it works.

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Tom

2011 Oasis Ivory Dune