Jcanracer wrote:
Good idea for a thread.
I'm guilty of doing the bare minimum after a kayak trip. I usually just use an old broom head to brush the sand and dried salt off the hull since its stored in my public storage unit. Although if I had a successful fishing trip and there's blood or scales still on the Revo, I might use a wet rag to wipe her down.
I've never lubed the mirage drive, and I've had this current one since Feb of this year. I am going to start paying more attention to the mirage drive and tuning the tension as well since I frequently "skip a sprocket" as my friends call it, resulting in my fins not lining up when the pedals are lined up.
I usually just hose off the kayak and throw it in the garage. I do lube the drive about once a month. If you are getting skipping in your drive you may need to replace or re-tension your chain. On bicycles you get skipping when you get "chain stretch". Chain stretch is when the pins in the chain wear out oval shaped holes in the plates on the chain. This causes the chain to lengthen. The longer chain no longer sits properly in the gears and can ride up, eventually skipping. Not sure if this is the same mechanism you may have going on. If you bike too much with a "stretched" chain you will eventually shark tooth the gears - not sure if that is possible in the mirage drive.
Finally, for anyone who lubes their chain, if you are not already you need to be aware that lube will attract and trap dirt eventually turn the lube into an abrasive compound that will accelerate the above "stretching" phenomenon. I would recommend at least occasionally (if not every time) cleaning the chain (with some type of solvent like Simple Green, wd-40 or something more toxic) before re-lubing (note that wd40 is mostly a solvent and not a lube). This helps a ton on a bike chain and is probably a good idea for the drive. Not sure how Hobie or others feel about this.
_________________
Fish tremble when they hear my name
A ship in harbor is safe -- but that is not what ships are built for.
--John A. Shedd, Salt from My Attic, 1928