Return to Hobie.com
Hobie Forums
It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 11:36 am

All times are UTC - 8 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 14 posts ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: Re-boarding system
PostPosted: Sun Jun 16, 2013 9:51 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Captain

Joined: Mon Jul 30, 2012 10:30 am
Posts: 61
Hi

Anyone make up a handy re-boarding do-hickey you'd care to share? I was finally out trying to do the re-boarding test only to find this thing *seriously* floats. I had imagined with my weight, I'd just be dragging the back end into the water low enough to scramble up, not elegantly but doable. I wasn't counting on how hard it was to get the back end down - as I said, it floats! Gah! I even had a strap ready thinking some help with a foot would do but I still came across the same problem, with me lying flat trying to "kick up" it, the back end doesn't go down far enough but with my foot more under... Well my foot winds up too far under to be of any help tho that does get the stern low into the water.

I should mention I'm a woman so my arm strength alone (and weight) is apparently not up to the task. I need a dang ladder or something that won't hurt the boat and won't slip under the boat. Any suggestions? I'm a bit worried... Boat's SUPER stable, so pleased with that, but I'm sure the day will come I put myself in the lake. Rather not get stuck swimming it in to shore.

I'll take any creative ideas!


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Re-boarding system
PostPosted: Sun Jun 16, 2013 2:02 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Captain

Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2013 10:01 am
Posts: 138
Outriggers, then you don't have to worry about getting back in.

_________________
Hobie PA14 with a mod or two

Some random Modification Pictures


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Re-boarding system
PostPosted: Sun Jun 16, 2013 2:26 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Captain

Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2012 7:16 pm
Posts: 37
Location: Spokane
A 'rope ladder' made of pvc pipe and rope tied to the rear grab rail is the best way to re-board the PA with.
Borrowed from the NWKA site: http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/in ... ic=10962.0

_________________
PA12


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Re-boarding system
PostPosted: Sun Jun 16, 2013 2:38 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 6:06 am
Posts: 734
Location: Amelia Island, FL
Just pull yourself up on the back of the rear deck.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Re-boarding system
PostPosted: Sun Jun 16, 2013 3:14 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Captain

Joined: Tue Apr 30, 2013 7:27 pm
Posts: 25
windknot wrote:
A 'rope ladder' made of pvc pipe and rope tied to the rear grab rail is the best way to re-board the PA with.
Borrowed from the NWKA site: http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/in ... ic=10962.0



Great post! That grip tape on the back is a really good idea... I think I'll put that on mine!


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Re-boarding system
PostPosted: Sun Jun 16, 2013 6:40 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Captain

Joined: Mon Jul 30, 2012 10:30 am
Posts: 61
Thanks for that link! I've looked for kayak boarding technique videos and through ALOT of Pro Angler videos and hadn't come across that one. He made it look easy :-)

Maybe my strap was a little dinky and made me frustrated... and I'm still worried about using the back handle for support. I figure if you can't rest the unit on it, maybe I shouldn't be expecting to put much weight on it?

I do like the ladder and his railing for handholds... I'm getting inspired. Maybe I'll make up something like it. I'm picturing something like a rope coming from the side handles, maybe with a couple loops across for handholds, that runs back to a strap (width?) which runs across the back near the handle that the ladder can drop from. The rope will keep the strap from sliding off the end and give some grab points.

I drew a quick sketch:

Image

Hope it can be seen... Any thoughts? Is PVC that strong?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Re-boarding system
PostPosted: Sun Jun 16, 2013 6:58 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Captain

Joined: Mon Jul 30, 2012 10:30 am
Posts: 61
Allelectric, I should say, I like your optimism! By outriggers I figure you mean the AMAs? I was thinking of getting them to go with the sail kit I got. I was trying to find "how to sail, the basic version" videos and saw a lot of people using them with the sail kit. If the getting reboarded proves to be challenging, that might be a way to go though I'd hate to have to bother with them all the time. They seem cumbersome and something to hit on the way falling off... :-)


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Re-boarding system
PostPosted: Sun Jun 16, 2013 7:52 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Captain

Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2012 7:16 pm
Posts: 37
Location: Spokane
Disregard the part below the pvc, it is part of the trailer. 1 in diameter schedule 40 pvc pipe is plenty strong, so is the rear grab rail.

_________________
PA12


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Re-boarding system
PostPosted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 1:55 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Captain

Joined: Wed May 11, 2011 3:55 am
Posts: 101
Location: Dumfries, SW Scotland
You might find this thread interesting, about re-mounted a kayak from the side using boarding ladder and paddle float.
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=35810&p=145474

Note Matt Miller's caution about fixing the ladder without causing undue stress on the boat.

Mary


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Re-boarding system
PostPosted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 6:39 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Captain

Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2013 10:01 am
Posts: 138
Yakiddy Yak wrote:
Allelectric, I should say, I like your optimism! By outriggers I figure you mean the AMAs? I was thinking of getting them to go with the sail kit I got. I was trying to find "how to sail, the basic version" videos and saw a lot of people using them with the sail kit. If the getting reboarded proves to be challenging, that might be a way to go though I'd hate to have to bother with them all the time. They seem cumbersome and something to hit on the way falling off... :-)


The AMAs are OK. This is my system.

Here is my suggestion for incorporating good working outriggers.

Get at least two of the six inch diameter by 36 inch long foam rollers folks use for Yoga.

Get two extendable paddles from West Marine. Remove the handle and the blade. Put the long portion over the gunnels behind the seat just behind the side carry bars. Fasten them so the holes are up. One goes port the other starboard. Clamp them down with 1 inch double sided conduit clamps on each end. I used threaded inserts and 1/4 20 stainless screws. I put a stainless sheet metal screw through the end I want closed through the clamp and the tube. That holds it from rotating. Now get the take apart kayak paddle from west marine. Use the sectons to fit inside the removable part of the adjustable boat paddles. Drill a 3/8 hole to hold that. Now drill the tubes on the boat to allow adjustment of the floats every two inches. Just continue the original pattern. On the end of the black kayak paddle section, put a groove in the top of the yoga roller to accept the tube. Then get a long stainless bolt or all thread and put a nut on the end with a big fender washer;. I used 3/8 all thread. Drill through the foam halfway in the groove. Push the threaded length through the foam. Then cut an angle on the front of the foam. You can cut the back. The groove should be at the center. That way the foam has a bias to tip down in the rear and not dig in. The floats can be brought up tight to the boat or extended so the float outsides are at ten feet. I can guarantee you will not be able to tip over with this system in place.

I am 70 and loving the PA

Image

Image

Image

Image[/quote]

_________________
Hobie PA14 with a mod or two

Some random Modification Pictures


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Re-boarding system
PostPosted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 10:55 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Captain

Joined: Mon Jul 30, 2012 10:30 am
Posts: 61
Allelectric - yoga mats??? That is an awesome idea and looks great too, the black is perfect :). I'm not 100% sure I want to be putting holes in my PA though (give it a year before I do something to damage it :lol: ). I was thinking of a piece of wood or something under the side handles and somehow tied in place using an existing PA eyelet from behind (haven't actually looked that close yet) connected to eyelets in the wood the right width to keep it from moving sideways. I hadn't got as far as thinking what to use as pontoons and I might be poking the yoga mat department!

Mary, thanks for the link, that was a good one too! I like the solid setup - this and the previous one makes me think my strap hoop was just frustrating me. I'm surprised by how much the paddle float helps. Now I'm thinking to add paddle floats to the sides of my ladder - that would have to help, I'm sure. I've not really looked at them before (as I said, originally I figured it would be as easy as Islandspeed said - crawl up the back) but I think they are blow-up-able which would save on space... If I get my harness right, get a couple paddle floats on the ladder I could have a pretty compact way back on board without worrying about damaging that back handle... Making the floats leads somewhat short should even help with keeping the ladder from going under the boat - there's another force to act against, they'll want to shoot forward or back but you can manipulate them back. Hmmm...

Thanks for all the help guys! Any cheap "yoga mat" ideas for blow up floats please pass them along!


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Re-boarding system
PostPosted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 2:15 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Captain

Joined: Fri Aug 03, 2012 8:24 am
Posts: 109
Location: Kissimmee, FL
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Regular-size-SO ... _146wt_943

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Large-Sit-on-To ... _218wt_943

Here are two self rescue ladders, one normal size and one large size. I purchase one on eBay and have it on my PA-12. I have not had the need to use it but I am happy about that. I secure the loop on one end to the front right leg of the vantage chair so I can board the yak from the right (starboard) side. I then roll the rope around the bar you step on and store it under my seat while the yak is in use.

The PA is a wide kayak and can be difficult to flip back over if you go turtle. This device also helps with doing that.

Here is a video that this seller made to operate this device: http://youtu.be/uRd1ha2rE0A

_________________
PA12 Dune
That is why they calling it fishing and not catching.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Re-boarding system
PostPosted: Sat Jul 06, 2013 12:15 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Captain

Joined: Mon Jul 30, 2012 10:30 am
Posts: 61
Success!

Below are some pics of what I rigged up - it works though not how I expected it would and it's a bit unwieldy but it works. It needs a couple adjustments

I wound up using straps and sewing them up. I felt better sewing that any attempt at reliable knot making... It just required to sew a square and cross in each area of strap overlay. (I did two squares.) The buckles are only sewn on one side which worked out well - my cross strap placement was a bit off and it worked better when I tightened them up.

I thought I would be using the ladder more so the cross horizontal straps wouldn't give (bow closer? My weight would pull the lines from the handle back taught and the cross straps would be somewhat taught too) so the first strap you'd grab is too close and the far strap is a bit too far.

I didn't use it as I thought I would. My legs still wanted to drift uselessly under the boat. The cross straps wound up helping me get better grips to get up on my stomach without the use of the ladder where I somewhat faltered again THEN I got my feet into the ladder to better scrabble the rest of the way.

Inelegant but it worked!

I will have to practice more. I do find getting over the seat tricky. I may figure a way to strap the seat so I can toss it aside/offboard to get by it then bring it back aboard.

Here's the pics, sorry if they are really big, it's what tapatalk does with my iPad pics, I don't know how to make them smaller...

Image

Image

Image


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Re-boarding system
PostPosted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 1:03 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Captain

Joined: Mon Jul 30, 2012 10:30 am
Posts: 61
Hi
Quick note to report the ladder part seems to be overkill. :oops: Tried again a couple times on Friday and to my surprise I found myself up without using the ladder part at all. I do find the lines across the back helpful as grab points to initially get up as well as the lines from the handle back since I need to be farther up/in to start getting up for boat stability and I can use those without having more cross lines in the open cavity. The whole thing together is a bit of a mess to work out when in the water too, probably will rework it to be able to leave it on permanently if there's no ladder to drag.

<an aside: anyone else get asked what powers your boat when they see it on the trailer with the PVC underneath? I was baffled at first with what someone was asking me until I realised they thought they were jet outputs. 2 x 4" outputs must = ZOOOOOM!!! That'd kind of be fun :lol: >


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 14 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 8 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Jump to:  
© Hobie Cat Company. All rights reserved.
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group