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PostPosted: Wed Jan 29, 2014 11:40 am 
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Joined: Wed Jan 29, 2014 11:15 am
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Just got off the water with a problem with my Hobie Outback, was out fishing a saw that I was sitting real low towards the water open my middle hatch and realized I had about 8-10 gallons of water in my yak and was about a mile from launch site. I have the turbo fins but still my yak was sluggish with all the water in it. I had to make an emergency stop on privat propert near the seawall to lift my yak to drain out the water to make it back to the launch. I immediately call the dealer where I purchased the Outback and he told me to bring it in.

A couple of days passed, and he said he found the leak it was in the seat drainage holes, he asked if I tried to cart my Hobie through these holes and I quickly had to remind him this isn't my first yak and a matter of fact I have two Outbacks. The Dealer tells me that Hobie doesn't cover this in the warranty, he can try to repair it.

I am a but nervous about this whole repair situation and I was wondering has this happen to anyone else and how did they get it resolved? I can't find a number to call Hobie myself, or to see where do you get a replacement hull.

I know that Hobie has some issues with with the hulls before and have since repaired those issues (scupper holes and the seat pegs) they all have some other protection(black plasctic) in and around them to keep it lined and protected from cracks and I was wondering if they know the weak points of this yak why not lined these hole too for protection and accidental damage.


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 29, 2014 1:51 pm 
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Location: Sollentuna, Sweden, Europe
Sorry but I can't help you with your legal issues with either dealer or Hobie.

But about your safety (in my opinion more important), you should have a bilge pump with you. You can ALLWAYS run into trouble when you are in a small boat in open waters. Hobie kayaks are maybe well built BUT anything can happen, so for your own safety don't rely on anyone or anything but yourself when you are out on the ocean.

Glad you make it home all right!

best regards
thomas


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 29, 2014 6:01 pm 
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Location: Missoula, Montana
Kal-P-Dal wrote:
But about your safety (in my opinion more important), you should have a bilge pump with you. You can ALLWAYS run into trouble when you are in a small boat in open waters.

I carry a bilge pump, and if I got an inch or so of water inside my kayak when I was away from shore in relatively calm conditions, I could pump it out through the hatch between my legs, or less conveniently by scooting forward and pumping it out of the front hatch. However, if you get enough water inside a sit-on-top kayak, it could be pretty tough to pump the water out, particularly in rough water, as when you open a hatch, more water is likely to flood or spash into the hatch. If a sit-inside kayak gets swamped, and other kayakers are in the area, they can pull the swamped kayak up onto their kayaks, roll it over, and drain it out through the cockpit. However, a sit-on-top kayak doesn't drain well through its hatches, and draining a swamped kayak through its drain plug (assuming the kayak has one) would be slow. What suggestions do the safety experts have for draining a badly swamped kayak when away from shore, with or without the assistance of other kayakers?


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 29, 2014 6:50 pm 
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Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2011 10:17 pm
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Location: Northwest Florida
There has been some discussion about bilge pumps in the Adventure Islands part of the forum. I agree that pumping out a kayak in in rough conditions through a hatch is a non-starter. There are a number of ways to get this done. I posted my own way of doing it about 7 months ago. Do a search in the "Hobie Islands" part of the forum under "Bilge Pump" and I'm sure you will get a few ideas.

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PostPosted: Wed Jan 29, 2014 7:08 pm 
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Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 6:06 am
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Location: Amelia Island, FL
Back to the warranty question...... What your dealer told you doesn't sound right. Hopefully Matt or someone else with Hobie will respond to you.


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PostPosted: Thu Jan 30, 2014 10:00 am 
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Funny you say @IslandSpeed20001 that but two days and I have not heard anything from a Matt or Hobie, even after I went to their site and filled out the Contact Us page.

You are all right I should have a pump with me, and luckily I caught it before I lost the kayak and all of my videography equipment which is worth more than the kayak itself.

My thing is, I am trying to find out if anyone has experienced this and to prevent an accident like this to happen to any of us who invest money and risk our lives enjoying this sport on the water.

It could happen to anyone who is on a river, stream, or ocean cruising along and a pointed object finds its way to this hole a causes a puncture or crack then without realizing it you and your kayak and equipment ends up at the bottom. Yes I know never happened before right? Wrong, there is always the first guy, but a risk I am not willing to gamble with.

FYI I used to own the Jackson Cuda but made the switch to this platform...


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PostPosted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 6:35 pm 
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Location: Oceanside, California
Most tech staff are in Australia supporting the Hobie 16 World Championships. Brendan Castile is manning the warranty desk alone and then heads to a boat show before we return. We have long days and limited internet access during the period. We will be back on Feb 19th. In the meantime you can email [email protected]

Http://www.hobieworlds.com

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Hobie Cat USA
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 06, 2014 2:25 pm 
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Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2007 5:17 pm
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Location: Auckland NZ
Sorry to hear about your experience and yup, I have experienced the same problem one two separate occasions (2 cracked hulls - both replaced by Hobie bless them!).

The only realistic answer is to have a good feel for how your boat is performing on the water and/or check via the centre hatch for the presence of water in the hull so that you can detect a leak before you become totally swamped.

And the only way out of the situation if it happens to you (apart from having a handy rescue helicopter on call) is to be able to make it to shore and/or to carry some means of removing water from inside the hull. Personally I carry a sponge for bailing - but an appropriate bilge pump set up would also work. I also carry a toolbox which in extremis could be put to use as a bailer.

If you intend to go out on the sea or lake you have to take at least some responsibility for your own safety because sh*t happens and when it does, even if rescue services, either official or ad-hoc, are available, you may not be able to alert them and/or they may not be able to respond to you. So you need to be able to be self reliant in getting yourself out of a scrape.

I read a lot about yachting and boating and there is a lot of information about how to avoid a trip turning into a drama turning into a crisis. Some of the information that has helped me is reading about the causes of rescues and about the lessons learned from various marine disasters - the book Total Loss (see http://www.amazon.com/Total-Loss-Collection-First-hand-Accounts/dp/1574091468 is a gripping read and very informative when it comes to the lessons learned and the things you should ensure you have on board and about your person. Some of the lessons only really apply to yachts (e.g. always have bolt cutters on board so that you can cut free a broken mast and rigging before they smash the side of your boat in) but others apply to any and every small boat/sailor (e.g. carry a bailer; each crewman should have a knife attached to him by a lanyard - so that he can cut himself free from ropes; etc; etc). The book is well worth a read!

Sorry, I didn't intend this to end up as a lecture: just thought that I would mention my experience and point out that there are some things you should never leave shore without and if you want to find out what these are then there's plenty of information out there to call upon.


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PostPosted: Fri Feb 07, 2014 6:46 pm 
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Joined: Tue Aug 27, 2013 4:27 pm
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sorry to hear about this as I've just purchased a new 2014 Outback…I'm really hoping these incidents are isolated and not across the board…
as for the bilge pump….I appreciate your comments in that it would be difficult to pump out that much water…here is my solution to this problem and one I am going to do myself in all my rigging of the new kayak…

Installing this will prevent water from getting to the point where it gets dangerous and you will know your taking on water early…

Be safe and tight lines

http://www.saltwaterkayakfisherman.com/ ... ation.html


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 24, 2014 8:46 am 
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Joined: Fri Jun 06, 2008 1:53 pm
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Location: S.E. Florida
Just a note of safety. I have been many miles from the launch site on many occasions. Three things I will not leave the kayak launch without aside from all other required gear is
1. I have the revolution 13 and have six (6) fun noodles (3 each side) inside the hull for floatation.
2. Gorilla Tape in the event of a crack or hole.
3. A bilge pump, typically not a required item on an SOT kayak but the bungee front hatches on Hobie kayaks are not completely water tight. GET one and lanyard it in the front hatch with about 2 feet of parachute cord. You won't be sorry.

Revo

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A Thrill Ride is being dragged around in your kayak for 40 minutes by an extremely large fish.


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 24, 2014 9:26 am 
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Location: Missoula, Montana
I also put pool noodles inside my sit-on-top kayaks for emergency flotation. I've helped rescue too many whitewater kayaks which didn't have any flotation. It's really hard to move a kayak which is floating vertically in the water with only a foot of its nose sticking out of the water. If you put foam floatation under the gunwales of a sit-on-top kayak, be sure to position it where it won't interfere with the rudder cables. You can position pool noodles and other foam floatation to keep pieces of gear from sliding into inaccessible places inside your kayak.

In my experience, duct tape won't stick to a kayak unless the kayak is completely dry, which makes it a bad choice for on-the-water repairs. If anybody knows of a brand of duct tape which will stick to a wet surface, please post the information. It could be real useful.


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PostPosted: Tue Feb 25, 2014 1:10 pm 
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Location: Jaco, Costa Rica
Just use the duct seal around the transducer, or carry a stick. It will hold temporarily.

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Tandem Island- 2013
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 9:29 am 
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Location: Oceanside, California
pmmpete wrote:
I also put pool noodles inside my sit-on-top kayaks for emergency flotation.


Standard on all Hobie Kayaks for several years now. We have always had this in sailboats. It's just smart regardless of how you flood the hull, hatches left open, collision or whatever.

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Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
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Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)


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PostPosted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 11:00 am 
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Location: Hobie Cat: Oceanside, CA
This was taken care of pretty quickly in my opinion. I was emailed on the 29th, got a hold of the dealer, sorted it out, and responded on the 30th. We had a replacement on order for him on February 4th, and it shipped on the 13th. I was thinking he'd be back on here with an update, but I haven't seen it so I figured I'd let anyone who's interested know.

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PostPosted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 3:39 pm 
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Location: S.E. Florida
Tear-Aid Type A repair tape can be used and applied underwater with a squeegee to get air and water out. You can even get it in a 3" x 5 foot roll. The standard patch kit has a 3" x 12" patch among others. Cuts with scissors. Best patches are applied dry. Patching under salt water is a question for the manufacturer.

Has to be Type A not Type B.

Duct tape works for a temporary fix if you get to shore and can dry the area needing a patch.

Revo

_________________
I would rather be kayaking and think about work than to be at work thinking about kayaking.
A Thrill Ride is being dragged around in your kayak for 40 minutes by an extremely large fish.


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