I took delivery of two 2015 PA12s in Oct 2014. It was at my dealer, 500 miles away at the Florida gulf. My wife and I camped there for a month and used the kayaks just about every day. Back at home the kayaks were stored for the winter and I just now have taken the tarps off the kayaks and begun looking at some of the issues to see what I can do about it. This is not a big deal. I plan to do all the work myself. I just wanted some ideas from the group here and Hobie concerning any materials or parts that may be helpful.
Before leaving the gulf, we both noticed some difficulty deploying skeg and rudder and also some difficulty operating my rudder, like it had a restricted turning range. When I first tried to operate the skegs and rudders this Spring, there was some reluctance for the fins to drop on their own when released. I could, however assist them down with my hand as the boats are on a stand.
Let's look at the skegs first. Both boats have similar issues to varying degrees. After removing the rear rudder access plate, I see the skeg deployment rope has apparently cut through the protective grommet and become trapped between the grommet and the hull.
At the other hole, there is no grommet, and the rope is cutting into the hull.
As the rope keeps going to the skeg, you can even see some wear on the hull bottom as the rope turns the corner to go to the skeg. The wear is not as severe here, but it would be a bad place to have a hole in the hull.
As for the rudder, the rope is slightly wearing on the protective grommet and also the non- grommet hole, but it is not as severe as the skeg situation. My concern with the rudder is the path the rope takes. On one boat, it is under the rudder cam.
On the other boat, it is set in the rudder cam which provides some resistance to rudder turning in one direction. I don't know which path is correct.
It is too early for me to jump to solutions, but I would like to throw out a few ideas to promote discussion.
1. It appears that a better grommet is needed as one has failed. Perhaps a harder plastic or metal? Since rope travel in the grommets is usually skewed hard to one side, it would be possible to have a new grommet with a slit in it to allow insertion onto an already roped situation. The slit could then be oriented opposite the rope side.
2. Some grommets may be needed where there is now no grommets in the current design.
3. The current black cable rope appears to be a pretty efficient plastic saw. If a smoother, less abrasive rope is available that is still nylon or polyester based, I have the tools to weld it to the current rope end to end without an increase in diameter so I could just pull the new rope through the system perhaps. I have not studied it, but it looks like it may be difficult to work inside the hull.
Thanks to the group and Hobie for any ideas.