Return to Hobie.com
Hobie Forums
It is currently Fri Mar 29, 2024 3:50 am

All times are UTC - 8 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 30 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next
Author Message
PostPosted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 6:12 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Sat May 09, 2015 8:53 am
Posts: 717
Location: Paoli Pennsylvania - East Coast USA
The 2015 AI is heavy..... I weighed each component on a balance scale and the sum was 190#..... Sailing weight is easily 200+ with throw cushion, paddles, drinking water, life jackets and so-forth - especially with a gallon or more of water in the hull like I found after sailing today, my first day in significant wind.

The venue is New Jersey back bays and the beach is highly-abrasive quartz sand.

Today I did the conventional (?), merciful-for-the-hull-on-quartz-sand landings: sail at the beach, raise daggerboard, totally furl sail, turn 180 degrees on the boat's momentum so the stern is facing shore, raise the rudder, hop off, push down on the bow, and run the stern up on the beach until the hull hits sand.

But getting it far enough up the beach so that the onshore wind didn't flip it around broadside to the waves was a challenge.

I'm thinking maybe next time:

  • Sail balls-to-the-wall at the beach
    .
  • Furl the sail at the last moment
    .
  • Let the boat's momentum run it up on to the sand
    .
  • Maybe even flip down the seat back and plant my butt further back on the stern to raise the bow a little more
    .
  • Drag the hull around to face the water before taking off again.

The hope being that the legendary durability of polyethylene will tolerate that kind of abrasive abuse.......

What think Those Who Know?

_________________
2015 AI in "Dune" - "The Grey Pig"
2017 Trailex 450 Trailer
Pre-September 2015 cradles
(anybody want to buy a slightly-used AI SpinKit?)
eMail: [email protected]


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 8:05 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2005 6:29 pm
Posts: 2763
Location: High Point, NC
Assuming you're not having to deal with huge breakers to be surfed on the way in, I'd simply furl my sail a ways out from the beach and approach under pedal power, either feathering and running up on the beach at a gentle speed, or rounding up a few yards short of the beach and hopping out and doing whatever needs to be done at that point. A boat with a Mirage Drive is a heck of a lot easier to land than one without. You have a lot of options.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:48 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Sat May 09, 2015 8:53 am
Posts: 717
Location: Paoli Pennsylvania - East Coast USA
Tom Kirkman wrote:
Assuming you're not having to deal with huge breakers to be surfed on the way in, I'd simply furl my sail a ways out from the beach and approach under pedal power, either feathering and running up on the beach at a gentle speed, or rounding up a few yards short of the beach and hopping out and doing whatever needs to be done at that point. A boat with a Mirage Drive is a heck of a lot easier to land than one without. You have a lot of options.

You run the folded Mirage Drive flippers up on to the sand?

_________________
2015 AI in "Dune" - "The Grey Pig"
2017 Trailex 450 Trailer
Pre-September 2015 cradles
(anybody want to buy a slightly-used AI SpinKit?)
eMail: [email protected]


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:25 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2012 8:24 pm
Posts: 780
Location: Houston, TX
When breakers are minimal, as are usually the case with offshore winds, I prefer to sail onto the beach leaving the sail out, lifting the daggerboard and mirage drive. I only uncleat the rudder but leave it down. This gives me some steering control without jeopardizing the rudder if it hits sand, etc.

I know we are told we can leave the mirage drive down but I don't like to jam all that sand into the chains, etc.

_________________
Greg

2016 AI - Spinn & Jib

“Out of sight of land the sailor feels safe. It is the beach that worries him.”
– Charles G. Davis

Image


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sun Oct 11, 2015 8:24 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 6:18 am
Posts: 3058
Location: Sarasota,Key West FL
With an onshore wind, I just sail into the beach head on, the sand here is very soft. Sometimes I pull the mirage drive, sometime I jusk hook the clip on the bungy (you can still peddle with the bungy on).


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Oct 12, 2015 5:35 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2012 8:24 pm
Posts: 780
Location: Houston, TX
I wasn't paying attention- we were talking about onshore winds. In that case, I do not use the drift sock but I still sail onto the beach, pulling up the dagger board and mirage drive. The rudder gets release but not pulled up until the moment I am about to hit sand.

_________________
Greg

2016 AI - Spinn & Jib

“Out of sight of land the sailor feels safe. It is the beach that worries him.”
– Charles G. Davis

Image


Last edited by vetgam on Mon Oct 12, 2015 7:45 am, edited 2 times in total.

Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Oct 12, 2015 6:07 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Sat May 09, 2015 8:53 am
Posts: 717
Location: Paoli Pennsylvania - East Coast USA
fusioneng wrote:
With an onshore wind, I just sail into the beach head on, the sand here is very soft.
Florida has coral sand, right?

_________________
2015 AI in "Dune" - "The Grey Pig"
2017 Trailex 450 Trailer
Pre-September 2015 cradles
(anybody want to buy a slightly-used AI SpinKit?)
eMail: [email protected]


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Oct 12, 2015 7:06 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 6:18 am
Posts: 3058
Location: Sarasota,Key West FL
Actually in Sarasota the sand is pure quartz from the Mississippi, it the finest sand pure white sand on the planet, and our beaches are always in the top 5 in the world. Actually I think the whole state has a limestone foundation, covered with 50 ft of the same sand, which has been building up over the last 50 million yrs or so, Florida until 10,000 yrs ago was nearly triple it's current size, this is why it is so shallow 30-50 miles out (used to be land), which sucks if your into deep sea fishing (lol). It has the consistancy of granulated sugar. Down in Key west all the sand is coral (a little coarser) and typically mixed with shells on a limestone and ancient coral foundation with no natural fresh water source of any kind (interesting factoid). Our pool and spa in Key west is made from ancient coral (cool stuff).
What is really sad is as scuba divers we have been seeing and witnessing the coral reefs dying in just the last ten years (these are the only reefs in the US). My wife dove at sand key reef a few weeks ago and reported it is now dead (brought tears to my eyes). Took a 100,000 years to make, and we killed in ten yrs (sad). The really sad part was she was with a group, and a half dozen or so out of that group were diving down and breaking off coral to keep (which takes 10,000 yrs to grow to that state). Just the damage that one group did on one dive to the reef will take 30,000 yrs to recover, she was in tears over the experience. Ok I'll get off my horse now.
FE


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Oct 12, 2015 8:19 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Sat May 09, 2015 8:53 am
Posts: 717
Location: Paoli Pennsylvania - East Coast USA
fusioneng wrote:
What is really sad is as scuba divers we have been seeing and witnessing the coral reefs dying in just the last ten years (these are the only reefs in the US). My wife dove at sand key reef a few weeks ago and reported it is now dead (brought tears to my eyes). Took a 100,000 years to make, and we killed in ten yrs...

A loooooong time ago (the year that the movie "Where The Boys Are" came out) I and my college roommate drove down to Florida on spring break.

After watching the local rednecks beat up on college students for a couple of days, we moved on from Ft Lauderdale down to Crystal Springs and then to Key Largo National Park.

I will never forget either one. At the springs, we got in the water downstream from the tourist attraction and swam up through water so clear you could think there was no water. Just Googled Crystal Springs images and it does not look anywhere near as clear as I recollect.... not even half...

At Key Largo, we scuba'd and I will never forget the reef (or the barracudas circling us - apparently attracted to those nice shiny regulators).

Between that and surfing the North Shore of Oahu for several years I guess I have had the good fortune to experience natural beauty that nobody will ever experience again.

_________________
2015 AI in "Dune" - "The Grey Pig"
2017 Trailex 450 Trailer
Pre-September 2015 cradles
(anybody want to buy a slightly-used AI SpinKit?)
eMail: [email protected]


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Tue Oct 13, 2015 10:16 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2010 8:10 am
Posts: 681
Location: Satellite Beach, FL
I have not tried sailing off the beach yet even though I live directly on the beach. I'm too scared at this point. It seems that the general consensus is to furl the sail, pull the drive, pull the daggerboard, and release the rudder. My experience with releasing the rudder is that its just about worthless when not pulled tight (twist n stow style). Do you just paddle in from there?

I'm surprised there isn't a definitive way to land in the surf. I suppose there are just too many factors to take into account.

It's fairly shallow where I plan to launch and land and I'm thinking I should just pull everything, hop out, and wade the boat in.

_________________
Zach


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Tue Oct 13, 2015 10:27 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Tue Jun 19, 2007 6:14 pm
Posts: 3323
Location: South Florida
PurdueZach wrote:
I'm surprised there isn't a definitive way to land in the surf. I suppose there are just too many factors to take into account.

Depends on the size of the surf. Lots to break or lose if things go south, like broaching. These boats were not designed for surf landings. They ought to have a sign on each boat: "Surf land at your own risk!" Personally, I don't like to pull my AIs up on a beach with the drive in. Too much sand in the gears, and, if driven in hard, can break things on the drive.

Keith

_________________
2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Tue Oct 13, 2015 5:11 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Sat May 09, 2015 8:53 am
Posts: 717
Location: Paoli Pennsylvania - East Coast USA
PurdueZach wrote:
It's fairly shallow where I plan to launch and land and I'm thinking I should just pull everything, hop out, and wade the boat in.

That was always my strategy with my Hobie 14's, my Hobie 16, and recently a 20' outrigger canoe: do a 180 in waist-to-chest-deep water; lock the rudders up; let the sails flog; dismount over the front; walk the boat in; and fine tune it's direction to face into the wind once it is on the sand.

But the asymmetric hulls of the 14's and the 16 would dig in to the sand enough to make it maintain their orientation into the wind. ....And the outrigger's wind profile plus the fact that the sail was dropped before being walked in made it a non-issue for the outrigger.

OTOH, my 2015 AI will not stay oriented: an onshore wind will flip it around sideways to the wash from the waves.

The only way to prevent that is to get the hull further up on the sand than I am able to drag 200# backwards without busting a gut.


Hence my wondering if the AI's polyetheylene hull material would stand up to just sailing full speed at the beach - fast enough that momentum carries it up the requsite distance - and then dragging/rotating it to face the water again.


Experience tells me that neither the 14/16's polyester/fiberglass nor the outrigger canoe's epoxy-glass over wood will stand up to that abuse on New Jersey quartz sand.


But will the AI's polyethelene ?

_________________
2015 AI in "Dune" - "The Grey Pig"
2017 Trailex 450 Trailer
Pre-September 2015 cradles
(anybody want to buy a slightly-used AI SpinKit?)
eMail: [email protected]


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 9:44 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2010 8:10 am
Posts: 681
Location: Satellite Beach, FL
I think these hulls can take quite a beating being dragged in the sand. My 09 hulls look like hell on the bottom, but they are still going strong with no problems that I can tell.

_________________
Zach


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Thu Oct 15, 2015 12:01 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Mon Jun 17, 2013 5:25 pm
Posts: 387
Location: Jaco, Costa Rica
Slip the wheels into the scupper holes underneath before landing.

_________________
Mark
Tandem Island- 2013
2 - Sports - 2014


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Thu Oct 15, 2015 12:47 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 6:18 am
Posts: 3058
Location: Sarasota,Key West FL
Actually thinking about it, a lot of times when I go to beaches and sand bars we end up dropping the anchor just offshore and just leave the boat maybe ten ft or so from shore. Obviously it's always nice and warm here and all out beaches are shallow, and we are normally in swimware anyway.
I think this save quite a bit of wear and tear on the boat, especially in surf because if you don't drag the boat way out of the water it just turns sideways and gets covered with sand anyway. I have a second little grapple anchor that I bury on shore on the beaches we are able to touch land on (there are several beaches we hang out at that you are not allowed to touch the shore at all (protected areas).
Besides it's so hot here we always hang out in the water with our powerboat friends, not on shore.
FE


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 30 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next

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