Have you done any "expedition" trips on the AI?

Innovations and events on our 2016 Chokoloskee to Flamingo, 7-day trip

On our recent, Chokoloskee to Flamingo trip, there were a number of innovations and happenings/events worth mentioning here.

Marty’s roller One of the hits of our Chokoloskee to Flamingo trip this year was Marty Cooperman’s physical therapy roller. Everyone lined up to use Marty’s roller to help get their boat up the beach. Marty got his 6” roller at Marshal’s and taped it. I purchased mine at Amazon, and taped it with Gorilla tape. I’ll never leave home (to go camping) without it. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KAEJ3V8?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

Here is Marty taking his roller to help Jim Quinlan get his boat up the beach. Marty’s roller was the hero of the trip, if you don’t count my 3-legged stool (see below.) Many of us have since added 2 Marty rollers to our equipment.




Leaking AI/TIs Why? Hobie needs to get its act together on the poor cut/poor sealing front hatch. It has been a problem for years. If you do not have the problem, fine; but, some boats have a serious mismatch between the hatch cover and the hatch opening. It is disgraceful for Hobie considering the cost of these boats. In our case, at the end of this trip, we had six 2015-2016 AI/TIs involved. Two had serious leaks—33%. Why can’t Hobie solve this problem? There have been many solutions posted on this forum. Why must anyone lay out US $5,000-$7,000 for an AI/TI only to find it leaks seriously. To add insult to injury, the buyer must then find his own solution. Frustrating and embarrassing. WHY?


Don’s problem Don and Dianne Haynes had a terrible problem the third day of our 7-day trip. In the strong winds, Don lost control of the main sheet. The sail pulled the sheet through the various cleats & blocks. There is small knot at the end of the main sheet to prevent the sheet from slipping through the the last cleat and block. Don’s knot came loose, allowing the sheet to pull though and, in short time, Don had lost the block and hook that attach to the clew of the sail. Don was certainly one of the more resourceful people on our trip, and he set up a work-around in minutes and was able to continue our trip in nasty weather. The whole thing could have been avoided by tying 2 knots at the end of the main sheet. Both knots should not come loose at the same time.

Nylatron brace pins Before the trip, Tom Lachner and I replaced our factory Hobie shear pins on the aka brace with Nylatron pins. Tom says his research indicates that the Nylatron pins are much more resistant to wear and about 25% more resistant to shock cleavage than Hobie’s stock shear pin. Several times on this trip, we were in rough seas—much rougher than when I broke a shear pin and capsized last spring. I was very thankful that I had my Nylatron pins. Nylatron pins can be purchased here. http://www.mcmaster.com/#97435a105/=101tr4u


Using a 3-legged stool as an wilderness privy If you like to camp in the wilderness, but are finding it increasingly difficult to physically get down to take a crap and worse to get back up, do yourself a favor and get this Browning 3-legged stool. (Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003AV9BOW?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage)

As stools go, it is very comfortable, so it can be your only chair—not a problem. Never mind, that the front attachment breaks after 2-3 uses, just have some strong cord handy and tie it back together. The chair will then last until it rusts out. I’d give it a 4 on the Amazon scale of 5 (actually a 4.5, but that is not available.)



Where this stool really shines, is its utility to take a crap. Pardon the coarseness, but it saves a lot of words. Here is a demo. Yes, you sit side saddle. Extend your rear end over the side and do your job. No problem if you dig a cat hole. Just position the chair properly. I haven’t missed yet. You will thank me many times for this suggestion. In fact, just think of me every time you use it.

My male model asked not to be identified because he felt it would not help his runway career; hence, the bag.



I hope these suggestions help on your next camping trip. In addition, I hope this post encourages Hobie to get its act together to prevent leakage in the front hatch or, at the very least, provide customers with a fix.


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

Has anybody tried comparing ease of using just the one roller to that of using three half-pieces of PVC pipe ?

I was going to try the PVC come spring... but the roller appeals because it's light, hand-friendly, and serves as additional floatation if stored in the hull.

OTOH, seems like with just one roller there would be a sequence of lifting the hull to re-insert the roller over-and-over....

Or is the roller's function just to get the hull a half-length beyond the water?

_________________
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]

You are worried about inserting the roller in several times, and then talking about 3 half-pieces of PVC pipe? How many times do you think you will be laying the half pipes down?

PVC pipe weighs much, much more than the roller. I've used both--there is no comparison. The roller is much better.

Basically, the roller serves to move the boat by one boat length. We normally time our arrival at a camp site around high tide, so we usually do not have to pull the boats up by more than 3, maybe 4 lengths.

Moving boats down the beach is not much of a problem by either method.

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

Yes, Marty's roller is an efficient solution for moving the heavy loaded boats above tide line. I just ordered one from Amazon and will have it for the next Everglades City /Chokoloskee trip in a few weeks. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KAEJ3V8?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=od_aui_detailpages00.

My boat took on more water than I've ever experienced and I've had an AI/TI since 2007. If I didn't have a pump I would have been in a tough situation on my first night when I went out solo to meet the thru group. Especially challenging with pounding surf while you're trying to pump water out of the boat. I have an idea to stop the leaking but it's going to be a few months before I have time to implement it.

As I mentioned in another trampoline thread that's out there, I was disappointed in the new "one size fits all" Hobie trampolines. I pulled mine out of the box just before the trip and was surprised when I found that on the starboard side of my 2016 AI, the trampoline doesn't fit over the knuckle so it gradually slides outward and leaves a sloppy gap between the tramps and the hull. Hobie tramps are expensive and this poorly designed version was an unpleasant surprise since he older trampolines worked so well.

But ... even with all my complaining, the 2016 AI is amazing. I love it.

Wow $4 each! I'll let you be the guinea pig and we'll see how long they last.

Looks like you guys had a great trip. I'm envious, we just got 8" of fresh snow yesterday .

Sent from my SPH-L720T using Tapatalk

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2015 Hobie Tandem Island Hibiscus
"Third Normal Form"

• Trampolines
• Hobie cover
• Davis Spar Fly
• Kayakbob's Sprayskirts
• Spine Board Hakas

Tom! $4/pin = peace of mind. Easily worth the price. You only replace these every year or two.

My 2015 AI 2 is a dry boat, but it still leaks water in the front hatch because Hobie does not seal the seal joint! So, water that comes over the top of the bow (we had plenty of that) then drains in the seal joint. I didn't take on much water; but, because of that seal joint leak, I had to be careful where I put things to keep them dry. Ridiculous.

As Jim said, despite these complaints, we love our AI/TIs. They absolutely performed great on this trip. There were plenty of times when I thought it could get very dicey, if someone broke a rudder pin or aka brace pin. Except for the front hatch leaks the boats performed superbly. Kudos to Hobie (but fix that dam front hatch leaking!)

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

That's a photo I never thought I'd ever see on this forum Keith.

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Don't take life too seriously................it ain't permanent.

Fellows,
Just a note to correct Keith on a minor point: I bought my foam rollers at Marshalls (not Macy's). I bought several and they varied in price, the cheapest being $15. They are in Marshalls women's section by the rolls of yoga mats.
Aside from rolling heavily loaded boats they can also be used to settle marital disputes and relieve excess aggression without leaving incriminating marks on the victim. I always keep a few handy.
Marty

Slaughter, what would we entitle it? "Crapper in the Sunshine." Maybe "Wild Crapper." Or, "Wilderness Crapper" and sell it on Campmor at twice the price. I should have had a roll of toilet paper on a post to make it more authentic, and to show how really classy we are. As I told my friend Rick, even if I brought a nice 4-legged chair, I would have to bring my crapper stool. It really did work great. Now, I've got it, "Easy Crap." I probably could go on....

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

what about "Popeil's portable pooper"?

That's good, Bob.

I didn’t know who Popeil was, but, of course, you can read about him here, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Popeil.

Yes, Bob, I like that, Popeil’s PP. I can hear the calls now, up and down the beach, “Where is Marty’s roller?” “Where is PP?”

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

It might not be an unmitigated downside: I actually designed my trampoline to leave such a gap so I could paddle on that side.

viz: https://picasaweb.google.com/1081497986 ... 6019012050

_________________
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]

_________________
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

We got shut out at Marshalls North Naples store so ended up paying overs at Target.com (IIRC $32). Delivered to our local store and picked up last night. Well worth it at twice the price!!

Thanks again, Marty. Terrific idea.

_________________
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