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PostPosted: Wed Mar 15, 2017 6:13 am 
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Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 6:18 am
Posts: 3058
Location: Sarasota,Key West FL
We are planning a vacation this summer around the country, and are wondering if we should take our TI along or not.

Image

Because we have a camper in tow we have to rooftop the TI.

The first couple weeks of the vaca will be at Lake Hartwell in GA which is 45 miles long, and having the TI along is an absolute blast (repeat of last year, see video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ9Y7gBo8-Y



So it's kind of a given that we will have the TI along for that leg (first couple weeks).

From there we are planning to visit as many national parks as possible. including Hot springs Ak, grand canyon, zion, rocky mountain national park, Utah stuff, yellowstone, maybe mt rushmore, heck I don't even know all the parks or the actual route (I'm not the planner in the family (lol)).

Basically the trip is around 3 months and around 8-10k miles. I look at all these parks and stuff but don't see much water anywhere (we live near the ocean in SW FL and the keys, and are used to ocean sailing). Our TI is ocean capable with massive sail sets (up to 260 sq ft), twin big ole outboards, and is heavily modified and hardened for offshore use (we are divers). All the attachments are removable and we often use the thing just in kayak mode (we have a nice wing sail for kayak sailing without all the extras (ie... AMA's, big sails, motors, etc), the wing just furls up and we strap it to the side of the kayak. If we get any wind we put it up (the wing has almost as much power as the regular mainsail). So we can kayak with the thing (it's actually the best kayak we have ever owned (who knew, lol))
Image


My question is if we take the TI along would we even use it, having it on the roof for 3 months if we would even bother to take it down ever (my wife is saying it would be a huge waste of time and effort). I suppose we could take the big boat out on places like lake Mead or some of the bigger bodies of water (never been there have no idea if you can even sail on it, or any place out west for that matter).

We have done this kind of stuff before, but always with just regular kayaks on the roof (Oasis, and a couple revos), we would do a lot of rivers and rapids and such, basically any place we could launch, we would. But we have since sold all those other kayaks and only have the TI now (as our only family boat). By the way there are four of us, this means we can only all four go along in big boat mode (with the AMA's). We do have a couple inflatable kayaks and an inflatable 4 person boat that we can bring along and likely tow. The issue is everyone despises those inflatable paddle only kayaks (mutiny on the bounty), and everyone fights to not be the ones on the inflatable kayaks (they were spoiled with the stupid revo's), but we really have no means to car top that many boats anymore, plus we sold them all because we never used them in Florida.

As it stands right now, the wife is saying leave the darn thing home and forget about it, she says just look at the darn map their ain't no water out there. I need some ammunition here from people who have been out there. Another problem is the wife and 2 kids are Florida native, so they won't touch water that isn't at least 87 degrees, I'm guessin all the water out west is only 40 degrees. We are planning to leave late April, starting at FT Desoto near Tampa (warm water), then Lake Hartwell for a couple weeks in May (water temp is probably ok), then from there out west in a big ole loop.
I'm fighting a losing battle here.
Any advise.

FE


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PostPosted: Wed Mar 15, 2017 6:50 am 
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Joined: Tue Jun 19, 2007 6:14 pm
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Location: South Florida
FE, there is lots of big water out west. Lake Mead is probably the largest, but is very warm in the summer. Lake Powell is further north, also huge. Starvation State Park is a large and deep reservoir. Jackson Lake is huge. And, north of Jackson is Yellowstone Lake--what a great place to sail. If you get up to Glacier National Park, there are lots of sizable lakes. Of course, there are tons of smaller, but still sizable lakes. Generally, these lakes have plenty of wind, especially in the afternoon. As you go further north, the cooler the water and air temps.

The question is are you going to want to unload your boat, sail, load it back up, which you may have to do in these places? I guess it would depend upon how much time you are going to spend on each lake?

It is a hassle to bring your TI along, but once you are out there and see all the water, you are going to want a boat.

Keith

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PostPosted: Wed Mar 15, 2017 12:49 pm 
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Joined: Tue May 18, 2010 2:31 pm
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Location: Kailua 96734
Out west, you would be better off without it. Better to take one or two smaller, no hassle kayaks.

If you really want to explore the water, bring an inflatable w/ DC or small gas motor.

For big water (like Powell) rent a powerboat or daysailer.

Vacations are a time to be unencumbered, and do something "different".

(And make the wife happy).

Wish I could tag along,..

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PostPosted: Wed Mar 15, 2017 2:35 pm 
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Joined: Tue May 27, 2003 12:44 pm
Posts: 15027
Location: Oceanside, California
Quote:
she says just look at the darn map their ain't no water out there.


Well, you can find plenty of dry places, but there is PLENTY of great water out west.

Check the "Places to Kayak" https://www.hobie.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=48 You can search by state: https://www.hobie.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=53112

Then look at the "Places to Sail" https://www.hobie.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=19

Then of course is the coast and LOTS of water, lakes, bays...

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PostPosted: Tue Nov 05, 2019 11:16 am 
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I would also say that you should take TI along with you vacation trip becuase lot of people don't know about the location of travel which can provide them the real enjoyment.I tried to check about the some of Vacation Packages which provides the details of traveling in he vacation trip of long distances.


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PostPosted: Tue Nov 05, 2019 11:16 am 
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Thank you for the details


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PostPosted: Wed Nov 06, 2019 11:54 am 
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Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 6:18 am
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Location: Sarasota,Key West FL
We ended up out there near 6 months and traveled over 15,000 miles. Our Sierra denali has the small 5.5 liter engine, and we were close to max weight with a huge camper, 4 adults/ luggage, and two dogs. I added a cool air intake system and a misting system for the radiater and transmission cooling, giving us an extra 50 hp and 50-75 additional torque lbs, (more powerful than our several old 6.2L rigs). But none of that helped on the brake system, which overheated several times in the rocky mountains, (without the 300 lb boat on the roof).
We ended putting the boat in storage for the rocky mountain leg of the trip, then picked it up on the return leg from Chicago to Florida. In retrospect, we likely wouldn’t have used a complex ocean sailer much on the small lakes and rivers, (the boat was designed for far offshore ocean sailing and diving mostly in the keys anyway), so small lake and river sailing was extreme overkill, lol, ya don’t need a hundred mile/day range on a tiny lake...
The big killer for us was all the zebra snail inspections and certifications required out west, (was a show stopper for us making it not worth the hassle just having the boat on the roof, even if we didn’t plan to launch it in full blown sailing mode.
Lol it was the best $10 bucks I ever spent getting my lifetime national park pass. We hit around 42 of the 59 national parks I think, (we lost track of exactly how many we visited), after the first few they all look alike to be honest.
We had a blast , a bucket list trip of a lifetime
FE


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