I'm still standing behind the PVC furler concept as the easiest and cheapest option, shouldn't take more than an hour to make with just an electric drill as the only tool needed. Shouldn't cost much more than ten bucks, (maybe $20 if you have to buy a whole socket set in order the socket extension piece you need. Basically you will be cutting off and removing the existing stay lines and replacing them with something else (a different design) at the top, (just sayin the original design kinda sucks) The key component here is the spin bearing at the top of the mast. There are a dozen simple ways to achieve this, I will list a couple so you can select from the menu and select which will work for you, and what is easily available at your local hardware store. All options involve modifying the top of the aluminum mast itself just one time. I'm not sure if Hobie uses the exact same aluminum mast as is used on the regular Hobie kayaks, (I am assuming it's the exact same part). Our favorite pastime is Hobie kayak sailing and pretty much every one of the half dozen Hobie kayaks we have bought we purchased the sail kit along with the boat, all hard kayaks, we don't own a Hobie inflatable, (our two inflatables are a different brand and used for a different purpose (ie.. not kayak sailing), basically we tow extra people out to snorkeling areas with our TI mothership. We keep the inflatable in the back of the truck along with our 4 person inflatable just in case we need them, (BTW, you can't haul gear, ie... scuba tanks, big cooler, etc in an inflatable kayak, they just flip in the ocean. In ten years of kayaking (year round down here) we have never launched a Hard Hobie kayak without a sail kit strapped to the side of the kayak, not even once, just in case we find favorable wind. I installed a furler system on every one of them before ever taking any out on the water.
Before doing any thing pull the mast and look at it. If it's like all mine were you will find a plastic plug shoved into the top of the mast. Remove the plug. Just below the plug you will see a bungy stretched over a cross pin. The cross pin needs to be pounded out and removed, along with the bungy, (on all mine I just stretched the bungy up and snipped the bungy, leaving all the remnents inside the mast. Now carefully measure the ID of the tubing at the top, that's the diameter you have to work with, ( I don't recall the exact diameter but I think it was around 3/8 dia ID, you need to measure yourself.
Option 1: On my first sail, I happened to have a 1/4" socket extention in my tool box, the 1/4" dia part was about an inch long, the large diameter part was just the right size so I pounded into the top of the mast and I was done, (the extention is hardened steel so it is very strong and doesn't rust easily).
Option 2: after the first one, when I went to the second sail (my wifes boat), I had already used my socket extension and didn't have another so I went to Home Depot and bought a 1/4" id x 3/8"od 3/4" long brass bushing and simply epoxied the bushing into the top of the mast. If I recall correctly I had to chase a 3/8" dia drill into the end of the pipe so the bushing would drop in easily, (this was all ten yrs ago so my memory is fuzzy). If the tubing ID is already larger than 3/8", then just let the epoxy fill in the gap, (doesn't need to be pefectly straight and on center, close is enough.
Now all you need is a 1/4" diameter hard round pin to drop in the hole, I used 1/4" dia drill blanks on some, 1/4" dia carbide blanks on others, all depending on what I had laying around the garage, (I'm a retired engineer/tool maker so I got all that crap just laying around the garage).
Now for the topper itself we just used 7/8" dia aluminum left over from old bent masts, about two feet long (lol we had plenty of them layin around, the cost of trying to run giant spinnakers and jibs kayak sailing, yea your goin to bend a mast once in a while, (just saying). This style mast topper worked ok with Hobie rigid kayaks with just a 1/4" cross hole drilled about 5" back from one end, with the hard pin jammed and epoxied into the hole on later versions, On the first one I just used the hole.
On the inflatable you will need something at the top to tie your stay lines, one front line and two side stays to. Each hole needs to be around 3-4" off center so all the lines clear the sail when furling, this will of corse decrease the angles of your stay lines slightly, but no enough to hurt anything. I use a lot of that polyethylene cutting board material, (available at walmart for about $5 bucks, I would get one at least 5/16 thick or thicker. Now with a saber saw or hack saw cut a triangle out of the board, (doesn't need to be fancy or neat). Before cutting drill four 1/4" dia holes, one in the center and one near edge/ corner of the triangle, not too close to any corner. Your stay lines will be tied to the outer 1/4" holes and the 1/4" pin will be jammed/glued in the center hole so it doesn't fall out. The nice thing about polyethylene is it floats so if you drop it accidentally it won't sink to the bottom like aluminum would, plus way cheaper. Your new stay system is now done and can be used even without a furler right away. A perfect triangle will work as described above (with the 1/4" dia hole in the center), since you already have the rest of that giant cutting board just layin around, you might want to make up a second top plate with the front stay hole a little closer to the rotation point, (about 2"), then the two side stays in line or slightly forward of the rotation point side to side, then further out from the rotation point (maybe 6" inches, maybe try 8-9" out as well, (8"-9" from center will likely not work, but would be worth trying if you have the cutting board material anyway). This way your side stays don't interfere with your sail when in downwind, (just a suggestion). Now just find some light line similar to what Hobies uses, (our local Hobie dealer stocks that line, as I'm sure most boating places do, (aka West marine, etc).
One additional pointer, I always have my sail kit along when kayaking, furled and stored on the side of the boat, (where your double ended paddle stores on the hard kayas). If I want to put it up while on the water I always leave the front stay clipped to the boat, this serves two purposes, first being if you drop that top plate in the water you can retrieve it with your paddle, (remember it floats). Second reason is what the heck do you do with that stupid plate when not sailing,,, I just stuff mine under the bungy on the front hatch. If I find usable wind I grab the furled sail, clip on the clue line, grab the mast topper slip it on, (with the front stay line attached, (btw that front stay doesn't need to be super tight, (so you can still get the mast in the hole obviously). Once up you clip in the side stays sitting next to you, if you want them a little taught so the mast is raked back just a little, it helps performance a little, however you still need to be able to furl/unfurl the sail easily so you can't bend back too far. Make sure your rear stay lines are untangled and dangling all the way down before raising the sail, otherwise you can't reach them once you put the sail up. After trying it all out and it works to your liking, then it's on to the simple PVC furler, I'm sure if you look thru the Hobie archive, (or search youtube) you will find at least a dozen instructional videos on how to make them, their super simple to make in less than an hr, with no special tools, and cost about $5 bucks in materials. Hope this helps FE
|