Easy and Effective upgrades for Hobie Kayaks
 

Easy and Effective upgrades for Hobie Kayaks
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I’ve had my Hobie Revolution for about 3 months now. I love it, but felt that I needed to upgrade a few things for maximum performance. I’ve added a few pictures for reference.
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• Turbo Fins – The first thing I did was replace the stock fins for the new Turbo Fins. The turbos are longer, stiffer and more responsive than the stock fins. Now I can get up to full speed in no time and maintain that speed with less output. $79.95

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...roll/turbo.jpg
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• Sailing Rudder – Hobie makes a rudder for the <st1><st1></st1></st1>Adventure Island that is bigger and deeper than the stock rudder. The sailing rudder is insanely responsive. It works great a full speed and also while drifting, I found that I can adjust the angle of my drift significantly by slightly moving my rudder. $22.95

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...bierudder2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...bierudder1.jpg
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• Hardware – Hobie designed a unique interchangeable hardware system on their kayaks. Each padeye, cleat and bungee end can be replaced with each other. I removed some the padeyes and cleats from my tank well and replace them with bungees and hooks to hold my bait tank. $3.50 per piece

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...l/tankwell.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...oll/padeye.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...oll/bungee.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...roll/cleat.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../tankwell2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...l/baittank.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../baittank2.jpg
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• Pedal – The pedal on the <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Mirage Drive</st1:address></st1:street> system likes to hang upside down and away from the user. To fix this, I removed the foot strap and attached a 1.5 oz egg sinker to the bottom of the back of the pedal using Marine Goop. Now it sit perfectly positioned for me to place my feet down and go. $1

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...oll/pedal1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...oll/pedal3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...oll/pedal2.jpg
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• Fish Finder – I wanted to keep both of my rails free to mount rod holders so I decided to mount my Fish Finder into the sail mast receptacle in the front. I used ½ PVC tubing to hold my finder in place. Then I added a piece of bungee to secure it the kayak. I tuck my tranducer and power cables underneath the front hatch. Inside the hatch, I have a waterproof box that houses my battery. I’ve added Velcro to the bottom of the box and my kayak to hold it in place. $200

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...amroll/ff1.jpg
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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...amroll/ff3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...amroll/bb1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...amroll/bb2.jpg

Cool post Steam, I didn't know about the interchangable hardware. Slick Hobie engineering...

Great ideas
I added the ST turbo fins , never thought about the sail rudder though, hmm

In response to your fish finder.
I did the same thing
However, for a clean install i ran the power/tranducer wire through the sail mast receptacle. The sail mast receptacle unscrews. Although a solid piece of plastic it has a solid divider to form a 2 or 3 inch female end which is placed on the male end that is part of the interior of the hull.

One hole drilled above the divider and a pass through is formed

I also use some electrical tape to seal it up better and minimize any swing on the FF pipe

I have to redo it , since I had a warranty replacement, I'll send some pix.


MikeG

The sailing rudder is a great upgrade. I like mine.

the weights on the pedals help put your feet in, but if you think about it, that an ounce more that you needs to push and pull a few hundred times each outing.

/bing

Must be my question day. My rudder up / down cables have never worked smoothly. Does the extra swing weight of the sailing rudder cause any problems or make lifting the rudder more difficult?

Paul,

It feels the same with either rudder. Bring your boat by the shop and I'll tinker with your rudder. I've gotten pretty good at adjusting them.

That's a cool post Nate.

Guess you got the electrical tape too, can't see pix at work
:mad:

FYI out in Feb 2008

Ram Hobie sail mast mount

http://www.ram-mount.com/index_files...yak_mount1.jpg
Ram hobie sail gps ff mount

http://www.ram-mount.com/index_files...yak_mount2.jpg

see it mounted here ...http://www.ram-mount.com/mount/ram_kayak_mount.htm

I like the accessibility of rail mounting stuff. And they dont get in the way as much one would think.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...-19_0001-1.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...g123/wsb12.jpg

Very kewl
Where do you run the wires ?

I like the Blue Sea System Cable Clams.

http://www.go2marine.com/go2_structu...3/21433F-p.jpg

You can see it as the one round thing on my deck. You punch anything from a 1/2 inch to a 1.25 inch hole on your kayak depending on the clam size and the connectors you use. Mount the cable clam (in your chosen location) and run your cable thru. They are serviceable, adapts lightly curved surfaces, you can change FF cables easily, and I have taken out the cable entirely and capped the cable clam with a thin round cut out rubber and it looks very clean.

/bing

This is my design
Using the sail mast receptacle
However I detached the original base and crafted a double pivot base with a transducer wire pass through

Hope this is helpful

None of the pieces are glued down especially the cap
Sometimes you might need to take a section off to more easily pass the wire

The whole assembly goes into the sail mast receptacle including the pass through wires

Just
1. 1 2ft piece of 1/2 PVC
2. 1 four-way T
3. 4 90deg elbows
4. a 1/2 cap -drilled
5. 4 spare sections of 1/2 pvc l(like 2 in maybe each)
6. 4 in or so piece of 1/2 in pvc

http://www.bigwatersedge.com/bwegall...0/IMG_0001.JPG

http://www.bigwatersedge.com/bwegall...0/IMG_0002.JPG

http://www.bigwatersedge.com/bwegall...0/IMG_0003.JPG

Here is one I did today. customers idea, I guess he is not worried about location interfering with paddling.:D

http://www.bigwatersedge.com/bwegall...0/hobieff1.jpg

Any pics on how you guys route the wires thru the mast pipe? I am very interested. How do you seal it?

/bing

The mast pipe is behind the hatch and normally isn't going under water so it doesn't have to be watertight (at least I don't think so ). I use a couple of turns of electrical tape to keep water out and make a tighter seal but not perfect.

I have no pics of the kayak, since I just recently had a warranty replacement from Hobie. When I do the install, again, I will take pix this time.

MikeG

I like the weights on the peddles. I'll have to do that.
You have to love the mast receptacles in the hobie as it allows for easy set up and removal. I need to have that ease for loading my yak on top of my Explorer. Here is how I have mine set up. I use the PVC to keep my nets from sliding off and I can have a light as well as room for the fish finder (when finances allow).<O:p</O:p

Nate

You and Brian should have a "RIG OFF" OEXO vs OEXPL

We are working on the yakerator just need more power to keep the keg cold.:cheers1:

B

Hobie also makes a rubber cover that zip ties and goes over the top of the peddle drive to keep water from coming up thru the peddle drive well. It is supposed to make it a little faster. Just another gadget you might want to add.

Take it easy!

Aaron

One of the other things that I did was to make the rod holders actually usable on my Adventure. I had some 1 1/2" PVC in the garage. I cut it down to approximately 14" lengths, used a dremmel to slice 8 cuts approximately 6" up from the bottom parallel to the centerline of the pipe and sanded the ends down so there were no sharp edges. I put the end with the slices into the molded rod holder for rod holder extensions. They fit good and snug without going quite all the way to the bottom of the molded in rod holder. I picked up some black spray paint specifically for plastic and they look like they are supposed to be there and work great.

hey guys thanks for the info.