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Mirage Drive. I'm not impressed. http://www.hobie.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=46859 |
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Author: | cnnashman [ Thu May 09, 2013 8:53 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Mirage Drive. I'm not impressed. |
Each person really needs to know their waters because it will vary a great deal. Where i fish the waters are shallow all over and in the past i bumped bottom no matter where i went pretty regularly. Glad you like them though and i have thoroughly enjoyed reading your adventures, stay safe out there and i wish you much fun and success in the coming year. |
Author: | C4PZL0K [ Fri May 10, 2013 10:24 am ] |
Post subject: | Re: Mirage Drive. I'm not impressed. |
Roadrunner wrote: C4PZL0K wrote: You'll be able to go faster yet with even less effort if you loosen the "outhaul clews" (brass knurled nuts on the back of the fins) so that only about 1/8" of the top edges of your Turbos are sitting in the sprocket slots. This allows them to twist more as they wind up the mast, and direct the thrust in a more rearward direction. Thanks! I will try that. I ran them up as far as they would go. :s I also use the flutter technique rather than removing the whole mirage system when entering shallow water. The issue for me is that added depth of the turbo fins make it more difficult to discern sunken tree limbs and submerged objects in time or at all to be able to avoid them in murky waters. I wouldnt change the Turbo fins as I am very satisfied with their performance. We all hate it, but bumping the fins is just one of those things you have to be careful about and accept that sometimes it happens. Just something that comes with the fun. |
Author: | cnnashman [ Fri May 10, 2013 10:39 am ] |
Post subject: | Re: Mirage Drive. I'm not impressed. |
The fluttering of the fins helps a little in some situations but even with the standard fins, you can use that method all day long and you still constantly run in to the bottom. |
Author: | fusioneng [ Fri May 10, 2013 11:35 am ] |
Post subject: | Re: Mirage Drive. I'm not impressed. |
C4PZL0K: I actually think the turbo fins are more efficient when trying to negotiate shallow water than the standard fins. I assume because the fins are much larger, when you flutter with very shallow strokes, you can still make good headway (because of the larger fins). We tend to go in shallow water quite a bit and have gotten pretty good at feeling our way with the pedals, as soon as we feel something (the fin touching the bottom), we immediately reverse and go into shallow strokes until we are back in deeper water. I think the damage occurs only if you keep on trying to pedal through the stroke while the fin is grounded. I think it's a touchy feely thing that's is a practiced skill, once you feel the pedal stop (hitting the bottom), you have to immediately reverse and get the pedal free, if you react correctly no damage occurs typically. I have also had the problem of having both pedals vertical and stuck in the bottom (basically holding the boat up). What we typically do in this situation is release the latches on the mirage drive and pull it out to release it, rather than trying to force the pedals ( forcing things is a good way to wreck the fins) . When we have new people on board I try to instruct them on how to feel, and what not to do, until they get used to using them. Knock on wood, since 2007 and 8 Hobie kayaks later, over countless miles (I'm sure in the thousands by now), we have never ruined a set of mirage fins (did bend a couple rods though, but they were easily straightened). To be honest we have even ran mild rapids with the mirage drives in on several occasions, of course we kept them folded under the hull in the rough stuff (probably not recommended though). I think another important thing to do is if you are not using the mirage drive at the moment, is to tie the fins up against the hull bottom with the provided bungy. This is important to announce as you are approaching the shore, I usually yell out "PORT YOUR OARS", because my dad was an ex navy man and he always used to yell that out when we were kids going out boating and canoeing as we approached shore, Got no idea if it's a real navy term ( doubt they had Mirage drives in the British Navy in WWII), but I think of my dad whenever I yell it out. Obviously my family gets it by now (though I never explained to them why I yell that out) they just know to bungy their mirage drives. Bob |
Author: | fusioneng [ Fri May 10, 2013 12:09 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Mirage Drive. I'm not impressed. |
cnnashman : This is true, when in very shallow water, mangroves, oyster beds, etc our fins are hitting the bottom constantly. However we literally hate using our paddles, we always have paddles on board, but never use them. We tend to negotiate shallows and mangroves using the brail method of pedaling, we pedal until we hit the bottom, then shallow pedal in the real shallow water, the fins are constantly touching and bumping into the bottom, rocks, roots, oyster beds, etc but we have yet to wreck any fins, they are surprisingly durable, way stronger than we ever imagined, as long as you remember if you hit something to stop and reverse. Trying to pedal through is where the damage occurs at least in our experience. Even when we pull up on beaches, we seldom pull the mirage drives out, we just bungy the drive arm back (so the fins are against the hull) with the provided bungy strap, and the boat sits on the mirage drives in the sand (probably not advised by Hobie either LOL). Bob |
Author: | cnnashman [ Sat May 11, 2013 3:59 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Mirage Drive. I'm not impressed. |
Man, i don't know how you do it with the turbos but more power to you. I usually just take the mirage drive out when i am in really shallow water and walk the yak out to deeper water. I have only bent the mast a few times and i don't know who would continue trying to pedal once stuck lol. Seems like an idiot move. I wish the mirage drive worked like the rudder so when you touch anything solid it would pop up out of the way. Granted the rudder wasn't locked into the cleat. |
Author: | fusioneng [ Sun May 12, 2013 5:56 am ] |
Post subject: | Re: Mirage Drive. I'm not impressed. |
C4PZL0K : Looks like a beautiful area to explore. In my response I probably should have specified where we kayak and sail 95% of the time. The SW coast of Florida, in and around Key West and the Keys looks nothing like your area. All the bottom and shores are made up of pure white sand with the consistency of granulated sugar. We are Scuba divers and snorkelers, the only fishing we do is spear fishing, and pretty much only in salt water. The main reason is down here in Florida every piece of fresh water is full of alligators, and being Canadian, I am petrified by them. My wife is native Floridian, and has no fear of them (I guess it's what you grow up with). I love to Kayak but it's not worth being eaten (LOL). We sold all of our other Hobies, and only own the Tandem Island now which easily holds 3-4 people and equipment. Just the size of the boat (21 ft long (with bow sprit), and 10 ft wide) restricts where we plan to go, so we never end up in areas like you show in your photos (we would be eaten alive (my greatest fobia)). Possibly another big factor here is we have owned 8 Hobie kayaks now, and every one of them had the sail kit, so in shallow water we tend to loosen the rudder park the mirage drives and sail over the shallow spots (vs paddling), you can easily sail thru 6 inches of water. We also tend to be more of the excursion type people which probably also makes a difference as well. Everything has a perspective, and different environments require different methods, I regret not clarifying this before convincing you to trash your mirage drive fins. With that said though, just from our experience we still feel the mirage drive system is much more durable than most people give credit to, as long as you have light feet when using it in shallow water, the mirage drive is surprisingly durable (that was my entire point). Most people tear the ends of their fins a little eventually, Covering the end with heavy rubber tape (kind of like the material used in inner tube repair kits), usually does the trick (I've seen several posts on here how to fix them). I had one set of fins with thin aluminum sheet 2 inch wide x 7 inches long folded and glued over the front edge, if I remember I used 5200 adhesive to glue the aluminum down to the fin. If I knew I was going to go down rapids, or really small shallow rivers I would put either those fins on, or a repaired older set. (replacement fins are not that expensive, and are typically easily repaired). With a fleet of Hobies, you tend to have a lot of Hobie parts lying around, (ie... extra mirage drives, extra fins, repair parts, drums, chains, sprockets, etc) and get handy (over time) at keeping everything in working order. I actually like Hobies Mirage drive design because every piece is easily repaired or replaced. Even if you abuse the heck out of them, they can continue to give you many years of service, it's kind of a given that you have to take care of them (keep them clean and lubed), and fix/repair them once in a while, but once you get the hang of it, all your fear will go away (nothing is shiny and new forever). In conclusion if you were to look at any of my stuff (ie.. mirage drives, fins, hull bottoms, etc) it all looks pretty beat up from use. Yet everything continues to work very well (as long as you take care it ( ie.. maintain and repair as needed)) cosmetics for me takes a back seat. Rinsing off your mirage drives after each use, and spraying with WD40 goes a long way to keeping them in good working order (though they look like (censored)). I'm just sayin, don't be afraid to use em, that's what their made for. Hope this helps Bob By the sounds of it you might now have an old beater set of fins to work with (sorry bout that I should have clarified better in the earlier post). Bob |
Author: | Tom Kirkman [ Sun May 12, 2013 6:45 am ] |
Post subject: | Re: Mirage Drive. I'm not impressed. |
All my boats with Mirage Drives are rigged with depth finders. I have the shallow water alarm set 2 feet (transducer is mounted to the inside of the hull bottom so this effectively provides a warning when I get in water less than about 2-1/2 feet deep. At that point, I feather the fins and go easy until I'm clear and back in deeper water. Occasionally I do hit something, but I'm rarely traveling very fast if I do. The shallow water alarm is a very useful feature. To date the worst damage my MDs have suffered is a shaft poke through because I forgot to take the darn thing out and couldn't figure out why it was so hard to drag the boat onto the trailer. |
Author: | RPL [ Sun May 12, 2013 8:26 am ] |
Post subject: | Re: Mirage Drive. I'm not impressed. |
Tom, You're not the first to do that! |
Author: | C4PZL0K [ Sat Jul 27, 2013 2:38 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Mirage Drive. I'm not impressed. |
The fleet grows! Now that I have three sets of proper v2 drives I can say without a doubt the threaded mast is a very good, and highly valued upgrade. If you have a v1 and are still on the fence, it really is worth it. |
Author: | markbxr400 [ Mon Aug 05, 2013 1:37 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Mirage Drive. I'm not impressed. |
Some may not like the mirage drive, but I've not come across one. After retiring early this summer and moving to our vacation house on the river, I went kayaking with neighbors, using a paddle kayak. One lady had a Hobie Sport. After paddling for a couple of hours, which was about all I wanted, she encouraged me to use her Sport the next day. Incredible. My wife and I bought a new Revolution 11, then an Outback the next week. We use these every day. We've put turbo fins on both. I'm 54, and not an athelete, but was able to make a 24 mile run in one day a week after buying the Revolution. Further, for fun I participated in a 3.5 mile kayak race on Weeks Bay Alabama two weeks ago. Against 93 participants, I placed 1st against tandem kayaks, tandem and single mirage drive kayaks and SUPs (about 35 boats). I placed 6th overall out of the 93, the only boats ahead of me being the 17-19 foot racing kayaks. I was darned impressed with the speed of the Revolution with the turbo fins. I make an 8-12 mile run everyday, including night fishing on the bay. That's where the Outback really shines - no hands kayaking gives me both hands to fish. I love it! Cheers, Mark |
Author: | C4PZL0K [ Mon Aug 05, 2013 11:35 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Mirage Drive. I'm not impressed. |
That's what I'm talking about! High five Mark! Yeah! |
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