BeWare 2013 Hobie Outback Mirage Hull Cracked

Sorry so late...

Brendan is right once the email got to the right person Hobie quickly stepped in and sorted it out by sending me a new 2014 kayak and to no cost to me. I was back out on the water in no time and have since not encounter any problems with the Outback. Now that is customer service! In today's world that's hard to find a company who will stand by their product.

I am starting and Eco_Tourism company soon and will only buy Hobie because of the great products and customer service, will be posting videos soon from kayak touring South Florida in my Hobie Outback

Fish On

I do like the bilge pump on satwaterkayakfisherman but much prefer Yakass' mod on his now sold Adventure Island. He put a standard plug into his molded cupholder, and carries a bilge pump with a tube that fits down into the hull. I think we all agree that the last time you would want to open the hatch is with a hull full of water.

His mod (and other great ones) can be seen here http://slhobie.com.au/info/specials/503-bird-of-prey-adventure-island-up-for-sale

Sounds like you need to purchase your eco-company boats from another dealer.

We have a 2012 TI that we take out into open water often (pretty much every weekend year round). My typical outings are 10-15 miles, pretty much every time the boat takes in at least 2-3 cups of water and in 2 ft or more chop it takes in a little more (up to a gallon or two). I always assumed it was the front hatch so I never did anything about it (just lived with it). I recently thought I would figure out wher the water was really coming in so I put 4 dry towels into the hull in various areas. I also put a garbage bag over the front hatch held in place by a looped length of 1/4" vinyl tubing. The results were interesting. The towels in the bow remained dry, however the towels under each of the twist and seal hatches were all wet. With the towel under the rearmost hatch being saturated. This was a bit of a shocker to me.
Obviously my TI is not your normal TI (I have foresails and motors mounted on mine as a result the boat goes 2-3 times normal TI speed). Water appears to come in a few drops here and there thru any opening in the hull (hatches,rudder lines, steering posts, etc) with no major culprit.
Now I am looking into adding a very small fully automatic electric bulge pump along with a 12 volt battery (like a scooter battery) along with a small solar panel to keep the electric system charged. All to be kept in a dry box. I picked up en emergency power booster at lowes (400ah) with a lithium battery ($79 dollars) that has usb charge ports and 12 volt output, it is very small (1x3x6") and weighs maybe a lb or two.
I think it will be nice to have an electrical system, I will likely mount a white light on a pole to the top of the box for night time operation. I still have my led Atwood running light system that runs off aaa batteries that I keep on board for nite time operation with full navigation lights (red/green on the bow and white on the back) that I can also use if needed (the whole setup was around $30 bucks at Walmart).
I also always carry a bilge pump and sponge just in case.
We sometimes do 50-60 milers where we are out all day, having something like this will give me peace of mind. Having the ability to charge our iPhones,iPads, fmradio, etc i think will be nice addition along with the automatic bilge pump. Now I just need to find the perfect small pump. I'm hoping to just have to mount to the boat just one time, then just leave it in place depending on the solar panel to keep the battery topped off. How all this will hold up in salt water remains to be seen (typically the downfall of everything lol). I was planning to mount everything over the rearmost twist and stow hatch, we never use that hatch anyway. The only thing going into the hull will be the electric leads for the pump, and a 1/4" to 5/16" drain hose, I plan to drill holes into the twist and seal hatch for those, then seal them up with silicone. Worst case if it doesn't work out, I have to buy a new twist and seal hatch.
If I get anything to work, I'll post about it.
Bob

Please do Fusioneng, sounds like you do some epic trips.

My 2008 Outback doesn't have any flotation in it, and I never even thought about adding pool noodles to the inside of the hull, brilliant! I also haven't carried a pump or sponge (shame on me). I'll be picking one up though.

Posts like this are good for reminding us of being safe on the water.

Great to hear the original poster (albeit this was a while ago) got it worked out. #Hobie4life