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My wife is having surgery and will be out of action until October. I've been thinking about getting a single and I guess now is the time to do it. We use our Oasis as a workboat and it gets some pretty hard treatment. I have been impressed with how well it holds up to abuse. I am considering the Outback because the advertising makes it seem more rugged than some of the other singles. It is certainly heavy for a single kayak and hopefully that means the bottom is really thick. So my first question is how thick is the hull? Especially relative to the Oasis which I am familiar with.
Another reason I am looking at the Oasis is that I think it has paddle bungees on both sides. Is that correct? I use the left hand bungee for a 6'-12' extendable boat hook.
In the Oasis I often find it more convenient to run over fallen saplings and underwater branches when the drives and rudder are out, rather than back up and go around. I am curious about that kickup rudder: it looks like there is a gap between the front of it and the keel of the hull. Is that true? Will it kick-up if a branch goes up into that gap? About how big is the gap? (In other words, how big of a stick can jam into it?) Is there provision to pull the rudder from inside the boat or somehow to un-hook myself if it doesn't kick-up?
I see there is a big bulging transducer shield on the bottom of the hull. Does Hobie offer a flush cover plate so I can remove the shield and the bulge? I spend a few hours every work day in extremely shallow water and a bulge makes a big difference in where I can go. I remove the drive units when working in shallow water because even the kick-up drives have a bulge below the deepest part of the hull.
Thanks for any help you all can offer!
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Brian Godfrey
kayakingforthebirds.org
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