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Sealing Mirage Drive opening when drive removed
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Author:  flaneur [ Sat Nov 27, 2010 9:46 am ]
Post subject:  Sealing Mirage Drive opening when drive removed

Has anyone found a way to better seal the Mirage Drive opening when not using the pedals? When I put the plastic block in place and I'm sailing at a decent speed, water still shoots into the boat more than when the pedals are in place. One thing that really helps the mirage drive is that little rubber piece Hobie manufactured to attach to the back of the mirage drive where it enters the opening. Has anyone retrofitted their plastic block to help seal the opening, or done some other retrofit?

Author:  whosyerbob [ Sat Nov 27, 2010 2:49 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Sealing Mirage Drive opening when drive removed

Most folks will use adhesive tape of some sort on the bottom.

Author:  ELM [ Sat Nov 27, 2010 8:15 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Sealing Mirage Drive opening when drive removed

I sprayed my hull (inside mirage slot) with cooking oil, I then fitted the plug and proceeded to fill the gap with "Selleys All Clear" http://www.selleys.com.au/Selleys-All-Clear/default.aspx (I think "Goop" is an the equivalent in USA) and then let it set for a week. It worked great for a while but then proceeded to lift when fitting/extracting, repeated the process a couple of time and have since come to the conclusion that it's really not worth the effort or cost. Mind you most of the time my drive is in place as I very rarely sail without now.

If you were to sand and (very carefully) flame treat (burn) the plug it may get a better bond and last longer than what mine did. It also pays to mark one end as the front and one as the back when doing it, well in my case anyway it would not fit as well when turned around. I thought about molding an entirely new plug out of silicone but it would weight a fair whack, not sure if you could make one from styrene or balsa wood first and then use a silicone for a seal and get a better bond.
Good luck be interesting to see if you come up with something.

Author:  TJ [ Sun Nov 28, 2010 6:17 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Sealing Mirage Drive opening when drive removed

You could shape a plug out of the same type of foam used for the center board plug, or the type used for kayak outfitting. The problem would be that there would be no scuppers and the cockpit would fill up with water. The solution might be to have hard plastic in the middle with a scupper hole in the middle of that and foam around it. Hobie could probably come up with something like that easier than we could.

Ted

Author:  TJ [ Sun Nov 28, 2010 6:43 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Sealing Mirage Drive opening when drive removed

Well now that I look at the boat, most of the water would drain out of the center board slot. I may have to get a block of foam and try to shape a tight fitting plug. It would still be nice if Hobie made some that could click into place.

Ted

Author:  flaneur [ Sun Nov 28, 2010 9:45 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Sealing Mirage Drive opening when drive removed

Although, it may be a good working solution, I don't want to use tape since I may be using my peddles while I'm out. I want something I can interchange while on the water. Below is what I came up with. Note, this has not yet been tested.

I used interlocking foam rubber type floor mats, and cut these to wrap around the block. I secured these in place with zip ties. I haven't done the entire block yet since I ran out of zip ties, however, most of water coming in usually sprays from the end facing aft, so this may be sufficient. These fit nice and snug in the hull. Hopefully, this solution works. I should be able to test it next weekend.

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Author:  NOHUHU [ Mon Nov 29, 2010 7:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Sealing Mirage Drive opening when drive removed

Nice! - or weatherstripping. I know we have been over this in other threads.

I wish Hobie would source a better fitting cassette plug solution - one that's not built so cheaply. It would have been a welcomed improvement for 2011 AI/TI.

The hollow plug stems on mine cracked with very little effort. There should be a rod going through there, at the very least.

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