Hobie Cat Forums

Gees spare the thought Chris. It must be catching cause Mickey was crooke last week and now suddenly after reading that I am feeling really ill, but I'll see what I can do .....Pirate

_________________
Master of the galleon 'Pirates Lot'

Pirate:
I have only tried to paddle with the tramps installed, twice, and
ended up scouling (sp?) behind the tramps.
I have my tramps buckled up and around the ama-xbar hinge so
the tramps are fairly tight to the gunwale.
Do you have your tramps buckled farther out so there is a gap
between the hull and the inboard edge of the tramps?
I was worried about wear and tear on the tramp inboard edges
if I tried to insert my paddle between the tramp and hull.

I want one.

No - I want two.

_________________
Bob Reeves
Lake Livingston, Texas

My home page

Like you Tidalwave we have our tramps in close along the the gunwales of the hull. You got to remember that I have only tried paddling twice as I have only used them twice but the tramps did not provide any significant impediment each time. The paddling is done in the usual manner with the paddle blade sweeping in the water just inside of the amas and on the outide of the tramps. I have not seen the Hobie tramps first hand yet but ours are so rubust with the rope sewn around the outer edges that no amount of paddling and scuffing with a paddle would in my opinion damage the materaial in any way. We will see. When Mickey and I get our act together we will take a video of the action and post it on the web. Again though I would like to point out that our tramps are at this stage still experimental not tested by wave or time, and I personally am impressed by the Hobie tramps that others here are raving about which turn the Island into a poor man's two man kayak....Pirate

_________________
Master of the galleon 'Pirates Lot'

Pirate,
I originally thought that you had the Hobie Tramps and now realize you were
talking about your 'home-made' tramps, which are much narrower than the Hobie's.
In a previous thread, I had mentioned that I thought I might need to cut
the factory tramps in half down the middle, so that I could reach my paddle
between the hull, akas, and amas.
Your tramps being narrower than the factory tramps allow you to paddle without
having to get up onto the tramps yourself.
I went out yesterday in calm conditions and found that with the factory tramps installed
normally (tight against the hull)...there is no way that I could paddle without actually
climbing out onto the tramp! If I unbuckled a couple of the straps I still couldn't get
the paddle into the water because the rear of the tramps have a sewn in fibreglas
rod and there is no way to 'fold' the rear of the tramps back as long as the
rear is buckled at all. If I carefully inserted the paddle blade between the tramp and the hull, I could use the paddle as an emergency rudder.
I could only get underway, at all, by leaning far over backward and trying to paddle
behind the rear akas.
Under normal conditions, I don't think there would be much trouble, because you have the Mirage drive to propel you if the wind dies.
I am most worried about trying to manuveur in very shallow water where the Mirage drive would hit bottom and I have furled the sail. You might as well put your feet up and
let the AI wash to shore!

How do you guys launch and land without paddling? I always use the paddle until the water is deep enough to deploy the rudder and the Mirage drive (turbo fins) and vice versa when landing.

_________________

If you can't use the Paddle 'cos of the Tramps and can't use Mirage 'cos the water is too shallow, then just step out and push it?
Same for launching, push the AI into thigh deep water, unplug wheels and then hop in.
I hardly ever use the paddle, sometimes I don't even take it with me.

_________________
Fair Skies, Max.

Call me a wimp - I just hate starting the day with a wet ass.

_________________

Not being able to paddle is a big inhibitor to buying tramps. Also, regarding not carrying a paddle as Skymax says, I would not want to be w/o a paddle if a rudder pin broke. I like Pirate/Mickey/Kayaking Bob's half tramp idea.

Keith

_________________
I sail: S FL, Key Largo, Everglades to Cape Romano, Ft Desoto, Cedar Key

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

Ah yes, "A wet arse and no fish!" as my Dad used to say..... I use a Bib & Brace Wetsuit on cold Winter days as I cannot keep the posterior dry when sailing.

Sure, I woudn't leave the Bay without a paddle, and I woudn't sail my AI in conditions that would break the Rudder Pin, that would be my fault, not the boat's.

MATT MILLER QUOTES:
"In many cases, sailors are simply demanding more from this product than it was originally designed for."

"Most recreational users will not fail pins. We get tons of use from our trial boats with little issue."

The Half Tramp looks like a great idea, It's Australian after all... If you are in North America and operating in very cold water I can understand the desire to avoid getting wet when launching.
If you really want them maybe you can Mod the Hobie Tramps by reducing the width, mine haven't arrived yet so I guess I will know then, same cost.

_________________
Fair Skies, Max.

FYI...

Rudder pin failure does not require you to paddle. You simply use the paddle to assist steering and that would be aft of the rear beam and trampoline.

_________________
Matt Miller
Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Hobie Cat USA

You also sail exclusively in the sea Max. In return for the privilege of having lots of estuaries to sail in, we (Central Coastians) often find ourselves negotiating shallow channels with lots of seagrass. Sometimes the only way through is to retract the rudder, remove the drive and paddle. I imagine Keith (Chekika) might encounter similar conditions in The Everglades.

_________________

I find that I also can only launch by wading out far enough so I can insert
the Mirage drive, when I have the tramps extended. Lucky that the wind
has been such that I can rapidly get away from shore. I have been
furling the sail just offshore and letting the wind push the AI onto the shore
and then jumping out over the bow or stern.
After spending the money for the tramps...and getting a few launch and landings...
I think I am going to cut the tramps down the middle. Watching the tramps keep
abeam waves from splashing me...I don't think that they really need to extend
all the way out to the amas. And I really do get quite a bit of windage under
the windward tramp when the wind is abeam, enough that I can see a significant
lowering of the windward ama down into the water. I think I would really feel panicked
if I were in a real blow trying to get to shore with the windward tramp bellying up at
me and the lee ama going completely underwater!
So a half-width tramp would let me paddle with a little bit of stretching, and less
concern on windage. The only disadvantage would be the loss of tramp carrying capacity which I probably won't ever use anyway.

I recently made a pair of tramps, for my AI. I used marine mesh (Black), 4 buckles and a aluminuim rod at the rear which can be broken in 1/2 to get a paddle in action.I made this after looking at photos, of hobie original tramp.I will put some storage pockets on , can any one suggest what these should look like, velcro, zip, how big?

A barber hauler has been installed, to the handle in the middle of amas/akas.

My next mission is to make a small jib and tiller extension.

I have draw some scale, drawings but it is hard to know how it will work in reality.1.8 m2 jib ,does anyone think if this too big or small, it sort of looks right on my drawings.I will cut down a old hartley ts16 jib I have around, Mount the forestay to reinforced deck 500mm back from bow, a halyard to pulley at top of mast (only work when main is unfurled), and sheet to the front cross bar, near pin with webbing with eyelets and block.The jib would end 800mm short of mast height (as top lays back under load),and I propose to use spectra 6mm for forestay and halyard. The mount on the deck will need a small pulley system to load up the forestay,back to 2 new cleats mounted opposite to exsisting ones.1 for forestay 1 for halyard.

Hopefully this will balance the helm, upwind as hiking out is a option with tramps installed.
Has anybody got some ideas on this?

Yeah, launching into a strong onshore wind is another time when the paddle is invaluable. Otherwise, by the time you have jumped in the boat and got your feet in the pedals and lowered the rudder, you have been blown back into the shallow water again.

_________________