Hobie Time Machine

I think Hobie are marketing the Adventure Island all wrong. They are selling these machines on the basis that they are are little trimarans that are versatile enough to be used as a kayak should the owner ever feel the need. WRONG. WRONG. WRONG.
What Hobie has here is a time machine far better than anything I have experienced in my lifetime and they should market it as such...
I am going on 60 years and like most my age dream re-capture my youth that insidiously slips into the background as the family around you grows up and towards their own separate lives. You look around one day and find that whilst helping your family to grow into their futures, you have let your own slip away. This happened to me and 12 months back I came to the conclusion that there is a time and place for everything and the youthful energetic full part of my life is well and truly passed. Sure I still walk the dog and ride fast motorbikes together with good friends, but my life had become a mostly passive one full of memories rather than full of dreams for the future. Then I met Mr. Hobie.
The name of Adventure Island is well named for indeed it is a stepping stone straight into a brighter more active future. Mickey of this forum and I stumbled on the Adventure Island really by chance and thought it might be a pleasant diversion but it has become far far more than that. It has become the fountain of youth.
I rang Mickey yesterday to tell him that for the first time in 25 years together with my son-in-law that sails a sailboard,I was going to get the original windsurfer out and see if I can still sail her in the Gippsland Lakes. Mickey was excited and agreed to meet us down in Paynesville together with his AI 'Wet Dreams'. The short of it is that the wind was a good 15 knots and I did a lot of swimming but also got to ride the board for a couple of hours also. My arms, my gluteous maximus muscles and my legs all got the best work-out they have had for years. Mickey had a ball sailing around me, and my son-in-law piked out as he declared it too windy for him. Now that's youth for you that yet doesn't know how little time it has left to enjoy the spoils of it.
My point is that the AI for me has indeed been a time machine thrusting me back years into a time when burning energy and enjoying outdoor pursuits was important. And it is soooo good at that.
A new owner finds him/herself with a competent little sailing craft that is itself very stable and requiring little energy at all to run it. For your money though you also get a free kayak that initially doesn't seem to matter much, but once used a few times becomes a vehicle to exercise both your arms and legs on, swim from and in the future (at least for me) to fish from. Initially I used it solely with the Mirage Drive which I love as I found the paddling hard to master but now am mixing the both up a bit. It is itself incentive enough to go visit wilderness rivers on which to explore. With summer here, I have found myself slipping into the river near where I live where I paddle and with the bow line loop around my neck and shoulders am swimming whilst towing the AI along. My river runs through my town and has walkers, bicycle riders, dog walkers and now one silly old guy who is swimming along towing his kayak behind. I am now find myself getting fit having the maximum amount of fun and so my level of exercise is increasing. Mickey is the same. He jumped at the chance of a sail yesterday and energy expended and the laughter coming from of us both was a true indication of the years that have been stripped away. We are now dragging our brides of many years back to dancing, we play sport we thought we would not do again I attribute much of this re-gained enthusiasm and energy directly to the ownership of the Hobie Adventure Island Time Machine....Pirate

Well said!

Kayaking Bob

Pirate, thanks for the wonderful post. I feel exactly the same way except that I have about ten years on you. I am 70.

About 10 years ago I bought a 34 foot sloop and made my plans to retire on it. I took two trips, one to the Bay Islands of Honduras and another to Lake Isabel in Guatemala, of about three weeks each. I was looking for my home base to retire to on my boat.

I retired in 2004 and took my boat from Guntersville Lake in North Alabama, down the Tennessee River, then down the Tenn-Tom Waterway to Pensacola, Fl. I sailed about once a week for the next couple of years. I finally decided it was too much of a hassle. It was difficult getting in and out of the slip, especially if I was alone. Something was always going wrong with the boat and it had to be hauled out about every two years for a bottom job. It was a money pit. And I decided I could never live in the cramped cabin year round. I sold it in the summer of 07 and have no regrets.

I still have my 16 foot AMF Sunbird, which I have had for a number of years. But that is still too much of a hassle to launch and retrieve, especially by myself. Three years ago I bought a 14 foot sit atop kayak from my neighbor for thirty bucks. It was a lot of fun but also a lot of work paddling it. So I dicided to put a sail and outriggers on it and turn it into a sailing kayak. I bought two ten foot four inch sections PVC pipe, to use as outriggers, a couple of sections of two inch PVC pipe to use as a mast. I already had sails so no need to buy them Then began to try to figure out how to mount the mast and outriggers on it. So I googled "sailing kayaks".

Ahhh... that is where I first saw the Hobie AI. I knew I could never build one even half that good so I knew I had to have it. That was a Friday. Went to visit the local Hobie dealer the next day, tried it out and told him I would think about it. Went back the next day he was open, Monday, and placed my order. It was delivered about five weeks later and I do not regret it one iota.

Once sailing gets in your blood, it never leaves. Now I can sail any day I wish, as long as the weather permits. I am having the time of my life. My youth has returned.

Ron Patterson

My AI makes me feel old and tired at the end of a day, but I'm a youngster to you guys.

Great stories and well told! It's reassuring for us spring chickens to have something to look forward to when we become mature!

Totally agree with all that's been said.
Great post Pirate!

Being the patriarch of all, I can only recommend starting this stuff as early as possible.

In my case, I did not get an AI to regain my youth--I've given up on that project long ago--rather, I intended to use the AI to extend my trips, both length of trip and age-wise.

Keith

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2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"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

"Less is more" Anon

One of my first thought when I got my boat was loooking forward to summer to get my dad out. He sailed alot of dinghies back in the day. This is just the boat to get him back into small boat sailing. Thanks Hobie

I am a quadriplegic in an electric wheelchair. I used to sail/race Hobie Cats before my injury. When in the AI, I am in my element. Most people don't know I'm disabled when I'm sailing. I can go anywhere that there is wind and enough water. I can listen to audio books and enter into a whole other world. I have strapped another kayak along side and can take friends on longer distance trips. I've been able to witness sea life that I never saw during all of my able-body years (somehow the AI is not as threatening to them). When I'm out on the bay, the rest of the world disappears, and I'm in the moment. In other words, the AI has transformed my life.

You're an inspiration to us all k-bay. I have always found you can learn a lot in most fields of endeavour from people with disabilities, because they have usually analyzed deeply the obstacles which they have encountered and found innovative ways to deal with them. I have certainly found your various posts most informative.

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MLR and k-bay--what great reasons to have an AI!!

Keith

_________________
2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"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

"Less is more" Anon

I am not trying to regain my youth but would sure like to slow the clock. My wife incouraged me to order an AI for my 50th birthday and the AI should arrive in a few weeks. This board as been an inspiration and a big part of giving me the confidence to order the craft without trying one.

I am exited and can not wait for the water to soften up. I will be sailing primarily at Okoboji, IA.

Paul AI - You have good reason to be excited Your fiftieth birthday is a momentous occasion and deserves to be celebrated in a memorable way. I can think of no better present than this fantastic do-everything watercraft
You are very lucky to have a wife who is encouraging you to buy one!!
I would not be surprised to learn that you buy her one for a similarly significant occasion.
My wife (Minnie) was not so enthusiastic about the idea of me buying one for my sixtieth birthday, however now that I have had it for a couple of months and have had so many adventures etc, I don't think she begrudges me regaining the joy of life that the AI offers. I haven't been able to talk her into one yet, but I think she would be a serious contender for the pillion seat in a tandem AI when it is released. (She likes riding pillion on my Honda Goldwing).
Mickey

I have two AI's and I'm filing for Social Security in May. I have a Cobra Fish and Dive I paddle along with a Cobra Re-vision I paddle and surf but I never paddle the AI as a kayak, go figure.

Welcome Paul AI

I have spent may years inb Iowa and boating on Okoboji. You'll love the boat and sailing it on the lake.