Should I recommend an AI to my sister?

Hi guys/gals,

I am a Hobie 18 sailor and love it. My sister has a beach house on the SC coast, near Georgetown, loves photograhpy and kayaking in the marsh at high tide. She is fairly close to a good size channel to a small bay and also small lakes. Of course the ocean is right there too.

What do you think about this boat in that environment for someone who wants to do photography and a little fishing? She is athletic so the mirage drive is good but I am sure she would want the sailing to be SIMPLE to do.

Thanks for your feedback. I think she would like one but thats me.....

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1984 Hobie 18

best money you can spend on non motorized water fun these days. I am an old Hobie 18 sailor from pre kid days and can tell you that while the speed and excitement are not quite the same, the simplicity and ease of use more than make up for the speed. Plus when the wind dies or your are in tight quarters you still can move. The transition from trailer to water is no comparison. Even broken down you can be sailing in 10 minutes or less.

Mate, these Islands are as easy as it gets! Sailing is a breeze, with the furling mainsail, and it all assembles in just a few minutes - much faster that the Hobie 18'. When not sailing they can be used as a kayak, or an outrigger with just one ama attached.

For quiet waters your sister might also appreciate the tramps - lots of space to spread gear around... or just lounge on.

Any Hobie dealer should be delighted to give you both a test ride... why not try one out? I reckon you'll be sold! I was - even without a test ride.

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Cheers, Max ● TI: the "Yella Terra" ● Website: www.MadYakker.com ● YouTube: madyakkermax

I'm with you Cap -_-

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Paul, Rebecca & Stephanie

Yes. A yellow one. Chicks dig yellow ones....

On my list of things to do is some photography from my AI. Haven't actually got around to it yet (with the DSLR).

The tramps are perfect for spreading things out. Depending on the camera gear I'd also consider a waterproof plastic box to carry the camera and lens. Water and cameras don't always play well together. I've got a couple of pelican case cheapie knock offs that seem pretty good.

With the tramps it can be a little hard to use the paddle so getting out of tight spots can be a pain (hard to reverse with the mirage drive). I did a test using only one ama and tramp on one of the local lakes. Excellent stability and it left one side to use the paddle to reverse out of weeds or other such obstructions.

The ducks didn't see me coming!

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I am not convinced you are looking at this for your sister......I think you will love it!

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Sail it like you stole it!

Angus, suspect you're right!

I know this as my wife now owns a Hummer, a 1928 Austin, etc, etc, etc....she hasn't cottoned on yet though.

Slipped the TI through as well.....now if I can only manage that helicopter?????

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Sail it like you stole it!

You don't have to be all that athletic to use the mirage drive. It's a simple back and forth motion. One thing that we noticed, is that because the movement for using the mirage drive is within most peoples everyday movement, (meaning you're not stretching or straining beyond your usual range of movement) you don't tend to get sore, even after a long day on the water.

As far as sailing. I've never sailed before, and I picked it up without any problems. I'm not going to claim to be as fast as you Hobie 18 sailors, but I'm quite competent, and self taught.

The Adventure Island (with Tramps) is the ultimate photography boat. You can break it down to a basic kayak, that is plenty stable for pictures. If you have a lot of gear, you can kayak with one or two of the pontoons on, and a tramp or two to hold gear beside you instead of in front or behind you. And you can sail to a spot, furl the sail in an instant, and pull out the camera to take pictures from an incredibly stable platform.

Fishing is probably great from it too, but I don't fish.

I'll agree with the other post about the waterproof containers. I take my waterproof camera tethered to a floating camera strap, which is then clipped to my life jacket, but my wife often takes her DSLR on her Revolution. You've got to make sure you've got a way to keep things waterproof on these boats.

Long story short, I think it's the boat for what you describe.

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Thank you all! These are great comments and I appreciate your enthusiasm for the AIs.

How much water does the AI draw with the mirage system? My sis is light - about 130 lbs.

Is the mirage drive faster than paddling?

She would typically have to get on the boat from a dock. Their dock is in a marsh creek. How will this go?

Thanks again....

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1984 Hobie 18

I'm not sure the exact depth that you need for the drives I would guess about two feet for the turbo fins. She can use standard fins and cut a few inches off the required depth.

As far as are they faster than paddle kayaks, I would have said yes a month and a half ago but have change my mind since then. Sailing if the wind is right there is no contest the AI is faster. In the kayak mode, with no sail on board or amas & akas a good kayaker in a fast boat is faster. I have gotten into a few races with my TI and two people peddling and could usually keep up but you couldn't keep the pace up for long and the TI is faster than the AI. The boats I raced probably cost more than an AI not counting the $300 paddles they were using.

I have entered our boats, both an AI and TI, from a dock and they are easier than a sit inside kayak. How difficult depends on the height of the dock above the water.

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Jerry D.
St. Johns, Florida
2010 TI
2008 AI

The boat itself probably draws about 2 or 3 inches. You can use the mirage drive in shallow water by doing partial pedal strokes, keeping the fins close to the boat. It works very well, and in fact is part of the benefit to the design.

Is the mirage drive faster then paddling? Yes. But that's if you compare paddling your Adventure, or using the mirage drive. As a former traditional kayaker, I have to say that speed is a tough one to measure. Here's what I've noticed. (keeping in mind that I have quite strong legs and used to be a high level amateur athlete)

I can out sprint just about any kayak that I come up against in the water. The boat accelerates very well, and with properly tuned turbo fins, is quite a fast boat. The catch is that the mirage drive, the rudder, and the design of the hull work against you when it comes to speed because they all create much more drag then a traditional, quality sea kayak. Sea kayakers in sleek traditional kayaks have very little drag, and they can take very LONG powerful strokes. The mirage drive, by design, can only give very efficient, but short strokes. Over the course of a long day of paddling, the sea kayaker will probably be a little bit faster. Over a sprint, I've proven that I can be faster. (I can't explain why the Tandem Island above wasn't faster, I can only speak for my experience, and it comes against, experienced and fit kayakers in sleek boats)

But there's another side to the equation. While the sea kayaker might be faster in an hour long paddle, the Mirage drive gives you more torque, or pulling power. My experience is that when you load up a Mirage Drive boat, or a traditional paddle boat, the mirage drive pedaler doesn't experience as much weight as a traditional paddler. The mirage drive pulls effortlessly, even if you load up the boat. That's why you see those promotional videos of the Hobie pulling the tandem traditional kayak. The pulling power of the Mirage Drive is excellent. So if you were to tour with two full boats, one mirage drive, and one traditional, both loaded up with weight, I think the speed may even out.

The final difference when it comes to speed, the mirage drive kayaker will ALWAYS be at his or her most efficient. The traditional kayaker won't. It takes experience to get a smooth and efficient stroke, and then it takes skill and fitness to maintain that perfect stroke all day long. The mirage drive boats are efficient every time, every pedal. So that also contributes to good speed.

So is it faster? It feels fast, and it's probably as fast as any other similarly designed boat that offers that much stability. Is it the fastest kayak that you can buy? No.

(wow, that was a long story eh!)

As far as launching in the marsh area. A lot of people leave their drives in for that type of launch. I'm a big fan of pulling the drive when it is at risk of contacting crap, and paddling instead. It can't hurt to pull it, but it will always depend on you comfort level with the debris around you.

(sorry this post was so long, but I hope it helped.)

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Great information again and THANK YOU. The creeks are pretty clear of debris and grass and looks like deep enough for the mirage drive. Dock is about 18" above water level.

Sounds like it would be plenty fast for her to get around the creeks.

I am going to look for a dealer in the Georgetown, SC area and have her start looking.

Thank you guys!

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1984 Hobie 18

If the water around the dock is to shallow, just pull the drive and maneuver away from the port with your paddle. Once clear pull some sail out and use your paddle for a rudder, I do this all the time to clear the sand bars along my beaches until I hit deep uninterrupted water.

I do not recommend relying on the short pedal stroke scenario, replacement fins are expensive and bent fin rods de-tune your fins. When I first got my AI I thought I could get away with it and thought I was doing well. After 7 months I was up for a new set of fins and for 3 months of that was nursing split fins, now I no longer risk the damage, my second set of fins are still like new after 2 years and the drive performs way better as the rods are not bent and the fins tuned. Pull the mirage in shallow water is my advice

AI is a great jiga and an ideal platform for photography, the ability to move so quietly across the water gets you closer than you ever have before to shore based and water creatures, even the mirage drive is virtually silent and quieter than a paddle (well until it gets quite a bit of wear and starts to knock a little).

Having the amas and mast also allows you to stand with considerably stability to take a wider range of angle's from the water and with a little ingenuity you can even rig a small camera boom for video if you wish.

Having the ability to swing the amas in against the hull and easily remove the mast, also allows you to get through narrow passes or timber in the back waters of lakes etc after sailing across open water to get there and the AI with the mirage drive in place still moves quite well in this situation (Note: having your paddle handy helps with tight maneuvers).

I would definitely recommend at least one trampoline to allow easier movement and an area to lay equipment as the adventure kayak has little extra space for that type of thing. Both AI and TI are wet ride's so dry bags for camera equipment in transit are a must have to protect your gear.