Joined: Fri Jun 05, 2009 7:44 am Posts: 132 Location: Philadelphia, PA
It looks like there is a re-enforcement in the dolly holes on this model, which the older ones didn't have--so that's great. But the yellow hull material at the top is out of alignment with the lower portion of the holes. Starboard side is not too bad, about 1/8", but the port side is 1/4". That means that the Hobie dolly cannot be inserted all the way into the hole.
Is it safe to get in there and trim this material so that the top and bottom parts are aligned? Or is that going to introduce some kind of leakage?? I've just had the boat 3 weeks and am still getting used to it. Thanks for any and all help on this.
Joined: Tue May 27, 2003 12:44 pm Posts: 15021 Location: Oceanside, California
Scupper mis-alignment can happen as the mold is heavily used. If the cart is not fitting, we do have new carts that are a fraction wider. Engineers are compensating for scupper width creep in new models that have exceeded the build tolerance of the carts.
"If" that is actually the issue here. Have your dealer take a look and discuss with our warranty / tech department.
_________________ Matt Miller Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales Warranty and Technical Support Hobie Cat USA (Retired 11/7/2022)
Joined: Fri Jun 05, 2009 7:44 am Posts: 132 Location: Philadelphia, PA
Thanks very much Matt. But I'm not sure I've communicated properly. I don't know how the hull is manufactured, but what I see in the dolly holes looks like it would happen if the hull was molded out of a top and a bottom part and then the two parts were joined, but the dolly holes in the top part of the hull don't line up with the holes in the bottom part of the hull
Or if the hull is molded in one piece, and then what look like grayish reinforcements are pushed in from the bottom of the dolly holes, the reinforcements didn't go in straight and created a bead of yellow hull material that closes off the holes partly. The dolly fits into the holes from the bottom up to this bead and then stops, and it can't be put in from the top (even just as a test)
I say this because I don't understand how a "wider" cart would make a difference. the pipes on the dolly come into the holes from the bottom just fine, but then a couple inches from the top of the holes where the grayish looking stuff stops and the yellow hull material starts, the yellow hull material is not registered over the center of the lower part of the holes.
The kayak is molded in a rotary mold in one piece from a two piece mold that bolts together. The problem Matt described is, the mold is getting old and has made many boats by now (the TI is one their most popular boats). And over time things begin to shift around in the metal itself from the repeated hot and cold cycles (I'm a moldmaker and have built these types of molds). On one of my TI's (I've had 3 now) there was a little mis-alignment between the cavity and the core half, and my scupper cart didn't fit so well, I just trimmed the excess plastic off mine with a knife, and everything worked fine. The black sleeves in the scupper holes are to re-enforce the scupper holes (a pretty important improvement)
If you boat is pretty new and under warranty, I recommend you take the boat to your dealer and let them deal with the problem. (I'm pretty sure they will be told by the Hobie factory to just knife the excess plastic out, but it's probably best to let them do it). Hope this helps Bob
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