First Sail, Time to Harden My TI

Took my "new to me" 2014 TI out for a spin yesterday afternoon.

East winds, 10-15 knots, in Corpus Christi Bay. Some wind chop, but it didn't start blowing till 2 or 3, so not too bad.

It took me about 30-45 minutes to get the hang of everything. Once I did, my leeward ama was underwater 50% of the time, and the windward ama would threaten to fall off when I was soloing. This surprised me because I saw the videos of one guy sailing an island across the epic Alenuihaha Channel. Maybe after 2 years, the bungees have weakened?

There's no way that I'd take this vessel into open water as is. Even in lil' ol' Corpus Christi Bay, I figure it's only a matter of time before an ama falls off given that the conditions were about as good as i can hope for. I've seen others with the same concern and some promising solutions. Time to harden my TI.

Other observations:

The mirage drive is no joke and much more efficient than a paddle. I launched in very shallow water into the wind, so I used the paddle to get out first time. After about 15 minutes, I barely cleared some rock jettys and had 20 seconds to drop in the mirage drive. I was shocked at how much more progress I made with the peddles. I'm a convert. Paddles are for emergencies or special situations.

I'll be converting the blocks to 3:1 and buying gloves.

It's only a matter of time before I add the ability to move the block outboard for better sail shape and angle.

I was able to catch and ride open water waves for about 60 seconds sailing down wind. Very nice. Even had a dolphin accompany me on one wave.

This TI has much more tiller control to port than starboard. I'll probably make adjustments as I can tell the previous owner had messed around with it.

Forward tiller knob can shank a passenger while moving to port tramp, will remove.

Lastly, in a typical sit-on-top kayak, I don't use the seats. I thought I might not use the seats in the TI, but alas, if I'm peddling, the seat is probably necessary.

Overall, I'm happy with my 2014 TI. The price was right and ignorance (of the 2015 model benefits) is bliss.

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-Chris

Congrats on your "new to you" '14 TI!

The bungees are probably shot, but easily replaced. If your going to do it I would add some spectra line to keep them from sagging too far, or double up on the bungee (see fusioneng's youtube video on hardening his TI). This was addressed on the '15 models with double bungees.

If your leeward ama was buried that often then it's probably time to put a furl on the sail. One turn probably would have done it. The boat is much more efficient if you keep the windward ama from going under. The other option would have been to hike out to windward (looks like you were doing that if the steering knob was catching you). If you were hiked out and still burying the ama then it's definitely time to furl.

You're right about the efficiency of those mirage drives. I haven't paddled once since getting my TI back in March. Enjoy your new boat and keep us up to date on any mods that you do.

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2015 Hobie Tandem Island Hibiscus
"Third Normal Form"

• Trampolines
• Hobie cover
• Davis Spar Fly
• Kayakbob's Sprayskirts
• Spine Board Hakas

thanks TI_Tom, "double bungee" was exactly the search term I needed to find solutions for my saggy amas

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-Chris

Yea that's one thing about these boats, there are a lot of bungy's, all need to be released when the boat is not in use and in storage (the front hatch too).
FE
PS the only color bungy that should be used is black (you can buy replacement bungy's in any color). This actually applies to anything you plan to leave in the sun made from polymers. The reason being the carbon black colorant used to make it black, naturally blocks all UV (it's the UV that destroys all plastic and fabric ( most fabrics are plastic, FYI). However the UV from the sun gets to everything eventually, it's best not to store these boats in the sun (just sayin).
FE

Contemplated coloured (colored as you would say) but only available from chandlery.
Purchased replacement bungee from hardware store - only available in black.

Nice to know black is good Bob.

Brian in South Australia (where we bloodywell spell proper cobber.)
PS Why does everyone on this site spell kayak backwards?

Very cool fishing boat! I did some searching and there are some cleaver ideas posted. I liked the use of strapping to "tie" the port and starboard akas together so they can't fall out. Several images and videos show a line tying the port and starboard amas together to prevent folding and sloppy amas. There were also several double bungee ama-aka connector designs. That fishing TI seems to have swapped the stock ama bungee connectors for and eye, with a hole drilled throughfor the bungee. I really like that because it would allow the use of second bungees with hooks - the type with a lifetime guarantee to never degrade.

That being said, I went to west marine. The shock cord they had was greater or lesser in diameter than the stock. I opted for thicker 3/8". I tied off knots at 9" intervals and forced half of the knot into the screw cap. I'd hog ring the bungee for better fit, rather than tie knots, if I did it again. The caps ended up being 8.5" apart and I was able to screw them back in, just barely.

Then I heard thunder and realized there would be no sailing today.

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-Chris

Indeed! Thanks for posting this, Daft!!

Good to know the tip on releasing the bungies in storage. We currently fold in the amas and leave them bungied and on the cradle ready to pull out next time we put in. Ditto for closing the hatch. I can see the wisdom in loosening everything to let it rest and preserve the elasticity as long as possible. Sadly, we'll be giving her a good "wax" and putting her in storage for the winter within the next few weeks. I'll make sure we loosen the bungies before then.

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........~ media1der ~........
............. Chris .............
2013 Hobie Tandem Island
--- Muskegon Yacht Club ---