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Florida AI/TI owners
http://www.hobie.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=74&t=8187
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Author:  Chekika [ Sun Jan 10, 2010 11:52 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Florida AI owners

Wow, for us FL folks, it is cold--at 2 pm, it is 46 deg F, very windy, cloudy. We have moved our start date back again. The new start date for our Flamingo to Chokoloskee trip is now Jan 13, Wednesday. Launch planned for 11:30 am. We are still planning to arrive at Pavilion Key on Saturday, Jan 16.

Keith

Author:  Chekika [ Mon Feb 01, 2010 7:33 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Florida AI owners

We did the trip. In case you have not seen the picture-story, go to the link:
http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=70&t=7276&start=90

Scroll down until you see "Flamingo to Chokoloskee, Jan 13-18, 2010"

Happy sails...

Keith

Author:  Chekika [ Wed Feb 10, 2010 7:35 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Florida AI owners

Heads up! Next AI trip is Feb 18-21, 2010. Leave at 8:30 am, Feb 18, from Ranger station in Everglades City for Tiger Key (or Pavilion, or Mormon). These are always, first and foremost fishing trips. In reality, they often turn out to be great opportunities for pictures. Long-range weather forecast is for beautiful weather. On Saturday, Feb 20, we will sail over to the Paddle-in Festival on Indian Key.

If you are interested, drop me a line at kwellma AT bellsouth DOT net, or post a message here.

Keith

Author:  S.Yoars [ Mon Feb 15, 2010 10:16 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Florida AI owners

please add me to the list of AI owners in Central Florida as well

Name: S.Yoars (Sterling)
Model: Adventure Island
Where do I sail: Orlando, New Smyrna, North Indian River area.

Is there any other AI sailer's in the Orlando or Winter Park area??

Author:  Chekika [ Mon Feb 15, 2010 10:50 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Florida AI owners

Hi Sterling,

Welcome to the FL group!

That is a neat looking jib. Have you posted other pictures? Have you posted any info on how you built it?

Keith

Author:  S.Yoars [ Sun Feb 21, 2010 7:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Florida AI owners

Chekika wrote:
Hi Sterling,

Welcome to the FL group!

That is a neat looking jib. Have you posted other pictures? Have you posted any info on how you built it?

Keith


Thank you Chekika!

I posted a thread all about my jib
viewtopic.php?f=69&t=20991
let me know what you think! :)

Author:  Chekika [ Tue Mar 02, 2010 7:25 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Florida AI owners

Heads up! Our next AI camping trip will be out of Chokoloskee to Lostmans River (25 mi one way). We will leave Chok on Mar 12 for 4-5 days. If you are interested, drop me a line at kwellma at gmail dot com.

This will be a serious fishing trip--if the fish cooperate. It takes 2 to tango.

Keith

Author:  larryhts [ Wed Apr 14, 2010 8:20 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Florida AI owners

Add us to the list Larry & Denise – Lakeland, Fl.
1. 1 Bravo
2. 2 Outbacks
3. 1 TI on order
Where We sail / Fish : Keys to Cedar Key so far… Tampa Bay area mostly

syscontrols(at)hotmail.com

Author:  mkrawats [ Wed Apr 14, 2010 9:27 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Florida AI owners

Please add me to the list of TI owners in South East Florida.

Name: Marc and Hillary K
Model: Tandem Island (TI)
Where do I sail: Palm Beach County. West Palm Beach & Boynton Beach.

After we learn how to tame her, we look forward to exploring more of S FL, including Biscayne Bay, FL Keys, and the FL Gulf.

Author:  stjoeguy [ Fri Apr 16, 2010 8:41 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Florida AI owners

I am coming to the Cedar Key Small Boat Meet April 30 - May 2. My TI hasn't arrived yet, so will bring a different small boat. Anyone bringing a TI or AI? I would love to see one up close.

Gary

Author:  Chekika [ Mon Apr 19, 2010 9:08 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Florida AI owners

I had planned to join the WCTSS Cedar Key gathering but something has come up, and I will be out of the country.

Cedar Key (Florida) would be a great place for an AI and AI-wanabees to get together sometime in May--motel rates are great, fishing is good, and sailing is sweet.

Keith

Author:  FLkayaker [ Sat May 01, 2010 11:28 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Florida AI owners

Hello all,
I am a new AI owner and am looking for those who are in the area who have the same. Im in the Gainesville, High Springs area and sail in the Cedar Key, St Augustine areas. I would love to sail with others. I can be reached at [email protected] Hope to hear and meet from you.

FLkayaker

Author:  TJ [ Mon May 10, 2010 1:40 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Florida AI owners

Wow that's a lot of Florida AI sailors.

I'm in Palm Beach County and have been reading Keith's exploits for a while now. Those stories and pictures may have influenced my ordering an AI last week. I do most of my sailing on a West White Potter 15 with a group from the west coast of Fl. There's a lot of good shallow water sailing over there. Over here, I head down to Biscayne Bay, Florida Bay and the Keys to sail.

Unfortunately, I am not yet retired and haven't been able to team up with Keith's group. They, understandably, like to go out mid week and not around holidays. I do have plenty of time off for sailing and kayaking and hope to get some trips organized with some of you Florida sailors.

For several years now, I have been going down to the Keys in the summer and day sailing out of hotels. One summer, a few of us stuck small air conditioners on our sailboats and stayed in the marina at John Pennacamp State Park. I know of a few places that are still under a hundred bucks a night in the keys that are on the Bay side and provide some very nice AI sailing grounds. One place on Grassy Key even rents apartments that a few of us could go in on and keep costs down. Another is in Sunset Cove, Key Largo and is where the Everglades challenge ends up. Actually, an interesting trip would be to leave Flamingo and follow the EC route across Florida Bay to Sunset Cove - that would be the last leg of the EC Challenge - the reward being a shower, a good meal at a nearby eatery and a comfortable bed to sleep in.

It might be better to start out with the less ambitious hotel sail. Some of those afternoon storms in the summer can be pretty severe. If there is any interest, I can do the research from here. I have pretty much all of June and July to work in a trip.

Ted

Author:  TJ [ Fri Jun 25, 2010 4:18 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Florida AI owners

Well this is a threat made good. A few of us are headed down to Key Largo next Tuesday (6-29-10) and staying here:
http://www.baycovemotel.com/

This place is not fancy, but it's the best price on the water in the Keys, has a ramp and dock and is on the beautiful and well protected Sunset Cove - an excellent place to sail Islands or any kind of small sailboat. It's also within walking distance to a couple of the better places to eat in the keys.

It's late notice, but you could still get a reservation if you want to join us. So far it's me, Mark, Keith and his wife. That's three AI's and one TI.

To update my new AI. Mark and I were out yesterday in some nice winds and, being my third sail on it, I let it go - not reefing until the winds got up to around 17 knots. I still didn't have a mount yet for the GPS, but was able to pull it out of the storage bin and read it at 8.8 knots - consistent speeds of six to seven knots. Very impressed with the overall performance of the boat - still can't stand that flipper tiller though.

Ted

Author:  Chekika [ Fri Jul 02, 2010 10:23 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Florida AI owners

2 Days Sailing in Florida Bay Off Key Largo, June 29-20, 2010
This was a rare day out sailing-for-fun for me and my wife, Nancy. We joined Ted Jean (aka TJ) and Marc Krawatsky (mkrawats) for 2 days of AI/TI sailing off Key Largo in “the Keys” about 60 miles south of Miami. We stayed at the Bay Cove Motel which is the finish line for the WaterTribe Everglades Challenge. Just being at such a famous place raises the hair on your neck. Bay Cove Motel is a small, “old Florida” establishment, which is showing its wear and tear, but has a small beach, a gravel ramp, clean rooms, great rates, and lots of hospitality. Also, one of the best restaurants (Mrs. Mac Restaurant) in the Keys is just 100’ down the road. Hard to beat all of that in one package. And, you have hundreds of square miles of sailing in semi-protected waters.

Sunrise in Key Largo. That is Ted’s new red AI on the Bay Cove Motel beach.
Image

Nancy’s red AI, Marc’s tandem, and my AI beached comfortably on FL Bay. This is only the first time Nancy has used her AI since our 6-day Flamingo to Chokoloskee trip in January. She spent most of the winter skiing in northern New Mexico.
Image

This Google image shows our tracks for 2 days of sailing. We spent the first day reaching along the coast of Key largo. On Day 2, we ran before the wind out to Nest Key and beat back directly into the wind. It was a 16.5 mile sail overall.
Image

Nancy is sailing smartly in a heavy downpour. Almost any cloud can drop a lot of rain at this time in S FL. It is about 90 deg F.
Image

Nearing Nest Key—this is a campsite in Everglades National Park.
Image

Ted, Nancy (exiting her boat), and Marc at Nest Key—Marc is doing some snorkeling.
Image

Ted, Marc, and Nancy.
Image


Back on the beach at Bay Cove Motel. Dozens of sail boats are anchored in the area, but, except for our 4 AI/TI’s, only 1 or 2 other sail boats were on the water. AI/TI’s are more fun—the virtue of small boats.

Marc is not in this picture, because he was still on the water helping a capsized Hobie 16 or 18. After a struggle, the guy got his Hobie up and moving again.
Image

It was a fun couple days of sailing. I found that my empty AI handled very differently from my fully loaded “expedition-ready” boat. I actually furled my sail—something we don’t do often when fully loaded. While our hulls did not “dive” during this outing, they were trying. Occasionally, huge amounts of water (a wall of water) would come flushing over the bow of our boats. Kayaking Bob’s spray skirts would clearly be helpful in these conditions. I don’t know how Marc’s TI was doing w/ respect to “hull diving” and water flushing over the bow. Perhaps he can comment on that in a subsequent post. I do know that he preferred to sail on “flat” water and liked to avoid waves.

You can read about our “expeditions” at viewtopic.php?f=70&t=7276

Our boats were pretty dry (inside) at the end of 2 days sailing. Clearly, my fully loaded AI “leaks” more than when it is empty. Hobie has done the right thing on the new tandem to slant the rear hatch cover. They should do the same on future AI’s. The middle hatch cover also needs a fix.

Keith

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