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PostPosted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 4:40 pm 
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Location: Punta Gorda, FL
Friends of mine rent a place on Captiva Island each Thanksgiving, and this year we joined them down there. It's a great place for an Adventure kayak, not so great for AI sailing due to all the shallow water. Since they dredged open Blind Pass, the explosion of life in there has been tremendous, so it's quite a show of birds, baitfish, predators, marine mammals and even the stray alligator.

So why is this in "Repairs" then?

Though I know better, I left our boats in the water from Sunday morning through Friday evening. This is not sand. Those are all baby barnacles on my wife's boat. They scrub right off at this size, but you can't hose them off.

Image

In the course of cleaning my boat, I noticed this.

Image

Uh oh! :shock: It's pretty dirty in that crack, so I guess it has been this way for a while. I haven't noticed it, but then, I never look at the bottoms of our boats. They live on the trailer.

So what do I do about this?


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PostPosted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 7:01 pm 
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Location: Central Coast NSW Australia
That's the notorious front drivewell crack Tom.
I'm surprised you haven't noticed any water inside the hull. :?
It should be covered under warranty. I had a similar problem on my 08 AI and Hobie promptly replaced the hull. :)
See your dealer.


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PostPosted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 3:53 am 
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Location: Punta Gorda, FL
Uh, I am my dealer, or at least I was when I bought it. (I worked at former Hobie dealership Gulf Island Sails). We were unsuccessful at selling the boats, and were only dealers for a year or so.

So do I go to the next nearest dealer?

I'm surprised it wasn't leaking as well, but my boat has been fairly leak-free. It just spent a week in the water and grew barnacles, as you can see in the pic, but there was only a sip inside the boat.

I did not know this was a warranty situation. Other than letting that one Sasquatch play with it, I have been careful with the boat and did not do anything I know about to cause this, but I just figured boats crack. I was thinking of taking my Bernzo torch to it, but if Hobie warranty policy is to replace the hull, I won't bother. Would that even work?

It's supposed to blow 20-25 out of the north today. Great day for creek sailing. Hmmm... one more trip couldn't do that much harm could it? And if I sink, the waters are not all that alligator infested... :wink:


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PostPosted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 2:14 pm 
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Location: Central Coast NSW Australia
I kept using mine until the new hull arrived. Pedaling causes the crack to open so if you sail with the drive out it shouldn't be too much of a problem. Just make sure you take a bailer. :wink:
It appears that this is an occasional roto-molding problem- (we don't have Sasquatch's down under...only Yowies and I've never let any near my boat :lol: ) Once my dealer sent the pics Hobie Aus warrantied it without question.
I'd be visiting the closest dealer. Sadly our local dealer closed down as well. If I have a problem it's now a 2 hour drive to the next dealer. :(


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PostPosted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 5:20 pm 
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Location: Punta Gorda, FL
I almost always sail with the Mirage Drive installed, and during the Thanksgiving week did quite a bit of "motorsailing" and just plain pedaling in the shallow waters around Blind Pass. I wonder why it has not leaked? I would think it would allow in a pretty impressive amount of water in a couple of hours of pedaling, but it got quite a bit of use with no problems over Thanksgiving. Weird.


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PostPosted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 1:02 pm 
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Location: Oceanside, California
Likely there is plenty of solid material in front of the area that is not allowing water into the hull.

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PostPosted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 2:32 pm 
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Location: Punta Gorda, FL
Must be, Matt. Otherwise, it would have flooded the hull.

Should I make a warranty claim at a local dealership? I emailed Estero River Outfitters in Fort Myers with a link to this topic, but have not heard back yet. Is this covered? Or what should I do if not?

Thanks!


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PostPosted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 3:59 pm 
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Location: Oceanside, California
This would certainly be covered. Regardless of it not currently leaking... the crack is a concern.

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Hobie Cat USA
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 5:15 pm 
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Location: Punta Gorda, FL
OK, I'll get hold of the Fort Myers dealer. It will be nice to see the place again! I bought my "blue canoe" out of their rental fleet in the late 1990's, but have not been back down there in a while.

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 1:28 pm 
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Location: Punta Gorda, FL
I called Estero River Outfitters this morning and emailed them with the serial number for my boat.

I guess a new hull will be on the way before too long, so that's nice!

Meanwhile, questions linger... I understand that it makes no sense to ship one AI across the continent, and that my hull will come the next time there is a shipment to ERO. Considering that my boat has probably been cracked for a while without leaking, I'll keep using it until then, but I'll make sure to carry my little bilge pump! I'll also pedal gently, if at all.

I'm somewhat inclined to grind out the crack and fill it with Marine Tex, or maybe just try to melt it back together with my torch. Are either of these a good idea, and are either of these things that are going to piss Hobie off?

Related to that last, what happens to the cracked hull? I understand that I am to bring it to ERO and exchange for a new one, so it's really none of my business, I'm just curious. I know they're recyclable, but how about if they have an embedded chunk of Marine Tex? And if the hull itself will be recycled, what about the hardware on it, like the rudder, hatches, and crossbeams? There's nothing wrong with any of those, but they're far from new, so what becomes of them?


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PostPosted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 4:57 am 
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Location: Punta Gorda, FL
I got a message yesterday from Estero River Outfitters, saying they have a replacement hull for me and to bring my old one on down!

That's quick warranty service! Woo hoo! Pictures to come...


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PostPosted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 1:22 pm 
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Location: Punta Gorda, FL
I went down and picked up my replacement hull today. Before I left, I took a picture from the top of the crack in the well. It's easy to see from this perspective why it did not leak, and why I did not ever notice it.

Image

I am looking forward to trying it out! It has the new (to me anyway) Click n Go Mirage Drive clips, so at least part of it will be different.

Tip for other AI owners: the replacement hull does not come with crossbeams. No problem, the guy at Estero River Outfitters quickly set to work swapping out mine. All of the bolts had some corrosion around them, and one of them was really hard for him to get out. Might want to take that apart now and then and put some corrosion inhibiting oil on the bolts!

Anyway, here is my brand new Adventure Island, thanks to Hobie Cat, Matt Miller, Paula at Estero River Outfitters, and the really tall guy who works for her. :D

Image


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PostPosted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 2:40 pm 
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Location: Central Coast NSW Australia
Tom Ray wrote:
I am looking forward to trying it out! It has the new (to me anyway) Click n Go Mirage Drive clips, so at least part of it will be different.

Tip for other AI owners: the replacement hull does not come with crossbeams.

Glad it all worked out. :)
Hobies warranty is second to none!
It's important with the CnG that the Miragedrive axle is also upgraded to the splined shaft. Hopefully your dealer provided one?
A point to note -my replacement hull came with all hardware including crossbeams. :?


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PostPosted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 3:12 pm 
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Location: Punta Gorda, FL
No I still have the same Mirage Drive. Mine is a version 2 that I got when I lost the original one in the creek.

It seems to fit and lock in place, but I have not taken it out yet. How do I tell if it has a splined shaft or not?


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PostPosted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 4:34 pm 
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Location: Central Florida
The old drive shaft is 1/2 round on the ends, the newer one is more blunt.
See: http://www.hobiecat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=17002&view=next

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