Hobie Adventure/Outback Caution!

First off I just finished doing Stillwater Canyon on the Green River and my Hobie performed great other than one major problem.

The one problem I had with my Adventure was a expensive one. I had loaded numerous 4 liter bags of water and all my gear in dry bags into the 3 hatches. Upon reaching the first nights campground and unloading my kayak I was shocked to find a empty water bag and 4 liters of water in the bottom of the hull! I also had numerous tears in my dry bags, sleeping bag, etc...! Upon examining the interior of my hull I found the problem(s). It seems when the hatches are installed on the the Adventure(and Outback etc...) Hobie uses pointed screws. When these are tightened down(I did not tighten) they can extend beyond the bottom of the hatch retaining gasket. Upon feeling around the edges of the middle and aft hatches I found 6 screw tips pointing down enough to snag and cut into my water and dry bags. I am hopeful that the new hatch design solves this problem. I have been waiting over two months to get the new hatches and really need to know if this problem is solved.

Hi Mikes and welcome to the forum. What an inopportune time to make such an unfortunate discovery! Thanks for the heads-up.

My adventure has the retrofit newer hatches, and I'm happy to report that the screws are fully contained. I'm a little puzzled that you've been waiting so long for the newer hatches -- didn't realize they were out of stock. You might give Hobie a call or check with another dealer.

If you'll be putting anything inside the hull in the meantime, you'll probably want to temporarily blunt the existing screws (but you may need to reuse them on the new hatches). or secure the contents away from the hatches.

Hope everything is clear sailing from here on out!

I just looked around at the Hobies in the shop and noticed a mixed bag on if the screws were long or not. None of the new hatches went thru. You may want to add a washer to the top of the screw instead of filing the bottom off, this was just a thought depends on how far the stick down. the ones in the shop that went thru were only down a bit, it look like a small washer could make up the gap, and the head still stay flush on the top.

Thanks,
Brad Stephens
www.sunjammers.com
Hobie Division 15 Chairman
Authorized Hobie/Vanguard/Hunter Dealer
[email protected]
850-235-2281
866-sun-iamm
Panama City Beach, FL