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PostPosted: Sun Sep 30, 2012 9:16 pm 
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Joined: Mon May 31, 2010 4:13 pm
Posts: 204
Location: oki - jp
well i was in tokyo all last week on a business trip but when i returned last night to a house (and surrounding towns) without power i immediately went to check on my #1 hobby (hobie). i will put up pics in a few hours but suffice as to say that the left side ama is smashed in (huge dent and almost bent in the middle). the left rear aka is split about 5" long near where the bend is going to the ama. looks like something smashed into it hard. the trees it was once again tied to are not there any more.

this typhoon came up quick and actually got stronger upon landfall when most weaken. the typhoon set record wind speeds with 61. something meter per second wind speeds. katrina was about 55 meters per second to put it in perspective. there were a lot of reports of upside down cars and just a ton of roofs gone as well. all of the houses on our block received damage with the roof collapsing of the big house next to us. thankfully he was not home but said there was 1.5' of water in his living room when he got home from work. our railing, porch door, back fence, all of our garden and flowers, shed, light fixtures, 2 trees, and the entire back side of the house had everything affixed to it knocked off. we have 2 of 3 satellite dishes missing, and a brand new roof top AC unit was hanging off the side of the house by the electric cord. this was the worst storm for this island in 100 years i've been told.

the plugin cart is broke (welds failed and its bent real bad and wheels are no longer aligned. the beach cart thing (the $500 one) is also severely broken but it may just be the top fiberglass part since the metal frame seems to have held together. i found it buried under a pile of trees and debris about 50 feet from the TI. the little plug in cart was under a really heavy tree about 20 feet away from that even.

the rudder looks to be the most repairable since it seems to have just snapped off and only needs that little replacement part to go back together again, but since we moved to japan i can't seem to find that bag of replacement parts they gave us with the TI.

I need to place an order for 1 ama, 1 rear port side aka, 1 beach cart cradle thing, 1 kayak plugin cart, 1 of the plastic rudder pin pieces thing (the 5" or so light grey plastic piece), and 2 of the little black plastic things that hold the aka folding arm or aka extending arm things to the aka when folded in and stowed. anyone got a good source for these parts listed above ^ ^ ^???

thanks all and i guess i will be out of commission for a few weeks until i get these parts on/in.


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 12:44 am 
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Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2011 1:58 am
Posts: 2893
Location: Forster, NSW, Australia
OMG! You certainly copped a rotten deal from mother nature! At least neither of you were hurt...

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Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 8:17 am 
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Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2012 2:23 am
Posts: 33
Location: Mandurah, Western Australia
Rusty, there's a spare rudder pin under one of the hatches.
Not that it matters I guess. Just saying.

Man, it's time to rethink your new parking spot.


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PostPosted: Tue Oct 02, 2012 2:41 am 
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Joined: Mon May 31, 2010 4:13 pm
Posts: 204
Location: oki - jp
well yes its great that none of us were hurt. about the parking spot however. it takes me about 30-45 mins of intense labor to get the TI to the parking spot (basically the beach parking spot saves about 40 mins). these 2 past typhoon that we had 2 weekends apart are apparently very rare and powerful storms. in the future i should just go get it and bring it back for these types of events. mainly the big ones will only occur from late august through the first half of october so really only about an 8 week window where its potentially bad.

i think the problem was not that it wasn't tied down properly this time (learned my lesson about that last time) but that other stuff smashed into it. i met a guy who lives right in front of the beach area where i park it and he said that during storms like this i can bring it up to his yard and park it. unfortunately he still lives at the top of the steps/wall but this should at least cut down on half of the intense labor of hauling it all the way back to my place.

i got the rudder working just now, but all my cleats seem to be not functioning properly,, errrggggg.


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 18, 2013 10:21 pm 
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Joined: Sun Sep 11, 2011 9:13 pm
Posts: 59
Location: Okinawa
Hi rusty sojah, fellow Okinawa resident here, good to cross paths with someone on the Hobie forums. I have a beat up old Hobie 14 that I sail up in Motobu. I always take my boat up off away from the beach where I keep it when a big storm is coming. Unless you are off island and can't get to it you'll always have a good couple of days notice that one is rolling in to get yourself sorted. Sounds ideal that your neighbor will let you park it on his lawn during a storm. My usual spot is up over a sand bank surrounded by pines, pretty much as your spot is (or was) by the sounds of it. There were a few kayaks there too but after that last typhoon the water came right up and cleared those trees and some of the kayaks out. I take the tramp off mine too and use augers to anchor the hulls and frame down up aways from the beach. Small price to pay for being able to sail year round in the beautiful ocean here I'd say!

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Hobie Wave 2004
Hobie 14 1991 Plum 40525
Hobie 16 1985 Nationals White Prism 91964
Hobie 16 1985 European Championships Palma 114072

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PostPosted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 3:05 pm 
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Joined: Mon May 31, 2010 4:13 pm
Posts: 204
Location: oki - jp
year round is correct. i was out Christmas day, MLK day, and this past Monday (Presidents day), as well. i hear the water temp doesn't change from like late Nov to mid Mar.

well my new spot is hopefully somewhat protected from the full brunt of the storm now but the rising surge may still be a factor. i really want to see in a small storm how it will do in its present spot. mainly because i had to lower it down a 8 foot wall to get it into the little canal and then drag it down the beach about 150 yards to its current spot. i just really don't feel like reversing the process to get it back up so i'm hoping maybe by just adding another anchor spot or two it will hold up. Presently it is tied at the front and on both sides to heavy immovable rocks/coral giant boulders.

it is nice to talk to another local here even if we are quasi americans ;)

i have seen another TI here parked at Kadena Marina but i have never seen it move in the 8 months i have lived here.

do you ever trailer your hobie cat or just sail it where its parked? i sail between zampa and maeda points mainly.


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PostPosted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 6:19 pm 
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Joined: Sun Sep 11, 2011 9:13 pm
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Location: Okinawa
I don't know if you knew but there is a Hobie store on R58 in Ginowan. I haven't been in but I'm sure they can order parts if you are stuck though to be honest I heard they weren't so good price or service wise.

I also came across an Okinawan Hobie group though they don't seem to be active - I tried contacting them a while ago but got no reply.
http://hobiecat.ti-da.net/

I keep my Hobie up at a place on the Motobu/Nakijin peninsula. I know the manager of a pension/holiday let place there that has direct beach access. I can leave it there and get in and out of the water in minutes which is perfect for those times when you can skip out of work a couple of hours early when the conditions are just right and go for a quick sail. One of the cottages there is owned by an English guy who is based in Tokyo but spends the holidays there. He has a couple of dinghys and windsurfers so when he's here we can go out together but other than that there aren't any others out there. I've yet to have any problems but it's definitely wise to pick the days carefully. My Hobie is at best guess 30 yrs old and although I recently replaced all the standing rigging you never know when something might just give up and I could be demasted and floating out on an offshore to who knows where! I keep my cell with me at all times and always let the manager of the place know I'm going out and how long I'll be. You'll be in a better fettle having 3 modes of propulsion should something go wrong but it's a pain to paddle a cat!

I've seen the TI at Kadena too but as for other Hobie sightings here they are few and far between. I've seen some parked up on the beach at Yaka/Igei on the east coast (I think they must belong to the Hobie group I mentioned earlier looking at some of the photos on their blog). A small Cafe down nr Kin Power station has 3 or 4 but they never seem to be used. Some of the resort hotels have rentals (Sun Marina, Rennaisance, Busens, Resonex in Nago). It seems locals just don't get sailing preferring put put fishing boats or jet skis. Lots of kayaks around of course.

That's a great spot you are in - know it well - perfect for the TI. There are some great spots all along from Zampa to Maeda and then on towards Coconut Moon for jumping out and snorkeling.

_________________
Hobie Wave 2004
Hobie 14 1991 Plum 40525
Hobie 16 1985 Nationals White Prism 91964
Hobie 16 1985 European Championships Palma 114072

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PostPosted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 3:04 pm 
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Joined: Mon May 31, 2010 4:13 pm
Posts: 204
Location: oki - jp
i'm about to head into work so i will prolly have to come back later and write some more but yeah we sail to the Renaissance (can never spell that damn word, thank you mr. spellcheck) Hotel beach area and back occasionally. the winds definitely change and can pick up very quickly and powerfully around here and then the waves will get rough out in the deep water. i've lately only taken it out during high tide so i can stay in the in bounds area as much as possible ;)

i am still getting over my fear of the super deep dark blue ocean areas but not sure if i will ever feel comfortable enough to sit back on the tramps and float with my but inches over the water like i used to in the Chesapeake Bay. i did plan to anchor up to the blue cave area at maeda (10 years ago it was so much better before every single tourist dive shop took boats there daily) and go snorkeling, but all 3 times we've managed to sail over there the wind was obviously kind of strong and didn't lend itself to easily anchoring up, specially with all those damn tourist snorkelers around.

i may have to find a less crowded snorkeling area like the west side of maeda which i may just be able to put the TI up on the sand and go from there.

gotta go to work on Foster now, used to be much closer at Torii, but now they got me at Foster filling in for our Networks team (IT)...


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