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 Post subject: A.I. mini-mods...
PostPosted: Fri Jun 21, 2013 12:32 am 
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Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2009 8:45 pm
Posts: 343
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Here are a few of the small, but useful, mods I've made to my A.I. over the
past few months. Not all are my idea and a few of them are relevant to
other Hobies too.

I thought it'd be worth starting a thread that keeps a lot of the 'mini-mods', to
make it easier for people to find em.

The first was one that I also used on my Sport and Revo. Not my idea, but of
all the cart mods I tried (tennis ball, etc) this seems the best. The cart already
has the Hobie-supplied cart collars, but these aren't really strong enough to
support an A.I. without sliding down the cart uprights.

Adding a couple of sections of good old pool-noodle above the collars makes
a perfect cushion for the scupper-holes and surrounding hull. The pool-noodle
conforms perfectly to the shape of the hull and spreads the weight more
efficiently than the tennis-ball option.

1: Pool-noodle cart cushions:
Image

The second one is just as simple - relocating the Mirage drive pedal
bungee from next to the middle hatch to the front of the footwell.

When not in use, this keeps the bungee out of the way, which is a
blessing on the A.I. with so many other ropes, lines and things
cluttering the place up.

2: Relocating the drive pedal bungee:
Image

The third is very much down to personal preference, it might not bother
some (most?) people. I found it rather strange that the rear-most attachment
points for the cargo bungee were padeyes, rather than cleats. This meant
that it was impossible to completely remove the rear bungee, as the bungee
cord was held captive by the eyelets.

So I simply replaced the padeyes with the same cleats that hold down the rest
of the rear cargo bungee. To do this you have to unthread one end of the bungee
from its shockcord fastener (hook), but that's not a major drama.

3: Fully removable rear cargo bungee:
Image

The next one is only applicable to those unlucky punters who have a 2011+ model
Adventure Island. Hobie, in their infinite wisdom, saw fit to replace the perfectly
adequate moulded-in carry handles with a design straight from satan's drawing-board.

The newer style handles are ideally placed (and shaped) to scoop great gouts
of water into your lap when travelling at any speed greater than a snail's pace.

Thankfully forum regular Slaughter came up with a very cheap and simply mod that
goes most of the way to fixing the issue.

Simply wander down to Bunnings and get yourself a 1m length of water pipe
insulation foam/tubing (costs about $2.50).

Then wander back and unscrew one of the shock-cord ends that hold the
paddle retaining bungee in place. Untie the end of the shock-cord (probably
the hardest part of the operation) and thread a 21cm length of the insulation
over the cord, then retie and reattach the shock-cord end to the hull.

The splash-guard can slide along the shock-cord to either cover the gap in
the handle, or out of the way if you're using the handle to lift the yak.

4: Begone, satan's carry-handles!
Image

The last of my mini-mods is one that I also performed on my Revo, as I was
tired of my camping dry-bags being rent asunder by exposed, and sharp, screw
threads hidden inside the hull.

The main culprits were the screws that hold the cheek-blocks for the rudder
up/down pulleys, just aft of the front hatch. The screws used to hold the
block in place were too long (by between 5-10mm in my case) and protruded
far enough to catch and tear anything that was pushed along the side of the hull.

The easy fix was to simply mark the exposed ends of the screw thread with a
thick black texta, then remove the screws - only one at a time on each block
or you'll have bungees and cords whizzing around the bowels of your hull,
never to be seen again! I used a hacksaw to chop the excess length from the
threads, then a file to smooth away any remaining rough edges. Then I
replaced the screws for a smooth, snag-free interior.

I've also done a similar mod on the screws that hold the retaining catches
for the front hatch bungees and I have the mesh-pocket self-tappers in
my sights too! They're going to be replaced by screws and nylocs.

5: Chopping exposed screw-threads down to size:
Image

One source of frequent irritation to me are the mesh pocket covers on the inside
of the cockpit on most Hobie kayaks. I often keep lures in the pocket area and
9 times out of 10 the trebles will get tangled in the black mesh that covers
the pockets.

I read (probably here on the forum?) that one solution was to replace the original
mesh with silicone or rubber. So I thought I'd give it a try. I bought a small silicone
mesh net from ebay and used the existing Hobie mesh pocket 'surround' to mark out
the correct size. The only slight glitch was that the net I bought from ebay was tapered
so the mesh got closer together towards the base of the net.

6: Hook-friendly side pockets:
Image

To get around this I stretched the replacement piece of mesh between the small pegs on
the top half of the pocket surround. The pattern of the mesh also wasn't ideal, so I had
to do me best to get a reasonable fit.

Image

I then fitted the other half of the surround and used a few paper clamps to hold it together
since the silicone mesh is much thicker than the black netting it replaces. The clamps were
also very helpful when screwing the pocket back into place. I reattached it via one corner
screw then worked along the pocket, removing the clips as I went.

Image

The final result was pretty good for a first attempt. Plenty of tension and far fewer places
for trebles to get snagged.

Image

Solid enough to hold a pair of pliers in-place, but still plenty of stretch to fit a tackle-box
behind the mesh.

Image

I also recently switched over to using a 'half-paddle' (one section of the Hobie model with the t-handle added),
but finding a good spot for it had me scratching my head for a while, until I though of this:

Image

The paddle blade tucks in neatly between the seat and crossbar and the shaft clips into the paddle-keeper clip on the aka - easy!

I move my A.I. around a lot using the Trax 2-30 cart. When fully assembled, the amas tend to rub on the cart wheels.
They also hang pretty low and can scrape on the ground when going over kerbs, ditches, etc.

The solution to this is to make up a strap, using 50mm webbing and some snap-clips. This is threaded around
the amas and the hull and adjusted so the amas are lifted up and away from the wheels and the ground.

Image

Image

Hopefully these little modifications will prove handy for other Hobie/A.I. owners too.

Cheers,

Mike.


Last edited by mingle on Fri May 26, 2017 1:00 am, edited 2 times in total.

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 Post subject: Re: A.I. mini-mods...
PostPosted: Fri Jun 21, 2013 3:06 am 
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Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2011 1:58 am
Posts: 2893
Location: Forster, NSW, Australia
Mingle, a ghetto solution for those sharp bits is to buy some silicon fuel tubing at your local hobby shop, and cut off small bits which you push onto the exposed ends of the screws and bolts.

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


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 Post subject: Re: A.I. mini-mods...
PostPosted: Fri Jun 21, 2013 11:14 pm 
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Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2009 8:45 pm
Posts: 343
Location: Melbourne, Australia
tonystott wrote:
Mingle, a ghetto solution for those sharp bits is to buy some silicon fuel tubing at your local hobby shop, and cut off small bits which you push onto the exposed ends of the screws and bolts.


Hi Tony,

Yeah, I tried a quick fix using bits of plastic tubing screwed onto the exposed threads, but it kept getting in the way and being pushed off, so the onlt solution was to take a hacksaw to those buggers! It was a bit fiddly, but fixed them right up :-)

Cheers,

Mike.


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 Post subject: Re: A.I. mini-mods...
PostPosted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 3:38 pm 
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Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2011 3:57 am
Posts: 244
Location: Fairfax, CA USA
Î used spray on rubber coating for the mesh, same effect--snag free- and only a bit o' mess getting it all sprayed on.


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 Post subject: Re: A.I. mini-mods...
PostPosted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 5:22 pm 
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Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2005 6:29 pm
Posts: 2763
Location: High Point, NC
Just did this mod a couple hours ago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urysxgvlv4M


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 Post subject: Re: A.I. mini-mods...
PostPosted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 7:58 pm 
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Joined: Fri May 08, 2009 5:06 am
Posts: 1701
Location: Lake Macquarie NSW AUSTRALIA
It's funny how the location of the drive pedel bungie didn't annoy me at all ......untill I read this, and then I realised that it did.

Something to do next weekend. Thanks mingle.

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 Post subject: Re: A.I. mini-mods...
PostPosted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 7:57 am 
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Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2012 9:58 am
Posts: 70
Location: KY Lake
Love the drive pedal bungee. Existing one is really, really annoying! Thx for sharing!

What's the green thing in your mast cup? Does it keep the water out? I want one when my mast is out.

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 Post subject: Re: A.I. mini-mods...
PostPosted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 2:10 pm 
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Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2011 1:58 am
Posts: 2893
Location: Forster, NSW, Australia
Pool noodle slice.

Ditto on the Miragedrive bungee! Actually, here's another thought. That bungee, in its original position, is good for keeping the mainsheet out of the way when the sail is furled and you are fishing.... just hook it over the sheet

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


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 Post subject: Re: A.I. mini-mods...
PostPosted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 8:53 pm 
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Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2009 8:45 pm
Posts: 343
Location: Melbourne, Australia
tonystott wrote:
Pool noodle slice.

Ditto on the Miragedrive bungee! Actually, here's another thought. That bungee, in its original position, is good for keeping the mainsheet out of the way when the sail is furled and you are fishing.... just hook it over the sheet

Hi Tony - that is actually a nifty idea! 90% of the time I have the mainsheet on my right side and just tuck it under the lower edge of my Scotty rod-holder, but a dedicated bungee hook (perhaps coming out of the paddle-keeper bungee screw-in, would be even better - thanks for the inspiration!

I also recently switched over to using a 'half-paddle' (one section of the Hobie model with the t-handle added), but finding a good spot for it had me scratching my head for a while, until I though of this:

Image

The paddle blade tucks in neatly between the seat and crossbar and the shaft clips into the paddle-keeper clip on the aka - easy!

Cheers,

Mike.


Last edited by mingle on Fri May 26, 2017 12:48 am, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: A.I. mini-mods...
PostPosted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 9:15 pm 
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Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2009 8:45 pm
Posts: 343
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Another one, which may be of interest to other A.I. fishos - a small bungee/hook to keep the mainsheet out of the way.

Drill a 5mm hole in the front-right screw-in padeye and thread a 10cm length of bungee cord with a plastic hook
on one end.
Image

When attached, it keeps the mainsheet out of the way - away from the rod-holderd and pedals.

Image

Image


Last edited by mingle on Fri May 26, 2017 12:52 am, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: A.I. mini-mods...
PostPosted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 4:45 am 
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Posts: 817
Location: Sydney - Parramatta
mingle wrote:
Another one, which may be of interest to other A.I. fishos - a small bungee/hook to keep the mainsheet out of the way.


Awesome idea!

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 Post subject: Re: A.I. mini-mods...
PostPosted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 8:18 pm 
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Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2009 8:45 pm
Posts: 343
Location: Melbourne, Australia
One other thing I used to have hassles with was storing the Trax cart while on the water.

Unlike on my old Revo it won't fit, inverted, the scupper-holes.

Putting it on the tramp is no good - it gets in the way of everything else I like to chuck on there.

I did have minor success stowing it flat across the rear well, but I also store my catch there (when I'm lucky
enough to catch something) I got sick of it ending up covered in scales, blood and fish-slime.

So now I think I've got it sorted - bungeed across the front-hatch:

Image

I have a couple of bits of pool-noodle (see top of this thread) on the cart uprights and this acts as the perfect
bit of extra padding to securely locate the frame on the hatch cover. I also rigged up a couple of spare rod
leashes to tether the axle to the front AKA crossbar - I'll probably make up something more permanent when
I get the chance.

The only down-side I can see is that it does make it slightly trickier to open the front hatch while on the water.
But it's not too bad - the two leashes keep the axle parallel and act as a sort-of hinge that allows the cart to
be swung up and rest against the mast when opening the front hatch.

I haven't tried it with the wheels on, since I normally keep them in the front hatch anyway, and wouldn't really
want to risk them popping off while out in rough conditions.

Cheers,

Mike.


Last edited by mingle on Fri May 26, 2017 12:53 am, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: A.I. mini-mods...
PostPosted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 12:49 am 
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Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2009 8:45 pm
Posts: 343
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Latest one...

A while ago I nearly lost one of my Wheeleez balloon wheels while I was out on the
water.

I'm not sure how it came loose, as I'm very careful to make sure it's clipped onto the
axle correctly, but it did.

I was blissfully unaware as it floated off and the only indication something was wrong
was when I had a 'hit' on one of my trolling lines. Luckily I looked around and saw that
the wheel had tapped the line as it drifted off. I did a rather repaid about-turn and
managed to scoop the escapee wheel up with my landing net.

I'm now the proud owner of a nice, new Trax 2-30 cart and since replacement wheels
for this mother run at over 100 bucks, I want to try and avoid loosing one overboard.

So I made a quick and easy little 'wheel retention system' as insurance against this.

Firstly I removed the four bolts from the hub and took out the inboard disc that keeps
the hub bushes in place. I then drilled two 6mm holes into the plastic between two of
the bolt-holes.

I then threaded a short (about 10cm/3") section of 5mm bungee cord through the
holes and tied it off at each end, making sure the knot was pulled as tight as possible.
This leaves a loop of about 2.5cm/1" protruding from the outside of the disc.

Image

The trickiest part of the operation was getting the bolts and the disc back in place,
as the two halves of the rim were pushed apart by the pressure of the tyre. I had
to almost completely deflate the tyres to be able to get the bolts to reach right
through.

The other slightly fiddly part was to get the knots in the bungee to fit under the
disc. It did require a bit of pushing and squeezing, but it fitted in the end - this is
why it was important to pull the knots as tight as possible, to make them as small
as possible, in order to fit under the disc.

Image

Once back together, the wheels are popped back onto the axle. As you can see,
the loops are pretty unobtrusive.

Image

The final piece in the puzzle is a length of bungee cord with two clips/hooks on
each end. I used a 60cm length of 8mm bungee and attached it to the hooks so
there was just enough stretch to allow it to be clipped over the wheel loops and
wrapped once around the axle.

Image

The loops aren't under a huge amount of stretch, but it's enough to prevent the
wheels from sliding off the axle, should they come loose.

Image

Cheers,

Mike.


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 Post subject: Re: A.I. mini-mods...
PostPosted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 9:12 am 
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Posts: 2498
Location: Central Florida
Great mod idea!

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 Post subject: Re: A.I. mini-mods...
PostPosted: Mon Dec 23, 2013 9:50 pm 
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Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2011 1:58 am
Posts: 2893
Location: Forster, NSW, Australia
Picked up this mod from Josh Holmes' http://www.modernkayakfishing.com forum. Thanks Josh!

Islands are known for leaking front hatches in heavy weather (eg semi-submarine mode), so I tried this.

I cut (very roughly!) a piece of 12mm closed-cell yoga mat to fit inside the hatch lid. While Josh has added separate tie-down cleats to enable extreme tension on the bungees, being a cheapskate, I stuck with the standard bungees. The photo shows the depression in the foam made by the hatch surround rubbeer, but this is after leaving the hatch off overnight, and when first removed, the indentation was even more pronounced.

After a fairly wet sail, plus more than 30 minutes with a garden hose, there was under a cup of water inside the hull, much less than before.

Worth a try, a yoga mat costs $6!
Image

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2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker


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