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PostPosted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 2:16 pm 
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Location: Harsens Island, Michigan
The real heading was supposed to be 'why do people say that they rent hobie sailboats when they really don't want to rent hobie sailboats?'

I just got off of Hobie Wave that was practically un-sailable. After 20 minutes of struggling with it, I went back to shore to see if he had a screwdriver to pop up the rudder cams that look like they haven't moved in years. His response was that he locked them down on purpose so that renters don't break the rudders near shore.

Also the short main sheet has a knot in the end to prevent it from coming through the blocks, but it also won't let you depower when you need to!

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PostPosted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 2:27 pm 
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Where was that? And without EZ LOC rudders?... those boats are OLD!!

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PostPosted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 8:50 pm 
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Location: Harsens Island, Michigan
Chesapeake beach resort in Islamorada
Other than that, great resort.
I didn't mention the blown out sails, or the hardware that you can't open to remove the sails! I ended up having fun with it, but not nearly as much as it should have been. I just never felt safe because the rudders were so sloppy that steering was a challenge, then you had to fight with it.

The rudders had cam locks like my worn out H16.:-)

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 3:42 am 
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Location: Jersey Shore
ASDASC wrote:
The real heading was supposed to be 'why do people say that they rent hobie sailboats when they really don't want to rent hobie sailboats?'


They say that they rent Hobies so that they can add this as another "feature" of their hotel/resort- another reason for people to choose their hotel. But they really don't want to rent sailboats because doing so is a PITA. 99.9% of the renters don't have a clue about sailing and so they often end up having to be rescued. So, the rentals make the boats about as unsailable as possible so you're likely to fail after a short while and give up, or if you are successful, you won't go too far.

I had a similar experience at a Jamaica resort. The rental operation had completely disabled the rudder system (removed the guts of the system) on the Hobie Waves. I managed to make the system somewhat workable by wedging whatever I could find (the tail of the mainsheet, socks) between the rudder blade and the housing to hold the rudders down. It would last for a little while and then the rudder would pop up. It is a shame that most rentals do this kind of thing because the boats are so much more fun to sail when they work properly. If I ever go to another resort/rental, I'll be sure to bring some small lengths of rope or bungee to tie the rudders down.

sm


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PostPosted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 7:37 am 
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I agree 100 percent. The really unfortunate thing is that this is a perfect way to introduce new sailors to the sport. Instead, they all walk away saying 'this sucks'. It's actually doing more harm to the sport than good.

I wonder if it would be manageable to have a Hobie certified list of resorts that we know will have decent boats when we book it. I admit that having hobie rentals included in the resort fee is what made me select this place. Maybe the easiest thing to do would be to start a thread for good places and another thread listing places that don't.

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 9:15 am 
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Location: Oceanside, California
Quote:
It's actually doing more harm to the sport than good.


Not all hotels are alike... It happens... Not the same thing everywhere. I saw a place like that in Jamaica. Nice hotel, but they had a pile of pretty worthless boats and no consistent Water sports team. Worn out, poorly maintained.

These all have great sailing programs:

Bitter End YC in the BVI
Sandals Resorts
Riu
Club Med

These places all had very high standards and they are all-inclusive programs. At the Bitter End they have awesome water sports staff.

In the Key Largo I would go to Caribbean Watersports (Hilton Key Largo): http://www.caribbeanwatersports.com/02_activities_sailing.html
Darrell McCullough is awesome!

There were good boats at tons of places along the Yucatan.

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 4:16 pm 
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Location: Central Oregon
Thing I hate is when its blowing good they wont let you take the boats out.
Yes I know the swell is up and its honking...thats why I want to go sail! :mrgreen:

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PostPosted: Sat Dec 14, 2013 4:07 pm 
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Location: Harsens Island, Michigan
Thanks Matt, I should have gone down there. It was 'free' at the resort we're at. Check that, it's 'included' in our daily resort fee of $18,what a bargain! :-)

Unfortunately, it's back to the snow and ice in the morning...

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PostPosted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 8:48 am 
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Location: SE Michigan
srm wrote:
They say that they rent Hobies so that they can add this as another "feature" of their hotel/resort- another reason for people to choose their hotel. But they really don't want to rent sailboats because doing so is a PITA. 99.9% of the renters don't have a clue about sailing and so they often end up having to be rescued.
I got to see that a few weeks ago. Two staff guys started running down the beach to commandeer a jet ski, flew across a few resorts, and one of them steered the wave back. We didn't see it go over, and my guess was that the guy just didn't know how to get back upwind.

I'd be upset about that experience. The resort we went to in Cancun has 4 Wave hulls with masts up on the beach but only 2 running. The two were almost always in use and in good working condition; although the sails were pretty blown out. (I now know what that means after comparing new H18 sails to mine to the resorts.)

The Waves (when working properly) are really a great way to introduce people to sailing. We got introduced to sailing there last year. The activities staff took us out and showed us how to operate it. Then we bought an H16. On our recent trip, we both found the Wave to be very underwhelming now in what would have been nice conditions for a H16. Just a few more months of snow/ice until I get to put back together.


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PostPosted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 9:05 am 
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Location: Sarasota,Key West FL
X2 on the hilton in key largo, that's where we usually stay, unfortunately it's on the wrong side of the island for scuba diving, but always take our own boat (with a motor) so it's not too bad cutting thru the channel. I've looked a the boats at the hilton, and they look ok. Also if you get down to key west they rent waves and getaways at smathers be
ach, haven't rented any though since I always take my I own.
Bob


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PostPosted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 9:14 am 
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Location: Clear Lake Iowa
I heard from a seasoned traveler to ALWAYS bring a set of cams and your own blocks down south if you want to sail a wave.


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PostPosted: Thu Dec 19, 2013 4:29 pm 
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Location: Nepean S.C. Ottawa, Canada
CANCUN - From what I understand, the Group that runs Hobie Waves on the Yucutan Riviera has at least two Waves at each resort, plus 'instructors'.
Most Waves were in good condition (we were there in Dec 2012 and Oct 2013, at different resorts).

The Central Office of the Group sends out a text message or cell phone message every morning, with wind speed and surf conditions.
Anything over approx. 15 knots or 3' of surf, and there is NO SAILING.
As SRM said, if you send out someone who has never sailed before, you are asking for boat destruction. The Group runs a good and safe operation.

Plus, most sailing here is inside the reef, and the water is rarely deeper than 12', so a turtle would likely wreck the Wave.
As the one guy said to me: 'I can see you know how to sail, however, if I let you go out in strong winds, then I have to let everyone go out.... and what will happen?'

At 15 knots, we were chomping at the bit to sail the way Matt Miller does when he visits Bitter End Yacht Club.... to no avail.

[One alternative is to visit the Cotton House Hotel on the island of Mystique, (yeah, that's where Mick Jagger and Shania Twain have houses), and they have Waves.
Only US$695 per person per night. Or the resort on Palm Island.... slightly cheaper. Both of those are in the Grenadines, and you either have to fly in or sail in.
We visited there on our recent sailing trip on a 51' big cat, out of St Vincent.... a wonderful experience. email me offline for pictures]

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 20, 2013 11:21 pm 
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Location: Oakland, CA
srm wrote:
99.9% of the renters don't have a clue about sailing and so they often end up having to be rescued. So, the rentals make the boats about as unsailable as possible so you're likely to fail after a short while and give up, or if you are successful, you won't go too far.

Then there are the clowns like me who, when given the tiller of an H18, push the boat to its limits and frighten the resort staff so they send a guy on a jet ski to tell me to cool it.


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PostPosted: Sat Dec 21, 2013 6:08 am 
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Location: Liverpool, NY
xanderwess wrote:
I heard from a seasoned traveler to ALWAYS bring a set of cams and your own blocks down south if you want to sail a wave.


Blocks???? on a Wave??? Chris two words---GYM TIME!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :wink: :wink: :wink:


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PostPosted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 10:00 am 
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Location: Rockford, IL
Years ago, I rented a H16 from a place on the Chesapeake Bay. What a POC. The rivets were mostly blown so the hulls were moving independently of each other, and when I tacked, the starboard jib traveler ripped up from the front crossbeam! I limped back in, and told them about the problems. They didn't care much.

In their defense, I've seem some clowns renting boats. On this trip, there was a guy and girl just leaving harbor with a batten sticking out. I pointed it out, but he didn't know how to lower the sail to fix it. When I suggested he go back in so the rental place could fix it and not tear the sail, he didn't know how to bring the boat around. I have no idea how he thought he was going to get back in after he went out.

Another time, in Madison, WI, I was patiently waiting to rent a boat while the kid working there tried to rescue a renter who capsized a Sunfish and couldn't right it. The kid couldn't get the motor boat started, and spent about an hour swapping motors and batteries around while the guy floated there with no idea how to right the capsized boat (I'm not sure how he capsized in the first place. The winds weren't more than 5 or 6 knots.). When I suggested the kid row the 100 yards out to the capsized boat, he just looked at me like I was crazy.

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