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 Post subject: Love my Oasis's!
PostPosted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 7:44 pm 
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Joined: Sat Jun 15, 2013 7:29 am
Posts: 29
I have a 2013 and a 2014 Oasis. Each with a sail kit and ama kit. Both boats are also fully equipped with mast lights, bow lights and stern lights. We really enjoy taking them out into the Gulf to watch the sunset. It is not unusual to find us out late at night when it's warm, which is most of the time here in Florida. Of course, we also enjoy spending time on the weekends in them.

We've picked up some good tips from this forum. I built furlers for both boats (before Hobie released theirs). I also modified a PVC rack design someone posted so I can rack both boats on my dock. I use zippered canoe covers to protect the boats from the sun. My wife and I enjoy taking the boats out more than our kids do, so when we go alone we use ballast the front of the boats with 6 gal containers filled with water. They are square, lay flat and match the color of the boats. Sure, we could go in one boat and sometimes we do, but it's also fun to take two. We prefer the back seat over the front when soloing.

If you are thinking about an Oasis, go for it! These boats are fantastic!!


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 Post subject: Re: Love my Oasis's!
PostPosted: Thu Jan 23, 2014 1:09 am 
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Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2012 4:38 pm
Posts: 6
Sounds awesome! Do you have any pics to share? Would love to see setup! Thanks in advance.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2


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 Post subject: Re: Love my Oasis's!
PostPosted: Thu Jan 23, 2014 8:10 am 
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Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2012 9:27 pm
Posts: 731
I second the request for pics!


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 Post subject: Re: Love my Oasis's!
PostPosted: Thu Jan 23, 2014 3:54 pm 
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Joined: Sat Jun 15, 2013 7:29 am
Posts: 29
I don't have any great pictures in the water and the boats are covered up right now. I just took these photos of them sitting on my dock. I used PVC pipe to make a quick rack. Most of the PVC is not even glued together so that I can take it apart and move it around. I only use the long pipe along the bottom that connects the uprights on one side. The other side is open. I live on the coast and this setup has withstood some good rain storms and winds without any problems. Normally I have the rack off to the other side of the dock (not seen in photos), but we are doing some repairs to our motor boat.

I use thick cable locks through the front mirage drive openings to secure the boats to a steel davit. You never know. The covers you see In the photos slide on the boats and then zip up near the end. Sort of like a sleeping bag. With the cable locks installed, we don't zip them up all the way, but drop and tuck the material. Seems to work well. We bought the covers on Amazon. At first I would let the boats dry and then cover them, but found it to be kind of a pain. Now we cover them wet. I was concerned about mold or mildew, but no problems with that either. They dry out fine.

Let's see if I can get this picture thing to work...

Image


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 Post subject: Re: Love my Oasis's!
PostPosted: Thu Jan 23, 2014 4:10 pm 
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Joined: Sat Jun 15, 2013 7:29 am
Posts: 29
This isn't a very good photo, but this is both of our Oasis kayaks as the sun is setting. Looks like we had not turned the lights on yet, but you can see them if you look closely (except the mast lights). We use Kayalu Kayalite's on the sterns and Kayalu tektite Navlights on the bow. We run flexible rubber covered basing through the bow hatch bands to create an attachment point for the nav lights. We hook the stern lights on the back attachment where the boat handles are. We use small, but bright white LED lights on the tops of the masts. They have a clip that slides into the black material on the top of the sail. I use two on each mast and turn them to a slow blink setting. We are better lit up than most power boats at night. Sorry for the poor photo.

One thing you may notice in this photo is the placement of the ama's. On the red boat, they are behind the back seat. On the yellow boat, they are in the middle. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. Not sure if I have a preference at this point.

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 Post subject: Re: Love my Oasis's!
PostPosted: Thu Jan 23, 2014 4:18 pm 
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Joined: Sat Jun 15, 2013 7:29 am
Posts: 29
This is actually a photo taken during the day (storms don't stop us). You can see the ballast in the front of the boat. It's a blue square 6 gal container. I think they are used industrially. My wife picked them up at the flea market. They work great and come in different colors. Water weighs 8 lbs a gallon so a full container placed at the front of the boat really balances the boat nicely. The square design keeps the container from moving around.

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 Post subject: Re: Love my Oasis's!
PostPosted: Thu Jan 23, 2014 4:22 pm 
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Joined: Sat Jun 15, 2013 7:29 am
Posts: 29
I built the PVC furler that has been posted here in numerous posts. Quick to make and really cheap, plus works great once you get the tactic down. I can do it lickity split. The new Hobie one looks cool, but I see no need to change what I have. It works good and it's simple.

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 Post subject: Re: Love my Oasis's!
PostPosted: Thu Jan 23, 2014 4:28 pm 
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Joined: Sat Jun 15, 2013 7:29 am
Posts: 29
I'll post more pics when I take some. My most recent addition has been the Hobie inflatable seat pads. Man, was that worth the money. I like to go out for the day and my back/butt gets sore after a few hours in the standard seats. I can go a few more hours easily with the inflatable seats. Not cheap, but worth every single penny.

Oh, here is one more pic I took a while ago when I first bought my red Oasis. You can see my bow and stern lights in this photo.....

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 Post subject: Re: Love my Oasis's!
PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 7:54 am 
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Joined: Sun Nov 18, 2012 11:36 am
Posts: 140
Location: NW Arkansas
I noticed the amas were mounted in different places. Which do you like better please?
Jim

PS. I sailed our oasis demo solo with 25mph winds. It was like a very fast gocart. Your butt is very low and I was flying as fast as I could. It was tuff. I dumped it twice and was able to self rescue easily. Great fun and I will do it again.

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 Post subject: Re: Love my Oasis's!
PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 9:22 am 
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Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2012 9:27 pm
Posts: 731
Nice pics!


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 Post subject: Re: Love my Oasis's!
PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 5:50 pm 
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Joined: Sat Jun 15, 2013 7:29 am
Posts: 29
Thank you.

Regarding your question about the amas Jim, I think you get a bit more stability with them mounted near center of the boat as opposed to behind the rear seat. However, I have yet to turtle either boat even though I am often out in windy conditions and I frequently pass through a turbulent channel and out into the Gulf. Paddling with amas is not easy, so I tend not to do it. If I were soloing and had a mirage drive failure, I would remove the amas, deflate and place them in the front cockpit and then paddle. If it happened while using in tandem, I would get by on one mirage drive and the sail.

I prefer the look of the amas in the rear position over the center. A couple of other trade offs to mounting in the center...... It's hard to get a paddle on and off because of the ama bars interfering, and when the wind is kicking up you can get water spray off the pontoons hitting you.

You have to decide if the trade offs are worth the added stability.


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 Post subject: Re: Love my Oasis's!
PostPosted: Sat Jan 25, 2014 6:43 am 
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Joined: Sun Nov 18, 2012 11:36 am
Posts: 140
Location: NW Arkansas
Thank you. It helps with first hand information.
Jim

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 Post subject: Re: Love my Oasis's!
PostPosted: Sat Jan 25, 2014 6:28 pm 
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Joined: Sat Jun 15, 2013 7:29 am
Posts: 29
My pleasure!


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