Outfitter on order

I've been reading all of the post for the last month or so, thanks a lot. Now you've all cost me a lot of money! I decided I had to have a mirage drive, and had decided on the Revo, but my wife got involved and thought she might enjoy tagging along in the tandem. She probably won't be with me often, but I least I can bring my dog along if she doesn't come. My local drealer didn't have what I wanted in stock and had to order, and it's "penciled in" to ship from CA this week.I haven't seen many comments on the outfitter, but hopefully I will have some good feedback in the near future. After reading all of the comments, I actually dream about it at night! Now if only the weather will cool off from the 100 degree days we've been having....

I have had an Outfitter for a couple of years, but finally bought an Outback this year. I do a lot of fishing in the Gulf and was unhappy with the imbalance of the Outfitter when solo. I weigh about 220 and the stern will be underwater when by myself and there is a lot of hull slap due to the bow being out of water. You can put something in the front when solo, but it seems impractical and unless you have a Mastiff or other 100+ lb. dog. I would probably recommend getting your wife her own kayak, even if it wasn't a mirage drive due to $$.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I'll probably try it any way. I weigh 155 and my boxer is 80#, so hopefully it will work out. If not, you might see it for sale in the future!

I think you'll really enjoy it. Your weight will probably be better suited for solo use. I would recommend the cart with the Rolleeze tires. The first cart I got had these little airless tires and they would just drag in the sand and finally fell off! There's not a lot of storage when 2 people go out, but when I did use it by myself, I would load up the front with my cooler and fishing gear. I just had to learn the hard way to leash everything to the kayak, especially when I'm in the ocean. Sometimes the launch and landing can be a little rough if the waves are really breaking close to shore. Good luck with your Outfitter and let me know if there's any other questions that I could help with.

I purchased an Outfitter about 7 weeks ago and have used it mostly solo. I considered purchasing two outbacks, but I don't have storage for two kayaks at the beach condo. I use it to fish in the sound and for exercise with my wife. My 165 pounds is no problem when solo. You will want to plug the forward drive hole when solo to prevent excessive water splash through the hole. I believe you will be happy with your purchase. Good luck.

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2007 Outfitter for saltwater fishing

Thanks, I fell better after your reply. My local dealer doesn't stock a tandem, and only had a Sport for me to demo. I spent about 2 months going back and forth on what I wanted to order. I have 2 different brochures, and not sure of the dates on them, but have a question. In the fishing brochure, the specs and picture show (2) 8" hatches in the outfitter. In the other, it shows (3) hatches. (the 3rd on is on the rear deck) How many does your have?
I got a call from the dealer today, and my yak in, but I was in a golf tournament and didn't finish in time to pick it up. Unfortunateley, it will be Monday before I can pick it up. (Guess I'll have to skip work in the afternoon!)

My Outfitter has 3 hatches. I primarily use the one in the middle which is right in front of the rear seat. I was a little frustrated by things sliding around in the hull and not being able to find them once underway. I found a fairly large, Tupperware type container that I jammed through the hatch and it has worked well to keep things close by. I recieved some of the inserts with the new Outback but they are too small and fill up with water if you don't keep the lid on them. The hatches are a little small and I wish the Outfitter had a large hatch like the Outback for bigger stuff like larger dry bags and boxes. There's probably a way to install a larger, rectangular, hatch on the rear deck.

We have had an Oasis Tandem for 6 months now. I regularly use it solo (I commute to work in it) and find it pedals, paddles and sails very well once the front is weighed down. It is a different boat when the hull is in the water as it is supposed to be and not sitting up at the front. The problems of track ability, windage and hull slap disappear when the right amount of ballast is added. There are posts regarding this where concrete and lead in plastic pipes have been added but these were unsuitable for me as I have to wheel it about 600 metres along a footpath to get to work. I wanted to keep the centre of gravity as low as possible as I use the sail a lot. I weigh 80kg and find the following works well for me:
- I fitted a large drain plug to the front mirage drivewell plug and then filled the mirage plug with 10kg of lead shot.
- I fill a 40 litre dry bag with water (probably weighs 35kg) and sit it in the front footwell.
It has proved very stable (it feels more stable than when I have a passenger) and cuts through swell easily. I have been caught out in 20 knot winds returning home and have not felt like it was going to capsize even with the sail up!
I drain the bag and sit the plug on the rear seat when wheeling it.
The tandem has an advantage over the Adventure in one regard- I remain relatively dry when conditions get rough as the spray rarely reaches the rear seat.

Great idea!

Hi stringy !!

I see you are using the Oasis and are proud of it. You also said you´d like to see how it works increasind the size of the sail.

I have an outfitter and already made some modifications to increase the sail. You can see it at

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

My guees now is how the sailing and speed would improve using an Oasis; i hope it is a faster (fastest?) hull than outfitter.

What´s your oppinion?

Best,

Eliseo

Hi Elisio,
I am impressed with your sailing videos and modifications, especially the latest video where you use the front drivewell to anchor your mast and outriggers!
Some questions:
How tall is your mast and what diameter?
What is it made from?
What is the area of your sail?
The Oasis being longer and narrower than the Outfitter should technically be faster but I have no experience with an Outfitter.
I would like to keep the sailing simple and don't want to add outriggers as I have to wheel it 600m to my workplace.
I wonder how much bigger in sail area I could go before it gets too unstable. I think that the Oasis could cope with a larger furling sail. The problem would be the standard mast and mast tube.

Hi stringy,

I use an aluminium mast of 4,6 meters lenght and 59 mm width.
I bought a 6 meter aluminium tube just for 25€ !!

The sail area must be about 6,5 meters, I didn´t calculated it exactly.

Yeah i also know what meanswheeling the kayak 450 meters to the beach, but finally making the upgrades is 50% of the entertainment for me...so i did.

I´d not mount the big sail without the ama, but sure you can add a jib without loosing stability; that was my first step, but then I realised i needed more. Here you have a some pics:

http://story-of-a-sailing-kayak.blogspot.com/


Enjoy and keep reporting your news,

Eliseo