Hobie Cat Forums

Hi all,

Is it just me or is the longest bit of the day packing one up and getting it tied on the roof rack/trailer?

Has anyone got any tips?

I'm wrapped with my AI but if there was one thing I would change in a heart beat it's the aka bag. They are the worst thing to pack.

I'm seriously considering getting some made - maybe even from a shade cloth or similar mesh material - that are more like a chef's knife roll. That is a flat bag with four pockets stitched on it that the akas slide into. This would protect them from each other but would not be so frustrating to pack. Maybe even incorporate a daggerboard pocket. If the mesh was right I could even wash it without unpacking it!

At the moment I pack the akas, get home, unpack the akas to wash them (sailing in salt water here), repack the akas...

The rest of owning one is soooo easy but the bloody aka bag ... aargh.

Please tell me I'm not the only one....

Dave

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Hobie Adventure Island's - Papaya & Hibiscus - I couldn't make up my mind so like I usually end up doing with lures I bought both and hid the credit card statement

You're not the only one Dave. The first few times I packed up, I noticed that packing the akas away took as long as all the other steps put together. At first, it has a Rubick's cube-like quality. I have also wondered if it would have been so hard to make the $!@%^## zipper on the bag 1/2" longer. However, I am finding now, with practice, that if you follow the instructions in the manual exactly, for packing the akas, it does get easier. Now it is only taking about 1/3 of the total time required for packing up.

Chris

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I feel for you guys that can't trailer. There are (3) reasons I bought an AI:
(1) smaller sail plane, (2) super stabillity, (3) 15 mins to take out and drive away (if you have a trailer). I still own my Nacra Uni, but last summer I was only sailing the AI because of the added time the Nacra takes to rig and de-rig, then to manuver it back into the yard, and get the tarp all tied back on. I'll save my Nacra sailing days to chase down all the newbie cat sailors that made sure they chased me down to sail past me on my AI. I'm still looking for this nebie fat guy. Next summer I'm going to fly a Nacra hull into his face, ha!

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Sail it or Sell it.

Geocacher, why are you even packing the AKAS? I just toss mine in the car trunk without packing. And when I get back I just throw them on the ground, wash them off along with everything else, and then stack them in my outside storage shed still bagless.

I have a trailer but used it only twice, once to pick up my AI and then on my first trip out. I built a car-top carrier and just love it. It takes me about 10 minutes to mount and strap down my car-top carrier. It is much less hassle than the trailer. I don’t have the trouble backing my car like I do the trailer. And you can park your car anywhere, unlike a trailer.

Yeah, Geocacher, I'm like Darwinian, I don't bother to pack the akas. I lay them on a canvas in the back of my SUV. If you sail in saltwater, then pack them in the bag wet, you are going to have saltwater in the bag which is going to cause serious corrosion in the long run. In saltwater, it is hard to avoid corrosion under any circumstances.

I do use a trailer having ruined one car (or was it 2?) by salt water dripping from kayaks. For long travel trips using only a kayak, I still car-top it, but the AI--that is just too tough trying to get it up on top of my SUV. I love my trailer.

Keith

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I sail: S FL, Key Largo, Everglades to Cape Romano, Ft Desoto, Cedar Key

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

We gave up on the Aka bag a long time ago (they just collect sand). We bungee the 4 aka together with two ball bungees and carry and store as one unit.


We do put them in the bags after rinsing them (bound together) for storage.




Kayaking Bob

I'm with the wise men above Dave in dismantling and popping them as separate items in the boot along with paddle, drive, dagger-board and pfd. Bob has the idea with bungy cords to keep them together, but I think I would do that at home after washing the salt off. I am afraid that Hobie have not spent much on their finish and I am learning to live with scratches that are inevitable, even if you try to protect them in the provided bag. I might get mine powder coated in winter but I am having way too much fun at the moment to consider any programmed in down time...Mickey and I are planned another 'adventure' this afternoon as good breezes are predicted for this afternoon....Pirate

WOW

Love the storage, now I have an idea...

As for roof racking, I can't see myself doing that much. Top of the Nissan is WAY too high for one person loading & unloading.

I'm building a rack to take both AI's on the trailer or the offroad camper but I can't see me persisting with the aka bag. I'm glad it's not just me who finds them awkward and who thought that the zip was too short.

Dave

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Hobie Adventure Island's - Papaya & Hibiscus - I couldn't make up my mind so like I usually end up doing with lures I bought both and hid the credit card statement

Will certainly mention this to the engineers. They can confirm that the bags are being built to plan. As far as staff experience here goes... they have not seen the problems when loading the bags with akas.

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Matt Miller
Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Hobie Cat USA

Gotta agree. Even with all the fiddling around with the bag, I am still getting scratches on mine. I thought a quick once over with a can of spray paint might do the trick.

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I lightly sanded and repainted one on my aka and it's holding up better than the original paint.

Kayaking Bob

Geez, Kayaking Bob, your storage is putting the rest of us to shame.

Keith

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I sail: S FL, Key Largo, Everglades to Cape Romano, Ft Desoto, Cedar Key

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

Well I did not find it a total pain, but soon realised it was better done at home. Now I leave the akas attached on the kayak, just with the front pins pulled up to allow the bar to lift, and avoid stress. Slip the front aka into the ama, to keep them upright on the roof rack.

But lets be honest here. A MAJOR reason for me to buy an AI, is speed to water and back, and I still see it that way. I can do it out in 12 minutes, have not bothered to time the return, but its not much different. And the more I study the design, the more impressed I am. Take the length, fits my garage with maybe a foot to spare, on the trailer that is. You just would not want one any longer. The weight too, is ok. Just. I sold my H17 because of weight, as it was just that bit too much for one fellow at the end of the day. I find I can lift the back with one hand, if I have to, and put the wheels in. And I'm not a weight lifter.

Geoff.

Totally agree with you that they are easy and quick to assemble and disassemble and are great little boats. Only wish Hobie had spend a couple more dollars on the longivity of the coating. Powedercoating would be all it needed to withstand the contact they inevitably get when being handled...Pirate

I have almost finished version 3 of my trailer which allows me to load and unload 2 fully assembled AI's in the shortest possible time.
My kayak transporting has evolved from roof racking to trailering one unassembled to trailering two unassembled to where I am now:


(apologies for the poor pics -I will post more when finished)


I was dismantling both AI's for about a month but it soon became a major pain. Getting on the water wasn't so bad but packing up seemed to take forever. Unloading all the parts at home added to the pain.
Now when I get home I just leave them on the trailer, hose them down and wheel them into the back of the garage for storage. Better still I can be on the water in a matter of minutes and now can even have a quick sail after work!