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 Post subject: Mallacoota Weekend
PostPosted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 2:48 pm 
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Joined: Fri Nov 21, 2008 3:39 am
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Location: Bairnsdale, Victoria Australia
Mickey and I had the most enjoyable and memorable weekend in Mallacoota, East Gippsland Victoria Australia. We went in one car, with my AI on the roof-racks and trailering Mickey's. Weather was a bit iffy with the Bureau but turned out great with winds on Saturday varying between 15 and 25knots and mostly sunny skies. We sailed all Saturday on the Mallacoota which are reasonably large and pe(a)ddled all Sunday up the Wallagaraugh River which is one of our Wilderness Rivers. We both took cameras and took still and videos with our new Olympus 1030 SW. We are still getting used to our cameras but came away with some brilliant footage. Mickey afterwards went to a lot of trouble and edited the video with stills,wipes etc and overlaid music which we played to our friends at a BBQ here this week, which enthralled them. Great job Mickey.
Saturday was just fantastic sailing and I have just now put a small piece of it on Youtube at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9u1UfkHRoAc
Unfortunately the really fast stuff is on a much larger grab which I can't use on Youtube until I edit it to reduce it in size which I will do next few days. Any pointers from Youtube gurus would be gratefully taken here.
Got some fantastic photos too are here is a sample.
Image
Sunday was just as great putting in at a remote location, peddling mainly with kyaks only mode, up this majestic river full of fish jumping, birds of prey circling overhead, as it winds its way past steep banks and thick virgin bushland. We stopped for swims in the river as it was a very warm day and had a ball. The AI is a fantastic kyak to do this sort of thing though being a novice paddler, I found keeping direction challenging. Is it the length of the kyak or lack of expertise?..I wonder.
Here are a couple of photos taken on the Sunday.
Image
Image
Both Mickey and I are very glad to own these little versatile that are helping us regain some of our youth that seems to slip away so quickly...Pirate :wink:


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 4:08 pm 
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Location: Terrigal NSW, Australia
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The AI is a fantastic kyak to do this sort of thing though being a novice paddler, I found keeping direction challenging. Is it the length of the kyak or lack of expertise?..I wonder.


Looks lilke a great trip Pirate :) . While a very servicable kayak, the AI does not track quite as well as a dedicated paddle kayak when the rudder is retracted - it tends to rotate a bit. I actually prefer to leave the rudder down and pointing straight ahead when paddling. It means you have to interrupt the paddling to make small adjustments occasionally, but the boat tracks much better. I haven't tried it with the Mirage drive in and the fins pointing down - that might help as well.

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PostPosted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 5:13 pm 
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Location: Central Florida
Mate, you NEED some kind of sprayskirt! :)

Nice video.

Also, you might want to "fix" your pedals:
http://kfs.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/ ... 7661047154

Kayaking Bob


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 5:51 pm 
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Location: South Florida
Terrific pictures, Pirate. Haven't checked out the video yet.

Why paddle? The Adventure is a "short" boat compared to your typical sea kayak and is probably not going to track well paddling w/o the rudder. Even some 19' sea kayaks don't track real well and require a skeg or rudder. So using the rudder will help although it is not ideal because you need a third hand to control it. Leaving the fins down will help it go straight, but slow you down significantly and increase your turning radius. But, if you have fins down, why not use them? Why paddle? The few times I have paddled w/fins, I pedaled simultaneously and used the rudder.

Keith

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 8:04 pm 
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Location: Terrigal NSW, Australia
Chekika wrote:
Terrific pictures, Pirate. Haven't checked out the video yet.

Why paddle? The Adventure is a "short" boat compared to your typical sea kayak and is probably not going to track well paddling w/o the rudder. Even some 19' sea kayaks don't track real well and require a skeg or rudder. So using the rudder will help although it is not ideal because you need a third hand to control it. Leaving the fins down will help it go straight, but slow you down significantly and increase your turning radius. But, if you have fins down, why not use them? Why paddle? The few times I have paddled w/fins, I pedaled simultaneously and used the rudder.

Keith


Keith, My son and I have two different Ocean Kayak kayaks, both shorter than the AI, but they track much better (without rudders). The difference seems to be that they have a "double hull" profile. The AI is quite flat along the central section of the hull, as are most sea kayaks, but they almost always have rudders.

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PostPosted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 8:21 pm 
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The profile of the AI is trying to maximize speed for a rotomolded SOT. I doubt your OK kayaks can compare to your Adventure for speed.

Keith

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"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

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 8:27 pm 
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Location: Terrigal NSW, Australia
The Prowler can certainly keep up when paddling, largely because of the better tracking - the AI has good hull speed, but some of it is wasted in correcting the tracking. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE my AI, but it is optimized for a rudder.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 8:45 pm 
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Location: Terrigal NSW, Australia
Sorry Pirate,

Didn't mean to hijack your thread :)

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 Post subject: Re: Mallacoota Weekend
PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 10:40 pm 
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Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2008 4:23 am
Posts: 79
Location: Lakes Entrance, Aust
Pirate wrote:
Mickey and I had the most enjoyable and memorable weekend in Mallacoota...

Saturday was just fantastic sailing and I have just now put a small piece of it on Youtube at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9u1UfkHRoAc ...Pirate :wink:


Looks to me like someone having a lot of fun heading from Karbethong (or The Narrows) across to Swimming Point around the back of Goodwin Sands.

At about where the video ended I caught a boat load of flathead over the past 10 days ... in between getting out on the AI's with a mate & at another stage my father inlaw having a ball in 15-25 knots.

Sensational place to sail. 10 days down there feels like a month but still wasn't nearly long enough.

Image
Too quiet to sail? Go fishing at 'coota. Sensational.

Image
Joyriding with the kids.

Image

Dave

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A Hobie Sport and 2 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 :)


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 2:21 am 
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Location: Bairnsdale, Victoria Australia
Great to hear you had a ball Dave as we did at Mallacoota. Nice pics too and nice 'frog'. Looking at the ease the AI is carting the two of you,
I reckon Hobie should have an optional seat kit available as an extra and call it a two seater. :wink:
Weather very hot here last few days and so got up early this morning and paddled up the Mitchell River for a couple of ks before it got too hot. Spotted various waterbirds, sleeping flying foxes, a large hawk, and others. 'Accidentally' fell in more than once and the whole experience was about as good as it gets in my opinion. What a way to start the day and will most likely repeat it tomorrow. Though I/we have criticised small aspects of this boat on this forum, the more I use it the more I just love it as it just takes me back to nature at every use. Well done Hobie for being so inovative. :wink: ...Pirate


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 2:56 am 
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Location: Lakes Entrance, Aust
Hi Pete,

Been doing any fishing from the 'yak yet?

I hear they are getting good Estuary Perch in the Mitchell in Bairnsdale near the new ramp.

I'm waiting for the new school year to free up my days and I plan a few fishing trips starting next week.

Dave

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A Hobie Sport and 2 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 :)


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 3:27 am 
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Location: Lakes Entrance, Aust
On the topic of passengers, I had both kids in the Adventure both in yak form and as the AI at various stages. It's very stable even in yak form.

The weather being as hot as it was the kids were swimming from the kayak and climbing on and off it. I had to lift Renae in but Aislin was fine climbing on and off by herself. No chance it was going to tip.

Aislin was a little freaked out sailing at one stage when the gusts were grabbing us and we buried an ama. She hasn't done any sailing until now (8 y/o) and doesn't have a feel for what it would take to tip.

I have sailed it with her in the back as a passenger and also in the front. The AI doesn't really seem to notice the extra 25 kg or so.

Dave

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A Hobie Sport and 2 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 :)


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 3:33 am 
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Location: Bairnsdale, Victoria Australia
geocacher wrote:
Hi Pete,

Been doing any fishing from the 'yak yet?

I hear they are getting good Estuary Perch in the Mitchell in Bairnsdale near the new ramp.

I'm waiting for the new school year to free up my days and I plan a few fishing trips starting next week.

Dave


Not yet Dave but keen to get into it soon. I am just a bit afraid of losing gear first time out if I tip her so have been easing myself into that side of it very gently. I was thinking about a telescopic rod so I could put it away when not in use. What do you think?....Pirate


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 5:07 am 
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Location: Lakes Entrance, Aust
I've yet to see a telescopic rod worth fishing with.

A rod leash on your rod will solve that problem. A few other key bits of gear such as floating pliers/cutters, a knife and the hobie tupperware with a bit of tackle and off you go.

You can make a decent rod leash yourself. Wrap some whipper snipper cord around a dowel abut 1/2" dia tightly - a metre ought to do it. Leave about 15cm straight at each end. Then soak it in boiling water for a while and then cool it. The cord will hold a springy coil much shorter than the metre you started with.

Get one of the tackle shops to crimp a loop in each end with heavy rig crimps.

A velcro cable strap around the rod handle through one loop and a carabiner on the other and away you go.

Dave

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A Hobie Sport and 2 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 :)


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 2:13 pm 
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Joined: Fri Nov 21, 2008 3:39 am
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Location: Bairnsdale, Victoria Australia
Good advice as usual Dave. A pic of the leash set up would be helpful. I am really looking forward to getting into some fishing....Pirate


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