My Hobie A.I. "mini-mods"...

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mingle
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My Hobie A.I. "mini-mods"...

Post by mingle »

Here are a few of the small, but useful, mods I've made to my A.I. over the past few months.
Not all are my idea and a few of them are relevant to other Hobies too.

I thought it'd be worth starting a thread that keeps a lot of the 'mini-mods', to make it easier for people to find em.

The first was one that I also used on my Sport and Revo. Not my idea, but of all the cart mods I tried (tennis ball, etc) this seems the best.
The cart already has the Hobie-supplied cart collars, but these aren't really strong enough to support an A.I. without sliding down the cart uprights.

Adding a couple of sections of good old pool-noodle above the collars makes a perfect cushion for the scupper-holes and surrounding hull.
The pool-noodle conforms perfectly to the shape of the hull and spreads the weight more efficiently than the tennis-ball option.

1: Pool-noodle cart cushions:
Image

The second one is just as simple - relocating the Mirage drive pedal bungee from next to the middle hatch to the front of the footwell.

When not in use, this keeps the bungee out of the way, which is a blessing on the A.I. with so many other ropes, lines and things
cluttering the place up.

2: Relocating the drive pedal bungee:
Image

The third is very much down to personal preference, it might not bother some (most?) people. I found it rather strange that the rear-most attachment
points for the cargo bungee were padeyes, rather than cleats. This meantthat it was impossible to completely remove the rear bungee, as the bungee
cord was held captive by the eyelets.

So I simply replaced the padeyes with the same cleats that hold down the rest of the rear cargo bungee. To do this you have to unthread one end of the
bungee from its shockcord fastener (hook), but that's not a major drama.

3: Fully removable rear cargo bungee:
Image

The next one is only applicable to those unlucky punters who have a 2011+ model Adventure Island. Hobie, in their infinite wisdom, saw fit to replace
the perfectly adequate moulded-in carry handles with a design straight from satan's drawing-board.

The newer style handles are ideally placed (and shaped) to scoop great gouts of water into your lap when travelling at any speed greater than a snail's pace.

Thankfully Hobie forum regular Slaughter came up with a very cheap and simply mod that goes most of the way to fixing the issue.

Simply wander down to Bunnings and get yourself a 1m length of water pipe insulation foam/tubing (costs about $2.50).

Then wander back and unscrew one of the shock-cord ends that hold the paddle retaining bungee in place. Untie the end of the shock-cord (probably
the hardest part of the operation) and thread a 21cm length of the insulation over the cord, then retie and reattach the shock-cord end to the hull.

The splash-guard can slide along the shock-cord to either cover the gap in the handle, or out of the way if you're using the handle to lift the yak.

4: Begone, satan's carry-handles!
Image

The last of my mini-mods is one that I also performed on my Revo, as I was tired of my camping dry-bags being rippedr by exposed, and sharp, screw
threads hidden inside the hull.

The main culprits were the screws that hold the cheek-blocks for the rudder up/down pulleys, just aft of the front hatch. The screws used to hold the
block in place were too long (by between 5-10mm in my case) and protruded far enough to catch and tear anything that was pushed along the side of the hull.

The easy fix was to simply mark the exposed ends of the screw thread with a thick black texta, then remove the screws - only one at a time on each block
or you'll have bungees and cords whizzing around the bowels of your hull, never to be seen again! I used a hacksaw to chop the excess length from the
threads, then a file to smooth away any remaining rough edges. Then I replaced the screws for a smooth, snag-free interior.

I've also done a similar mod on the screws that hold the retaining catches for the front hatch bungees and I have the mesh-pocket self-tappers in
my sights too! They're going to be replaced by screws and nylocs.

5: Chopping exposed screw-threads down to size:
Image

One source of frequent irritation to me are the mesh pocket covers on the inside of the cockpit on most Hobie kayaks. I often keep lures in the pocket area
and 9 times out of 10 the trebles will get tangled in the black mesh that covers the pockets.

I read (probably here on the forum?) that one solution was to replace the original mesh with silicone or rubber. So I thought I'd give it a try. I bought a small
silicone mesh net from ebay and used the existing Hobie mesh pocket 'surround' to mark out the correct size. The only slight glitch was that the net I bought
from ebay was tapered so the mesh got closer together towards the base of the net.

6: Hook-friendly side pockets:
Image

To get around this I stretched the replacement piece of mesh between the small pegs on the top half of the pocket surround. The pattern of the mesh also
wasn't ideal, so I had to do me best to get a reasonable fit.

Image

I then fitted the other half of the surround and used a few paper clamps to hold it together since the silicone mesh is much thicker than the black netting it replaces.
The clamps were also very helpful when screwing the pocket back into place. I reattached it via one corner screw then worked along the pocket, removing the clips as
I went.

Image

The final result was pretty good for a first attempt. Plenty of tension and far fewer places for trebles to get snagged.

Image

Solid enough to hold a pair of pliers in-place, but still plenty of stretch to fit a tackle-box
behind the mesh.

Image

Hopefully these little modifications will prove handy for other Hobie/A.I.
owner too.

Cheers,

Mike.
Last edited by mingle on 07 Sep 2013, 18:30, edited 1 time in total.
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mingle
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Re: My Hobie A.I. "mini-mods"...

Post by mingle »

Oh, and another more recent one, which may be of interest to other A.I. fishos - a small bungee/hook to keep the mainsheet out of the way.

Drill a 5mm hole in the front-right screw-in padeye and thread a 10cm length of bungee cord with a plastic hook on one end.
Image

When attached, it keeps the mainsheet out of the way - away from the rod-holderd and pedals.

Image

Image
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Graybalz85
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Re: My Hobie A.I. "mini-mods"...

Post by Graybalz85 »

some cleaver mods there mingle :thumbsup:
Yak PB: Leatherjacket 35.5cm, elephant fish 69.5cm, salmon 44cm, Whiting 38cm, squid (30cm Hood), Gummy 104cm, Flathead 34cm, Travelly 40cm, Pinkie 36cm
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mingle
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Re: My Hobie A.I. "mini-mods"...

Post by mingle »

One other thing I used to have hassles with was storing the Trax cart while on the water.

Unlike on my old Revo it won't fit, inverted, the scupper-holes.

Putting it on the tramp is no good - it gets in the way of everything else I like to chuck on there.

I did have minor success stowing it flat across the rear well, but I also store my catch there (when I'm lucky
enough to catch something) I got sick of it ending up covered in scales, blood and fish-slime.

So now I think I've got it sorted - bungeed across the front-hatch:
cartfront.jpg
I have a couple of bits of pool-noodle (see top of this thread) on the cart uprights and this acts as the perfect
bit of extra padding to securely locate the frame on the hatch cover. I also rigged up a couple of spare rod
leashes to tether the axle to the front AKA crossbar - I'll probably make up something more permanent when
I get the chance.

The only down-side I can see is that it does make it slightly trickier to open the front hatch while on the water.
But it's not too bad - the two leashes keep the axle parallel and act as a sort-of hinge that allows the cart to
be swung up and rest against the mast when opening the front hatch.

I haven't tried it with the wheels on, since I normally keep them in the front hatch anyway, and wouldn't really
want to risk them popping off while out in rough conditions.

Cheers,

Mike.
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HaTTerS
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Re: My Hobie A.I. "mini-mods"...

Post by HaTTerS »

Some nice mods there mate. I hate the pockets too, so that's on the "to do" list.
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ELM
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Re: My Hobie A.I. "mini-mods"...

Post by ELM »

G'day Mike, some nice simple mods and I specially like the sheet line hook and pocket netting :clap: .
Just a side note to your 3rd mod
Fully removable rear cargo bungee:
I did the opposite as;
(1) I hated that great long bungee cord and wanted something that was more useful; and
(2) I found that those little bungie hook things, would catch on everything, including ripping wetsuits.
I removed all the hooks and replaced them with all pad-eyes. I then made a set of separate short bungee cords all with brass clip ends. They were much more universal as I could not only hold stuff down in the back and only release the areas that I wanted while the rest stayed tight, unlike the long bungie where the more you un-hook, the slacker your bungie becomes. I could also clip and suspend gear over the side (eg dive gear).
By using the eyes instead of the hooks, I never once had another wetsuit hook up and tear, when climbing back on board after a dip, or have ropes (eg anchor/drift chute) etc hook up.
I also replaced the ends for the paddle hold bungies, to the same pad-eyes used on the back. I drilled a hole from the back so I could still fit the paddle hold bungie the same as it was originaly, the only difference being, it gave me somewhere else to clip gear over the side when diving or snorkeling. Matty was the first to do the same mod on his Hobie Sport, only he used the pad-eyes to guide his anchor trolly line through.

Another simple mod done to my AI, was to fit a length of pool noodle on the inside of the hull, across the width and wedged under the seat. I also had two more pieces wedged between the hull and the mast pocket. This would stop anything stored inside the center hatch, from making it's way to either the bow or stern and out of reach. Having that non slip mat is also of great benefit.

Eddie
When we say it's BIG RED SEASON, we don't mean a big red blood stain on the bay,
GET YOUR LIGHTS ON + YOUR PFD'S.

Happy Sailing Fishing and keep blowing bubbles.
Cheers
Eddie

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tonystott
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Re: My Hobie A.I. "mini-mods"...

Post by tonystott »

After one of my trailer lights got damaged, I dedcided that the lights were getting dunked so often (400+ times a year at least) that maybe it was time to add a removable light board like most boaties use.

Unfortunately, kayaks present a few problems, as they don't hve a wide transom like tinnies etc.

So I made up a "pyramid" which sits in the cargo area, with bits of wetsuit foam padding where necessary.
Image
Image
Works like a charm, and lives in the boot on launch.

and here is another way to troll and/or keep rods out of the way of the sail. Just a few bits of PVC tube, held with big zipties.
Image
2012 Hobie Tandem Island
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Re: My Hobie A.I. "mini-mods"...

Post by geishageek »

Hi, nicely describe the topic, I am going out for fishing first time and along with I am looking for cushions for my boat. Do you have any idea where could I have them!!!
Buy online Rapee cushions in Australia on discount.
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maverick
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Re: My Hobie A.I. "mini-mods"...

Post by maverick »

Where was this gem hiding, nice work Mingle.

I am stuck on how to mount some rod holders when I use the AI in "hull only" mode, as my rod holders for trolling in full mode are mounted on the arms.
Well past the edge, almost at the point of no return.
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shane
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Re: My Hobie A.I. "mini-mods"...

Post by shane »

maverick wrote:Where was this gem hiding, nice work Mingle.

I am stuck on how to mount some rod holders when I use the AI in "hull only" mode, as my rod holders for trolling in full mode are mounted on the arms.
I have the same but revert to bullhorns in hull only mode. I'll post up my pimping thread soon and show an easy way to make and mount them.
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