2012 EC - A Hobie Adventure Island Race

The #3, #4 and #8 boats to finish the Watertribe Everglades Challenge were all Hobie Adventure Islands. Tells something about the capability of this design...

Watertribe Everglades Challenge Damage List

1) Garmin Colorado GPS: Thumb Wheel circuit board shorted out. Unusable;
2) Garmin GPSMam 78 SC: Water got into the Battery Compartment, Dead;
3) Sanyo VPC-CA9 Video Camera: Lost in Chokoloskee Mud;
4) Mirage Drive: Bent Rods & V2 Drums worn on shaft causing Pedal wobble;
5) Sail Tell Tails: deformed into spirals from the high winds;
6) Main Hull: White plug in front of Mirage well torn off. What is the purpose of the Plug??? Bottom Oyster scratches;

7) Left Click and Go Assembly spring broke: This was a pain because drive kept on popping and jamming;
8) Mirage Cassette Plug: Lost at sea when broken Click & Go launched it over the side;

AI Bulkhead

This is a picture of my Adventure Island foam bulkhead. You will notice that the rudder cable turning blocks are missing. I moved them further back to make the bulkhead 100% water tight. I used Goop Plumbing Glue to seal any gaps.

A new camping idea

I am working on a new camping idea for the next Watertribe Challenge. It needs to be simple and quick to set up.

Tired Of Sitting in Water

My new Hobie Adventure Island tends to scoop up water through the lifting handles when  healed over. The water collects in the seat well. Also the drain plugs leak. The plug threads are incomplete and the "O"  ring might not seat well.

 I am 6' 2" and the seat back sits low on my back. To solve the drain and support problems I decided to raise the seat. Since there are no plug holes I had to drill through the back of the seat well.

To add some support to the lower back rest I added a polyethelene pad. This might be a little overkill.

  To raise the bottom two 1.5" foam pads under the seat.

Trying Out the New Dogger

I installed a dogger on my Adventure Island. It was raining Sunday, perfect trial run. I also just installed the new Hobie Rudder. I did not follow all the instructions. The new rudder puts the control cables directly under the rear hatch preventing the use of the gear bucket. I used the old rudder guide tubes. This required tying some of the knots under the deck.