Head Case Water Sports

[luvdunhill]

Fine... 

Heh. I am hoping all this rain this week raises the lake a fair bit.

[Fitz]

1 hour ago, luvdunhill said:

Heh. I am hoping all this rain this week raises the lake a fair bit.

Whatever floats your boat, man.

[luvdunhill]

Heh, ok. Well, if anyone has some useful non-motorized recommendations, please lmk

[HiWire]

I was looking at the Hobie Mirage Outback kayak – this year's model has kick-up fins (on the foot paddle drive) that fold when you hit shallow stuff:

https://www.hobie.com/kayaks/mirage-outback/#

It's meant for kayak fishing but I thought it would be useful for regular, non-competitive kayaking too. I didn't even know such products existed until I searched for kayaks a few weeks ago.

Here's the longer Revolution 16 with turbo fin speed test (vs. paddle):

 

[VPI]

I have the Pro Angler 14 from Hobie.  Probably bigger than you want to mess with unless you want to fish and take people out on the boat with you as it hold 600lbs.  Outback or even the less aggressive models would be awesome as a do everything kayak.

I can cruise at over 7mph into the wind with ease and the pedals do not get clogged up with weeds like 99% of the other pedal kayaks on the market.

If you want a real boat then Boston Whaler for midsize or Christensen for big ones I can recommend as I used them down in the Bahamas.

[luvdunhill]

The Outback looks kinda overkill. What the next step down would you say? I definitely like the stacking aspect, is that something that is usually standard? I would like to find a way to organize a few of these and a small removable sailboat (butterfly?) into a slip. So, larger is okay, I won’t be hauling them.

[morphsci]

46 minutes ago, luvdunhill said:

The Outback looks kinda overkill. What the next step down would you say? .....

???? Am I on the wrong forum?

[luvdunhill]

I guess I need to show myself out.

[luvdunhill]

I ended up picking a Laser and a Hobie. Mirage Oasis Tandem. I will be storing the sailboat on a Seitech dolly, but looking for a way to store the kayak.
 

I am not sure whether to do a wall mount rack or something on the floor. I likely will end up with two more single kayaks - so some rack system would be nice. Any suggestions?

[morphsci]

We used a Malone FS Rack to store our three kayaks and it worked fine. We currently only have one kayak and a SUP so I also store a folding ladder on it. Takes up a bit of room but works pretty well.

 

[luvdunhill]

My worry is that the Hobie is 93 lbs hull weight and 14.5 ft long. I like the idea of the wall rack but it might just be too hard to get on and off. More research I suppose is needed.

[morphsci]

Yeah, we did not have anything that large. 1 12 footer and 2 10 footers. The 12 footer weighs about 75 pounds so we used to put it on the bottom but it is now on the top since both the ladder and SUP are used more. Works fine but I’m not sure I would want to wrestle the Hobie onto the top rack. It is actually a floor standing rack since we had very little wall space open with all of the cabinets in the garage.

[shellylh]

Use a lift. We have a couple in our garage for Yumi’s sea kayak and Porta-Bote.

[luvdunhill]

I decided to go custom  I'll get some pictures after I ensure all my fingers are intact. I ordered some of these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075K4CTYM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

on Amazon to work with my drill press to make some holes with this

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0061J5B2Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'm not sure if Nate has prior claim with anyone cutting holes, or if that just applies to woodworkers. 

Oh .. and this:

 

 

[n_maher]

The Guild of Round Hole Cutters is an inclusive and welcoming organization with a proud history of cutting mostly round holes.

[luvdunhill]

I was able to get mostly round holes lined up. These two holes will have bolts and room in the larger hole to accommodate a 15/16” deep socket. I tested them out this weekend and they hold the heavy tandem kayak well. I am going to build a second level with another pair of hooks. Pretty pleased so far. Now just need to avoid mistakes for the smaller holes

Also, this alloy seems to be considerably harder than what I have used in the past. This is 6063. All my previous circle hole cutting has been 6061. With this, is the carbide saw is the tool of choice. The wood-working bit was a bit... “scary” (though it did produce a cleaner hole)

 

experiment on scrap:

 

 

 

No luck with a Punch.... or I am just not strong enough. This is 1/8” wall.

Edited September 8, 2020 by luvdunhill

[luvdunhill]

Oh also, no difference in quality versus the Klein and EZ-ARC carbide circle hole bits. In fact, the EZ-ARC might be slightly better. Save money, go cheaper

[dsavitsk]

I've had surprisingly good luck with spade bits in aluminum.

Did you use cutting oil? Can't tell from the pics.

[luvdunhill]

I used tap magic (because I had it on hand, and it smells nice). Maybe there are better choices?

I also tried a spade bit (not pictured) but it wasn’t nearly as good of a cut as the others.

[Fitz]

3 hours ago, luvdunhill said:

and it smells nice

Mmm, cinnamon.

[luvdunhill]

Success!

 

[shellylh]

Sweet!

[luvdunhill]

Splicing up some new fancy blocks for the weekend 

 

[luvdunhill]

Thinking hard about a Hobie Getaway.
 

Been too slow on the used ones near me and the local dealers don’t have any tricks to deal with Hobie’s horrible supply chain.
 

Signed up for sailing lessons starting Th - excited about that!

[grawk]

I bought a kayak yesterday, and may be buying 2 more today.  

Yesterday: Dagger Torrent 10.0 (pick it up next weekend)

Today: Dagger Juice 7.1, Dagger Mamba 8.6 (probably on both)