Hobie structural integrity test

[Big Mike]

Ok, I’m a big guy, mothers would call me husky, a clothier a portly and the rest of us fat. But darn it I’m under Hobie’s weight limits for the PA. This happened today. That’s a seat support bracket for those who don’t have a Hobie.


After my initial WTF and stewing on the ride home I think I can fix it by pulling it back out of the hull and then placing a wood brace with a turnbuckle to get it snug between bottom hull and top/seat support. I’ll then epoxy around the plastic cracks to seal it back up.

To add insult to injury the vultures at Breton Bay fouled our cars badly this morning. You have to see it to believe it, they cover your vehicle in white crap and claw marks.




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[belairfishing]

Those vultures are ruthless! We have the same problems with them up here at the Conowingo Dam parking lot. The first time I went there, I saw a bunch of trucks and cars with tarps and wondered WTF was going on. They pull off the wiper blades and anything that is black and rubber - window weather stripping, etc.

[nhunter344]

What year PA is that? I'm just curious if this is something that failed on a newer PA or one that has seen years of use.

Also, make sure you have a fairly large surface area where your fix meets the bottom of the hull. If you're fixing the way I'm picturing it in my head, the load that would normally be supported by the top would be transferred to the bottom of the hull. A hole in the top of your boat wouldn't normally be a problem in all but the roughest seas, a hole in the bottom of your hull would be an issue in any water.

[Big Mike]

It’s a 2014 with 1000 hours of usage give or take. I’m very conscious of the load dispersion problem.

[J.A. Veil]

Sorry you had a hull cracking incident. It is frustrating when that happens. In 2012, I had some cracks in the seating well of my 2008 Native Manta Ray 14. I took it to the dealer where I bought it. They contacted Native, which offered to give me a brand new 2012 Manta Ray 14 at no cost. They even let me choose my preferred color. Perhaps if you take your Hobie back to the dealer where you bought it, they can provide some support for a loyal customer.

[Big Mike]

Thanks for the input John. Sadly Blue Haven Piers is no longer selling Hobies, so no local love will be happening.

[Big Mike]

Here is my plan A solution. Two pieces of angle steel to give me more support area. Went with this because it’s thin enough to slide under the bracket and use existing mounting bolts. The angle gives me tons of stiffness. Also adds a very small amount of lift over original position , so I’m hoping this has minimal impact on rear support. Kind of Frankensteinish, but you have to improvise. My other support idea was complicated by the rudder cable running right next to the underside bolt “U” bracket and the bracket didn’t give me a flat area to put a support. I’ll see how it goes tomorrow.



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[LivinTheDream]

Semi related: I cracked my rear scupper holes of my Wilderness Ride 135 carting weight in the Adirondacks this summer. Last time out I took on several gallons of water in the hull in 6 hours. I'm in central PA where our local outfitter is small and not quite as full service as many others. When I called, he suggested a local auto body shop that has a plastic welder and said that they had done this for others. I got the boat back today after a weight of one day. I gave it a bit of a test run this evening and it seems to be good as new. The cost was $82. I never would have thought of taking a kayak to an auto body shop, so I was thinking the idea might be helpful to someone else. If someone in the kayak business has a reason why this was a bad idea, please correct the suggestions.

[mchottie]

After the seat cord issue and now this issue, I think you should re-christen it "The Grander Wazoo"

In all seriousness, best of luck hope it is an easy fix, that boat has some serious fish mojo.