shallow water maneuvers in Hobies

[J.A. Veil]

Many of the members here are avid Hobie owners. I can see plenty of merits of those fine kayaks. This morning I fished for several hours in a tidal creek that had lots of areas with less than 1 ft depth. I took advantage of a few very shallow spots (<4") on which to stop the wind-drift that moved me faster than I wanted to go. I backed myself onto a mud flat so than my weight and friction held me in place while I fan casted in an area.

My question is out of curiosity and to improve my knowledge. It is not intended to poke any jabs at pedal-drive craft or stimulate taking of sides.

Can you propel your Hobie using pedals in water that is shallower than the depth of the fins? If so, please explain how that works. If not, I suppose you need a paddle for backup.

In a related question, how sensitive are the fins to bumping or banging into a submerged object like a log or rock that cannot be seen by the kayaker? Does the Mirage Drive break easily from impacts that could be considered fairly routine in shallow tidal waters?

Thank you in advance.

[CB kayak 02]

Many of the members here are avid Hobie owners. I can see plenty of merits of those fine kayaks. This morning I fished for several hours in a tidal creek that had lots of areas with less than 1 ft depth. I took advantage of a few very shallow spots (<4") on which to stop the wind-drift that moved me faster than I wanted to go. I backed myself onto a mud flat so than my weight and friction held me in place while I fan casted in an area.

My question is out of curiosity and to improve my knowledge. It is not intended to poke any jabs at pedal-drive craft or stimulate taking of sides.

Can you propel your Hobie using pedals in water that is shallower than the depth of the fins? If so, please explain how that works. If not, I suppose you need a paddle for backup.

In a related question, how sensitive are the fins to bumping or banging into a submerged object like a log or rock that cannot be seen by the kayaker? Does the Mirage Drive break easily from impacts that could be considered fairly routine in shallow tidal waters?

Thank you in advance.

Definitely have a paddle at all times on the Hobie, JIC something goes wrong with mirage drive and also to use around structure like a regular paddle yak would.

Peddle in shallow depths, can be done, but you can't get a full stroke. Super shallow keep the peddles close to the hull and pulsate, short peddles.

Like you said using the bottom to stop the kayak, Hobies can do that too. and if the bottom isn't too hard I've used the peddles in a downward position to hold me in place.

Ask Pinch how easily they break haha they are pretty tough, unless you really run them aground. Then the fins metal rod can bend.

[Southerly]

you always have the paddle to fall back on. just grab it, pull and it's ready to go.

the fins are in the up position when the pedals are apart. but still project from the bottom of course. launching in shallow water, the fins can't get a full stroke. i've pumped them by hand to get away from shore and out to deeper water.

in an extensive shallow area, i would probably just pull the drive altogether and paddle.

if we get a chance, i want you to try mine to see how it feels. i've really undersold how much i like it. for fishing or just covering distance.

it's actually kind of tough to hold position and rotation in wind/current. i tend to rotate to face away and drift from where i want to fish as often as not but i'm working on getting the skills i need and feel like it's coming along.

[ictalurus]

John--Often, the limiting factor for me is the rudder, not the fins. Hobies can still move effectively fluttering the fins against the hull, but you're SOL if you have raise the rudder, at least in my experience. Without the rudder, you're essentially in a white water yak, almost spinning on the vertical axis. You're also welcome to take my Revo out for a spin if you want to try it out.

Southerly--maintaining position and orientation involves requires careful use of the rudder, too. There have been a couple times when I was able to maintain position by angling the rudder just right to work with the wind and current. Admittedly, it's rare when things workout that well, but I've gotten pretty good at maintaining the orientation I want with the rudder. Sometimes leaving the fins in the fully extended position helps, too. Fluttering the fins can help with turning in a tighter radius if you lean a bit. That way, you can get the orientation you want without too much forward movement.

[CAGE RATTLER]

Ive only been out a couple times in my outback and only once fishing but when drift fishing getting the right position is a little tricky. I've also found using the rudder will help turn the yak slightly even drifting. I actually did a small stroke with my hands a couple times to turn a little and i think i'll look for a very small short paddle to keep on board for little moves instead of grabbing the big paddle. Ive seen the little telescopic paddles at walmart and might pick up one of those.

Havent been in real shallow water yet so cant comment on the pedal fluttering for movement in the shallows but i think when the fins are up the drive only sticks down about 3inches from the hull bottom.

Quick question........... about the rudder. On the pulling device to deploy the twist & stow, If you dont lock the string in the cleat, will that allow the rudder to kick up if it hits anything? Does locking the string in the cleat lock it in the down position?

[Southerly]

steering definitely helps.

i think a main source of not holding at my desired spot facing the right way has to do with overshooting the location because of the approach. with a paddle, you can brake, and turn in place when you get there.

i'm working on developing some discipline to approach the spot from the down-drift direction. all together it's coming along, but i'm sure there are additional skills to develop for more consistently holding at a single spot in current/wind for effective vertical jigging, hopefully w/o bumping/scraping barnacle-encrusted structure.

but i guess it sounds worse than it is. w/paddle, i was left to essentially make a cast and do the best i could while drifting away from the spot. so for me, time working the lure in the strike zone was probably much less.

Ictalrus - thanks for tips regarding tighter turns. i have not tried that yet but have often been faced with decision of pumping faster in hopes of completeing a turn tight enough, or just going more slowly and sort of crashing,...

Cage Rattler - i know what you mean exactly by that feeling of wanting to stop/turn using hand or another small paddle. at least for now, i'm refusing to fall into that as a habit.

[Memory Maker]

You can flutter step if you want but real in shallow water I would back out to 1-2 ft take out the pedals and use the parknpole or paddle to move around and the pole to hold position ...........

The only time I've needed it was to go over a sand bar

[ictalurus]

CAGE--The rudder will kick up if you don't cleat it off. However, it will also kick up if you try to turn hard while moving. I'm not sure where the speed threshold is for this problem, but I've had some surprise maneuvers when I tried to turn at speed and the rudder wasn't properly seated for some reason. If you're in the shallows, you're probably not moving fast, so not cleating the rudder might work. I'll try it out next time I launch.

[surfdog]

strong current will pop the rudder up too, first couple times i encountered this i had no idea what was going on id be going along fine then oops im going left i thought some thing was wrong with the drive. asked them at BYB said to clip the down line under the cleat and i said oh thats what thats for much better.

the drives are designed to pop out if you hit something but thats no guarantee they will not be damaged. always bring a paddle for backup and to maneuver around tight spots