I had to say goodbye to the "River Horse" (my old Outback) because she developed the dread crack. The fiberglass drive well support added an extra two years to the warranty, but I got the hull in 2005. However, Hobie prorated the hull, so I only had to pay about $350, which included the hull replacement and shipping. The guys at Bluhaven took really good care of me and even gave me a nice discount on the sailing rudder, rod holder, and RAM wedge mount I bought. Plus, it didn't take them long to get me my new hull. So here's my Outback after I stripped everything usable off her:
And here's my new Revo just before her maiden voyage (report to follow shortly):
I gotta say, Hobie did kind of a crummy job designing the cockpit area. The rudder lever is under my left leg, and my water bottle bangs against my right leg if I put the bottle in the cupholder. I think an extra two or three inches or a different design of the gunwales could have avoided both those problems. Or they could've made the pockets, which I do like, slightly bigger so a slimmer bottle could fit in there. Also, the standard rudder isn't very effective, but I didn't get a chance to put the sailing rudder on yet.
I didn't put it through its paces too much because I was still getting used to the reduced width and layout, but I got it up to 5.1mph at some point without really trying. I'll have to check to see what the max was in my Outback. There was about a 1ft chop, and the Revo definitely cut through that better than the Outback.
I think I'm going to replace my PVC fish finder rig with a series of RAM attachments using the RAM ball wedge in the mast tube and a cutting board for mounting the fish finder, a couple rod holders, and my camera mount. That way, I'll be able to keep the gunwales clear. It might be tough to keep everything from getting in the way of casting or pedaling though.
Now, I need a name for the Revo. I haven't figured out its personality yet, but I'm leaning toward "Ockham's Razor", which is kind of ironic given that Hobies are far from the simplest design. But it is sleek looking. Also in the running are "Rube Goldberg", which is more fitting for a Hobie, or "Yellow Bullhead", which keeps the catfish theme going and fits my personality.
And here's my new Revo just before her maiden voyage (report to follow shortly):
I gotta say, Hobie did kind of a crummy job designing the cockpit area. The rudder lever is under my left leg, and my water bottle bangs against my right leg if I put the bottle in the cupholder. I think an extra two or three inches or a different design of the gunwales could have avoided both those problems. Or they could've made the pockets, which I do like, slightly bigger so a slimmer bottle could fit in there. Also, the standard rudder isn't very effective, but I didn't get a chance to put the sailing rudder on yet.
I didn't put it through its paces too much because I was still getting used to the reduced width and layout, but I got it up to 5.1mph at some point without really trying. I'll have to check to see what the max was in my Outback. There was about a 1ft chop, and the Revo definitely cut through that better than the Outback.
I think I'm going to replace my PVC fish finder rig with a series of RAM attachments using the RAM ball wedge in the mast tube and a cutting board for mounting the fish finder, a couple rod holders, and my camera mount. That way, I'll be able to keep the gunwales clear. It might be tough to keep everything from getting in the way of casting or pedaling though.
Now, I need a name for the Revo. I haven't figured out its personality yet, but I'm leaning toward "Ockham's Razor", which is kind of ironic given that Hobies are far from the simplest design. But it is sleek looking. Also in the running are "Rube Goldberg", which is more fitting for a Hobie, or "Yellow Bullhead", which keeps the catfish theme going and fits my personality.
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