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| Adding to the Adventure | | Print | |
| Tuesday, 13 November 2007 | ||||
Modifications: Rod mounts, GPS mount, XL steering rudder This bit always makes you feel a little nervous Upon receiving the Hobie Mirage Adventure last week the first kayak fishing influenced modification I made was installing the RAM mount tube holders. Unlike the Hobie Mirage Revolution, the Adventure has a handy flat platform that hosts the mast mount and provides room for several other addional mounts. This is where I decided to place the RAM tube rod holders. Initially I took the same approach that I'd used on the Revo, which was to smother the base with Sikaflex and then screw it in at each provided hole with a self-tapping screw. It always worked well on the Revolution because there was a lot of strength and very little hull flex where they were mounted on each side. While the flat platform on the Adventure makes for an easier and probably more useful mounting point, I quickly discovered that using self tappers simply wouldn't secure them properly. With heavy pressure applied to the rod there was just too much flex in the flat polythylene base where the self tappers screwed into. I decided that the likelihood that a tuna, mackeral or shark could pull them right out from the screw holes was just too great - even though there was 7 screws holding it in place. So I resolved to correct this before heading back out into the coastal waters off Townsville because just such a hit is always a possibility up here. Replacing self-tappers with something more secure was in order, and augmenting this with solid backing plates seemed pretty much mandatory.  Silicone sealant used to seal holes left by self-tappers and to seal holder and base plate Due to my host (thanks Darrin) being the horder that he is, he was able to dig up a thick sheet of stainless steel that was pretty much perfect for my needs. Using an angle grinder we cut it out two small pieces (8x8cm) to use as backing plates for the mounts. After grinding them down and removing the sharp edges we then lined them up with the base of the RAM mount and drilled screw holes to match. We decided against using each provided hole (three are 7), instead going with only 3 stainless steel screws and bolts for each mount. After cleaning off residue silicone from the last attempt, I then applied more Sikaflex to the base of each mount, put them in position and inserted the screws. I then smothered the upper side of each base plate with Sikaflex and then carefully aligned the holes with each screw. It was a little tricky to line them all up properly with silicone all over the place, but once I got the nuts screwed in tight the end result was very effective. Now when I apply heavy pressure to the rod holders at a trolling angle there is hardly any flex in the platform at all and the rod holders hold their position nicely. It now feels much more secure than my first attempt.  Here's one we prepared earlier  Done. All that's left to do it let it dry & trim away excess sealant with scalple The only other modification that I've made was to replace the standard rudder with the larger alternative, which I've used on both the Outback and Revolution models previously. I'd heard that the Adventure's turning circle was less than stellar when compared to the other Hobie mirage kayaks so I didn't hesitate to perform the old switcheroo. I was glad I did so to because I really was nicely surprised with both the turning capability as well as the tracking provided. While not being quite capable of turning as sharply as the Revolution, fitted with the large rudder at least, the Adventure sure isn't far behind. I made this modification before even hitting the water so I can't compare the difference with the standard rudder, but I imagine it's rather significant.     
13-11-2007 19:57 Hi Josh, congrats on your 5th Hobie.  What fins are you running on the Adventure? Regards Grant 14-11-2007 08:06 Hoit, it's actually my 4th Hobie... but who's counting? :-) I'm actually using the ST fins, which aren't quite as fast as the turbos, and noticeably faster than the standards. I like the STs and the Turbos but ideally would like to see a fin that is somewhere in the middle of them both. 14-11-2007 20:58 Good work on the SS plate, very clever. I'm not a big fan of self-tappers, I much preferred to use stainless bolts and rawlnuts for rod holders etc. Where I had larger potential loads I would stack a couple of progressivly larger SS washers to distribute the load across a larger area of the hull. Hope you enjoy the new ride, and looking forward to some great island hopping stories. If you're interested I'll send you the link of some of my last Hinchinbrook hike photos to whet your whistle. Ant 15-11-2007 08:37 Heya Lefty, please do send me a few pics on hinchinbrook. I need inspiration right now because the high winds we've been having here lately have been making me wonder if now is the right time to attempt it. I was warned about the 'mango winds' as I think they refer to them up here and so far there's been very little let up of them. 17-11-2007 08:13 Gday Josh, will upload some photos this weekend and send you the link. Ant Only registered users can write comments. Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.6 |
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