AMAs to a kayak

You're right that used TIs are harder to find, and very expensive.

I don't really have a recommendation, but if you do go with the foam/fiberglass/epoxy method, it would be great to hear about how that works out...

i love the fact you can shape it yourself and make it more hydrodynamic.

pontoons are just plug and play, easier to transport, and no works needs to be done.
pontoons add about 300lbs+ of buoyancy,
an 8 feet long foam with about a 8inx7in cross section will give me about 150lbs of buoyancy.

im leaning towards pontoons, just worried about the drag.

hmm that looks tempting. ill have to msg him. thanks.

i know the AI is all around better, but how many people do you usually go out with on your AI?

I usually bring 1 person with me. I’ve done one person and a small dog before too. I strap a SUP to the akas when I take a guest out. Everyone enjoys sitting on the SUP because it’s more stable, more spacious, and they don’t have to help pedal lol

ive thought about mounting an sup over the AMAs.
do you have a pic of the setup out on the water?

You're right that used TIs are harder to find, and very expensive.

I don't really have a recommendation, but if you do go with the foam/fiberglass/epoxy method, it would be great to hear about how that works out...

i love the fact you can shape it yourself and make it more hydrodynamic.

pontoons are just plug and play, easier to transport, and no works needs to be done.
pontoons add about 300lbs+ of buoyancy,
an 8 feet long foam with about a 8inx7in cross section will give me about 150lbs of buoyancy.

im leaning towards pontoons, just worried about the drag.

I've made foam/glass pontoons for a sea kayak pedal drive conversion. 48 inches x 4 inches wide x 6 inches deep. Very stable . They are set high enough so the aft trailing edge barely touches the water. Hence no drag under motion.

ive thought about mounting an sup over the AMAs.
do you have a pic of the setup out on the water?

I don’t have a pic on the water but here is a pic of the setup. For crabbing the AI takes a partner and a SUP on one side, and 6 hoop nets on the tramp on the other side. I also run a bixpy mounted to the rod holder which makes my job pedaling a lot easier, like an e-bike.

You're right that used TIs are harder to find, and very expensive.

I don't really have a recommendation, but if you do go with the foam/fiberglass/epoxy method, it would be great to hear about how that works out...

i love the fact you can shape it yourself and make it more hydrodynamic.

pontoons are just plug and play, easier to transport, and no works needs to be done.
pontoons add about 300lbs+ of buoyancy,
an 8 feet long foam with about a 8inx7in cross section will give me about 150lbs of buoyancy.

im leaning towards pontoons, just worried about the drag.

I've made foam/glass pontoons for a sea kayak pedal drive conversion. 48 inches x 4 inches wide x 6 inches deep. Very stable . They are set high enough so the aft trailing edge barely touches the water. Hence no drag under motion.

that looks very cool. what kit did you use to convert it?

You're right that used TIs are harder to find, and very expensive.

I don't really have a recommendation, but if you do go with the foam/fiberglass/epoxy method, it would be great to hear about how that works out...

i love the fact you can shape it yourself and make it more hydrodynamic.

pontoons are just plug and play, easier to transport, and no works needs to be done.
pontoons add about 300lbs+ of buoyancy,
an 8 feet long foam with about a 8inx7in cross section will give me about 150lbs of buoyancy.

im leaning towards pontoons, just worried about the drag.

I've made foam/glass pontoons for a sea kayak pedal drive conversion. 48 inches x 4 inches wide x 6 inches deep. Very stable . They are set high enough so the aft trailing edge barely touches the water. Hence no drag under motion.

that looks very cool. what kit did you use to convert it?

No kit. I purchased a used 17x24 inch fiberglass sea kayak and made a drive box for a Hobie drive and glassed it in, Details should be found in the archives under Project or The Project with pics showing the steps.

If you are still considering the do it yourself route…
The link to the old post about making a DIY pontoon out of XPS foam is one of my posts from a handle I no longer use.

I only got as far as glueing and shaping the foam. It has not been glassed. I struggled to conceptualize a way to mount it to my kayak that would be stable, not require extensive drilling or modifications, and is also easily detachable for beach landings and/or storage.

If you come up with a set of plans. Please post, I’d like to see this project through so I can have my daughter accompany me on the yak. She’s growing up fast, so the time is now!

Maybe I’ll take another shot at this too, if I come up with anything worthwhile I’ll post an update.
 
I can tell you that glueing and shaping the pontoon was both easy and fun. I do not think it was very expensive either, but I have yet to invest in most of the other essential materials.

If/when I complete this, I’ll be using metal components for the frame.

If you are still considering the do it yourself route…
The link to the old post about making a DIY pontoon out of XPS foam is one of my posts from a handle I no longer use.

I only got as far as glueing and shaping the foam. It has not been glassed. I struggled to conceptualize a way to mount it to my kayak that would be stable, not require extensive drilling or modifications, and is also easily detachable for beach landings and/or storage.

If you come up with a set of plans. Please post, I’d like to see this project through so I can have my daughter accompany me on the yak. She’s growing up fast, so the time is now!

Maybe I’ll take another shot at this too, if I come up with anything worthwhile I’ll post an update.
 
I can tell you that gluing and shaping the pontoon was both easy and fun. I do not think it was very expensive either, but I have yet to invest in most of the other essential materials.

If/when I complete this, I’ll be using metal components for the frame.

Here is an attachment system I made for the outriggers. I made "rings" of thick barrel plastic that are secured to back of yak. 3/4 inch aluminum pipe four feet long slides snugly between the rings. Top of pontoon uses 1x2 inch fir strip that is glassed onto pontoon with a 3/4 hole in each end. Pontoon slides in place and a bit of wire goes thru a small hole in the end of aluminum and wraps around a screw to keep pontoon from sliding. Cheap and effective. One can use longer pipe to spread the pontoon out further but for my purpose this works.

ive thought about mounting an sup over the AMAs.
do you have a pic of the setup out on the water?

I don’t have a pic on the water but here is a pic of the setup. For crabbing the AI takes a partner and a SUP on one side, and 6 hoop nets on the tramp on the other side. I also run a bixpy mounted to the rod holder which makes my job pedaling a lot easier, like an e-bike.

Interesting to hear that you find a Bixpy useful on an a fully loaded AI. There has been some discussion of the Bixpy on the Hobie forums and most seemed to think it was not powerful enough to be of much use. Of course, a lot of those people have TIs, so maybe that was a factor. Anyways, I'd be interested to hear more, like how much of a speed boost your get, how long the battery lasts, and so on...

ive thought about mounting an sup over the AMAs.
do you have a pic of the setup out on the water?

I don’t have a pic on the water but here is a pic of the setup. For crabbing the AI takes a partner and a SUP on one side, and 6 hoop nets on the tramp on the other side. I also run a bixpy mounted to the rod holder which makes my job pedaling a lot easier, like an e-bike.

Interesting to hear that you find a Bixpy useful on an a fully loaded AI. There has been some discussion of the Bixpy on the Hobie forums and most seemed to think it was not powerful enough to be of much use. Of course, a lot of those people have TIs, so maybe that was a factor. Anyways, I'd be interested to hear more, like how much of a speed boost your get, how long the battery lasts, and so on...

I think a bixpy used as a standalone means of propulsion in the mirage drive well of an AI would definitely be underpowered. But since I’m using the bixpy in conjunction with the mirage drive, I find that I can put in much less effort pedaling to travel the same distances at the same speeds. A typical day of crabbing at hmb with a fully loaded AI goes something like this: Launch from harbor. Put bixpy into half speed while pedaling to the crab grounds (1-1.5 miles). Drop pots. Check pots using bixpy at half speed + pedaling to get from pot to pot. Repeat for about 5 or 6 rounds. Pack up. Put the bixpy at half speed and pedal back to the harbor. Once in the harbor, bixpy goes to full speed with no pedaling while I empty out the bait cages and clean up. After all this I’m still left with more than half the battery juice.
At half speed, I think the bixpy can propel the fully loaded AI at an average 1.5mph. Add my relaxed pedaling to that, and I think we’re at ~2.5mph.

At half speed, I think the bixpy can propel the fully loaded AI at an average 1.5mph. Add my relaxed pedaling to that, and I think we’re at ~2.5mph.

That's a pretty good boost. It sounds like dual bixpy jets might be comparable to a torqeedo, and at a comparable price.

Just curious where you store the battery. It looks like it would fit inside the front hatch.

At half speed, I think the bixpy can propel the fully loaded AI at an average 1.5mph. Add my relaxed pedaling to that, and I think we’re at ~2.5mph.

That's a pretty good boost. It sounds like dual bixpy jets might be comparable to a torqeedo, and at a comparable price.

Just curious where you store the battery. It looks like it would fit inside the front hatch.

Yes, the torqeedo is more boost but more $$$. I usually just keep the battery behind my seat, either tucked under the rear bungee cord or under a milk crate that’s bungeed down.