Hobie Outback Question

Hey Guys-

I have a question about a 06 Hobie Outback. I just picked up 2 Outback for a screaming deal!! One had a set of Hobie AMA outriggers with it. I was going to sell them but I started doing some research and I found that the hull design was changed in 07 on the Outbacks. Would you guys recommend keeping them if I am going to fish from the kayak? Some of the articles said that the 06 and older Hobies wernt that stable?

Thanks
Chris

First and foremost, who needs outriggers for an Outback?  Wow!

While I can't personally speak for the '06 as I've never been on one, but I have an '08 and can't believe that yours would be any less stable.  An Outback is an Outback and as far as I know they are all barges.  What I do know to be true about the '06 is that the drive well is susceptible to failing.  What I mean by this is that along the seam the plastic can crack and water will slowly seep in.  By any chance did you test drive them before purchasing?  Hopefully you didn't get duped with that screaming deal.  Although I do believe Hobie was providing free fix-it kits.

You may be referring to the issue with the drivewell.  Search for hobie drivewell and take a look.  So long as they dont have a crack in them, you can still re-enforce the area with a kit from Hobie.  Not sure of the difference in the hull design, but CGN-38 does, he has had both.

Thanks for the info guys. The kayaks still had the stickers on them, they had only been in the water 3 times so there was definately no damage. As far as the redesign there is a youtube video I will try to find the link to but it explained the hull design differences. I didn't think that I would need the outriggers. I will look into it some more and try them out in a couple days. I will probably end up selling them.

Thanks again!
Chris

 
 
  I have a few pictures to show the weak spot within the hull, and what I did to help prevent that spot from failing again.  Although my fix helped, it didn't stop the area from cracking and allowing water in.
  The first picture is the stock hull, it was my first replacement hull.  My very first hull was an 04'
Next picture showes the weak area built up with hot glue.
the last picture is of the hole in the drivewell.
  The 08' model outback has that area pictured in the first shot completly filled in now, so theres no chance of the drive punching through
where the gap between the hull and the well.

If you have any more questions, ask away!

CGN thanks for the pictures! That helps a lot. Is  there something I can do to prevent it before the crack happens? Someone mentioned Hobie had a fix it kit.

Thanks
Chris

 

  Yes, Hobie does (Did have) a fix kit, call your locak hobie dealer and see if they have it.  Hobie sent me one in the mail, but it's in CA. The kit consists of, a tube of 2 part epoxy, little square of sandpaper, and a fiberglass (For lack of proper defineition) patch.  The "patch" looks very simalar to the glob of hot glue I built up under the drivewell, but thin.  Your Hobie dealer (Or a search on line) may be able to describe it better.
   The problem with that year of hull, was the support for the drive, in (picture #3) is/was very thin. 
You can try what I did, get a hot glue gun and plenty of glue sticks and start to build up the area under the drivewell.  I started out from under the area, to get a nice base, and then just added layer upon layer until I was up over the base of the drivewell. (picture #2)  My thinking was that if I filled in that area, the hot glue would then help distribute the load from the drive, through to the hull and help stop the cracking.  at the very least help slow down water in the event the hull still cracked.  I think, my glob of hot glue did just that, slow down the water intrusion once the hole had developed, Certinally without that glob of hot glue, I whould have had much more water inside, as that whole was big.  Perhaps if I had added a a lauer of silicon to the suspected area before the hot glue, maybe the whole thing would have stopped the water?   
  Give your local dealer a call, see what they recomend or call Hobie!