How much water gets inside a Hobie Island?

I've always been curious how much water gets inside my AI. It's not much, but I wanted to measure it, which I did today...

Today, I fished from my AI in Santa Cruz. I spent almost 7 hours and traveled 11.7 miles, and most of the time there was a pretty good swell, with bumpy chop on top of it. I was in wet-butt mode from the start.

Most of the time I was at trolling speed, but I did sail into the harbor (about the last mile) at 5 mph, sailing at about 90 degrees to the wind, which was a wet ride. I also had a cooler in back, with a fair bit of weight (2 1-gallon jugs frozen solid, several water bottles, some edibles, and even a couple of decent fish). Overall, not the wettest conditions possible, but definitely wetter than average.

After I was done, I sponged inside the hull as throughly as I could and collected the water. I came up with a little less than 2 cups. It seems to me that any non-Island Hobie ought to get even less water than this...

i can't speak to an AI, but indulge my input. That seems very low based on my experience with two Outbacks, a Revo and a Compass. My first OB would have had about a gallon after that time under those conditions. Another OB seems to collect less than a cup. The Revo is pretty dry and the Compass was somewhere in between. So, on that sample of other AIs, it's somewhere around typical and better than the worst of the bunch (which still isn't that bad).

I'm thinking it's mostly about the hatches. My 'wettest' boats are the ones (Compass and OB1) where I installed an extra hatch. Water contamination seems directly correlated, proportionally.

I think most sot's leak in choppy over the hatch wave wash weather. A  quart or a bit more for 5-7 hours is fine by me. Sponge it out at the launch or car. Want to stay drier? Use a  sit inside kayak with a good spray skirt and tight hatches. Hobies with bungie cord to secure hatches is convenient for getting into a hatch on the water but not leak proof.

Thanks for the report!  Worked all day to get my trailer ready and going to give it a shot tomorrow.  Will see how much water gets in my hull, but doubt I'll cover even half that distance.

I'm thinking it's mostly about the hatches.

Yes, I completely agree with that.

I should add that the front hatch on an AI is often leaks like a sieve. On the Hobie forum, AI/TI owners report getting gallons of water inside, and most have made various mods to try to improve on the situation. I use a simple "gasket" that I made out of a loop of squishy silicone tubing, and it does a good job of keeping the front hatch sealed when the boat flexes. Without that, I suspect my AI would have gotten a gallon today, if not more.

If you're getting any significant amount of water in your Hobie, it's almost certainly coming in thru a hatch, and there is likely a pretty simple mod that will reduce the leakage to a dribble.

Second to the last time I used my bigfish 108, its hull filled with water since I found a big hole on the bottom of my hull, Dang thing staid a float with nearly six gallons of fluid plus a 200 pound individual in it.

We drained it and repaired the hull, but called the manufacturer about it and they sent me a new hull. Now I have two 108's which the new hull will be motorized once I make up my mind how to do it (so many options!). Going to be a sweet ride once I get it done.

That's a lot of water. Did you have the inside filled with pool noodles?

Post something when you decide how to motorize your kayak. I've been considering a motor, and would prefer an electric, due to less noise and maintenance. But even the expensive electrics don't seem to last long enough at higher speeds...

Forgot to check before washing it yesterday, but did take a peek and only saw about 4 cups of water in my hull and it started with 1 already in it.