My Tugboat Hobie (Electric and gas powered, Long read.)

Tried posting this a few times but I guess I can't post the story with pics together.

So awhile back I was searching for a Hobie and I after a long search I picked up my ol Outback from a nice gentleman in Cloverdale who gave me a great deal. Big thanks to Danglin who helped me a long the way even though I'm a new member.  So the kayak came stock and pretty beat up but to me it reminded me of my first car, dings, scratches and love at first sight.  On the way home I couldn't resist trying her out at Lake Sonoma for a quick ride and I felt like a kid on Christmas using the mirage drive for the first time.  I'm sure you all remember that feeling.  Well it wasn't long before I converted my brother, one pedal and he was hooked too and got a nice Revo.  He had turbo fins so I wanted turbo fins...He got a sailing rudder so I got sailing rudder!

He has a great mix of speed and weight and I love the utility and stability of the Outback, as far as I'm concerned it's one of the best kayaks ever created for fishing (1 year ago I absolutely HATED Hobies and their little pedal thingies...and their price.  Ok I was jealous.)  Well I got tired of him leaving me in his wake when we pedaled to our fishing spots so I decided to one up the bastard and so "My Tugboat Hobie."

Um I was going to do a picture and notation type of dealie but I found out I'm not that bright.  So I'm just going to post a bunch of pictures and you guys can connect the dots.

1st. Pic: I wanted a trolling motor but didn't want to mount it on the side so I stuck it through the drive plug.  Yes it fits on my Outback, not sure what year mine is but it has the twist locks, not the newer clips.  The motor will not fit on my brother's newer Revo with the clip type drive, not sure if it's the drive itself or the revo.  You would think all drive wells would be the same size but guess not.

2nd pic: The plastic pegs weren't enough for me so I broke them off which was surprisingly easy, then I drilled through the thin walls of the plug and stuck an aluminum rod through, trimmed that and filed it smooth...enough.  Added a little adhesive to make it stay put and it works great, very sturdy.  My original placement of the motor shaft was through the middle of the plug but I had to relocate it to fit the cross rod.

3rd: This is how it looks with the motor all the way up, obviously do not operate the motor with it pulled all the way up or the blades will scratch the bottom of your yak.  The motor is easily raised and lowered via a little collar and screw.  To get the motor to fit through the drive well requires you to either stand up or sit back because the motor handle will nail you in the crotch.

4rt: This is the style drive lock that works, it might not be the only but I'm saying it works for me and not for my brother's Revo.  You can see the original spot I had my shaft and why I needed to relocate it.  The new rod I put it locks in tighter than the plastic plug so it holds the motor better at higher settings.

5th:  Well the reason I got the trolling motor was because I had a bunch of batteries and chargers already but yeah ok it was because I was too lazy to pedal for 6 hours.  We had a weekend of 6-8 hours trolling in the Carquinez straight each day that made me say F this.  Well my batteries weren't suited for constant drain and I didn't want to spend another 70 bucks on a deep cycle group 24...plus I wanted to go faster.  I had the setting on 4 maybe sometimes 5 to go against the strong current and it drained in an hour- hour half leaving me to pedal with the added weight of my motor and battery in the back.  I decided to go back into the garage and there I found my old 2.5hp Suzuki that I bought 6 years back when I started kayaking and was a whole different kind of stupid back then (I wanted to put it on my first kayak, an Old Town sit in...It didn't go too well so it sat in my garage all these years.)  I love this motor, it's one of the lightest in it's class only the Honda is lighter but that's also less hp -.5 and air cooled (LOUD) and it's sooo much more expensive.  This is how it looks on the Yak, almost perfectly balanced with the black bag with 2, 10'b weights from my bench press machine that has seen LOTS of use, as a clothes hanger.

6th: This pic shows the mount, I didn't want to drill the kayak honestly so I took a 2x4 I had on hand (marine grade would be better though) cut a foot length off and glued, screwed and braced it to the main wood.  I keep 18" or so of wood on the other end to counter balance my motor (roughly 30lbs with gas) To hold the mount to the kayak I wrapped a section of the wood with tub liner or any other soft rubbery material that will prevent sliding and then I use a ratchet strap to keep it to the kayak (acts like a reverse kayak rack).

7th:  This is a pic with both motors mounted, obviously I don't run it like this.  I would choose one set up or the other depending on my needs and how far I need to travel to get to my spot.  On all trips I have 1 motor, my turbo fins and a paddle.  With both motors I just leave it going forward and steer with my sailing rudder which works pretty well.

8th:  This is how the motor is stored for landings or shallow water.  It has a built in gas tank of only 1 liter but it will last for hours at 25% power (6-7mph) I hardly ever go beyond this and the most I've done is about 50% power to go just a little faster probably 8-9mph but then the noise goes up as well and having the motor next to you it really isn't worth it.  I troll with no throttle, just idle for about 2-3mph, to go slower I would think you might need to drag a bucket.  Oh the pvc pipes are there to lock into the scupper holes to help prevent further sliding.

As with all motors, you need to register your kayak if you go this route.  I carry a 1 gallon gas tank and I can go maybe 20 miles but that's an all day thing.  So to summarize, paddling was too cumbersome and slow so I got a Hobie.  Standard fins were too slow, so I got turbo fins! Outback still couldn't beat Revo, so I motorized! Trolling motor sucked too much juice at high speed and didn't wanna buy new marine battery so I made an outboard mount! Happy for now.  Oh and to solve the problem of my brother one upping me we've decided that I be the Tugboat Hobie.  Any questions feel free to ask, yes I am aware that I am one lazy fuck but I love tinkering and also I hurt my back and shoulder in the war so...yeah I'm still a lazy fuck.

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The last pic is the mount, it's completely removable and best of all I can put it on my other kayaks including my super sturdy and fat double that I use to take the wife out in.  Again, you must register all kayaks you put a motor on.  Why not just get a boat you may wonder? Well I like the ability to get in the water almost anywhere without a ramp (although I prefer to look for ramp launches  ) Also because I don't have any room to store a boat but mainly because I've always loved kayaks over big boats that just eat money.

The counter balance weights are held on by a rod with 3 cotter pins tied to parachute cord.  If I ever for any reason need to get rid of the weights fast I just pull the string and all the weights fall off.  Also I plan on adding a higher back/head rest to the 2x4 so I can lean back fully supported.  If you guys have comfort issues with the seats I added rubber pipe insulators to the bottom of mine (feels like soft gel pads) and my ass has never felt better.

Outback still couldn't beat Revo, so I motorized!

It depends on who is in the Outback.  I know I can smoke some folks on their Revos.