After owning a Hobie Tandem Adventure Island for three and a half years now and having logged just over 1900 miles with just over 1200 of those BTB, I think it is time for me to write my review. As reference I have spent a lot of time in my young life sailing and working offshore and have directly observed many boat and equipment failures both personally and second hand coming to the aid of another. I have used the TI but not abused it. I have not been ginger to the boat either having no hesitation in taking it in and out of large surf and sailing the boat hard in 20-30 knot winds. I rinse the boat inside and out after every salt excursion and perform lubrication and maintenance as one should for any mechanical equipment.
The intent of this write up is to share the facts of the failures I have had with the boat and some part of my opinion of the boat. Equipment failures are going to happen. However, the more parts there are to any piece of equipment the more opportunities there are for failure. All metal parts including stainless will fail after repeated exposure to saltwater and stress. Most all sailors will replace any stainless parts which are under a load, every 3-5 years.
Failures I have had.
1. I had repeated AKA to H-Bar separation in mild to moderate swells offshore. Almost never while hard on the wind but most always while on a bit of a reach. After replacing the AKA clips and flanges it continued to occur then I replaced both H-bars and it continued. I sail at night and after one morning cruising along off of Port O’Connor and having an AKA separation about a mile out and came close to a turtle at 4am, I went with my final solution. My solution was to drill holes through the H-Bars and the AKA and insert a stainless ring pins on all four joints. It has not happened since, see figures 1-2 below.
2. An early failure I had after only about 2 months was the bungie that holds the Ama to the Aka did not provide enough resistance to the bounce of the Ama on the windward side while on a beat into the wind. I had an Ama actually drop come out and drop down. This is a well-documented failure by other AI and TI owners and is easily rectified. My solution was to use double half inch shock cord forward and aft of each Ama to Aka connection and each through a single 2 inch stainless ring. The ring then goes to the Aka clip, see figure 3 below.
3. Mirage drive main shaft came loose. This failure occurred within the first 200 miles of use and I figure that the factory just did not get all bolts tightened up of these drives just need a good go through after every 200-400 miles to tighten and inspect, which I do now. However the failure timing and place is what was not opportune as it seldom is. It occurred about 4 miles out of Freeport on a fairly nice 10-15 knot wind day but with 3-5ft seas left over from the days prior. They failure of the loose shaft manifested itself in not being able to lift the drive up because the shaft had slid to one side preventing lifting the drive back up through the hull. In order to get the drive back up before I went into the beach I had to furl the sail then jump overboard and go under and gently push the shaft back to the center point. Once I got the drive back out I pulled out my tool kit and tightened the set screw that holds the shaft.
4. Sail batten sleeve. This was an early failure noticed within the first 100 miles. Some of the stitching in upper part of a sail batten came loose. This one I took back to my dealer and they corrected.
5. Aka shear bolts. This happened twice and upon the advice of others on this board I went with a stainless bolt rather than the Hobie supplied nylon bolts. Yes, the bolts are meant to be the failure point so that you do not incur more serious structural damage to the Aka or H-bars but after one failure left me turtled in the mouth of the Port Mansfield jetty I went with stainless and will suffer the structural consequences, maybe.
6. Aka pivot joint rivets. I have had 3 breaks and most all of the others are loose. These rivets are not easy to drill out as they are Monel. Do not use stainless to replace them use the Hobie original equipment, Monel.
7. Forward H-bar. While sailing on a moderate day with a stiff 20 knot breeze off of Gulf Shores, AL the port side forward H-bar cracked at the Aka joint allowing the Aka to bow back under the pressure of the moving boat. Yes, I was cruising at a steady 9+ knots on a reach with the AMA mostly submerged but in my opinion the boat should be able to take that. I purchased and installed a new H-Bar and welded up the old one and keep it as a spare. See figure 4 below of crack H-Bar. By the way, this part is hard to come by for whatever reason supply and/or demand.
8. Mirage drive pedal crank breakage. This is also a common failure for all mirage drives. Mine broke this past week while on day 2 of a 6 day trip to Gulf Shores, AL. Fortunately I was only 300 yards out and managed to sail and beach the boat. The failure occurred at the point of most stress at the adjustment pin. I am not a big guy and while I do pedal hard on occasion and was cranking pretty good at the time of failure I would expect the mechanical integrity of such device to be able to withstand that type of load. Again, this is a metal part that is under stress a lot while exposed to salt water. Also, one thing did come to mind that may have aided in the failure. As a general practice while I am sailing I almost always have the drive in the hull as I occasionally will pedal to assist the boat during a drop off in the wind. While not pedaling I find that I keep the fins against the hull by keeping one leg with constant pressure on the crank. For whatever reason that is almost always the left side, the one that broke, stress and salt. I had both drives with me so this failure only cost me 10 minutes to beach the boat and retrieve my second drive from the truck. A few days later during a morning of heavy thunderstorms I drove into Pensacola and picked up a new crank. I will be adding both a left and right spare to my on board repair kit after this.
9. My most recent failure and the one that has prompted this write up. After 5 days of BTB sailing in Gulf Shores this past week and enjoying a final early morning launch cruising along about 0.7 miles out on my way to 5-7 mile offshore trip, there was a very noticeable clunk from inside the hull and the mast suddenly leaned to one side. I quickly knew this was likely a day ending failure and furled the sail. I fully figured that the mast step inside the hull had likely broken and did not take time to investigate but rather turned the boat back to the condo and started pedaling. I was concerned that what ever broke might have also cracked the hull so I periodically would open the cockpit hatch to check for water. After 10 minutes and nothing I breathed easier but kept pedaling. Once on the beach I opened the hatch and found the bolt for the turnbuckle support had sheared off. This bolt goes into the hull and has sheared off at the hull. I am not sure how I am going to get the rest of the bolt out of the hull but my MacGyver instinct will kick in after a couple of nights sleep and I will get it done. Again stainless under constant stress and exposed to saltwater, see figure 5 below.
10. Rudder up/down pull line shock cords. These are located inside the hull and tied to both the up and down pull lines. Their purpose is nothing more than to take up the slack in the line once you have moved the rudder up or down using the deck pull lines. The failure will not cause anything more than an inconvenience and you may hear them when they turn loose as a funny noise from below. Hobie used a stainless wire to wrap around a knot in the shock cord then around the control line. Again, stainless, stress (from being wrapped around the line) and saltwater. My solution was to simply take the original knot out of the shock cord then wrap it around the knot that is in the control line and tie a new knot around that with the shock cord, a 15 minute job for both. This way there is no stainless involved.
11. Bent mirage drive fin shafts. This failure is totally a user related fault. This occurred twice on me and then I learned a motto. When it doubt pull it out. If you hit the bottom with your drive down it will bend. If you beach and forget to pull the drive out and simply put the fins against the hull there is a good chance you will still bend one or both. These shafts can easily be straightened out in the field or at home in vice. In the field requires a bit more ingenuity in finding a suitable work platform and structure on the beach with which to pry against. However, I do carry two spares in my repair kit now.
Figures:
Figure 1: Aka to H-Bar Ring Pin in the locked position
Figure 2: Aka to H-Bar disconnected with ring pin set aside. This still provides a quick dis-assembly
Figure 3: Aka to Ama connections
Figure 4: Cracked port forward H-Bar
Figure 5: Mast step support inside the hull. Sheared stainless bolt
Failures I have not had but have prepared for or am concerned about.
1. I have not managed to ever break a rudder pin. I have practiced replacement just in case but I am very careful to never leave that rudder down when entering shallow water or at minimum have it where it can kick up.
2. Rudder control line breakage. I know this has occurred often on all Hobies and you can use your paddle as your rudder to get you home. I have practiced this many times and still do periodically in heavier seas as that is when you are more likely to incur a failure. I have contemplated making a cap for the top of the rudder with a slot to slide in either a pole or a paddle shaft such that this could be used as a tiller to control the rudder for a quick fix to get you home.
3. AKA joint casting failure. I have not heard of it on the Hobie Adventure Island but have experienced such a failure on a Hobie 16 while punching through some big surf years ago. The failure resulted in a complete boat failure with mast slamming down to the sand and both hulls completely separating. Again these are metal parts and are under repeated stress and exposed to salt water. At some point they will fail, if not the casting my concern is fatigue of the aluminum Aka bar in the casting. Based on the loose rivets I already know there is some stress related slop.
4. Centerboard failure. This can come from either damage due to hitting something or mechanical failure and unable to deploy or retract or just falling out. This failure mode has always been on my mind but was reinforced while sailing off of the mouth of the Brazos about an hour before sunrise and hitting a fairly large log. It hit the main hull and I went over it and the centerboard and rudder both kicked up but nothing broken. I was only running about 4 knots but if I had hit that dud running 7-8 it may have ended differently.
Why I purchased the Hobie TI? My main intent for this boat was to use as a principal fishing mechanism for offshore along the gulf coast. My second intent was to use this boat as a means to accomplish a personal goal of taking a small boat such as a kayak or small sailing vessel down the entire Texas coast in one unsupported trip.
Now after all of this will I keep the TI and continue to use it as per my original intention, Yes, I will continue to use it for BTB fishing and traveling the Texas coast. Will I use it for my personal goal of making my entire Texas coastal trip, maybe not? While I find the Hobie TI well suited for the day BTB trips within a reasonable distance offshore I am more guarded on the use as a long range excursion vessel especially in repeated seas over 3-5 and over 20 knot winds in saltwater. I am certain like any other mechanical tool with regular replacement of key critical components the reliability and occurrence of critical failures can be minimized it remains a bit high on the frequency in my opinion. Perhaps I have used the boat beyond the expectations of the manufacturer but in my opinion that should always be done in order to provide a value added assessment. If you do not drive something to the point of failure then you are just coasting, yea I drive like I stole it for most everything I do but I have survived 52 years on this Earth and would not change that.
I enjoy sailing and simplicity. In all my years of sailing with my father across the Gulf, Atlantic and Caribbean, I do not remember this percentage of failures and especially ones that left you feeling that vulnerable albeit a larger more equipped boat. The simplicity of a kayak, a paddle, and a man is hard to beat yet the enticement of a sail that comes with more speed and less effort is enticing and has pushed men to invent with trial and error for centuries. My next few longer coastal trips will be made in my old standby go to all around kayak, my OK Trident 15. Yes, it may take me few more days to get where I am going but when you get older you just don’t care as much.
SYOTW,
Earl