Well that didn't go as planned
06 August 2016 | Papagayo
Dan, hot and tropical
The mantra of the cruising sailor- "plans are written in the sand at low tide" is apt for so many situations. Adapting to change is what makes us successful at what we attempt.
Point in case- our Hobie Mirage Outback kayaks are damn cool. But "they really aren't made for the tropics"- that is an exact quote from their tech support by the way- and they have a tendency to break in masterful fashion. This seasons breakage, and mind you this is in the last month, consists of two broken drive chains, a hull crack from nowhere and a complete failure of the steering mechanism.
Repair methods are what we can figure out on our own, with no product support at all.
So- hull crack- not in a stressed area and we have no plastic rod for a decent repair- lightly scuff and use aluminum tape in a couple of layers.
Drive chain failures- this happened on both of our drives and of course they are different generations, but they are bicycle chain based (stainless but that is probably why they break) so an hour and a half drive to a bike shop in town and we are repaired- for now.
The steering failure was a bit more of a challenge, but a handful of small blocks, some decent cordage and dockside engineering gives me a completely different steering system, but it works!
So two ready to go kayaks for touring the bay and getting a little exercise as well! Things are looking good, the marina is letting us use a work float next to our finger pier as toy storage and it is a lot lower to the water than the concrete floats. Kelly gets into hers with little drama as I hold her kayak in place and off she goes, my turn now. Nice morning with a little breeze, air temp about 80, water temp about the same. Wait- water temp? Why should that matter? I am so used to getting in from a higher position, just dropping into the seat, that I have a bit of a struggle and gravity wins.
Nice comfortable water temp.....so important when the kayak flips you out. And what was going through my mind as I surfaced next to the overturned kayak? Yep- "well that didn't go as planned". I used the opportunity to practice getting into a kayak from the water- never let a chance to learn something escape!
It did end in a great yak trip -at one point sitting about 50 meters from the shore as small waves lapped with that whoosh, listening to the sounds of the jungle coming across the water.
Yeah, plans are not what they are cracked up to be.