Tidy deck AI mods

Author: josh

Category: Equipment, rigging & preparation

Created on Thursday, 09 June 2011 18:23

Written by Josh

Over the past couple of weekends I made time to shoot video for a run down on Triple Hex, which aims to elucidate the gear I use and how (in similar fashion to my 2009 clip 'The Compleat Fishing Kayak' and 2010 'The Ultimate Fishing Kayak'. Viewers that have seen either of the past few clips are going to note numerous changes to the way I've rigged this 2011 Adventure Island (AI) and most notable of all will be how much tidier the main deck is. Not only will the notable absence of a few items (previously featured in both other clips) gone, but also a few measures to help minimize clutter on deck. I haven't seen anyone else employ any of the modifications I'm about to explain, though I've had these in testing to great success for some time.

The first is a rarther simple little mod and one I would recommend to anyone that likes the idea of minimizing clutter. That is to remove the mirage pedal retainer bungee cord & hook from it's on deck position and relocate that to the front deck, right in front of the pedals. This is easy to do - simply remove the screw-in fitting padeye installed in this position and replace it with the one that is secured to the bungee cord. This is best done with a pair of long-nose pliers to unscrew each fitting (or one of Hobie's special tools). It's a good idea to find another screw in fitting to screw into the now vacant position on deck, or otherwise fill it will silicone (just to prevent it from becoming a mini reservior).  

The advantage of doing this is that there is now no longer a small length of bungee cord and hook dangling around aimlessly near your centre hatch, making that one less thing to tangle up with thrashing fish, fishing line, furling line and whatever else you may have floating around. The disadvantage is that to use it to hook onto your pedals you need to lean forward to grab it. But when someone mentioned that potential concern to me I replied that is no more trouble than using the furling lines, which is to say not really any trouble at all.

Speaking of furling lines, as easy as they are to use, it's pretty easy for these to become a bit of a tangled mess on deck if one isn't careful and these too can simply become something else for things to get caught up on, be it fish, line, tackle, whatever. Most users like to tie both lines together, which inadvertantly creates a great big endless loop of rope. I'm not a huge fan of this method and prefer to keep both lines seperate, largely because there are many times during active sailing that the (yellow) reefing line doesn't need to be touched, yet if connected to the black line, you're kind of messing with both no matter what. For a lot of my sailing time I find it simpler and tidier to just coil up the yellow line and rest it on the tramp (more on the tramp shortly). A bit more thought goes into the black line. Note that in this photo above, the black furling line is fed through the padeye near the starboard pocket and a stopper knot is tied into the end of the line to prevent it from being pulled through (this is how it looks with sail fully reefed on mast). The sail can be unfurled by pulling from here, or otherwise from the length of rope between this and the xbar cleat. Like this it's always quick and easy to find the end of your line, which thankfully, will never be dangling around in the water.

In this photo you can see what I do with the full mainsheet out. The furling line is tucked into the starboard pocket, which no longer contains a mesh cover (I got sick of lures getting snagged in it, this was an unexpected advantage). The rope is layerd down so that as I pull it out it just rolls out freely, and I only pull out whatever length I need. It's a lot tidier than having it just lying around freely on deck.   

Another small modification I made to secure the portside tramp to the hull (I only use a single tramp, always on the left). Looking closely here, one can see how the added stainless steel padeyes (installed primarily to serve the tensioning system I created for Holger's Spray Skirts) get an extra function, on the portside at least. I also use this to attach the tramp to, using a small stainless locking swivel snap hook secured to the almost ideally positioned eyelet in the tramp. When attached, this serves 2 basic functions, most notably it helps create a more secure and taught platform of the tramp. In other words, it affords a bit mroe weight carrying capacity and noticably less sag. It also goes a long way from preventing water from splashing up on deck from the inside of the tramp. For some users this might be the more advantageous gain. Either way, this - or something like this - is worth doing.   

Observant AI owners may ask: 'hey... whats that wedge cleat doing on the portside in the last photo? Mine doesn't have one there!' That is a surrogate for the jam cleat used on the updated AI/TI rudder. The new rudder kit is supplied with a jam cleat, though after just one on-water test I determined that a wedge cleat would work much better. Not because they are more secure, but more so because they allow smoother and finer control. That's more important on a rudder like this than a twist and stow design because the rudder can be deployed in anywhere in a 180 degree range from fully up to fully down (varying water depth and paddling conditions might dictate adjustments) and the wedge cleat makes it much easier to position your rudder exactly where you want it. 

*Update: Read more about tidying up the deck of an AI