So I read too many of these forums and bought a damn yak....

LOL.

Actually, the yak I got (off Craigslist) is one of those Hobie Mirage units.  The pedal drive is cool, came with a little tail dolly for portage (POS) and one cheapo rod holder.

Question I have (one of many) is how do you guys access the hatch behind the seat without being a contortionist?  I haven't dumped it yet, but have had a couple close calls.

The Hobie model I have is (I guess) the classic - has a big hatch behind the seat that is held in place with a bungee.  Even if you can get the thing off, almost impossible to get stuff in an out of there without rocking the boat to the point of splashdown.  Now that I think of it, the front hatch is no picnic to get at either - I didn't even know there was a little bag in there until I had it out a half dozen times and opened it while the yak was in the truck.

I saw picture of some of you guys using milk crates to hold stuff, so I just bungied a milk crate on top of the rear hatch and have been using that - looks a little bush league but works.

I didn't bother testing other yaks - just bought the first one I could afford (impulsive) - is accessing the hatches awkward on other yaks or did I just pick a bad one?

Anyway, I live on a Lake (sort of - I have a 10' access to the lake from my property so easy to launch a small craft) so I intend to get better at this and keep my eye open for other deals on fishing Yaks - like to get one big enough to take my dog with me - he likes fishing.

Tight lines.

The "reach behind" is one of those movements that is precarious on a kayak.  I think a lot of the tippings I've heard of can be attributed to this.  So proceed with caution.

I either reach behind blind and not turn my body.  Or I sit completely side saddle with my feet dangling if I need to see better.

Anyway!  Welcome to the madness.

-Allen

Like pole² said. You should be able to dangle your legs in the water and reach back no problem. I have a Hobie and do that.

Welcome!

Z

When I started using a yak a few years ago I took a class from Jim Sammons in San Diego, he is a well know Socal yak guide. He taught me to hang one foot off the side you are turning into to stabilize your self. It works good. Up here in the PNW though the water is cold as we all know so wet or dry suit is a good thing to have.

FC

Looking at the Hobie page at the Classic . They didnt have fishing in mind with this model for sure.The hatch under the seat is not brilliant engineering. I love the hatch between the legs on the newer models, sure is handy. I havent tried to access any other hatches on the water, It's too cold for a swim.
Gotta love the Mirage drive though..

One dog could ride on the newer models real easy with the well behind the seat.I have two dogs and dream of taking them out for a yak cruise someday.Except im guite sure with my dogs it would be kind of a nightmare...

I have a 2006 Hobie Outback, and a 45 pound black cow dog.  She occasionally rides on my back deck for fishing trips.  It is tight, but it works.  No tippage issues, but she is pretty calm.

I'd like to add a Malibu X-Factor or similar big, stable paddle kayak to my fleet of boats for fishing with the dog and camping trips.

Here's a pic of the Yak.

Finished up the PVC yak cart this weekend.

Here is the cart.

I used a compilation of plans off this site and others - plus I screwed up and had to make some modifications on the fly...

Used 5/8" allthread for the axle - instead of getting the 3 foot stick and cutting it to size, I found 2 foot sticks at McLendons and thought those would be perfect.  Whoops - makes the bunks too narrow, so I had to add the elbows to widen the bunks - made the cart a little higher than I orginally intended, but worked out ok - wanted to make sure the rudder was way off the ground anyway.

Got the $4.99 deal on the wheels at HF - whole cart ran me around $25 - it doesn't collapse easy, but I wont be toting with me on the yak anyway.

SC

Here is my fishing buddy (he helped me out making the cart by chewing up all the pipe insulation - I was waving a piece of it at him when I took this pic)