Pt Defiance 4/30

Bailed on work to fish 11 before it closed. Jigging on the morning ebb. Kudos to the guys at Gig Harbor Fly Shop for giving me a loaner drive and a beer after busting my drive for the fourth time in 12 months on Saturday. Top notch guys over there. Pretty sure Hobie hates me though.

Fish hard.

Need to change your forum name to peddletohard! Nice catch.

Solid work! Hope I can score similar results tomorrow.

What parts are busting on your drive? Four times in one year is well outside the ordinary.

Solid work! Hope I can score similar results tomorrow.

What parts are busting on your drive? Four times in one year is well outside the ordinary.

Sheared off teeth of the sprocket three times, completely broke the idler cable once, this last one I think a roller bearing in the lower unit broke and messed up the entire drive. I keep a wrench in a tackle box and have to tighten up the nuts at least once during a trip. Talked with Hobie and they said I'm just on the extreme side of using the thing, and to just keep putting it in for warrenty. I crank the living shit out of it in heavy current and for long distances, it's really not made for what I'm doing to it. Hobies warrenty has been great I have no complaints with them or the drive really - I put 100x more stress on that drive, 100x more often, than grampa fishin on the lake.

Dang! When was the bite? I trolled there in my 14ft Livingston Coho special fromabout 9 to 10, not a nibble on my hoochie. Nice work, those are primo nookies.

I live over in Gig Harbor, and been watching the swarm of fishermen out there off Pt Defiance all week. At times you could probably walk across the whole place boat-hopping!

Work hard, have you ever thought about a Native with the prop drive? Might be more durable for you. Blake carries them at the GH Fly Shop too...

I live over in Gig Harbor, and been watching the swarm of fishermen out there off Pt Defiance all week. At times you could probably walk across the whole place boat-hopping!

Work hard, have you ever thought about a Native with the prop drive? Might be more durable for you. Blake carries them at the GH Fly Shop too...

I just replaced my upper transmission gears in mine, it’s an older unit and not treated WORKHARD .... I’m guessing he’d strip the teeth off before the warranty is up.

I live over in Gig Harbor, and been watching the swarm of fishermen out there off Pt Defiance all week. At times you could probably walk across the whole place boat-hopping!

Work hard, have you ever thought about a Native with the prop drive? Might be more durable for you. Blake carries them at the GH Fly Shop too...

Yup, the fishing was great over the weekend and word got out.

I really don't like the drag of a prop drive. My girlfriend has a Native Manta and I've tried it out a few times and absolutely cannot win against the current like my Hobie can. I hear it's pretty easy to strip out gears in that drive as well, my gf got hers used and the gears were stripped and I had to replace them - not fun.

I haven’t broken a Hobie drive in 5 years before I got the new drive with reverse and i’m on my 3rd warranty claim. Starting to think someone is being cheap on the design. I have a friend who only uses them as a backup now and uses a Suzuki 2.5 since he got so fed up waiting for parts. He does about 10 mph, with a tandem island.

On the Hobie drive, are there any warning signs to look out for that might give a clue that something is vulnerable to breaking?  I do almost all of my kayaking on the salt and rinse off the drive really well afterwards, but that drive breaking a couple miles from my take out or especially the shore and against the tide back would be a serious pain.  I can't lock the rudder in one position, so that means pulling it up....I would think a serious pain to paddle for any length of time.

mirage drive breaking 4 times in less than a year!!???   WTF!!

mirage drive breaking 4 times in less than a year!!???   WTF!!

Added up my tracks this past week just to see what kind of distances I'm doing... 40 miles kayaked Saturday thru Saturday.  I'm probably averaging 100-150 miles per month in the spring and summer.