Quote:
Originally Posted by rvonkaenel
Very nice post. I see you have pontoons on your kayak. I rolled my Hobie Compass the other day outside of Dana Point harbor. Lost a $300 Avet. After that experience I am thinking about the pontoons. Do you like them and do you feel they really make a difference? Thanks for any feed back.
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Sorry to hear about the Avet
. Its not a bad idea to consider having leashes on all your gear, even if you're not just launching and landing.
I do have the pontoons or as hobie calls them "
sidekick ama kit" I do like them and they will help to stabilize the kayak noticeably.
I have the Revo 16 which is the narrowest kayak that hobie makes. The width is 27.5˝. But I am very comfortable with a skinny boat (You can learn balance, but you can't make a big kayak fast) and I only use them when I'm sailing. I have sailed without, but if a large gust hits and I am not paying attention or have the main sheet tacked down, things can interesting, especially with all my gear out.
I mounted mine in the front to act like a trimaran and it works very well for sailing and Im fine when I fish like that, but not the best location if you're only using them when fishing. I would recommend mounting in the rear. They have three positions: high, mid and low so you can adjust your stability and minimize the drag in the water. They are also pretty easy to mount, store and blow up easy by mouth. I would suggest if you consider them to also look at through mounting options versus the included wellnuts. Plenty of resources on the hobie forum.
Good luck and cheers!