After careful consideration, we decided that a Hobie tandem boat
equipped with the "Mirage drive" (a system whereby one propels the
boat with foot-actuated levers in a "Stair-master"-style motion) was
right for us. Having used the boat for a few months, I suggest a few
items to consider.

I will neither pan the boat nor will I suggest that the Mirage drive
is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It is my opinion that it
has definite points of advantage over the paddle... fishing, for one.

The main point is that Hobie's "pedal or paddle" line should be "XOR"
( [A or B] and not both). When a person is on the pedals, then he or
she is in a poor position to use the paddle at the same time; to
paddle, one must come off the pedals and accept the parasitic drag of
the flippers. I suppose one could pull the drive out of the well;
however, then what? It masses about 3.5 kg and is shaped awkwardly
for stowage.

Another major point is that using the pedals rotates the person's legs
up six to eight inches. The elevated mass presents a significant
stability factor! One definitely notices it; further, it's harder to
heel the boat into a wave when the operator is in that recumbent
position.

For *our* needs, the Hobie tandem works well; my "stoker" is
handicapped and will never be able to heel the boat, thus we opted for
an ama rig. I installed toe controls for the rudder and built a skeg
that drops into the rear drive well. I leave the rear drive unit at
home because my wife likes the Mirage drive and I prefer the paddle.

The boat handles acceptably well under sail; however, as with all
multi-purpose devices, it performs none of them in a particularly
superior manner. I'm not disappointed with the boat; on the other
hand, I wasn't expecting a high performance hull. Were I planning on
venturing out into the vertical water, I doubt that I'd consider a
Mirage boat for the reasons given above.

Jones

On Feb 18, 1:33 pm, !Jones wrote:
After careful consideration, we decided that a Hobie tandem boat
equipped with the "Mirage drive" (a system whereby one propels the
boat with foot-actuated levers in a "Stair-master"-style motion) was
right for us. Having used the boat for a few months, I suggest a few
items to consider.

I will neither pan the boat nor will I suggest that the Mirage drive
is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It is my opinion that it
has definite points of advantage over the paddle... fishing, for one.

The main point is that Hobie's "pedal or paddle" line should be "XOR"
( [A or B] and not both). [...]

I would like to give one of these a try sometime but what happens in
shallow water? How resistant are the flippers to damage? Also it seems
totally strange that the flippers don't have a retracted or stowed
position.

On 20 Feb 2007 17:41:58 -0800, in rec.boats.paddle "Davej"
wrote:

I would like to give one of these a try sometime but what happens in
shallow water? How resistant are the flippers to damage? Also it seems
totally strange that the flippers don't have a retracted or stowed
position.

They're worth considering. In shallow water, you push one pedal all
the way forward folding the flippers against the hull and grab the
paddle. I'm guessing that, on impact with a hard object such as a
rock or submerged log, you'd probably damage the drive. You get
significant speed only when moving the pedals *fast*... there seems to
be a sharp drop-off as pedal speed is reduced.

My main gripe is that the user's legs are rotated upwards. Like I
said, I don't care for it; however, my wife likes hers.

Jones

I would like to give one of these a try sometime but what happens in
shallow water? How resistant are the flippers to damage? Also it seems
totally strange that the flippers don't have a retracted or stowed
position.


I know someone who uses one routinely on Pine Barrens Rivers here in NJ. In
shallow water I've seen him go over logs without incident. Evidently those
fins Do fold back under that kind of stress. Actually, I can't imagine that
Hobie would have designed a system that couldn't do that.
One disadvantage that might come up is that without a paddle you can't
easily brace so I would expect that you might be more prone to flipping...
FWIW, I should mention that that kayaker has only one arm so paddles aren't
the best option.

Joe P.

On Wed, 21 Feb 2007 06:06:46 GMT, in rec.boats.paddle "Joe Pylka"
wrote:

I know someone who uses one routinely on Pine Barrens Rivers here in NJ. In
shallow water I've seen him go over logs without incident.

I'm sure it can be done. You'd see the log, know when it would hit,
and pause the pedals for an instant in a retracted state until you
passed over it. It's my opinion that, if you plowed it into a hard
object, then you would usually damage the drive unit. Something
similar happened to the Titanic.

You're correct on the "bracing" issue; however, I usually pedaled with
a paddle in hand. (We finally installed an ama, so it's moot.)

My main gripe is that the moment of my body mass has rotated slifhtly
upwards.

Jones