Hobie Mirage i12s User Manual

Hobie Mirage i12s

Welcome to the Hobie Way of Life

Thank you for choosing a Hobie Mirage Inflatable Kayak. As a member of the
Hobie way of life, you are now on the road to pure adventure in pedaling and

paddling. This owner’s manual is designed to help you get maximum enjoyment

from your new Hobie kayak. But more important, it is designed to help you use

it safely. The content of this manual covers all inflatable Mirage kayaks.

1

About the Design of your Kayak

Hobie Mirage i14t w/ Sail

Sit-on-top Cockpit

Hobie Mirage kayaks are open-top cockpit designs. This
allows the kayaker to enter and exit the kayak easily from
the shore, dock or water. Scupper hole(s) make the kayak
self-bailing. The design also eliminates the need to perform

an “Eskimo roll” (advanced kayak technique).

Scupper Hole(s)

Drain holes (scuppers) in the cockpit or cargo well will allow
any water that enters the cockpit to immediately flow back
out.

Patented Inflatable Hull Design

The Hobie Mirage Inflatable line of kayaks uses a patent
pending drop stitch construction to give performance that is
comparable to a hard shell kayak. The black material along
the bottom is stretched tightly to give you a fair hull shape
for maximum performance. It is important to know that the

bottom surface creates a bilge area inside the kayak that
can collect water if punctured, but the kayak will not sink.
See the draining instructions later in this manual.

Maneuverability

All Inflatable Mirage Kayaks come with the (patented) Twist
and Stow rudder system which comes pre-installed by our
factory. This new rudder is designed to flip out of the way
during land transport. It has an optional larger rudder blade
for more turning authority with the kayak sailing option.

Durable PVC Construction

Hobie Inflatable kayaks are made from a durable PVC to
continue Hobie’s tradition of quality, long-lasting products
that will give you years of enjoyment.

2

Inflating Your Hobie Mirage Kayak

Follow the instructions below for valve operation and correct
inflation and deflation procedures.

Valve Operation Your kayak is equipped with three differ­ent chambers that need to be inflated. All of the valves are
located near the rear of the boat. There is one valve on each
of the tube sides and one valve on the floor.

To close off the valve for inflation, make
sure that the center valve pin is in the "up"
position. If it is in the "down" position,
press down on the valve pin and turn it
counterclockwise until it pops up.

To open the valve for deflation, press
down on the valve pin and turn it clock­wise so it locks down. Be careful of any

sand or debris around the valve area
when deflating as small particles could
become airborne with the release of air
pressure!

Always lock the valve cover over the
valve stem when in use. This will prevent
accidental air release and entrance of any
particles into the air chambers.

Kayak Inflation Steps

1. Make sure that all of the valves are in the closed position
(valve pin up) so they hold the air inside the tubes.

2. Open up the forward hatch on the firewall.

3. Press the pump nozzle into the valve receptacle.

4. Start pumping air into the kayak
chamber by sliding the pump piston
in and out. Start by inflating the floor
first, then the tube sides. If you can
pick up one end of the kayak with the
other end on the ground and the kayak
does not buckle, the floor is properly
inflated. The tube sides should be
inflated until all wrinkles are smoothed
out of the exterior surfaces.

Tip: If the pump piston starts to
squeak, apply some spray silicone on
the piston shaft.

Hold
pump
here

3

Kayak Deflation Steps

1. Open up the forward hatch on the firewall.

2. Clear any water or debris out of the valve areas.

3. Slowly press down on the valve stem to start letting air out
of the kayak. There will be an initial burst of air, but that will
slow down very quickly. Once the air flow has slowed down,
press the valve stem all the way down and turn it clockwise
to lock it into the "open" position.

4. Follow this same procedure with all of the chambers.

Inflation Tips and Precautions

· The boat can be inflated either with our hand pump or an

electric pump. The electric pump can inflate the boat to a
moderate pressure and save a lot of time with about 90%
of the required air volume. You will need to use your hand
pump to inflate the chambers to the correct pressure.

· Do not use an air compressor. Damage to your boat
caused by over inflation from an air compressor is not cov­ered by your warranty.

· After 2 or 3 days there may be a small decrease of pres­sure due to temperature change. If so, add a few pumps of
air to each chamber.

· Before undertaking a long trip, inflate the boat for a full 24
hours to be sure all chambers are completely airtight.
If you are seeing a consistent decrease in air pressure, fol­low the instructions for leak detection in the kayak repair
section of this manual.

· Do not over-inflate the kayak. A pressure of 3-5 PSI is
adequate if you have a pressure gauge. The easiest gauge
of a good working pressure is to have the chambers inflated
to a firm pressure when you press on them.

· Do not pump to a high pressure and let the kayak sit out
in the sun. If the kayak is going to be in a warm environ­ment, slightly under-inflate the chamber and allow the heat
from the sun to increase the internal chamber pressure.
When kayaking, the colder temperature of the water may
cause a slight loss in chamber pressure. It is a good idea
to carry a pump with you so that you can add some air to
the chambers if necessary.

· If you notice that the bow area is sunken in when inflat­ing, make sure that the forward Twist&Seal Hatch is open to
prevent a vacuum from building inside the bilge area.

4

Kayak Features

Bilge Draining
As mentioned earlier,
it is important to know
that there is a bilge
area between the bot­tom surface the tubes.

If water collects in this
area the kayak will feel
heavy and you will hear water sloshing around; it will need
to be drained. On the right corner of the firewall is a drain
plug. Simply lift up the kayak and rotate it toward the drain
hole to drain the kayak. To prevent moisture build-up in the
kayak, leave the front hatch open to allow the interior to get
fresh air and dry.

Seat Adjustment

To hold the seatback to
the floor of the kayak,
there are three padeyes
that are used as anchor
points. Notice that there
are three lengths of web­bing with hooks on the
end. Clip those to the padeyes and tighten up the webbing
straps to hold the seat securely in place. This webbing sys­tem allows you to adjust the fore and aft location of the seat
to accommodate both tall and short paddlers in addition to
the adjustment of the pedals on the drive.

Rear Draining Scuppers

Located just behind the seat on the
i12s and behind the rear most seat
on the i14t are two draining scup­pers. These will allow any water to
drain if it collects near your seat bot­tom. Pull the plug out of the tube to
allow water to drain. If you have the
kayak loaded heavily with passen­gers and gear, you may want the plug in the tube to prevent
water from surging up into the kayak.

Plug in Cart

To make transportation from
your car to the water a breeze,
there are transport wheels
available. The two prongs of
the cart plug into two receiv­ers located on the bottom of
the plastic Mirage well. The
cart scuppers are designed to handle relatively light loads
and smooth rolling. Rough terrain and jumping over curbs

could result in damaging the Mirage well.

5

Rudder Operation

Steering Operation and Adjustment

On the left side of the
kayak is a steering
handle which turns the
rudder left and right.
When in use, place
your hand on the disk
and rotate the tab left
and right to turn the
rudder.

The left steer­ing control
line is tied off
at the screw
here.

Up/Down Rudder Control

Located just to the right of the seat are two T-handles which
control the up and down motion of the rudder. Pull on the red
handle to raise the rudder and the green handle to lower the
rudder. Once the rudder is in the desired position, run the
black line into the cleat to hold it in position.

The right steering
control line passes
up through the hole
here and is tight­ened down with
the small screw
alongside it.

6

Hobie Mirage Drive

Drive Assembly

The Hobie Mirage Drives for the inflatable kayaks have the
pedal cranks removed from the drums and can be done in
the future for more compact packing. The following steps will
guide you in how to install the pedal cranks.

1. Locate the pedal that has a
number followed by the letter "R"
on the backside of the pedal. This
is the right pedal. Squeeze the
adjuster handle and slide the end
of the pedal crank into the slot on
the right drum.

2. Align the hole in the crank
so that you can slide the bolt all
the way through the outer part
of the drum and the crank. Use
the wrench provided with this kit
to thread in the bolt. Tighten the
bolt so that it is snug, but not so
tight that it prevent the crank from
moving back and forth to allow for
adjustment.

3. Follow this same procedure with the left pedal.

Drive Installation/Removal

1. Insert the Hobie Mirage Drive into the
opening of the hull in front of the seat
location so it is facing forward. The front
of the Mirage Drive can be determined by
the location of the fin masts. The forward
edge is illustrated to the right.

2. As you drop the drive straight
down into the hole, it will automati­cally lock into place when the spring
loaded cams snap over the steel
Mirage drum shaft. Pull up on the
drive when you think it is installed
just to make sure that the cams are
securely locked.

3. To remove the drive from the
kayak, flip back the locking cam on
both sides of the Mirage Drive and
pull the drive out.

7

Stainless
Steel Masts

FORWARD