Thinking about inflatable Kayaks

Ted

Ted

The pilot formerly known as Twin Engine Ted
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On our last RV trip one of the activities we did was white water rafting, which all of us thoroughly enjoyed - even one of our daughters who tends to be on the more timid side. Then at another stop we rented a couple of kayaks to go paddle around a lake, which we also all enjoyed. Well the boy got frustrated some but him being annoyed is like the sun rising in the morning.

Although we'd thought about it before, we figured that this solidifies that we should add some kayaks to our fleet. We definitely don't expect we know enough about this to do any kind of significant white water stuff without a guide (Class 1, maybe 2, only), and so we're figuring calmer rivers and lakes for the use. While we expect we'll want to upgrade at some point, we're figuring we want something that's more in the beginner section, but not wanting to buy junk. We want inflatable mostly because of storage. We can fit that in a bay of the RV.

There are 5 of us - boy is 8 (soon 9), girls are 6 (soon 7). We're figuring two kayaks to start that can have one of us and the boy or the girls in. The boy will likely graduate to his own in another year or two.

A friend of mine who's an avid kayaker/outdoorsy guy and does more significant white water stuff said that he sees a lot of people with the Sea Eagle 370 inflatable kayak. It looks like a good middle ground price point between the super cheap Amazon stuff and the more expensive better stuff. But I'm curious what others think or if there are other suggestions since I know nothing about kayaks.

One thing looking at the Sea Eagle website that caught my attention was their optional sail kit. This is interesting to me as we like sailing and that's something else that we'd like to do more of. Plus on windy days at lakes, it would be nice to be able to have the sail help us to get to further reaches. We had fun kayaking on the one lake, but it was a windy day and so it was hard to go very far. Said friend told me not to bother with that sail since it was designed for tailwinds only (and wouldn't have helped). But I am wondering if there are any options out there that can do tacking and might work.
 
I would recommend a foldable kayak rather than an inflatable. Years ago I had an inflatable (high end one too) that frankly just didn't work very well. It didn't have a big enough keel so you had no directional control. It also did not hold up well getting dragged and carried around and suffered several punctures. The foldable ones are very pricey but you got more benefits and maintain the small light package.
 
In my experience, inflatables tend to be a lot slower for the same paddling effort, and a lot harder to paddle upstream.
 
I have a Sea Eagle Fast Track 385. In many ways it’s a great craft. It has both an inflatable keel and a skeg, so it tracks really well. It’s not quite as fast as a hard shell, but it’s ok for the kind of paddling I do. Plus it’s much more comfortable than any hardshell I’ve been in. Two downsides… first it takes awhile to set up & inflate, and when you’re finished you have a slimy, drippy kayak that you have to shove in the trunk of your car. Second - despite normal use, I ended up with 3 punctures & a burst seam over six years of life. Some of that can be patched, but you should best consider them as “disposable” after a number of years.
 
We are definitely looking at these as disposable after a period of time. The slimy part doesn’t bother us so much, they’ll be going in under bay storage in the RV.
 
I backed a kickstarter, Origami Paddler, which is a kayak/paddleboard (can be used for either). It folds in thirds. Have no idea why I made this impulse buy! I have not gotten it yet as there have been some delays due to parts availability and a decision to change the hinge supplier. The people who have received them seem satisfied. Some hinges were damaged in shipping but they have been quick to ship replacement parts and now they are going to a new hinge supplier. I think they are assembled in Kansas. The setup is much faster than an inflatable. If you preorder now, you wouldn't get it until kayak season is over, though. They have a FB group (I know you don't do FB), and seem very responsive to suggestions/complaints.
 
My dad loves his Sea Eagle. Not sure which model he has but he got it a few years ago and is very happy with it and their customer service.
 
Ted said:
But I am wondering if there are any options out there that can do tacking and might work.
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Sailing upwind will require some kind of lee board and rudder in addition to a mast / sail. You also get a lot of side loading so you would need a strong mount for shrouds.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
Sailing upwind will require some kind of lee board and rudder in addition to a mast / sail. You also get a lot of side loading so you would need a strong mount for shrouds.
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Good points. Ok, best to forget s out that fit this round.
 
Since you're already talking about sailing, what about taking up windsurfing? Longboards are pretty easy to learn on and sail, and are as portable as folding kayaks.
 
Used a kayak with a rudder last weekend. Just like taxiing a plane. Pointed the nose in the right direction and paddled away normal rhythm. Loved it. You can also go rudderless if you wanted in that kayak.

Also, lotsa cheap inflatables at Rural King, if you wanted something to use just a few times.
 
We had 13ft plastic kayaks for almost 29 years that we've been very happy with. Very stable boats flat water boats with a good amount of keel.

Did a group paddle day once years ago and one of the group brought an inflatable. Her boat sat about twice as high out of the water as every one else's boat and seemed to have almost no keel. When we got into any kind of open area where the breeze could hit the water level, she struggled to keep her boat from turning sideways into the wind.

Like I said, that was years ago, maybe inflatables are better now? But if you're going to buy, I'd make sure you get something designed to sit down 'in' the water instead of on top of it and something that forms a good keel line if such a thing exists in inflatable form.
 
I haven't done inflatable kayaks, but was into fishing kayaks before kiddos arrived. If there is an option for "sit on top" vs "sit inside" with inflatable, you will want sit on top. They are much harder to 'swamp' and just in general are easier to deal with than a sit inside. The sit insides are great for longer tours or if you're doing whitewater and have a good skirt. I've had my 12' Manta Ray in some fairly decent rapids on the 'Hooch and Flint rivers and even with water coming over the nose, it never swamped.
 
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Bill said:
These look nice! Not cheap, but nice!

https://www.orukayak.com/
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"Not cheap" is an automatic disqualifier in this case. Not that the SE370s are super cheap (looking at something around $350 each), but I don't want to be spending close to (or more than) $1k for each kayak. We're newbies at this, would rather get something appropriate for that. Plus inflatable is easier to store and we have a built in air compressor on the bus.
 
I've looked into the inflatable vs foldable kayaks, and unfortunately, it seems to be a "get what you pay for" situation...with the inflatables not nearly as useable, or as durable, as the foldable ones. Of course, I have yet to buy/use either, so there's that. I'd like one for the plane to take places like North Fox Island.
 
Multiple points here:

Renting, you get the type hull and stability needed for the local conditions.

Renting, you get a durable and safe hull that is not going to get a hole and deflate.

Renting, you are not folding and storing a wet watercraft in the lockers, needing a repack at home after drying, and drying out the locker.

Renting, the are even likely to put them in the water for you.

Renting, we have parked at the facility, rode miles up the Shenandoah River in a school bus with a trailer load of canoes, launched, and spent the day traveling back to the facility.
Get back in our transportation, and go. 2 hour, half day, and whole day distance options.

Renting, they are required to provide all the safety equipment that the local laws require.

A friend bought a name brand inflatable dinghy, with sectional paddles. He used it once, hated it, and gave it to me. I thought that it would fit my occasional needs, inflated it in the yard, tried the paddle coordination, and never used it. Too awkward, as he had told me. Worth just as much as I paid, zero.

I had previously paddled an Air Force life raft, much stronger, just as awkward geometry.

I have rented canoes, kayaks, catamarans and sailing surfboards. They each worked fine for where I used them, and were very cost effective.

Our extended family has had 2 canoes, and 2 kayaks, all hard, and they have served well, for two generations, and still in use.

I did buy a sailing surfboard, but only after finding just what worked where I had been renting, since we return there at least once a year. Rugged, reliable, and near indestructible, sailed 20 or 30 days in the Atlantic Ocean, and more times that that in other bodies of water.

The really high dollar inflatables are very much better than the inexpensive ones, but they are hardly suitable to use and discard.

Additionally, if there are any wood walls or floors in your cargo bins, you will be introducing not just water, but active rot inducing bacteria, which you will never get completely out
 
@geezer I get all the points/benefits of renting. We did two rental-type trips. One was white water rafting (they had inflatable rafts). Like you mentioned, park at the facility, ride in a school bus up the road a ways, get on the water for a couple hours with an experienced guide who knows the river and water. Certainly do more than we would've been comfortable doing ourselves. Then come back. Good experience, protective gear was uncomfortable at best. The helmets caused a bad headache for me.

Second was renting some hard kayaks. Equipment was at best in fair condition (poor is more accurate). Took a long time to get launched because, despite being the only customers there, they forgot about us. Nice folks but poor customer service. Sort of a wildcard.

We'd definitely want to do some more of the white water rafting rentals. But in between there are a lot of bodies of water we'd like to have fun with, including some local ones.
 
Have you looked at pack rafts? Since I've gotten into western/backcountry hunting the past few years, my YouTube playlists have shifted over into that realm and I see some of those guys packing in inflatable rafts on their backs that they use to float out of canyons on glacier streams up in AK.

Something like this: https://shop.gohunt.com/products/uncharted-supply-co-rapid-raft

These may be one and the same with what you're looking at, but maybe another genre to applications to search through.
 
Ted said:
Second was renting some hard kayaks. Equipment was at best in fair condition (poor is more accurate). Took a long time to get launched because, despite being the only customers there, they forgot about us. Nice folks but poor customer service. Sort of a wildcard.
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You wouldn't let poor service from one FBO put you off ever again using any FBO. Why do the same for one Kayak rental?
 
Ted, I do get the potential issue with less than the best rental places.

My only bad one was a Government facility that I rented a pair of canoes from, to be used at a lake 20 miles away, also government owned, with no rental facility.

They had a written requirement that I leave my drivers license, not a copy of it, in their possession until I returned the canoes.

What to do if stopped by a police officer? Tell him it was at the rental location, they should accept my rental receipt and possession of the canoes as proof of holding a valid drivers license. The only compromise the were willing to do was copy the license, and give me that to present to any officer.

Fortunately, I was not stopped, as my state has a law on the books that a copy of a license is not valid for any interaction with any government agency.
 
Long time Sea Eagle user...

I have found the 330 and 370 to be just above the toy class. They are a lot of fun, especially for kids. You won't want to paddle far in them.
The fast tracks (385 and 465) have smaller, higher pressure sides and a semi-ridgid floor, along with the above mentioned skegs. Very stable, and I have found them to track well. They do not paddle as easily as a rigid kayak.
The razorlite are closest to a rigid kayak. The bottom and both sides are high pressure drop stitch material, almost rigid. Faster than the 385/465 but less stable.

My wife and I own a 385 and a 473 razorlite. I like the 473, she likes the 385. The 473 is less stable and makes her nervous unless the water is calm.

The sailing rig is a pretty simple sail. You can only run downwind or a very minimal broad reach. No beam reach or close haul. So you really need to plan your trips so you first paddle upwind and then sail back. It can move you at a pretty good clip and you can cover some distance, so it's best to not sail downwind half the day and then try to paddle back.

The 385 is the one we have had the longest, 7 years. It is probably used 8-10 times a year. No punctures so far, seems to be holding up well. The 330/370 have a less durable fabric.

We keep the back seat removed in our 172 and the two of us travel all over the place kayaking. Plenty of room for luggage / camping gear, and either kayak. We couldn't do this with rigid boats.
 
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@Kevin Holbrook thanks for the excellent PIREPs above. That gives us some good food for thought. It looks like (not surprisingly) the nicer ones you mention and own come at a significantly higher price tag. We need to discuss more, but it seems like the 370s might be a good starting point for us and then invest in something better once we see what we really want.

I'm surprised nobody has responded to this thread with the obvious answer: Bonanza! :)
 
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