Inflatable Kayak Blog

For those of us who don’t live in the sun belt, there’s a time of year when kayaking is not an option because of the weather conditions. We call it the “off season”. A customer, who lives in Michigan, recently purchased a PakBoat folding kayak hoping he might have time to get out on the water only to fall victim to an early rush of winter. He asked what to do about the new boat he received and I suggested that he should try to assemble it indoors just to see if all the parts are there and they fit together correctly. A quick inspection of the surface will also turn up any defects. That’s a good idea no matter what type of product you purchase in the “off season” or the “on season”. It’s always disappointing to get your inflatable or folding kayak or portable fishing craft (i.e pontoon or float tube) out to the water and find that you’re missing a small part like a valve cover or wing nut that might keep you out of the water. Check it out ahead of time. Also, especially in the case of a folding kayak or inflatable pontoon, it’s a good idea to practice the assembly so you know what to do when you’re ready to hit the water.

The “off season” is often a good time to buy a kayak because of manufacturer’s discounts, clearance pricing and holiday gift specials. But remember to check out your purchase before you use it. Most of the time everything fits together and all the parts are there. But, if not, you’ll be happy you inspected your purchase instead of standing on the shore wishing you had.

Often, in the process of shopping, there comes a time when I like to jot down the specs of the items I’ve been looking at so I can review them side by side. That way I can make a more educated decision when I finally make my purchase.

If you are shopping for any type of portable watercraft, most of that work is done for you at PortableKayaks.com. We’ve listed all our boats … inflatable kayaks, folding kayaks, inflatable fishing boats, pontoons and float tubes on our Product Comparison page. They are broken down into separate categories and all of the pertinent specs are listed in easy to follow charts. You’ll find the width, length, carrying weight, weight capacity, material specifications, assembly time and other important specs that you can use to make your decision. And every model number is linked to it’s full product page for easy navigation. So if you’ve been searching for a portable fishing craft or folding or inflatable kayak review page, check out the Product Comparison Charts at PortableKayaks.com.

Occasionally I get a question about the ways to find leaks in an inflatable kayak, pontoon or float tube.

Probably the best way to find a small leak in any type of inflatable bladder is to mix up some dish soap and water and spray it on the bladder, watching closely for bubbles where the air is escaping. It sometimes takes awhile to notice where the problem is, but it does work. I read somewhere that adding some glycerin to the soap solution will give you better “bubble retention”. The writer used a formula of 1/3 cup of dish soap, 1 tablespoon of glycerin and 1 gallon of water.

Another method is to fill the bladder completely and get into a large swimming pool with it, forcing it under water while looking for leaks. Only problem with this method is finding a large swimming pool you can put your inflatable kayak, pontoon or float tube into. But if you do, this method should work fairly well, too.

One other place to look for leaks is around the valves. Be sure that the valves are completely tightened. Then spray some soapy water around the valves themselves. There could be a slow leak there.

As an owner of an inflatable kayak, I’m often asked questions about the durability of the kayak while in the water. Do I have to avoid sharp objects? What are the chances of puncturing the hull while paddling? Well, I always try to avoid “objects” of any kind in the water. That’s just common sense paddling. However, even if I did hit something sharp, I’d be confident that my boat could handle it. One of the properties of water is that it makes everything slipperier, which in turn deflects some of the force. Also, the nature of an inflatable is that the surface area of the hull has some “give” to it, which also deflects the force of the impact.

The materials that inflatable boats are made of these days are strong. For example, Sea Eagle uses two types of material on their products, the 1000 Denier Polyester Reinforced Fabric that can stand up to a claw end of a hammer (see video below) and a Polykrylar material that isn’t quite as strong, but is still very dependable. Innova uses a 1200-denier Nitrylon™ fabric which is also very durable. I’m familiar with both these brands and I hear that most other current brands are durable as well. In fact many of the durability tests that manufacturers put their kayaks through include hitting them with sharp objects since that’s probably the major concern of most potential customers. Punctures may be a concern, but the most common way to damage an inflatable boat is by dragging it on the ground on a regular basis, especially on cement or gravel. That’s the kind of wear and tear that is much more likely to damage your kayak than occasionally bumping into something while in the water.

I’ve always said that if you use common sense when paddling, transporting and storing an inflatable kayak, boat or pontoon, you’ll keep it in good shape for years.

One of the most important things to do if you own a portable watercraft is to make sure that you dry it off well before putting it away, especially if it’s for a long period of time. The chances of having mold and moisture damage are more likely than picking up holes or punctures. Moisture can also cause nasty stains on the surface of your craft. The best part is that it’s easy to avoid moisture problems. During the season, if you’re using your craft fairly often (every week or so), you can get away with rolling it up without drying it completely. It’s still a good idea to wipe it down so there are no major damp areas, but a complete “dry down” isn’t necessary. When you put it away for a period longer than, say, 3 weeks, I’d recommend that you make sure it’s completely dry before rolling it up for storage. When I do a complete “dry down”, I’ll do my regular wipe down before packing the craft into my car for the ride home, then later open up the boat and wipe it down again. I’ll also leave it open for a day or so in a dry area to make sure there’s no moisture left before rolling it up for storage. It’s really not that much time and effort and the process will keep your folding kayak, inflatable kayak, inflatable pontoon or float tube in good condition for many years.

I suppose you might expect me to post a blog that involves an “April Fool’s” joke, today. And by telling you that Sea Eagle has discounted all of their packages from $50 to $150, you might think I was leading you on. But I assure you, that’s not the case. It’s no joke. They’ve decided to provide their own economic stimulus package to the paddling community with these discounts and dealers like us, at PortableKayaks.com, are following suit. All the Sea Eagle line is included; the 330 and 370 inflatable kayaks, the 340, 380 and 420 Explorer kayaks, PaddleSki catamaran style kayaks, FoldCat inflatable pontoons, inflatable fishing boats with motormounts and even the new Longboard stand up paddleboards. It’s being advertised as a “Spring” sale so I wouldn’t wait too long to check out the savings before it’s over. 

There were so many paddling opportunities at the “Open Air Demo’ at the 2008 Outdoor Retailer Show that we’re going to back track and review them individually.

The Sea Eagle PaddleSki is a catamaran style inflatable kayak. By ‘catamaran style’, I mean that the tubes on each side do not come together at each end. Unlike a pontoon, the PaddleSki is much narrower and easier to paddle. The first thing I noticed when I jumped on the boat was how much more stable it felt in relation to an inflatable kayak, Probably due to the separation of the tubes. I was on the 395ps PaddleSki. It’s the smaller of the two models offered by Sea Eagle. The other is the 435ps. Both models can be used in various ways. First of all, they can simply be paddled like a kayak. Then it gets interesting. Sea Eagle offers a sailing kit, a rowing kit, a fishing seat and a motor mount. They say it’s “five boats in one”.

The 395ps at the demo was equipped with the rowing kit. I grasped the oars, and after a brief explanation of rowing technique by Cecil Hoge from Sea Eagle, I was rowing, smoothly along the water. I tried rowing while sliding the rowing seat and while sitting still. Either way worked well. The hardest part for me was going backwards, as you do when rowing. I prefer paddling straightforward. I could tell, though, that the exercise benefits of rowing were more beneficial than strictly paddling. The additional leg exercise adds significantly to the overall benefits of paddling.

Over the next few days we’ll continue to post several blogs that will have specific information about more of the individual products we’ve tested and seen here at the 2008 Outdoor Retailer Show.

So, the start of the trip was probably the part that was the hardest. That feeling that I could not do it wouldn’t leave me, no matter what the instructor said to assure us.  I had never been in a kayak before and it just felt like I was getting in way over my head. But in actuality, once the first leg of the trip was through, the trip was more fun than difficult.  The pace wasn’t too fast, but it also wasn’t too slow to be boring. When I needed a rest, it seemed like everyone was on the same page and I never had to actually say I was tired. I’m thinking about getting a sea eagle kayak  for myself later this month.

The 2008 Outdoor Retailer Show began with the ‘Open Air Demo’, two days where manufacturers allow attendees the opportunity to paddle, ride and test out their products. Pineview Reservoir is about an hour away from Salt Lake City, so we decided to take the train. Utah has a really nice transportation system, originally developed to accommodate the Winter Olympics that were held here in 2002. The newest addition is the FrontRunner train. Our badges allowed us to ride free as far as Ogden, then catch a shuttle to the demo. The ride up was fun on the train, however we had a more scenic ride when we took the shuttle bus directly back to the city after the show.

By the time we arrived at the demo, the cloudy skies that began the day had changed to bright sunshine. The rest of the day was probably the hottest since we arrived and sunscreen and shady areas became a major part of the plan. The tents in the parking lot and on the beach made for a carnival like atmosphere and the water was filled with paddlers, motor boaters (farther out into the lake) and something we hadn’t seen before, people standing on surfboards while paddling them, most likely one of the newer products at the show. It was exciting to see everyone enjoying the day and the camaraderie.

Our main interest at the ‘open air demo’ was the Sea Eagle and Pakboat tents. Coincidentally they were located next to each other. We talked with John and Cecil Hoge from Sea Eagle as we had the opportunity to paddle the 340x Explorer Inflatable Kayak and the catamaran style PaddleSki for the first time. Alv Elvestad, the designer of the PakBoats was there helping us to test paddle the new Puffin models with their new color scheme and the new XT touring series, available in one and two person models. We’ll get more specific on both the Sea Eagle and Pakboats in some blogs over the next few days. Way too many things to talk about in one blog!
 
We also test paddled a new folding boat that was making it’s debut at the show, the K-Pak. Looks like we may have found an addition to our product line. I’ll get more specific on that one in another blog as well.

Over the next few days and into next week, we’ll post several blogs that will have specific information about the individual products we’ve tested and seen here at the show. The indoor portion of the show begins on Friday.

In two previous articles, I wrote about handling and transporting and proper inflation of your inflatable kayak (boat, catamaran, pontoon or float tube). The final step to keeping your inflatable boat in good shape is proper storage.

There’s more to storing your boat than just rolling it up after you use it. If you roll up the boat as soon as the trip is over and don’t do anything else to it until your next trip, you’re asking for trouble. If that next trip is several months away, the moisture that’s trapped inside can cause mold, mildew, and aggravation. The best way to counter that aggravation is to make sure your boat gets completely dried after each trip. Especially if you store your boat ‘long term’ outdoors in a shed where thawing and freezing can cause cracks to develop where the moisture has gathered. Moisture accumulates on the inside of your inflatable kayak tubes. It can get in through an open valve or through condensation on the inside of the tubes. This “inside tube” moisture is mainly a problem when you’re storing your boat deflated and rolled up for a long period of time. If there’s lots of moisture, use a wet-dry vacuum to suck it out. If there’s only a little moisture, leave your boat partially inflated for a few days in a low humidity area for a few days to dry out. Leave the valve caps off. Then roll it up and store it.

Storing your boat for a couple days to 3 weeks is less of a ‘project’. You can leave the boat about one-half inflated in your basement, garage or shed. Keep it away from direct sunlight and anywhere that water can get inside of it. This is a much easier method of storage and if you have the space to store the boat this way ‘long term’, it’s a sure way to keep it dry till your next use.