Inflatable Kayak Blog

This is the time of year when I often look past the Holidays toward the annual boat shows that usually occur when cabin fever is setting in. We journey out into the cold winter weather to look at all the neat new outdoor gear and those beautiful new fishing boats. Even though gas prices have gone back down (for awhile anyway), the current economic climate could still prohibit you from purchasing that new boat. One alternative to think about is the Sea Eagle inflatable boat with motor mount.

The reason I bring this up in advance of the boat shows is that Sea Eagle has discounted these boats to their lowest prices ever. They’re currently priced under $500 at most Sea Eagle retailers through the end of the year. These hardy, portable watercraft are a smaller version of the big expensive Zodiac style boats. They only weigh up to 56 pounds and they carry up to 1200 pounds. There are two versions, the SE-8 and SE-9 and both are easy to store and easy to transport. I know they won’t sit in your driveway and make your neighbors envious, but you and your friends can still catch some fish in them. And maybe not taking any up any driveway space isn’t so bad after all!

You might think that it’s a long and tedious process to pump up an inflatable kayak, pontoon or float tube every time you go out, but it’s really not that difficult or time consuming. People often say that’s why they wouldn’t own an inflatable boat, but when you compare the time it takes to strap the boat on top of a car or truck or deal with a trailer, spending 8 to 10 minutes inflating your kayak is minimal effort. The high-pressure bellows style pumps that come with most inflatable kayaks can really blow some air with very little foot pressure.

There are also electric inflatable boat pumps that can be hooked to vehicle batteries or plugged into cigarette lighter outlets that can speed the process up. They won’t do the whole job though. Electric pumps normally don’t inflate your boat completely. You’ll need to ‘top it off’ with your foot or hand pump.

No, this isn’t a blog about Brian Wilson and the boys’ recreational activities. According to Wikipedia, in Hawaii in the early 1960s, the “Beach Boys” of Waikiki would stand on their long boards and paddle out with outrigger paddles to take pictures of the tourists learning to surf. This is where the term “Beach Boy Surfing” originated. Nowadays, the sport is called Stand Up Paddle Surfing (aka: SUP) and it’s becoming quite popular. In regular surfing, you catch a wave and attempt to hop up on the board while on the wave. With SUP the goal is simply to stand on the board and propel yourself forward using your paddle. This makes the sport perfect for flat water, something that’s much easier to find and easy enough that most people are up and paddling within a half hour. The recent popularity of the sport is also attributed to surfers using SUP to train in the off-season. Stand up paddle surfing requires a heightened sense of balance and a strong core, which helps stabilize the board and maneuver it. What excites me is that inflatable SUP boards are now available for easy transport and storage.

I was looking out my window today and thinking how nice it would be if I could get out and pump up the inflatable kayak and do some paddling. It’s a nice sunny day but the temperatures are in the 30’s. Don’t think I’m going kayaking!

I decided instead to go online to check out some info about how to dress if I ever did ‘lose my mind’ and brave the colder weather. I came across this video posted by Louise Aidie, a kayak guide who was on a kayak expedition in the Artic (Brrrrrr). I though you might enjoy it. Now that’s what I call “Cold Weather Paddling!”

I’ve had a chance to start analyzing the Innova line of kayaks and one of the niftiest and most impressive one-person models is the Solar. It’s strictly recreational with a river rating of Class 1 (only small rapids, if any and basically no water danger). However, as you can see in the photo, the Solar is quite ‘at home’ in the surf.

At 24 pounds, the Innova Solar inflatable kayak is very portable and can be set up completely in 5 minutes. The boat is PVC free, made of the same rugged 1,200-denier Nitrylon™ material as Innova’s whitewater models. For a lower priced model that’s unusual. I guess that’s why Innova is considered one of the highest quality inflatable kayak manufacturers. The ten-foot Solar comes in its own airline carryon drybag/backpack and includes a removable tracking fin, adjustable footrest, and gear hold-downs. The only drawback is that it only comes in red, but hey … that’s a nice color and easy to see on the water!

The Sea Eagle FoldCat inflatable pontoon is an excellent choice for fishermen who have limited carry space but need a larger craft for fishing. We’ve heard from folks who tow a 5th wheel and can’t tow a boat behind, some who have limited truck bed space and others who simply didn’t want to carry a boat over their cab or car top. They all find that the FoldCat fits their needs perfectly.

The Sea Eagle FoldCat comes in 2 person and 4 person models which include swivel seats and something most inflatable pontoons don’t have, a full floor, that gives you more usable space allowing you to carry more gear. The floor also acts as a “safety net” to catch gear you may drop.

The best thing about the FoldCat is that it’s now on sale at it’s lowest price ever at PortableKayaks.com.

Early November and it is a beautiful fall afternoon. We won’t get many more nice days like this to get out in the kayak around this area so we took advantage of the beautiful sunshine and warm temperatures and put the kayak in at Buffalo Trace Park. I got a short leg workout as I did all the pumping with the kayak foot pump to inflate the kayak as we hurried to get it in the water before it got too dark. The lake was calm as glass and the reflection of the fall colors was spectacular! I had a hard time paddling, not because I was tired out from pumping, but because I was busy taking so many pictures. We barely had time to paddle around the small lake as the sun was sinking very low in the sky. I took a few more pictures and we packed up and headed home in darkness. What a great way to spend one of the last paddles of the year!

Inflatable kayaks generally ride higher in the water, mainly because of their buoyancy. Therefore, they tend to not track as well as a hard shell kayak. Innova inflatable kayaks, however, have a design that features bladders with a smaller circumference. This sleek Innova design allows them to track more similar to a hard shell than any other inflatable on the market. Innova also differs from most other inflatable kayaks by using a PVC free material on 9 of their 13 models. Their Nitrylon™ material is made of blends of natural rubbers.

Innova Inflatable Kayaks are made for touring and whitewater in solo and tandem versions. There are also 2 inflatable canoes. All the models are heavy duty, very portable and compact. We’re proud to add them to our product line at PortableKayaks.com.

If you’re thinking about building a houseboat then you are probably familiar with boats in general. And, if you’re not–you should be. The first part of your boat education should be about pontoon boats, because these boats are the basis for most house boats. A pontoon is used to support a floating structure utilizing closed cylinders like pipes or barrels. These supports are built to hold up a platform. A houseboat may be built on the platform.

Pontoon boats are cheaper to insure than other boats and are impossible to sink. The shallow draft of these boats protects them from underwater collisions and running aground. Pontoon boats are also popular as rental boats. They are available in the traditional versions and as an inflatable fishing pontoon, as shown in the picture.

Just thought I’d summarize our paddling adventures in Michigan from a couple weeks ago. We’ve been back home for a week but very busy getting caught up. This is my first chance to blog.

We had been writing about our paddles in the Keewenaw area and looking forward to more when we headed into Michigan’s lower peninsula. The picture shows how rough Lake Superior looked when we stopped near Harvey outside of Marquette on our trip downstate. That kind of nasty weather managed to change our plans for the rest of the trip. Daytime temperatures stayed below 50 and it rained most of time, but the worst part was the wind. It was nearly constant with some strong gusts and sure didn’t make us want to go outside to do much of anything. Even if we did want to brave the elements, inflatable kayaks are not the best performers under such extremely windy conditions so we just left it rolled up in the back of the van. The two days that were OK we’re days that we celebrated a mini family reunion and the last day of the trip when we were on the road on our long trip back home. It did turn out to be nice trip overall and we did see a few spots that we’re looking forward to paddling in when we return next year.