Inflatable Kayak Blog

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.