Trying out a new toy ( for us)

C

Chief RA

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Nov 26, 2012
2,315
Catalina 250 Bodega Bay CA
Scott: Just trying to give an accurate on the water review for you and others. I have owned kayaks far longer than 15 years (inflatables) and cheaper is usually not wise. In my experience if its an inflatable and looks like 2 bananas tied end to end and open hull----beware! Putting a motor on one is not practical for the electric/battery or fuel motors. Now your back to using a dinghy. I use mine in the ocean as well and I want to be IN that kayak not on it! A single will roll up to about the size of a sleeping bag and easy to store and that is their great plus for sailboats and RV use. My best. Chief
PS: We have the Lagoon 2 and 1 man Express Elements models.
 
C

Chief RA

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Nov 26, 2012
2,315
Catalina 250 Bodega Bay CA
Scott: After reviewing the 2007 model it has 2 things I am not fond of. Inflatable floor and fold, not rollup storage concept. The Lagoon models have a thick rubber mat for a floor and rolls up. We like this as it keeps you safely down in the boat. Chief
 
flynhi4u

flynhi4u

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Oct 28, 2013
678
Hunter 20 Lake Monroe
John Tubb said:
Are these SUP, especially inflatable hard to use? We have my son's hand made canoe on our bow, it is only 28 lbs but is 12 feet long. So on the bow it goes from all the way forward to just before the forward head portal. He uses it around the marine and has followed us on the lake once when we were just putting around. Right now we take it off the bow before going out but I won't mind carrying it for longer trips then the few hours we have been going out.
Click to expand

John,
The answer to your question is rather hard to define as everyone has different levels of success wkth SUP's. We dont have any problem with them but some just cant do it at all. Cindy has even paddled her rigid board down a class two river with some fairly rough areas. I was impressed and I dont think I could have done that.
I am not sure I would have a sup as your sole means of a tender. Cindy really wanted one so that is why I got it for her. Plus it stores easily.
They are aot of fun and serve a purpose. They probably wont replace a dinghy or kayak on all aspects. If you have room for it and want one get one as they are super fun.

Sam
 
walt

walt

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Jun 1, 2007
3,511
Macgregor 26S Hobie TI Ridgway Colorado
Sam, that SUP looks interesting for buzzing around in a marina or mooring area. I was curious why you keep it stored at 5 PSI and is the 15 PSI a typo is that how high they operate..

I have an 11 foot two person Advanced Element inflatable that we can store up in the Vberth area of our Mac 26S and used it last year as a dingy - worked fine for that. The picture shows the inflatable kayak folded up and stored on the left side. Weight does matter here moving the kayak in and out of that area which is why its 11 foot and not longer. You have me thinking that I might need both the kayak to use as a dingy plus the inflatable SUP.. Might be getting cramped storing all of that.

We did have one problem with the Advanced Element two person kayak. The manual says to inflate the floor to only 1 PSI and the sides to 2 (or something like that). Anyhow.. I got that mixed up (DOH..) and over inflated the bottom and after a few days in the sun (floating off the back of the boat in the water), the floor tube section had some delamination of the sections inside the tube that hold its shape. The folks who I bought the kayak from replaced the floor tube free even though it was nearly a year before I got around to trying to get it fixed. I am more careful with the pressure in the bottom now.. overall I like the Advanced Element kayaks.

kayak1.JPG
 
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C

Chief RA

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Nov 26, 2012
2,315
Catalina 250 Bodega Bay CA
Walt: Sounds like you may know by now but when an inflatable kayak or dinghy is left inflated out in the sun it needs for you to let air out so it won't explode. I drop pressure down to inflated but soft to the touch and have never damaged any inflatable. FWIW Chief
 
JRT

JRT

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Feb 14, 2017
2,048
Catalina 310 211 Lake Guntersville, AL
Thanks for the feedback, we probably should look into trying them out first, I prefer the canoe and sit on top kayaks for our purpose right now as we so far have not need a dedicated tender. Depending on how this year goes for us will see what we want to do next year.
 
walt

walt

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Jun 1, 2007
3,511
Macgregor 26S Hobie TI Ridgway Colorado
Sounds like you may know by now but when an inflatable kayak or dinghy is left inflated out in the sun it needs for you to let air out so it won't explode.
Click to expand
After finding the kayak bloated one hot sunny day.. yep I know. The problem is if you are using it as a dingy. We were at Isthmus on Catalina Island on a mooring so the kayak was either tied up to a dock or to the boat for a bunch of days and was frequently used. That is exactly how it will get used again.. FYI, the kayak was always in contact with the water when I had this problem. I will always keep that bottom bladder just a little under the spec of 1 psi. The kayak does row a little nicer with higher pressure in the bottom however..
kayak1.JPG
 
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Scott T-Bird

Scott T-Bird

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Oct 26, 2008
6,086
Catalina 320 Barnegat, NJ
Thanks for the warning! Problem is that the yak will be used often to land on one side of the peninsula to get to the beach on the other side. Without shade to be found, it will probably be in a hot location for much of the time it is inflated.
 
heritage

heritage

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Apr 22, 2011
867
Hunter 27 Pecan Grove, Oriental, NC
We have a Sea Eagle tandem kayak and tried to use it as a tender for the sailboat. Found it was difficult to board from the stern ladder with any kind of wave action. We gave up and now use an inflatable dingy. The Sea Eagle is more suited for getting off the boat and having fun... barefooted and wearing a bathing suit. On the plus side, it is inexpensive, very light, well made, and comes with a nice storage bag.
 
walt

walt

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Jun 1, 2007
3,511
Macgregor 26S Hobie TI Ridgway Colorado
Using an inflatable kayak as a dingy isnt perfect.. Someone in their 20's.. no problem at all. We are a little over and a little under 60 and still find it works fine getting on and off the boat (an old 1990 Mac 26S) even in some chop but it probably helps that my wife is apparently OK with some hardship.. This picture is from a hike this spring.. I didnt hear a thing about how dangerous this was (and it was pretty dangerous).. we were just following a group. Maybe thats why no complaints on the kayak dingy LOL..

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flynhi4u

flynhi4u

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Oct 28, 2013
678
Hunter 20 Lake Monroe
Walt,
I only store it blown up in the winter. I pump it up to 1 psi in the winter and hang it up out of the way in tbe basement. It rolls up really tight in the bag and I just personally feel better about long term storage inflated a bit. So far so good.
Yes, it inflates to 15 psi when you use it. They show a pic of it inflated with the bow amd stern on chairs and a 200 lb person standing on it with no flex. It does become very rigid when inflated to 15 psi.
We are spending the night aboard tonight, full moon, and Cindy is really looking forward to paddling her board around this evening. She will come back with a fish report as standing on the water is a great way to spot all the fish.

Sam
 
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D

DAVA390

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Jul 13, 2010
1,097
Precision 23 Perry Hall,Baltimore County
And now...I look at 2 kayaks with this phone and now getting pop-up up adds for every one made under the sun!! TMI...
 
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walt

walt

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Jun 1, 2007
3,511
Macgregor 26S Hobie TI Ridgway Colorado
Now Im not feeling at all bad at my way off topic hiking picture LOL.. Sam, thanks for that info. Looks like the two stage 12V pump would also be good to have with that SUP and 15 PSI.. I can imagine that also being fun when you have a boat in slip.. sometimes go to the marina and just take the SUP out, always leave it stashed in the boat rolled up. I have never tried a SUP before so some hesitation in buying one.
 
flynhi4u

flynhi4u

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Oct 28, 2013
678
Hunter 20 Lake Monroe
Walt,
I would suggest renting a rigid board somewhere where the water is flat and trying it out for the first time. My first try was in 2 foot waves in Lake Michigan. It did not go well at all. The next time was in a small lake, water like glass. Was totally comfortable on it in less than five minutes.
The wider and longer the board the more stable it will be. Cindy's inflatable is no where near as stable as her rigid board but like I said I can fly fish off of it. Once you find your balance point and relax they are great fun.
But I would highly recommend you try one before you buy one. We are headed to the lake now. Come on over and give it a go!
Please dont tell the Admiral that I posted this but here is a video of Cindy and myself trying to paddle board at Empire MI last summer on our honeymoon. The wind was howling 25 plus and the waves kept building. We both said the water was flat when we got this idea. By the time we got back it was far from flat!
Cindy is on her inflatable and I am on a rigid board I rented from the surf shop. Lets just say we both got a whole new level of respect for surfers. Enjoy the laughs. GoPro makes one tuff little camera LOL!


Sam
 
walt

walt

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Jun 1, 2007
3,511
Macgregor 26S Hobie TI Ridgway Colorado
I went ahead and bought an inflatable SUP and tried it out today for the first time at 8600 ft elevation in Colorado. I was very pleased and the inflatable aspect is going to be nice for using it with the sailboat. Pictures are all from this morning. Only bad news is that I have carbon paddle envy now and also need a 12 volt two stage pump..

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flynhi4u

flynhi4u

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Oct 28, 2013
678
Hunter 20 Lake Monroe
Glad to hear that you like it Walt and great pics! Those carbon paddles are sweet!

Sam
 
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