Dont know kayaks at all ,but thinking sbout 2 person sea eagle inflatable as a dingy for our Precision 23.Anyone have one, thoughts, Reviews?
Sea Eagle inflatable kayak,opinions?
- Thread starter DAVA390
- Start date
they are too tippy to get into and out of from the boat and they will be a wet ride in even slightly choppy water... I will agree they can be a fun toy to paddle around and explore the shoreline when the weather is nice, but as a dinghy, NO WAY.... as unwieldy as the sea eagle 4-man inflatable boats are, it would come closer to what you need in a dinghy then the plastic inflatable kayak... they are kids toys, and NOT the adult tools that we have to depend on when we need them... if a little, unreinforced plastic toy boat is what you think you need as a dinghy, its highly probable that you dont need a dinghy at all....
if its a warm weather toy that you want to paddle around in, they can be fun.... go for it!
if its a warm weather toy that you want to paddle around in, they can be fun.... go for it!
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Well it's obvious you don't have one and haven't really spent any time paddling a Sea Eagle 370. If you inflate the bottom enough, and you can't over inflate it, (if you keep pumping the hose will pop out before it will over inflate) and when you are done, I can stand in the kayak while holding onto the boat. We have paddled miles in the kayak. Is it more tiring after 2 miles than a hard-shell? Yes. Will it get you there? Absolutely. Is it much easier to paddle than rowing a hard-shell dinghy? I sure think so. By the way, the more expensive and stiff Sea Eagle kayaks are rated for white water.
I own 4 of them.... for for use in the river.
its true they float and can move you from place to place, but a "dinghy/tender" to a larger boat usually needs to be a bit more substantial.... yes, the inflatable kayaks can be fun, and I would suppose if you are young and willing to take a bit riskier approach to getting to shore and carrying groceries back, it may work for you.... but when you get older and wiser, you learn things
...as for being easier than rowing a hard shelled dinghy, that depends on the shape you are comparing to... paddling an inflatable kayak next to a hard shell kayak, the hard shell will win every time... the "affordable" have their uses, but as a dinghy to a larger boat, they will usually fall short of the expectations...
We have a 370. Works great. For a dingy, we have an 8 ft Portabote. For hauling stuff to shore, like our bikes, the Portabote works best. For our current trip up to the North Channel, we left the Portabote home this time, and are just talking the sea eagle 370. Should be more fun up here where we're just paddling around anchorages.
We used a 13 foot advanced element two person kayak as a dingy for nearly a week. Worked fine for us but that answer would depend a lot on who is asking. You have to be a slightly more athletic getting between the boat and the kayak. Two things I really liked.. I had something to paddle and we stored the deflated kayak in the boat for sailing.
I got a great deal on a very highly rated inflatable kayak and thought it would be a perfect way to get some exercise as a second dink. I HATED it! Not only was it totally unsuitable for any bay with a little bit of wind and chop, my butt was always wet! No way I could carry groceries or boat parts without some form of waterproof container which there really isn't room for.
I'm with Centerline. Too tippy for reliable boarding from a sailboat, especially in an anchorage or mooring field.
We bought an Advanced Elements 2 person to be used as a stowable kayak/dinghy dual purpose. Pumped it up, put it in the water, I got in with a little too much momentum, and it rolled like a log. Wish I had video.
Returned it. No way wife was going to get in it.
Bought a zodiac. Stable as can be, like most inflatable dinghies. Can fall into it no problem.
So the AE might make a decent and stowable kayak, but lousy dinghy. Sea Eagle might be different, but I'd suspect similar results.
We bought an Advanced Elements 2 person to be used as a stowable kayak/dinghy dual purpose. Pumped it up, put it in the water, I got in with a little too much momentum, and it rolled like a log. Wish I had video.
Returned it. No way wife was going to get in it.
Bought a zodiac. Stable as can be, like most inflatable dinghies. Can fall into it no problem.
So the AE might make a decent and stowable kayak, but lousy dinghy. Sea Eagle might be different, but I'd suspect similar results.
I bought a cheap inflatable "dinghy" for our 23, from Dicks sporting goods - cost maybe 50 or 60. My use was to get a one person a short distance, maybe 150 feet, from the shore to our moored boat at a marina on a lake, so I did not have to use their rowboat and then have to return it to the dock. No big waves, no traveling from port to port, no carrying of gear or second person. On first test, the inflatable floor was way too soft to support me while standing to get on the swim platform. This is the cheap welded plastic, not Hypalon or anything like that, and can't be pumped up to high pressure (well, not without bursting it).
I made a wood floor for it, using some scrap 1/2 in planks. 1/4 probably would have worked. I used some of the pink foam panels that are used for home insulation to glue up (using polyurethane glue) a seat to insert on the floor and across the tubes.
That worked fine for my intended purpose. Keep in mind I was not cruising, so left the tender and floor and seat etc. on my mooring so did not have to worry about stowing it on the boat (though you could get clever and make some sort of a floor that could be knocked down into pieces).
I bought a 120v inflator, as the marina we used had an outlet near where I launched it, so that was always easy. Also bought a 12v model so if needed I could top it off using the boat 12v outlet.
If I were going from port to port and had to row longer distances to get from moorings to dock, and with waves, I would not have been happy with it, so it depends on how dava390 wants to use it.
I made a wood floor for it, using some scrap 1/2 in planks. 1/4 probably would have worked. I used some of the pink foam panels that are used for home insulation to glue up (using polyurethane glue) a seat to insert on the floor and across the tubes.
That worked fine for my intended purpose. Keep in mind I was not cruising, so left the tender and floor and seat etc. on my mooring so did not have to worry about stowing it on the boat (though you could get clever and make some sort of a floor that could be knocked down into pieces).
I bought a 120v inflator, as the marina we used had an outlet near where I launched it, so that was always easy. Also bought a 12v model so if needed I could top it off using the boat 12v outlet.
If I were going from port to port and had to row longer distances to get from moorings to dock, and with waves, I would not have been happy with it, so it depends on how dava390 wants to use it.