Hey back at ya, 227! Looks like we can welcome each other to the forums.
How many trips have you made with your Seahawk so far? Have you seen a need to make any changes or upgrades yet? From your pics, looks like you use the oars fairly often as well as the trolling.motor. Has everything held up so far with no leaks or floor issues?
I joined after reading the Intex Mariner 4 Megathread. I was already well into my own Seahawk 4 build, but I robbed a few of the many ideas presented there.
My wife Sandy got the Seahawk 4 for us as a 30th anniversary gift along with the matching motor mount and 40-pound trolling motor. I'd already researched inflatables and DIY boats of all types about a year ago, so I'd seen what people were doing with low-cost inflatables. From that, I knew a floor was a must, and it just sorta grew from there.
Tomorrow will be its maiden voyage and we haven't even seen it put together with all the latest mods I've done. Right now it's all packed in the Rodeo SUV for our first big adventure away from the weedy and shallow shores!
I have a few pics from an early mockup I'll try to attach. I went with a 3/8" one-piece floor using good quality plywood. One piece instead of sections for greater strength with the thinner ply. I ripped the leftover part of the 4x8 sheet in two and used Gorilla Glue to attach them beneath the main floor for added thickness and support. This makes it 3/4" thick along these doubled layers. It's fully carpeted both sides and wrapped around the edge. I made a removeable ring of pipe insulation for the edge, but I think with carpet wrapping the well-sanded and painted plywood, I'll be OK without it, but it's coming along if needed.
Initially, I'd planned for a 1" thick sheet of "pink panther" foam sheathing for protection of the boat floor as well as added flotation. This ended up being too thick. The local hardware only had this in stock as their thinnest sheathing, so for $15, it was worth a shot. I'm hanging onto it if it ends up being useful after all.
The carpet was mainly added for the comfort and safety of our little Yorkie named Nugget. She's never been on a boat but is always up for a ride and abhors being left behind, so we hope she takes to sea-faring life like her breed was meant to do.
Compared to the Mariner 4, the Seahawk 4 is a bit narrower and shorter in its inside dimensions, but the floor is flatter and the far ends appear more squared-off and therefore more useful. I think I like the dual-ringed air chambers better than the 4-chamber design of the Mariner. One post that I read by someone who lost all the air in one main chamber remained afloat and level with only the remaining chamber and the fully-inflated floor. Perhaps the Seahawk's chambers are more independant from one another and not as likely to develop inner-chamber leaks like the Mariner 4 is susceptible to, where a leak in one main chamber has a risk of stealing air from other chambers. Something to watch for and be aware of for sure with any inflatable.
My early mockup pics show folding chairs for seats, but the current version has dual swivel seats. Wife's chair is on a pedestal and the Skipper's stern seat is bolted to an old cooler lid that is doubling as battery container with room for my other electrical-type cords and meter and such.
I didn't shoot many pics during the month-long build process, a few hours robbed here and there as well as more than one full weekend. But finally it's ready!
With a bit of luck, my pics will show up. If not, I'll post back soon with more pics and details of the build. Thanks for starting this thread! Hopefully it can become a resource for us Seahawk owners!
-Ed
