Re: Sevylor or Intex?
Well, yesterday, with my brand new, out-of-the-box Intex Mariner 4, was a great day on the water! (though the fish could have been a little more cooperative - 3 rainbows, 13-16").
Virtually everything that looked solid and well designed when I assembled it at home, right after it was delivered, held true on the water. A couple very minors: 1. the battery bag is too flimsy for an object that weighs that much and will likely not last; and 2. the gear pouch was in the way, with those inflatable seats, though it should be perfect, with raised seats.
The seats, while comfortable on 'the bottom' for hours, are just too low, requiring folded or contorted legs, and much repositioning, if a seat in front is used and I did install the center seat in order to have a working surface on which to place the fish finder and a few small fishing items. One caviat: I am over 50, so this may be less of an issue if you're in your 20s.
So a raised swivel seat, with a back, is a must for me. I will also be re-making a work surface, though I have a couple of formats in mind.
The slat floor is quite stable, allowing an adult to stand to move around, but it is slats which is somewhat akin to walking over a slat suspension walking bridge: front-to-back wobble as your foot pressure shifts, but it does keep side-to-side boat stability very well. Previous experience has taught me that raised seats must be attached to the floor. I had debated whether a whole new floor was needed or if a thin one could be placed on top of the slat floor. Given that a thin floor would essentially concentrate my weight on only 2-3 slats, I think I will opt for removing the slats and putting in a whole floor. I made the one on my HF-360 out of 7/16" plywood, but that boat has a rigid air suspension floor already in it. Once the slats are removed from the Mariner 4, there isn't much floor support, so I think a thicker one is justified. I'll re-read what other Mariner 4 owners have used.
One extra, well thought out design item: the Mariner 4 inflatable keel. The HF-360 has 2 such long tubes, one on each bottom edge, increasing stability, while assisting with tracking. But the inflation valves were on the outside bottom of the boat! This not only sometimes resulted in them being pulled open as the boat was slid a couple feet on the ground into the water, but being at the back, more than once I had a hooked fish dart under the boat, and have the line wrap around a valve cover! The Mariner 4 design has this valve inside the boat. And what of the slat floor? There is a spot for the valve through this so it can be inflated with the slat floor in place. Again, well designed.
More than ever, I am convinved that the Mariner 4 is the choice I should have made right at the beginning!