Intex Seahawk mods/pics

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227

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Feb 25, 2014
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Hey, I thought it would be a cool idea if the seahawk had it's own thread.



Here is my seahawk 4

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PondPickle

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Aug 4, 2017
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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
 
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PondPickle

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Aug 4, 2017
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Well, the weather didn't cooperate, so no outing today. My wife and I are complete newbs at boating ...and fishing in general, for that matter! Unsure what to expect on the lakes, I am loaded for bear. I guess a rifle is about the only thing I'm not cramming into the boat, LOL!

We need that shakedown cruise to get a better feel for what's necessary and what's just too much junk to be hauling on the water. Of course, it's our rainy/thunder/hail season now. We live about 40 miles from the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and I always chuckle at all the bikers caught in the downpours. But it ain't funny when it rains on `my` parade!

Oh well, we're both self-employed at home, so we can play hooky most any sunny day. Hoping for Monday or Tuesday for that first cruise on the lake. :)
-Ed
 

PondPickle

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Here's a few pics of my Seahawk build. I found a sketchup on the 'net that I followed for the floor pattern. I made a cardboard template, tested it for fit and traced that onto my sheets. My floor is one piece, which seemed to work well in my indoor testing. The Seahawk's floor is fairly flat, without the upward tilt at bow and stern that the Mariner 4 has.

When I test-fit the plywood (which was only one layer thick at the time) along with the 1" thick foam, I used an old bedsheet to help protect the boat. In the present configuration the floor is beefed up using the leftover plywood and the foam is deleted. I felt the 1-3/4" combined thickness was too much. But I have an alternate plan with thinner foam and perhaps inletting the added plywood layer into the foam. The thought behind the foam was to add some softer protection to the boat's floor and also add some buoyancy.

At any rate, the one-piece floor works well for hauling, since I strap it to the roof of our Rodeo. It's light enough to haul around and toos on the roof. We may also carry the inflated boat on top, resting on the carpeted floor and strap them down separately. That way, it should be relatively easy to load and unload off the roof. Otherwise, we can fit the whole package (other than the floor) in the back and still have room enough for the dog and one or two passengers. But the pic of it all loaded up makes it look like I'm just a wee bit overprepared for the outing. LOL
-Ed

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PondPickle

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Our first trip on the Seahawk went pretty well. A bit tippy, we had to be careful with leaning over and making sudden weight shifts. I'll be lowering the seats to help center of gravity. Doesn't take much gear to crowd the interior. It was a great outing and we both had a great time. The Yorkie took it well, I think she was about to leap overboard when Sandy grabbed her just in time!

Five hours on the water, most of it under power, but kept to mostly lower throttle setting. 1 and 2 were often all that was needed. Wanted a .5 speed a few times. Kept underway into a pretty stiff breeze at 3. Felt pretty safe crossing over the 80-90 foot depths to the other side of the lake. Had brand-new jackets which we never donned, but probably should have. We're too old and wheezy to be tipped into the lake without one. Unload and pack up took maybe a half-hour each with both of us totally clueless. But my pre-planning helped a lot. Forgetting the sounder mount for the fish finder was a big mistake, we didn't get much useful fishing info from it, but dangling it while anchored gave us some info. Checked battery back home, it read 12.57 volts, better than 75% charge remaining running the finder and 40 pound Intex motor on the group 27 battery.

I spent most my time just learning the ropes and trying not to pilot into that leaning pine tree again. Sandy caught a bunch of little perch, not quite pan-sized yet, but she had a great time catching them on Gulp worms.

We saw lots of things we'll fine tune, things to subtract and add, but we're both ready for a second trip tomorrow and just wing it like we did today.

Work... or fish... Hmmm.
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operative_me

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Aug 17, 2017
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Hey I also bought a Seahawk 4, with a Minn Kota 33lb trolling motor. I love using it on the inland lakes around here, though next year I hope to step up to something resembling an actual boat. One question: Does anyone have a quick method of deflating the keel? They cheaped out and put a standard nozzle on it, and the pump I have won't even deflate it fully. It makes it a pain to fold. Best method I have so far is laying on it and squeezing the nozzle to let the air out. Any thoughts/advice?
 

PondPickle

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Aug 4, 2017
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Sure. Insert the inflator fitting/hose into the valve to hold it open while you deflate and roll it up. I bought a cheap Coleman 12 volt pump which lets you move the hose to the pump air inlet, which sucks all the air out quite quickly and nicely. -Ed
 

bobamos

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Sep 15, 2018
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Hi all, newbies here from SoCal... We've had a few boats in the past but they were all hard boats with trailers. We camp often with our vintage travel trailer so an second trailer just was not an option. So... a collapsible boat was called for. We decided on this Seahawk 3. Now when we camp with water around us we can do more than just look at it and wish... We also hammock camp and this little boat will be going along on those trips too...
 

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Cuart

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Jul 31, 2020
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Hi guys.
I bought recently an Intex Seahawk 3 and I already had the chances to use it for 3 times. What I've noticed at the last trip was the fact that after inflating the boat up to the marked "sign", it seems like you could/should pomp more air into it. It felt way softer than when it was inflated at home.
Do you know if due to Sun action, the Pvc material will get the tendency to get longer and as such the "sign" is not no longer relevant?
if so, do we need to pump more air into the boat?
Thank you
 

Fishcall1570

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Sep 12, 2020
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I would not recommend over inflating. Try to follow the measuring line that is printed on the boat or ugrade your pump to one with a pressure guage. You are greatly limited by the thickness of the PVC material and the inconsistant quality of the factory seems. If you want a "harder" boat, the Seahawk series isn't for you.

If you want to increase stability, then install a plywood floor. I have a 3/8", 2 piece, folding floor that makes a huge difference. I will post pics and specs when I get a chance.
 
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