Prospective Inflatable Owner Introduction and Questions

txmatt

Recruit
Joined
Jul 21, 2012
Messages
3
I'll apologize up front for being another newbie with questions. Hopefully I can be specific enough to get some feedback from the collective wisdom (or maybe just experience;)) here.

We live in N Texas and currently have a 16' canoe (flat bottom with small keel) that we started off in a small lake with about 10 years ago. Initially we just paddled, but after battling wind like a leaf atop the water, as well as Texas heat, we've graduated from a small trolling motor to a larger trolling motor to our current 2.5hp Sukuzi 4-stroke outboard. A few years ago we moved and are once again near a lake, this time a much larger one. The canoe does okay for the wife and me if it's pretty calm (under 10 mph winds). Boat wakes can be a challenge, and much chop at all requires slow going. The boat is stable (we've never turned it over) but not confidence inspiring by any means. Since I'm at the back and she's probably 12' in front of me, there's almost no ability to talk while under way. We also are basically limited to 2 passengers only (3 in a pinch with the temporary center seat).

In thinking of upgrading from the canoe to something more substantial, we have a couple restrictions. Our HOA doesn't allow us to keep a boat in our driveway, so anything requiring a trailer is out. I also don't want to pay for storage or a slip. That has brought me to looking at inflatables or a Porta Bote.

So now that you know where we're coming from...

I think out priorities would be...

1. Must be able to be stored in garage or small back yard with standard width gate and carried by 2 people
2. Ability to hold 4 or more people.
3. Ease of handling - loading, transporting, and unloading both the boat and the motor as well as setup
4. Want to be able to plane instead of limited to putting around in displacement mode
5. I'm assuming any inflatable will be an improvement stability-wise vs the canoe, but would like to be able to better handle mild chop and boat wakes.

I had been leaning towards the Achilles LSI series (air floor) for simplicity of setup, maybe the LSI-335 or LSI-365. This puts us in the 11-12' range and 100lbs, give or take. The 335 recommends a 10hp engine (~84 pounds Nissan/Tohatsu/Mariner) while the 365 recommends a 15 hp which is up near 115 lbs. Without actually handling one, I'm thinking 10hp may be the max weight I want to have load in and out of the car and lug around.

We stopped by West Marine today and checked out the few inflatables they had in stock, mostly RIB's or small dinghys. The RIB 350 Hypalon looked like it might be manageable. It appeared it would be smaller than the canoe when deflated, but at 160# that might be too much for me to handle alone when needed. Even our canoe at 80# with its size creates huge lever arms that make the weight tough to manage. But at least I got to see what a 350 size is.

So we'd love to get as big a boat as possible, but if I self-impose a 10hp motor limit for weight reasons, I'm guessing the best choice would be to stick with a boat size for which 10hp is the recommended motor size instead of a bigger, underpowered boat.

Also, I'm guessing a boat in this 350 range, with my wife and I at a combined 260# wouldn't have a chance of planing with our current 2.5hp regardless of weight distribution, trim, etc is that right?

Please let me know your thoughts. We'd almost always be inflating/deflating every time out I think (would get electric pump), and it would mostly be just the two of us. Extra capacity for 2 or 3 more in a pinch would be nice. In those cases I think we could deal with not planing I think.

Thanks in advance for you help.
 

Sea Rider

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Sep 20, 2008
Messages
12,345
Re: Prospective Inflatable Owner Introduction and Questions

Welcome to the forums,

Some tech issues :

If you like Tohatsu a 10 HP engine weights same as a 15/18 HP engine, all 3, 2 strokes weights same, if going for a 4 stroke 15 HP is much heavier than same 2 strokes. A nice alternative would be a 4 strokes 9.8, but has less performnace than a 15.

Don't ever buy a Porta Crap Origami Bote, clumsy behaviour, hull rocks and ballons horrible at some speed specially at sea, the WM 350 rib is ok, only issue with it just to be more price affordable is that is made with a lousy 0.7 mm hypalon fabric compared to any 0.9 mm PVC standard fabric. A 360 to 380 range in wooden or alum panel floors would be excellent for 4 persons and at least a 15 HP engine if you like being on plane and not just goofing around.

If wanting portability, ease of assembly go for a 340 air deck with a Tohatsu 9.8 HP, but do know that it's water performance at speed is not as neat as wooden or alum panel sibs. Check Mercury, Saturn inflatables in that range, much cheaper than Avon.

Happy Boating
 

CaptainKickback

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Jul 23, 2011
Messages
1,060
Re: Prospective Inflatable Owner Introduction and Questions

I have a 1991 Avon 10' inflatable with and plastic roll up floor. I roll the whole thing into a canvas bag that is about 2.5' in diameter and 4.5' long. Although only rated for 10 HP, I have a 1991 Evenrude 15 HP 2 stroke (weighs under 90 lbs). But if your looking at a RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat), your's is still going t take up some space.

Gets on plane well but not entirely stable as there is minimal keel. Rated for 5 people, but authorities stop me for inspection every time I have 4 of us on it. Funny, but they never know how many people its rated for and always have to call in to get the answer. Then they let me go.

Good luck with your search.

Sea ya...
 

Syzygy

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Aug 18, 2010
Messages
35
Re: Prospective Inflatable Owner Introduction and Questions

txmatt,
Though a bit pricy, I would consider the Zodiac Futura MK2C. A 12' 2" High Pressure air floor model with speed tubes. It will not do much with your 2.5 Suzuki, but that motor will "push" it to go fishing. When you are ready to move up to a larger motor, not only will you easily plane, you will fly.

Here is a link: http://medias.zodiacmarine.com/pdf/00/00/00/79/easy-cruising-2012-eng-7912.pdf

With an electric inflator, you can be up and ready to fish in about 20 minutes from the bag.

Good luck.

S-
 

txmatt

Recruit
Joined
Jul 21, 2012
Messages
3
Re: Prospective Inflatable Owner Introduction and Questions

Thanks for the input so far.

I'm not married to RIB or SIB, but it's seeming that the reduced weight and bulk of the SIB would allow us a bigger boat than going RIB. And since I'll be power-limited by the weight motor I'm comfortable with handling, I don't foresee say a 20+hp motor that RIB's can handle.

In the West Marine video for their compact 310 RIB, they comment that they recommend getting the biggest boat you can because short boats are harder to get on plane. Does this mean that a longer boat (say in the same manufacturer line) might actually plane more quickly than with the same size motor on a shorter boat? I know as you go up in boat size, the recommended and max motor size almost always goes up, but maybe that's more due to the ability to handle the increased cargo capacity of the larger boat. If you have a 335 and a 365 boat in the same line, same 2 people, same 10hp motor, would the longer boat actually plane more easily? The only difference would be about 30# of boat weight.

I've been reading a lot about PVC vs Hypalon. We get pretty strong UV in Texas, but since the boat will be stored deflated and protected (for the foreseeable future), it sounds like it shouldn't matter. Are there any other durability/longevity benefits that should steer me to Hypalon vs PVC?

Thanks,
Matt
 

andrewt12

Cadet
Joined
Jun 6, 2012
Messages
12
Re: Prospective Inflatable Owner Introduction and Questions

Welcome,
I must suggest looking at Aquamarine Inflatables, they are cheap compared to other inflatable and are good quitity, i have the 8 foot model and my son loves it, and uses it everyday, and is nice to bring along on our bigger boat, we use it on a bay and it can take a 3-5 foot sea, and they offer RIBs , or blow up keels, and give your choice of floor , there website is www.aquamrineboat.com and you can order parts, and BOATS from their site , you should really consider them https://www.aquamarineboat.com/index.php?mode=kat&id=1&PHPSESSID=8558fff9799f89157bee500110c4f318 and take it from me they are beauty boats!
 

lncoop

Vice Admiral
Joined
Apr 18, 2010
Messages
5,147
Re: Prospective Inflatable Owner Introduction and Questions

If well cared for and stored properly a PVC boat will last a long time, but consensus is hypalon does last longer. Another advantage to hypalon is that it's a little easier to roll than PVC because it's not quite as stiff. That's not to say that you can't or shouldn't roll a PVC boat for storage, just that it will be a little easier with a hypalon one. Whichever you choose, I highly recommend something like this for transport and storage. http://www.nrsweb.com/shop/product.asp?pfid=3095&pdeptid=1090
 

Sea Rider

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Sep 20, 2008
Messages
12,345
Re: Prospective Inflatable Owner Introduction and Questions

Does this mean that a longer boat (say in the same manufacturer line) might actually plane more quickly than with the same size motor on a shorter boat? I know as you go up in boat size, the recommended and max motor size almost always goes up, but maybe that's more due to the ability to handle the increased cargo capacity of the larger boat. If you have a 335 and a 365 boat in the same line, same 2 people, same 10hp motor, would the longer boat actually plane more easily? The only difference would be about 30# of boat weight. Matt

Yes you are right, the larger boat will slide/plane faster than the shorter one, both well weight ballanced & with same engine. Don't know about a 335 to a 365, but a 335 to a 380 would make a faster planing difference.

Generally a larger boat requires a more powerfull engine mainly because carries more people. For just 2-3 passengers a 15 will do pretty well on a 365 sib, a 10 probably wont. If you can get a Tohatsu 2 strokes 18 HP, go for it, weights same as the 9.9 & 15 HP versions, you'll love that horse.

Invest well and once, don't go for a small sib/rib engine combo, will be bored real soon, Better go for a 365 sib than a 335, it's wider, bit longer, probably with bigger diam tubes and definitely will hold a larger HP engine.

Happy Boating
 

txmatt

Recruit
Joined
Jul 21, 2012
Messages
3
Re: Prospective Inflatable Owner Introduction and Questions

Thanks again for the tips. I'm definitely leaning towards an Achilles LSI-365.

I'll keep my eyes open for used 2-strokes. Here in the states, only 4-strokes are sold new any more.
 
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