Anyone use an inflatable kayak?

We had a sevylor colorado last year. Got it at a good price from a friend of ours who stocked them in his shop. He recommended the brand.
Found it to be good fun, well made but really slow and hard work to row compared to a rigid kayak.
Obviously great to stow away when not using as folds up really small.
Didn't really use it that much to be honest, so sold it on ebay :)
 
Conachair said:
Might invest in one.

These 2 keep cropping up on google-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sevylor-Colorado-2-Person-Kayak/dp/B005GUNN0S

http://www.seaeagle.com/SportKayaks.aspx

Looks like one might be great for exploring and day to day use getting ashore.
Would need to be pretty tough though.
Any thoughts from the long term anchorers?
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We bought one a couple of years ago-a Stearns Backwoods. Its great for tickling along when the tide is out in shallow water. We often use it for going down the pub-we can lift it out and put it in the car park! Much more stable than expected, and it is, of course, harder to paddle than a ridgid. It is a good addition to our cruising kit. I just looked at it-in its bag- and have just edited the make to Stearns.
 
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We have a Colorado and love it.

Very rigid and stable ... lots of storage ... packs down nicely.

Of course it's not going to be as fast as a rigid kayak but that's no difference to an inflatable dinghy.
 
Conachair said:
Might invest in one.

These 2 keep cropping up on google-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sevylor-Colorado-2-Person-Kayak/dp/B005GUNN0S

http://www.seaeagle.com/SportKayaks.aspx

Looks like one might be great for exploring and day to day use getting ashore.
Would need to be pretty tough though.
Any thoughts from the long term anchorers?
Click to expand...

Not an inflatable but I have always fancied one of these. Could not believe how light it was when I tried it.

http://gaboats.com/boats/arrow14.html
 
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Conachair said:
Might invest in one.

These 2 keep cropping up on google-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sevylor-Colorado-2-Person-Kayak/dp/B005GUNN0S

http://www.seaeagle.com/SportKayaks.aspx

Looks like one might be great for exploring and day to day use getting ashore.
Would need to be pretty tough though.
Any thoughts from the long term anchorers?
Click to expand...
Saw a French couple off Koroni who were using one. Difficult to get in and out of, but quick and easy to handle without power. I'm pretty certain that was a Sevylor.
Their comment about it was that it was much easier to stow and cheaper to buy than a conventional annex, but they'd be unlikely to repeat the experiment, (her) "due to duckings when getting aboard."
 
Yes - a Seyvlor double one. Great fun for exploring the creeks.

We had a pair of 3-year-old twins in it last weekend, with their grandfather paddling. He'd made little paddles for them, which they used to fish out seaweed. It coped with the little boys standing up and both leaning over one side without capsizing.

It's slower than a rigid canoe, and wider which makes it more difficult to paddle, but the stability is brilliant, and it packs into about 40x50x100 cm^3, and takes about 15 mins to assemble.
 
We have a Stearns 2 man inflatable kyak - I keep it semi-inflated on the foredeck of the boat, but really it only takes 10 minutes or so to inflate from flat. It has 2 main chambers, plus an inflatable floor, and it would float on any one of those chambers, so its quite safe.

We have had it now for around 10 years and its still going strong - we have even packed it in a suitcase and taken it on holiday with us, so it has done some long distance cruising. :D
 
lovezoo said:
We have a Stearns 2 man inflatable kyak - I keep it semi-inflated on the foredeck of the boat, but really it only takes 10 minutes or so to inflate from flat. It has 2 main chambers, plus an inflatable floor, and it would float on any one of those chambers, so its quite safe.

We have had it now for around 10 years and its still going strong - we have even packed it in a suitcase and taken it on holiday with us, so it has done some long distance cruising. :D
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I had one of those a good few years back. Decided to try it on a Grade 3/Grade 4 whitewater river which was rather 'interesting'. Took the then g/f along and she wasn't impressed, at which point we still had several miles to go before there was a chance to end her ordeal! She dumped me soon after!!!
 
We have had an advanced elements two man Dragonfly for a few years, absolutly fantastic. We have the extra tube stiffener for surf work but I have never felt the need to use it. It gets used more than the dinghy for trips ashore. I think they still make them.

We purchased ours on line from America http://www.airkayaks.com/ no issues getting it (took about two weeks), service was great, after a couple of years we had a split near a valve in the inner tube. I contacted them to ask how to repair it with a photo, a week later a complete new inner tube arrived free of charge.

There is one for sale on ebay that looks a good deal

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dragonfly-Inflatable-2-Man-Kayak-Very-Slightly-Used-Once-/300697458887?pt=UK_Sporting_Goods_CanoesKayaks_Rafts_SM&hash=item4602f718c7#ht_3098wt_90
 
Pulled a couple out of the Fosdyke last year after their's collapsed and dunked them. Both were first class swimmers but were having problems with the bank. Put the problem down to under inflation.
 
Well, thanks all for the replys.

Tricky purchase. As a singlehander I really think it would be something that would see a lot of use. Take the bike instead of getting the car out of the garage. Having to do less cycle runs for more outboard petrol would feel good as well.

But no way of knowing anything for sure before living on the hook again.

Ho hum, who knows. Might go a bit more upmarket.

But Ta :cool:
 
We just ordered two - a yellow sevylor tahiti and a tahiti plus 2+1. I'm hoping they'll prove fun but didn't want to risk too big an outlay to find out. The two man version was around £80 from amazon.
With a family including three boys under 10 I suppose we are kind of the complete opposite of a single hander but if I remember I will report once we've got them and used them a bit.
 
npf1 said:
I had one of those a good few years back. Decided to try it on a Grade 3/Grade 4 whitewater river which was rather 'interesting'. Took the then g/f along and she wasn't impressed, at which point we still had several miles to go before there was a chance to end her ordeal! She dumped me soon after!!!
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The only white water canoing we did in it, was on the Thames at full flood. Paddle up to Teddington, then drift back on the tide. :D
 
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