Inflatable kayak, any opinions please?

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We quite fancy an inflatable kayak for next season so that we can go exploring to places excluded to us by our 2m draught. I've very little knowledge on what's available and what is the Malo and what is the AWB of the genre. We'd need a two man jobbie, can anyone offer guidance or opinion please?

Rob
 
We've got a sevylor 2.5 person, 3 seats but only 2 actually used, which gives more room for my 6' 4" frame. Very well made, inflates in minutes and extremely stable.
 
Do you mean Kayak (enclosed boat with a cockpit and spray deck) or Canadian canoe style boat?

We have a Gumotex Palava Inflatable Canadian Canoe - this allows you to kneel (much like a proper Canadian canoe) - rather than just sit.
One of its advantages is that it delates into its own rucksack (not too small, but none of them are!) that you can then carry anywhere.
 
Bought a Sevylor 2 man inflatable kayak. Used it a couple of times in Berthon marina to get to pub and pretty good apart from the guy at the back gets soaked from the front guys paddles. Anyway, had a couple of friends on the boat who wanted a play. They took it to pontoon to inflate (very easy to inflate), went of kayaking in the marina, and about 10 minutes later came back half sunk under tow from a passing tender. On the plus side have a 2 man inflatable kayak with a puncture somewhere if you want a cheapie. Its now been replaced by two 1 man rigid kayaks which are great. :encouragement:
 
Friends of mine have a couple of Sevylors which they have used on the Solway for a few years. They seem well made and have given no problems, but I gather they are not as easy to paddle as a proper canoe/kayak.
 
What about a couple of Red Paddle SUP's?
They won't paddle as well in a breeze but will pack down a lot smaller. You can see a surprisingly amount more when you are standing up and paddling standing is kinder to a dodgy back than sitting.
 
We bought a Gumotex Twist 2 this year after a lot of research. There are big differences in quality and construction between the different makes. Sevylor seem to be the market leader in UK in terms of sales volume but I was not keen on their construction, because they consist of a fabric outer which contain separate inflatable rubber tubes. It seems the disadvantages are that they need to be carefully dried after use- not always practical on a yacht, the tubes can fail, especially if grit or stones get between the outer fabric and the tube, and they have lower pressure tubes so are not so rigid.

The Gumotex range of boats are made in the Czech Republic. They are more expensive, and seem to be intended for more serious paddling being constructed more like inflatable dinghies. The more expensive boats seem to be made of something like Hypalon. We bought the Twist 2 which is a 2 man boat made of a lighter material, this only weighs 7kg and packs down very small, which makes it ideal on a yacht. It inflates to a higher pressure than the Sevylor type of boat and has an inflatable floor. It is therefore very rigid and paddles well. It is a sit-on open boat, which means you get a bit wet with the water dripping off the paddles and we have found that using two single folding cockpit cushions raises the paddling position a bit.

We bought the boat through www.bluewatersports.com for £399 and it came complete with reasonable quality 4 piece double paddles, which stow away well, and a good air pump. It takes just a few minutes to inflate the boat, and it dries quite quickly. Weighing so little it is easy to launch and recover, although we are very careful to have it well attached to the yacht in breezy conditions!

We've used it to go ashore a few times instead of the dinghy, and have gone for some more extended trips paddling up estuaries. We are very pleased with it and hope it will prove as durable as the brand's reputation. Very happy to recommend it
 
We bought a 2.5 person Sevylor last year. After using it twice I am going back to an inflatable dinghy because I found it uncomfortable and a bit wet. The Sevylor has a built in pressure gauge and we found that the whole boat felt a bit floppy when in the approved 'green sector'.
 
mainsail1 said:
We bought a 2.5 person Sevylor last year. After using it twice I am going back to an inflatable dinghy because I found it uncomfortable and a bit wet. The Sevylor has a built in pressure gauge and we found that the whole boat felt a bit floppy when in the approved 'green sector'.
Click to expand...

I was ghosting through the Kyles of Bute last year when I was overtaken by a family - Mum, Dad and kid - in a Sevylor propelled by an electric outboard. The complete silence of their passing was rather entertaining.
 
Graham D,

Did we meet you in the Helford River this summer just past? We chatted with someone who had exactly this type and had purchased this year. Do you recall talking to a bloke in a dinghy?

Rob
 
JumbleDuck said:
I was ghosting through the Kyles of Bute last year when I was overtaken by a family - Mum, Dad and kid - in a Sevylor propelled by an electric outboard. The complete silence of their passing was rather entertaining.
Click to expand...

Don't get me started on Torqeedo Electric outboards - again! Although I guess they probably had a less expensive make.
 
Advanced Elements 2 man inflatable, does the trick. Great to popping ashore shopping, light enough to pull up on the beach etc.

Someone mentioned a paddle SUP, got one of those as well. Unless you're really good then weather conditions make it impossible without lots of splashing and I found it hard to balance a grocery bag, soggy bread :(
 
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