[Rhodes22-list] To Deploy & Board An Inflatable from a Rhodes

[TN Rhodey]

I purchased a Sea Eagle inflatable kayak about 6 years ago. I have been very
happy with the quality. It is also fun to take to the beach and local
whitewater rivers. We tie up alongside for boarding. Go slow and steady!

Fair Winds,

Wally

On Wed, Jan 7, 2009 at 6:10 PM, Mary Lou Troy <mtroy at atlanticbb.net> wrote:

> At 05:48 PM 1/7/2009, you wrote:
> >Mary Lou--  what type of inflatable do you use? -- length, method of
> >filling, storage, etc.  I have a beat up 4' dinghy that I use to row out
> to
> >the mooring, and that I've dragged behind a couple of times, pretty
> >inefficiently.  I' rather have something on board.
>
> I've written about our "dinghy" several times. This is from 2004:
> "It kind of depends on how you think you'll use it. We didn't really
> need one so we went as light and cheap as possible - a plastic
> Sevylor 3 person Super Caravelle "pool toy". Weighs 13 lbs. Has a
> capacity of 600 lbs."
>
> "It takes about 10-15 minutes to set up or stow and stows in a
> Rubbermaid container under the seats (18" x 24" x 13" high). It's
> been very reliable though we are very careful about keeping the
> bottom away from sharp objects. We upgraded the oars a couple of
> years ago but the boat itself is now in its 5th season.  It rows OK
> but we are thinking of naming it "Comic Relief". Something with slats
> might row a bit better but I'm not sure if any inflateable really
> rows well. I would not tow it any distance at all. If it was
> essential to our cruising instead of just a toy, we'd spring for a
> heavier duty model but at $69 a "pop" we figure we're ahead if we buy
> one a year for 10 years. As it is we've had it 5 years."
>
> and this from 2006:
> "Our dinghy - if you can call it that - is a Sevylor 3-person
> inflatable. More a plastic pool toy than a real dinghy but it does
> get us about an anchorage as long as it's not too rough or windy.
> We've even learned to inflate it enough that we don't usually get
> wet. It stows in a Rubbermaid container under the cockpit seats along
> and takes about 10-15 minutes to inflate. When we bought it, it came
> in a kit with the pump and oars for about $70. That was about 7 years
> ago. At the time we figured even if we had to buy a new one every
> season it would take 10 years before we came up to the price of an
> inexpensive real dinghy. We did buy a better set of oars after we
> lost part of one of the oars that came with it. It rows a lot better
> with the upgraded oars. I think in 7 years we've had one small
> puncture which was easily repaired but we've only used it a couple of
> times a season. It doesn't tow well at all but it's fairly quick to
> inflate or deflate and stow. There are now a couple of slightly
> better inflatables out there. I think Jim Harrison up on Middle River
> has a Sea Eagle. Slightly heavier guage plastic and it seems to row a
> bit better. West had been selling one with a cloth cover to help
> protect it but I don't know anything about it."
>
> I can't think of anything new to add except that in 2007 we were
> still using the same dinghy. We didn't use it at all last year so
> we'll have to inflate it and see if it still holds air for 2009. It
> might be time to replace it just on principle as we've now gotten 10
> years out of it.
>
> Best,
> Mary Lou
>
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