Inflatable setup help

[ak-71]

Need some help and advice - I am thinking about getting an inflatable boat (hard floor) since I don’t have a place to store a “real” one and like the portability I can get.

It will be mainly used for fishing by me (~200lbs) and my (growing) teenager son and, on a rare occasion, my 4y/o.
I will also be using it by myself at times.

Secondary use is to be able to add my little daughter and my wife for an occasional drive around a lake (about 3 adults in weight all together).

So the boat has to have some balance between weight/size. So far I am thinking about this setup:
1) Seamax 380HD with 20HP Mercury 4-stroke
Do you think it will get on the plane with all of us?
Other option will be:
2) Seamax Ocean 430 with
either 20HP Mercury 4-stroke (if it’s enough power)
or 25HP Mercury 2-stroke (if I can find a new one, seems still be possible but rare – would be great for transporting I think, but not good for trolling as I was told by Kaygee)
I considered Seamax Ocean 430T, but realized it’s too heavy to setup by myself and I am not planning to use it with a trailer.

I like option #1 for fishing, seems more durable but not sure if it will be able to carry all of us on the plane...
Does somebody have an experience with similar setups?
AK

[Rumtan]

I have a 10.5 ft inflatable but would much rather have bought a 12 ft one due to the "sometimes" factor of hauling more than 2 of us around fishing. I have a 9.8 Nissan on the back but would rather put a 20 on when having more than 2 in the boat. Hope this helps somewhat.

[ericlin0122]

Based on my seamax 360.
IMO, if you plan on getting anything over 15HP, you probably want to consider a trailer. 20HP should plane no problem.
I would suggest go with 380. It will have enough room to have 2 people fishing, but not really for 3 people. 430 is way too heavy and it's not easy to assemble by yourself.
BTW, you should also consider transom wheel and high pressure electric pump if you are not getting a trailer.

[ak-71]

Yes, I am going to get wheels and electric pump.
Trailer, I am not sure. I hope to get away without it and be able to have my boat in the back of my truck.
May have to eventually get a dolly for 52kg motor, and 46kg (380HD - 12.5ft) or 57kg (Ocean 430 NOT "T" version- 14 ft) hull, may need some ramp for the track if it gets really hard to handle.

PS Most 4-stroke motors are in the same weight category for 15 and 20 HP, as far as I understand => 20HP. Honda is a bit lighter, but based on what I read here about service in Calgary, price AND their inability to reply on my request for a quote I decided against Honda

[bwackwabbit]

Speak with Gerry @ Kaygee (pretty sure that's his member name here).
Great guy, great service and great product. I bought my SeaMax 360HD from him last year. I run it w/Honda 9.9hp and planes no problem with 2 guys and gear. Also got an inflatable boat trailer from one of his affiliates, makes one guy launching fully rigged easy.

Cheers.

[shayne]

I have a 380 with Merc 25 hp 2 stroke. I would never go any smaller on the motor especially if you want to run rivers. Most rivers seem to average 8 to 12 mph, upstream can be very iffy with a 9.9 or even a 20 hp 4 stroke with more than one person. I run this boat in lakes, rivers and even fished the Pacific with it. It is underpowered in rivers with more than 2 people and in lakes with more than 3 people. When you are running heavier loads I have found it very helpful to over inflate the keel tube which provides more rigidity to reduce cavitation.

They are lots of fun, enjoy!

[ak-71]

I have a 380 with Merc 25 hp 2 stroke. I would never go any smaller on the motor especially if you want to run rivers. Most rivers seem to average 8 to 12 mph, upstream can be very iffy with a 9.9 or even a 20 hp 4 stroke with more than one person. I run this boat in lakes, rivers and even fished the Pacific with it. It is underpowered in rivers with more than 2 people and in lakes with more than 3 people. When you are running heavier loads I have found it very helpful to over inflate the keel tube which provides more rigidity to reduce cavitation.

They are lots of fun, enjoy!

I am not planning on rivers yet. When you say underpowered, do you mean it would not plane / hard to get to plane, or it's just not fast?

Speak with Gerry @ Kaygee (pretty sure that's his member name here).
Great guy, great service and great product. I bought my SeaMax 360HD from him last year. I run it w/Honda 9.9hp and planes no problem with 2 guys and gear. Also got an inflatable boat trailer from one of his affiliates, makes one guy launching fully rigged easy.

Cheers.

I did yesterday :), he suggests 380HD to go with 15-20 HP 4-stroke. I was set on 25HP 2-stroke (they still seem to be around), but after talking to him I think he may be right. "Way too much power" was his comment.. And he says I could troll with 4-stroke if I wanted.
I've never trolled with a motor before, if people trolled when/where I was a kid they did it on oars, and I thought it was a weard way to fish, even though I tried it couple times, but I would keep trolling as an option.

[ak-71]

Looked around a bit more, and even though I am still second guessing myself, I am likely to go with 380HD/20HP_4stroke, boat goes first and unless it feels way too small - I am getting that.
Thank you,
AK

[bwackwabbit]

Great setup, enjoy.

Cheers.

[ak-71]

Picked up 380HD today, 1.5 days after I placed the order, free shipment to Calgary too :)- was going to inflate it today, but got home too late, so it's in my basement awaiting tomorrow. So far it was a very good experience dealing with kaygeeinflatables.
For the 1st time here in Canada I may be waiting for with winter to end :). But not till BP gets me a motor I ordered :).
Thank you all for helping choosing it, sure glad I didn't go with 430T, that would be REALLY heavy...

[jeffj181]

Just wanted to say congratulations on your purchase, we bought the Seamax 380HD from Gerry @ KayGeeInflatableBoats this time last year, and I agree with the previous posters - top notch sales and service. We paired the boat with a 20hp 4-stroke merc from Renfrew Marine here in Calgary. I did a lot of looking and searching when we decided to buy an inflatable - the main driver at the time was portability. We wanted something we could throw in the back of the truck while pulling our travel trailer. As a note, with the wife at work, the kids and I thought it would be a great idea to inflate and assemble the boat upstairs in the bonus room... Great pics!

In hindsight we bought a cabin and sold the trailer, so we could have gone with an aluminum boat, but I have no regrets the inflatable is great. We used it lots on Pigeon Lake last year with up to 4 adults and 2 kids and it cruised along on plane with no problem. My wife and I pulled the kids on a small tube as well and they had a blast. The speed was limited by safety as the kids were 9 and 7 at the time, but the boat pulled nicely at 10 - 15 km/h (measured with my GPS).

It is ideal for 2 people fishing. Either 2 adults or two adults helping as 2 kids fish. It is a bit tight to get 3 rods in the water, IMHO. We were able to do some trolling with 2 adults in the boat and the motor on idle and managed to catch a few walleye here and there.

We bought the inflatable transom wheels and they would work well on a concrete boat launch (the spring loaded clips are worth the upgrade), but we have a spot near our cabin that has quite a slope to it and is graveled. Going down hill is fine, but uphill is a battle with the motor, gas tank, 12V battery, fishing gear, etc. Which lead us to buying a small bunk trailer for the boat. If you are launching at a proper boat launch, easy grade, 2 adults, you should be fine. The nice thing is that with the minimal draft and the longer pontoons, the boat is floating almost as soon as it touches the water.

This year I would like to make a few modifications to make the fishing more comfortable - there are good tips and advice on the boatstogo.com forum here: http://www.boatstogo.com/faq.asp

I am looking to build the padded bench seats to go over the existing seats and to extend the ends out to accommodate rod holders and a place to mount my fish finder.

Good luck with your new purchase, I am sure it will bring years of fun!

Regards,

Jeff