inflatable Boats

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garyb1st

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The wife purchased a dinghy quality Seylor 4 man inflatable boat in 1990.  So, 26 years old.  For the past 19 years it has been stored in the original carton.  Yesterday while cleaning the garage, I took it out of the box and inflated it.  Looks almost like new.  The wife took very good care of it.  But because of it's age I'm thinking throw it in the trash.  The wife says it would be OK for lakes and rivers.  I'm not so sure and am thinking just buy a new one.  I'd appreciate any input from those that have experience with these things?

 
As to its age, I can only offer this...
I also had an old inflatable. I just kept using it until one of the compartments failed (assuming yours is built the same). I tossed it after that. Not worth the risk.
 
Is the construction rubber or PVC (if Sevylor, I'm assuming PVC but may be wrong)?  The biggest concern would probably be a catastrophic seam failure due to temperature changes during storage.  If you are thinking of using it, I would inflate it and leave it inflated for a week or so.  Sit in it and maybe rock it back and forth a little bit to test the strength of the seams.  If you did take it out, wear life jackets and don't take anything along that you don't want to get wet.

FWIW, we bought a Sea Eagle FastTrack inflatable kayak to take in the RV and we love it. 
 
Is it all one chamber or multiple chambers?

My inflatable has 4 chambers that will have to fail before I need to use my PFD.

But then it's only 2 years old.
 
I've already offered it to my neighbor who wants to use it in his pool.  While it has three chambers, we may opt for an inflatable kayak. 
 
I would have used it and had a blast until it gave out.  ;D

When I lived in Caribbean on my sailboat at various ancorages, my dinghy was stolen. My doctor had an inflatable he had stored on his boat as a backup when he went around the world.

Well, he never used it in 20 years and sold it to me for a song. It was now 20 years old.  ;)

I got several great years out of it giving it heavy duty use in the Caribbean sunshine until it was destroyed by a freakish storm when it became trapped under a shoddily built dock. I did patch it all up and use it awhile then I bought something new and sold it patched up. It was still holding air just fine. The folks that bought it used it a few months then sailed off into the sunset with it, so I have no idea how long it lasted them.

I love the advice about not taking anything in the boat you don't want to get wet. Frankly this is oh so true of setting foot in a new boat too. Ziplocks are your best friend.  8)

All boats need life jackets whether small or large.  ;D
 
MissMermaid, my wife swims like a fish.  I'm more like a rock.  The idea of being in a raft that may disintegrate makes me a bit uncomfortable.  Still, I appreciate your comments and while I offered the dinghy to my neighbor, it's still in my back yard.  So maybe.  For sure, life jackets and then who knows. 
 
Being a long time whitewater rafter I can tell you that the biggest problem for inflatables is UV degradation. Since this boat has not seen any UV I would guess that it is OK. I would slightly over inflate the boat and look at all of the seams to see if there is any separation occurring. If the seams appear OK I would try it on the water and see how it looks after several hours. BTW NEVER leave a properly inflated, or over inflated, boat in the sun. You will hear a loud pop at some point in time. Always let some of the air out when not in use.
RichH
 
we bought 2 poontoon boats. just trying to figure out how to take em along in the Motorhome inflated.  or deflate me and stuff em in one of the compartments.because she wants to take our scooter along too ? 
 
kenvb said:
just trying to figure out how to take em along in the Motorhome inflated.  or deflate me and stuff em in one of the compartments.
Click to expand...

Why would she want to deflate you and stuff you in a compartment?  :eek: ::)  Don't give my DW ideas.  ;D :D ;) 
 
Rene T said:
Why would she want to deflate you and stuff you in a compartment?  :eek: ::)  Don't give my DW ideas.  ;D :D ;) 
Click to expand...

Amen to that! My only saving grace is that she won't drive while towing the trailer.
 
If you have an inflatable boat, kayak, stand-up, etc. I recommend getting a high pressure electric pump.

http://www.boatstogo.com/electric_pump.asp

I have an 11 foot tube boat that carries 5 people and can handle up to 15 HP outboard. It would take 1/2 and hour or more to pump up by hand. The pump I bought has a rechargeable battery and programmable pressure shutoff. I can also use it to pump the air OUT when I deflate, so the boat is easier to roll up and pack into it's bag. It will inflate and deflate the boat several times before I have to plug it in to recharge.
 
Mis spell one word and they all come down on me...  ;D    i meant to write deflate em.          anyway.. i have a 2 bike rack for back of motorhome i set ther boats on. used em twice so far,wife loves em.  here we are on Bear Lake,last weekend. hadnt snowed yet.so took em out,,nice and quiet without the noisy ski boats


                          http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/kenvb/ken%20on%20poontoon_zpscbexanw7.jpg
 
We just received our Sea Eagle 420 which we took out this afternoon to try out for the first time. As a newbie I have found this to be really comfy and very stable. We really like it.
 
We went for  the ones in Fred Meyer - Stearns. Cheap and cheerful. We might upgrade when we are closer to better stores.  Any recommendations?
 
Nowt wrong with Stearns; They've been around a long time. We like the automatic inflatable (CO2) ones. amazon.com has several by Stearns and Mustang to choose from, all USCG approved, but they cost $$ more. You don't want the automatic ones if you know you're going to get wet - they'll inflate when you don't expect it  ;D but they sell manual CO2 versions (pull the tab).
 
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