2 person inflatable kayak (1 Viewer)

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Mar 28, 2003
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Location
Hermosa Beach, CA
Wife and I are lookning at buying a 2 person inflatable kayak. We currently have a Cobra tandem that is great for paddling around the so cal coast but it is heavy and takes up a lot of room on the rack. We are planning a trip through the central CA then to the Sierras so we need a kayak that would work for both ocean and lakes. Other reason we want an inflatable is so we can store it at our cabin which doesn't have much storage space. As always, thanks in advance for your replies.

David...
 
I'm not sure what exactly a "cobra tandem" is.. But if your a sea kayaker and want a multipurpose portable boat for both lake and ocean paddling, I would be looking at Fold-Boats and similar breakdown "hard" boats. Much better craft for ocean boating, tracking, stability, dryness, etc.. I havent seen many inflatables being used for ocean boating... but that doesnt mean they arnt. The ones i'm familiar with are either purely novice/recreation boats for flat water and class II or lower moving water, or whitewater inflatables..
 
David,

Check out Sierra South or Eagle Outfitters in Kernville. I think they both have websites. Just do a Google. They are two of the larger outfitters that run the Kern River. Call or drop them an email and ask what brand of IK they use to run the Kern. May be too big for your needs, but they are inflatable and very, very manuverable. I've had a blast in them. If they can handle a class 3 rapid, they can probably handle just about anything on the ocean as well. Room for two and some gear in the middle if you so desire.

Look closely for links to recent pics. They may or may not have anything but the 8 man rafts still running. When we were up there mid May, the river was running way too fast for IK's.

EDIT - on the Sierra South site, click on Lickety Split. You'll see one pic of the IK's they use.
 
inflatable kayak

We had a 2 person Sterns inflateable kayak a few years ago. It was a neat idea due to space constraints, but it was a pain to keep dry when storing for the winter. If you have room to leave it out to dry for a few days before packing it up, then it is an excellent idea. We had to leave it in the driveway or back yard and rotate it every so often to get all the water out, otherwise you get mold/mildew when it is packed for a while.

The Sterns 2 person model we had wasn't very efficient as a hard kayak. We went with others and always lagged even though we were good paddlers. This was due to the kayak bending in the middle and creating more drag when opposing sides were being paddled on.

Make sure the back rest is comfortable also. This can cause great fatigue on long runs. We mainly did lake and stream kayaking with it. Never took it in the ocean, I wasn't too confident in it.

- Jasper
 
I'm actually looking at a stearns on ebay right now. The main purpose will be cruising around lakes in the Sierras and maybe some rivers. In So. Cal we have an tandem ocean kayak that is very stable, tracks well and holds lots of gear...just a pain to take on long road trips.

Thank you all for the info...

cheers,
David...
 
I bought an inflatable from http://theboatpeople.com. They are in San Jose, CA, but ship anywhere. Their kayaks are here: http://theboatpeople.com/iks.html. They have high quality stuff, so it is spendy, but I have been very happy with the Inova Sunny (two person inflatable kayak) I bought from them.

Even if you don't buy from them, their website has lots of good info and FAQs on inflatable kayaks/canoes and rafts.

-Scott
 
SEAEAGLE
I've got the SeaEagle 9 (fishermans dream) and I've used their kayaks before too. They're well made and reliable :)
 

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