Inflatable car boot boats

[GeraldSmith]

Does anyone have experience of the car boot inflatable boats, like the Ark range?  Do you use a small outboard or a trolling motor.  From the pics I have seen that trolling motors seem to be the norm, but hoe long do they last out on the water, or must you take a paddle along for just in case...  What do you think, as it will not be intended for any serious fishing.  How big is the puncture problem with these type of boats.  Thanks.  Gerald

 

[Dorado75]

A mate of mine has a Ark and uses a small outboard on it, he goes everywhere with the thing, out to sea and in the river, i think that it is out of commision at the moment though because of punctures, dont think that it is as durable as the material that Rubber ducks are made of!

 

[basslover]

Gerald...if you are not planning serious fishing, why not a float tube??It does the job just as well and is allot cheaper than the inflatables with a trolling motor. just my 2c
But what i know off, you can ride quite long with a trolling motor.

 

[basslover]

Scrat(sushi) in his float tube!

 

[Ryan]

[color=#006600]basslover[/color] wrote:

Gerald...if you are not planning serious fishing, why not a float tube??It does the job just as well and is allot cheaper than the inflatables with a trolling motor. just my 2c
But what i know off, you can ride quite long with a trolling motor.

Thing is a boat fitted with an electric trolling motor is much faster than a float tube. You also are not hanging in water which is especially nice in the winter.

It also means you donot have to don waders to use the thing or take them off for that matter.

It is also more energy efficient - you don't have to work yourself to death to get to spots especially if they are far off.

They are also better in croc infested waters and where great whites occur. Also if you get a puncture in a float tube you have got two chances of surviving - ever tried to swim with waders on let alone a flat tube?

Eish me thinks I prefer the small inflatable option

 

[Dorado75]

Me also think that having your feet dangling in the ocean below the float tube is also looking for trouble with those big finfish swimming about!

I see you have a Kayak.... are you not keen on the paddling anymore?

 

[basslover]

Well you just said all the disadvantages of a float tube there...
There is allot of advantages to....but i do agree with you on those ones.
But i must say ive never been guttered that i bought my float tube!!
Darodo i wont even try going in the sea with a floattube....its not made for that....hehehe

 

[Little Green Fish]

K so hetre goes, my 2 bob....

Bud I would also advise the small inflatable, I've had daducky for more than a year now, and I don't have any complaints NONE!!!

It's like Rayn (oops Ryan) said, warmer, drier, safer, more fun, energy efficient, quicker plus you can take a whole heap more tackle along and then there's still the added friends option and so forth.

I bought the Intex Mariner 400 from Outdoor warehouse, added a 30lb Minn-kota trawling motor which we are running off a 75m amp batt, which lasts us the entire day criss-crossing dams (NOT LAKES as I saty in sunny SA and not like that DSTV fishing program that makes use of the words LAKE and Dropshotting when Jigging, oh and least I forget the word Baitfish)......

Anyhows, the whole rig cost me around 6g's and let me tell you it was and still is worth every 2c's, oh and you can do serious fishing from it.

Do a search for "LGF's other floatation device" or "Daducky, finally some pictures" I think it's in the boating gallery, there you'll get an idea of the rig that we've had so much fun and fish on for the past year or so. 

 

[BucknutZ]

LGF, please post some pics of daducky for us.

 

[Little Green Fish]

Bud I will post the link a little later typing on the last 3minutes of Lappy Batt time...

 

[BucknutZ]

thanx

 

[Little Green Fish]

Bukz

Here's the link like i promised, can't remeber where the other pics where placed, also note that she had most of the pimped stuff removed by the time the pic was taken, she still has another two wooden decks and a floor stiffening removable floor covering, etc.

http://www.sealine.co.za/view_topic.php?id=2054&forum_id=21&highlight=daducky

 

[BucknutZ]

Thanx for the pic lgf, that is very nice and i am sure more than enough to get the job done!

Does she puncture easily? It it the exact same material as a rubberduck?

how do you transport her?

 

[GeraldSmith]

Thanks for all the posts.  Although I have the kayak, I use it mostly for sea fishing and was wanting to get the inflatable for the dams and rivers so that my dad, who is getting bit old now, can come along.  I doubt if he will be doing a lot of fishing whilst on which ever craft, but I see it as building up a bank of GREAT memories. 

Do you think that the normal trolling motors will survive if you use it in a tidal river?  ok ok, it is not all salt water, but from what I have seen if a product is not made just about entirely from stainless steel, its going to have a very limited lifespan, even if the water only has about 0.00000005% salt.  Whats your take on this?

Gerald

 

[Ryan]

You get Salt water trolling motors if you are concerned abou this they cost a lil more but are bullet proof.

 

[Little Green Fish]

[color=#006600]BucknutZ[/color] wrote:

Thanx for the pic lgf, that is very nice and i am sure more than enough to get the job done!

Does she puncture easily? It it the exact same material as a rubberduck?

how do you transport her?

She doesn't punture easily, unless you are reckless and drag her behind over some seriously sharp branches, or over debris on the bank's etc.  She's made from the same material as ordinary rubberducks, it's just a little thinner than the rubberduck's material.

She has been transported in my little conquest (deflated off cause) and then she got strapped to the back of the cruiser (inflated) and since we've moved to our new house with way too much CARP in the garage she is again transported deflated. 

BTW, she takes about ten minutes to be inflated and rigged with all the pimp accesories and the gear and off we go, the coming back packing up takes a wee bit longer as she normally goes home inflated to get pressured washed before she gets stored away.

 

[BucknutZ]

great stuff mate, i need one of em duckies

 

[sardyntjie]

i gott one and traweled around the knysna lagoon with it , hooking up on leeries.

also traweled the river at veldrif hooking up elf on dropshot.its great fun,comfortable and convenient to transport.just keep it sprayed offf and clean , and get the saltwater motor which you obviously look after too.

 

[will101]

I've got two ARKs, a Croc (no transom) and a Seal with a 15hp mariner. The croc is great for low wind conditions - ive gone round Cape Point with this boat on nice days. It's very strong and is made of the same materials "proper" rubberducks are made of. For two persons in the boat you need both occupants paddling though. I have fitted a fin to this boat to improve the tracking - without it you'll be paddling away and suddenly you'll find yourself facing the wrong direction for no apparent reason.

The Seal is my favourite! it's perfect for 2 people (3 at a push) and also very strong. It's also rounded the Point and caught snoek at Buffels bay and Hout Bay. I got mine second hand (but practically new). a new rig like that will set you back about 11k for the boat and 17k for the motor. I would not go lighter or heavier than 15hp although the boat is rated for up to 20hp. The 15 is easy to carry and super light on fuel - a whole day whizzing about will use a quarter tank at most.

I went out shopping for a kayak and ended up getting the seal and motor for about the same price as a yak. it was an easy decision and a good one I think.
cheers
w

 

[badballie]

LGF ..I checked your link to daducky and very nice ! I looked at that as an option before getting my kayak, but as I intended sea angling, maybe one day a rapid or two etc, I decided on teh more sturdy kayak option ...not to worry though, working on adding a trolling motor for the outings to Inanda dam !

I see you mentioned last year, you were looking at ways to add more storage space for rods ..did you get that sorted ?

If not let me know and I will post you some pics with ideas on how some kayaks guys rig theirs, which will work perfect on daducky's rear deck