Inflatable kayaks

Hello all. Anyone out there have any experience with the Sevylor 12' inflatable? I am looking to purchase a kayak, and storage of the inflatable looks good to me (transport too). Do these track as well as a 'normal' kayak? Are they difficult to carry, etc? Any information is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I have a sevylor inflatable ( not sure of exact length - probably close to 11 ft) and a regular 14 foot kayak. In a word, no. In my experience, the inflatable tends to be all over the place and until you get the hang of it is very difficult to even keep going straight. The add on rudder helps a little. It is especially difficult to control in the wind. If you are paddling, you really have to concentrate to keep it going straight. As soon as you stop paddling, it will do a 180. On the other hand, it is easy to carry and storage is simple. I use mine to take my son out. When I really want to kayak, I take out the regular one.

Barry

You need to ask yourself where are you going to paddle and how much do you want to spend. Ponds, rivers and the ocean are different beasts. The Hudson river and the Long Island Sound where we go have huge changes in conditons, even on the same day. We own an Innova Helios 380 double (two-seater), sold by Altrec, theboatpeople (very helpful and great website), among others, for $700-800. This boat is fine in Class II, or less, rivers and 5'-6' swells but I would not take it out in breaking seas. This is the best bang for the buck inflatable out there. The Innova Sunny and Solar II are two other Innova boats worth considering, but in rougher seas provide less protection. Pros for the 380: 1/ Fits into a backback which it comes with 2/ Has 3 seperate main compartments thus giving you some security in case of catastrophic failure out at sea 3/ The 1200 denier polyester base fabric inflates rigidly and will not easily damage 4/ Attachable skeg (extra) makes big difference in tracking 5/ Very comfortable in long trips 6/ Enough storage for an overnight camping trip 7/ With two people and the skeg fitted, this boat is not that much slower than most 14'-16' hardshells. High cross winds will slow you down however.

CONS: 1/ Not self-bailing 2/ Including footrests, backrests etc there are 8 compartments to inflate 3/ Tracking not good as a single seater, However helps alot to fit the skeg and put weight in the front

Good Luck