I have just bought a fully inflatable Quicksilver inflatable boat, with inflatable floor.
I am very please with it, been on Windermere with my friends and it was fine.
My only worry is, that I recently took my 3 small children in it ( wearing life jackets ) with my wife.
I began to feel quite worried about the prospect of what if I got a punchure in the boat, would it collaspe and leave us floating it the water, with 3 children to try to look after?
I relise it has 3 different air tubes, hence they would not all go down, but would the boat still drive us to the shore, or would we be floating in the water?
Anyone who has had a puncture on one of these (or similar Zodiac etc) whilst in the water, your experience would be greatfully appreciated.
Dave, I take my kids out on my Sea Eagle almost every weekend. I never had a chamber lose air. I worry alot more when I fly with them to Pittsburge. Why do most search and rescue teams use inflatables? bottom line-boats like sea eagle, zodiac, saturn..ect are good quality boats.Ed
Depends on the puncture, if it's a small one like that from a fish hook or thorn, your chances of making it back to camp are very good. Of course that also depends on how far you are from camp and the type of water you're navigating at the time. If it's something like a tube failure, then your chances are slim, but again it depends on how far you're from camp.
I had a tube failure this summer and was able to make it to camp without problems, but I was only like half a US mile from the ramp.
On the other hand, 2 years ago I had a thorn puncture one of the tubes and didn't have any problems (deflating) until I removed the thorn from the puncture .
There is a new product on the market that temporarily seals your tube until you make it back. Seek for the "clam" over the internet. It generates a vacuum and by that it seals the puncture, just don't ask me about the exact details of operation.
It was a seam failure in the back of the tube. You know, where other boats will start the cone of the tube, not the very end, but where the rounded tube becomes the cone, that´s where SeaEagles have a rounded pontoon. That's where it happened. Basically several holes developed as the tube and the tube end seam fell apart (became unglued).
It was not repairable, I had to replace the complete hull. Hope this helps. If you've got more questions, email me.
I think if I had a punchure, we are generally fairly close to the shore, so should be ok.
I read that it always good to get your children used to the water and floating in there life jackets, so if something does happen its just like going for a swim and not a big panic.
I have thought about taking my out board off (when on my own, in shallow water) and letting a tube down just to see what happens, but this might be a bit extreme.