Inflatable Boats: Travel Over Water Made Light
Inflatable boats are usually between six and twenty-one feet in length and are
propelled by an outboard motor. They are used as racing vessels, rescue vessels
and are found on dive boats. In the days of old it is thought that they were
animal skins sewn together and filled with air. In the nineteenth century, the
duke of Wellington used the first inflatable pontoon boat in a military
expedition. When used for this purpose, they often carried torpedoes to the main
ships or were used to traverse shallow waters to safely get to land in shark
infested water.
The appeal of the inflatable boat is the cost effectiveness and its ability to
compact for easy travel and storage. When inflated the tubes have sections that
are filled with air, often a PVC type tubing is used, and if a section should
spring a leak you can fix it without sinking. The floors of these inflatable
boats can be made of wood, steel or aluminum for sturdiness.
Inflatable boats made for speed will have an inflated keel along the hull line
to improve wave cutting and turning performance. These boats are made so that
they can hydroplane and therefore gain an amount of speed not possible for the
type of outboard engine it is designed for. While hydroplaning, you may reach
speeds of up to sixty miles per hour, or one hundred kilometers per hour.
This type of boat can withstand a great deal of punishment from the oceans
natural elements, such as water and sun damage. Once damage has set in, most
people will simply replace their inflatable boat rather than repair it. Repair
is typically done by using adhering products to chemically meld the topcoat and
undercoat of the PVC or Hypalon shell, making the inflatable boat as good as
new.
The market for the general boating store can still be expensive, just not as
expensive as buying a non-inflatable boat. A typical paddle boat will cost from
five hundred US dollars to fifteen hundred US dollars and even more depending on
the accessories you may also purchase. Inflatable kayaks and pontoon boats can
be purchased for as low as fifty US dollars.
A great place to purchase Inflatable boats is
SeaEagle.
They have been making quality inflatable boats, inlatable kayaks since 1968. Sea
Eagle has a broad range of great inflatable boats for fishing, ranging from the
affordable Motormount Boats to the patented FoldCat Inflatable Pontoon Boat. All
of these great boats offer Sea Eagle quality and reliability.
Click here to check out their range and for more information.
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