Folding boats

If you don't want to break the bank, click here.

Less than $300 with a trolling motor bracket. Takes up to a 3 HP outboard. Built pretty solidly. Roomy for two. Weighs about 80 pounds. Solid floor. Stores easily in storage bag. Inflates in 10 minutes. Great for inland lakes. And ocean coves.

Stores in the truck bed in front of the hitch.

I have an 11 ft Zodiac inflatable boat and power it with a 15 HP Evinrude two stroke. It moves the boat right along. I have carried it along a couple of different ways. I have carried it in the back of the Toy Hauler, as well as in the bed of the truck. I get to bring along my Harley and my boat. The boat is very stable and works out well for the wife, dog and me.

I love my 12' Port-A-Bote! I have brackets that will mount to the side of a trailer and that is how I mounted it on my previous trailer. It hauled fantastic but it really scuffed up the side of the trailer. Because of that I haven't mounted it on my current FW. I have been looking at ways to mount it underneath.

If you do a search on this forum for port-a-bote you will find a few different ways others have mounted theirs.

Using and assembling the Bote is a smooth process. For me the biggest challenge is storing and carrying the bote. I don't use the bote regulalrly, however its nice to have when camping lake side.
If I used the Bote more I would fabricate a rack to allow me to slide bote underneath 5'er from the front. I have seen photos of nice bote racks

I had a 12' Portabote for about one year. It was the older banana style vs the newer style with the flat transom in the rear. I never got comfortable using this boat and ended up selling it. I bought mine used with all the gear ready to go. Lucky to break even in the end.

I suggest you try one before you buy including set-up and tear-down. Get the largest 14' especially for two people.

I have a West Marine inflatable boat that hold 4 adults and 1 child with a 975 lb capacity. It has a marine plywood floor that gives it rigidity and can withstand fish fins. It is rated for up to 9.9 hp outboard, which is bigger than the space I have to put an OB (also 9.9 hp 4 strokes are pretty heavy). I use a 4 stroke Mercury 5 hp (55 lbs). The boat goes into 2 bags. One smaller one for floorboards and a larger one for the boat itself. Boat weighs about 90 lbs assembled with the floorboards.

A good inflatable boat is pretty durable and has multiple air chambers. It's another option. Was about half the cost of a new porta bote (got it on sale for about $950). I can put the 2 bags in locked storage compartments when not using. Good luck.

SDcampowneroperator wrote:
Porta Bote is our leaning for something to take along.

as one who has owned and used a Porta Bote, I'd suggest you make every effort to find one that you can experiment with prior to purchase .... when I had two healthy teenage boys there to help me, setup and getting it into the water went smoothly .... when I had to do it myself, the setup process was OK but getting it into the water was a bear .... we bought a Porta Dolly that proved to be worthless unless used on a paved ramp .... the tires are so narrow that they sink .... once you get them in the water, the perform as advertised .... I was most happy when I sold ours

Jim

Merrykalia wrote:
I was looking at an inflatable this afternoon. I think that is going to be one of my spring purchases for our camping adventures.

Sea Eagle inflatables

I'm a kayak snob...LOL! and bought the Fast Track 385. Easy and fast set up - very rigid - paddles ALMOST as well as a hardshell. Tracks well and is rated for Class II whitewater. Can be paddled solo or tandem. It has a "big brother" - the #475, but I was afraid that was too much boat for solo paddling?

We have a Sea Eagle inflatable kayak which we store under the couch with the paddles and life vests. We are very satisfied with it and would recommend it to anyone interested.

Sea Eagle makes a number of inflatables designed for fishing. Zodiac and Saturn are two other companies that make extensive lines of inflatables.

Regards,
Doug

We used to carry a PortaBote (now stored) with us and hung it underneath the RV. The seats, transom, motors, life vest, etc take up lots of storage space. If you have room, great. But as fulltimers, we needed that room for other things.