Post by philpot on Mar 19, 2013 20:48:07 GMT
Our good friends at Spindrift have asked us to evaluate one of the Sea Eagle pontoon boats by way of an alternative to kayaks. Now as I have had 5 inflatables from puddle jumpers to 40hp ribs, Terry asked if I would carry out the review so here we go.
The weather has been so changeable that I decided to throw a couple of lads out of the showroom at my office and turn it into a temporary boat showroom. It has certainly caused interest from one or two visitors.
REVIEW
The boat arrived well packed in 5 boxes so no damage there. It was interesting to note how light the craft is and although in separate boxes it was tons lighter than my last boat.
The pump supplied is of a good quality and gets the air in to the boat very quickly and comes with various adapters.
The air valve has a lock knob in the middle of the valve which stops the air escaping when the pump is removed and likewise is turned to release the air from the chambers when putting the boat away. Although a little blurred, you can see the pump nozzle has a turn lock to ensure the pump stays connected to the boat while inflating.
Inflation only took 10mins and to be honest I really did not put any effort into it so I think you could inflate in around 5mins.
Now we can look at some of the detail. First of all the Sea Eagle 285 is a back to front boat, in other words the front is is where the wooden transom/ engine mount would normally be and the rounded tube is where a small motor mount is located.
One interesting point here is that on most inflatables, the floor is bonded to the bottom of the tubes which does give greater depth of standing area however on this boat the floor is sited about halfway up the tubes. This in turn offers less friction so the only area to be in contact with the water are the tubes.
It is suggested that due to the catamaran style hull, the boat needs less power to produce a fair turn of speed or should I say a more efficient use of available power.
The motor bracket is of the old tried and trusted design used on many of the round transom tenders in use all over the world.
It is worth note that these brackets should be fitted prior to inflating. A nice touch is the heavy duty plastic motor plate which is far better than the usual wood plate and is plenty strong enough to take the maximum 3hp engine rating.
With most other inflatables, the floor has to be installed before any inflation takes place but in this case the floor is not trapped under any tubes therefore the single piece floor board can be fitted when the boat is inflated and it's position can be placed to suit the individual.
The Sea Eagle comes with a rotating and very comfortable fishing seat/chair which is bolted onto two alloy finished boards. The boards have a very neat fixing track, once the boat is fully inflated, simply slide the seat already connected to the boards straight onto a fixing strip sited at each side of the boat.
The sea Eagle is equipped with two rod holders that have a removable centre to allow for different thicknesses of rod butt.
Some nice features are the removable bags front and rear which are fastened using the quick release clips and straps, there is also a fly fishing line tray with a built in ruler but I have my reservations as I don't think it is big enough and to be honest I would not use this.
To the front of the boat there is a fitted standing plate just in case you need to land a fish from the front and can easily be touching the main floor board if required
Aluminium oars are supplied as standard which lock into keepers mounted on the boat. I had a pretend paddle in the office and they seem well placed and quite positive to use.
The sea Eagle also comes with a repair kit housed in a very tough container ready for those unfortunate accidents.
A couple of small but important points are the fitted carry handles which are really well placed and far better than any fitted to the boats I have owned. Lifting and carrying the Sea Eagle is a breeze, very light for two people and I suspect could even be plonked onto a C-Tug if you were on your own.
All in all, I liked this little fella although I thought I would not like it at all but it has won me over, attention to detail, fittings, seating, ease and speed of putting it all together has impressed me. I will say that although these craft are not made of the heavy duty Hyperlon type rubber it should offer many years of use if handled well. The next task will be to take it to the lake and try it out if I can borrow an electric motor from my good friend Esoxuk/ Phil Eaton who I am sure would like to have a little dabble in it.
Phil
The weather has been so changeable that I decided to throw a couple of lads out of the showroom at my office and turn it into a temporary boat showroom. It has certainly caused interest from one or two visitors.
REVIEW
The boat arrived well packed in 5 boxes so no damage there. It was interesting to note how light the craft is and although in separate boxes it was tons lighter than my last boat.
The pump supplied is of a good quality and gets the air in to the boat very quickly and comes with various adapters.
The air valve has a lock knob in the middle of the valve which stops the air escaping when the pump is removed and likewise is turned to release the air from the chambers when putting the boat away. Although a little blurred, you can see the pump nozzle has a turn lock to ensure the pump stays connected to the boat while inflating.
Inflation only took 10mins and to be honest I really did not put any effort into it so I think you could inflate in around 5mins.
Now we can look at some of the detail. First of all the Sea Eagle 285 is a back to front boat, in other words the front is is where the wooden transom/ engine mount would normally be and the rounded tube is where a small motor mount is located.
One interesting point here is that on most inflatables, the floor is bonded to the bottom of the tubes which does give greater depth of standing area however on this boat the floor is sited about halfway up the tubes. This in turn offers less friction so the only area to be in contact with the water are the tubes.
It is suggested that due to the catamaran style hull, the boat needs less power to produce a fair turn of speed or should I say a more efficient use of available power.
The motor bracket is of the old tried and trusted design used on many of the round transom tenders in use all over the world.
It is worth note that these brackets should be fitted prior to inflating. A nice touch is the heavy duty plastic motor plate which is far better than the usual wood plate and is plenty strong enough to take the maximum 3hp engine rating.
With most other inflatables, the floor has to be installed before any inflation takes place but in this case the floor is not trapped under any tubes therefore the single piece floor board can be fitted when the boat is inflated and it's position can be placed to suit the individual.
The Sea Eagle comes with a rotating and very comfortable fishing seat/chair which is bolted onto two alloy finished boards. The boards have a very neat fixing track, once the boat is fully inflated, simply slide the seat already connected to the boards straight onto a fixing strip sited at each side of the boat.
The sea Eagle is equipped with two rod holders that have a removable centre to allow for different thicknesses of rod butt.
Some nice features are the removable bags front and rear which are fastened using the quick release clips and straps, there is also a fly fishing line tray with a built in ruler but I have my reservations as I don't think it is big enough and to be honest I would not use this.
To the front of the boat there is a fitted standing plate just in case you need to land a fish from the front and can easily be touching the main floor board if required
Aluminium oars are supplied as standard which lock into keepers mounted on the boat. I had a pretend paddle in the office and they seem well placed and quite positive to use.
The sea Eagle also comes with a repair kit housed in a very tough container ready for those unfortunate accidents.
A couple of small but important points are the fitted carry handles which are really well placed and far better than any fitted to the boats I have owned. Lifting and carrying the Sea Eagle is a breeze, very light for two people and I suspect could even be plonked onto a C-Tug if you were on your own.
All in all, I liked this little fella although I thought I would not like it at all but it has won me over, attention to detail, fittings, seating, ease and speed of putting it all together has impressed me. I will say that although these craft are not made of the heavy duty Hyperlon type rubber it should offer many years of use if handled well. The next task will be to take it to the lake and try it out if I can borrow an electric motor from my good friend Esoxuk/ Phil Eaton who I am sure would like to have a little dabble in it.
Phil
