Thread: inflatable boat stability

Hi guys i am new to this forum so forgive me if this has been asked before. I have after much searching bought a seahawk 400 intex inflatable. The boat is a 4 man and pretty decent ,however the one thing that i noticed is that its not that stable standing up (tested in a pool )

I was wondering looking at the design of the mariner which is similar if the addition of a wooden floor would enable me to stand up and bass fish. its pretty pointless siting and fishing and i am hoping somebody here has found a solution to this . i must be honest that i havent actually used the boat on a dam yet and dont fancy tipping over on my first voyage.

Thanks in advance. I am keen on building a wooden mat floor but any pointers will help . my other option will be building two swivel plastic seats maybe.

Kbass , hi I am also very new to the forum but welcome , I have already pickup alot of good tips. I also looked at the floaters but didn't see myself half-way in the water, then looked at a dingie, but struggled to stand in it. I ended up taking a old canoe and modifing it with a outrigger type of style, works like a bom, two draw backs though ,only one person can fit into it and the other is I am not sure if I will be-able to enter any comp's in the future.

hi brett welcome also lol - yeah the boat thing just happened got tired of fishing of the walls , and in summer the bass are in the middle . I am pretty sure i will be able to get it stable eventually even if it involves bouys strapped to the side lol . if you look at the designs of inflatable bass boats all thats different is the hard floor and possibly the beam at the back . still hoping some one here has done something will save me the R& D
ps were do you go fishing ??

Kbass, I am going to try Homestead on Sunday morning at about 7:00 ,

With our inflatable, we have a peice of marine ply that fits fairly snugly into the bottom of the boat, it is cut in the middle and hinged with fabric strips holding it together and acting as the hinge. This improves the stability a lot. Both of us stand in it comfortably all day. The only thing is you need to speak up before you sit or stand or make any drastic movements so your boat partner can balance themselves, otherwise they'll end up swimming.

Hi guys sorry for the late reply but i only have work access. brett weres homestead dam , i am closer to alberton jhb south end. I did go fishing this weekend at murray park and tried the boat for the first time , the stability is great can even stand up slowly , but there are sadly problems -the rod holders are a bit small for my rod butt and the inflatable was too light , i could not get it to go in any direction and spent most of the day blown onto the reeds. use of the oars made no difference and i was frustrated to the point of leaning forward and moving the boat with my hands . I was alone in the boat if it makes a dif and maybe two people will make it alot more stable .

the thing is the oar locks are towards the front and back so 1 person siting in the middle cant unfortunately do much . i think the solution will be to make some sort of rudder for the back to avoid it tailing , will also thing a front mounted trolling motor will solve the problem. The thing is that i dont want to buy one of its still not going to help -so does anyone have a troller that they will to stick onto this thing just to see if it works ?

any comments or solutions will help thnx

Howzit Kbass,
I have a Mariner 4. I bought it with floor boards and they are great, I can't go without them! Same type like Duritz mentioned.

This guy I bought it from made them from 10mm plywood boards, then he painted them with some sort of roof paint / sealing paint. It does not peel off, paint does not run when it gets wet, does not get soft or smudge when it's hot - and I have no idea what he used!

He then made 2 planks which fit across the 2 pontoons so you can sit comfortably, measuring 1300mm long x 250mm wide.

It is also painted matt grey, which is great cause it does not reflect / blind you.

I attach a simple drawing of what mine looks like more or less.
And PS - I'm in Mondeor, so come have a look if you want.
And PS PS- I have a 28lb trolling motor as well and it goes very well!

What you should do to stop drifting is get a 3kg weight and tie rope to it and chuck it overboard, helps!

Hi porra thanks for the advice i think the seahawk 400 and mariner is exactly the same size ? could be wrong , but will like to take you up on that offer to visit-not sure if there is a pm option on this board but let me know. if the motor works then i will have to look into buying one . ps have you ever tried your mariner without the boards ? and is it different as in less stable?