New Toy, Long Narrative

[lncoop]

I'm normally a metal guy, but I picked up a little Intex Seahawk II last week and used it over the weekend. Had a great time with it and will definitely be using it more. Took a buddy and his son down a river with a few little rapids and a bunch of trees, deadheads, and that type of stuff. I was very pleased with its performance, especially considering the $130 price point, but one strange thing happened and I was hoping one of the inflatable experts could shed some light on it. I inflated the boat at camp. I was too dumb to figure out the Boston valves, so I ended up taking the entire valves out, inflating the chambers, then screwing the valves back in quickly. It seemed to work fine. We headed down stream and fairly soon bounced off some trees in a bend in the river. Shortly after that we beached it to do a little wading and fishing, at which point I noticed we had lost quite a bit of air. I just assumed we had punched a hole in it somewhere. After a while my buddy realized he had left his car keys in my truck. His vehicle was our shuttle back, so he decided to walk back and get them. I had him grab the little manual pump and when he returned I pumped in more air, this time into the tops of the valves like you're supposed to, until the sides were rigid again. The raft didn't lose another ounce for the rest of the trip. Any ideas what was going on there? It was kinda strange.

 

[paulpost]

Re: New Toy, Long Narrative

I'm normally a metal guy, but I picked up a little Intex Seahawk II last week and used it over the weekend. Had a great time with it and will definitely be using it more. Took a buddy and his son down a river with a few little rapids and a bunch of trees, deadheads, and that type of stuff. I was very pleased with its performance, especially considering the $130 price point, but one strange thing happened and I was hoping one of the inflatable experts could shed some light on it. I inflated the boat at camp. I was too dumb to figure out the Boston valves, so I ended up taking the entire valves out, inflating the chambers, then screwing the valves back in quickly. It seemed to work fine. We headed down stream and fairly soon bounced off some trees in a bend in the river. Shortly after that we beached it to do a little wading and fishing, at which point I noticed we had lost quite a bit of air. I just assumed we had punched a hole in it somewhere. After a while my buddy realized he had left his car keys in my truck. His vehicle was our shuttle back, so he decided to walk back and get them. I had him grab the little manual pump and when he returned I pumped in more air, this time into the tops of the valves like you're supposed to, until the sides were rigid again. The raft didn't lose another ounce for the rest of the trip. Any ideas what was going on there? It was kinda strange.

If the water in the river was cold the air in the tubes might got cold also .
Just an idea

 

[Lion hunter]

Re: New Toy, Long Narrative

+1 on the cold water. Also remember that boats must be monitored throughout the day so it doesn't overheat and pop.

 

[lncoop]

Re: New Toy, Long Narrative

Didn't think about that. There was at least a 30 degree temperature variance (and probably greater) between the air and water. Thanks guys. I think I'll re-inflate it and leave it for a couple of days to see what it does. One more question. The instructions were less than explicit, but each chamber had two marks with a line between them labeled 10cm. Does that mean that if those two lines are exactly 10cm apart I've achieved proper inflation? That's how I interpreted it.