Every once and a while I fly down to a lake that is a short 1hr. south of my home airport to go fishing. I hike down threw the woods to a public boat launch and fish there. Well I got to thinking about purchasing an inflatable boat and a small motor to expand my fishing possibilities. Does anyone have any suggestions for a light weight zodiac style boat? I am shore I am not the first person to think of this so any suggestions would be great.

P.S. I fly a 172, so no I cant fit a cabin cruiser in my plane.

Look at fold a boat. We have several and use them when fishing in canada, they are great for two people, but we fly them as an external load, but you might get them in a 172?
http://www.porta-bote.com/index.php

or a new design that I have not tried

http://www.yankodesign.com/2011/07/19/foldaboat/

eh bud, yep, that's what I use the Tundra for! 12' Zebec inflatable with foldable aluminum floor and 10hp honda...the key here is to make sure that you have enough HP to make it up river but that combo fits very well... the zebecs fold in bag very well...you can get a seat for it but with the 18'' diameter tube, you can sit very comfortable on it.. Just my 2 cents & let us know how you make out, cheers, BCT

I can't find any prices for the Porta-Boat. Looks pretty cool and light, I'm going to need to get the measuring tape out to see if I could get it to fit. Most likely it will be an inflatable because that's what I can find cheap on craigslist.

I bought one of these to carry in my 170: http://www.zoikinflatables.com/alteregotandem.html

It is super sturdy, durable, versatile and reasonably priced. It handles two very comfortably, and weighs in at 37 lb. I have taken it down some class III/VI rapids and it handles real well in whitewater with thigh straps installed. It would take some ingenuity to fit it with a motor, but it is probably stable enough to attach a 20 lb motor on a one foot arm.

Here's the Porta boat link: http://www.porta-bote.com/index.php I doubt you'll find one that'll fit in a 172, however.

The problem with inflatables is their size and weight, plus motor if so equipped. Most of the even halfway decent size inflatables have a floor, and that really adds weight and bulk.

Another option might be a PakBoat: http://www.pakboats.com/

They offer kayaks and various size canoes. My 15 foot PakBoat is easily packed by one person for some distance, and is a great two person boat. I've used a small (1.5 hp) outboard on it, and that works fine. These boats are really tough, and are excellent white water boats as well.

MTV

The pack boats look pretty cool and they make canoes which would be pretty cool to have in the event some camping happened (plus I have my canoeing merit badge ). They are a little more pricey than I would like to spend. On the other hand I'm not buying till March, So that gives me some time to save.

Ok, so I think I want a Pakboat, but why don't they have any videos or pictures on the website showing the thing folded?

http://www.alpackaraft.com/

If you can do without the motor, these things are LIGHT, come with an ingenious inflation bag and are bomber.

OscarDeuce wrote:Ok, so I think I want a Pakboat, but why don't they have any videos or pictures on the website showing the thing folded?

My 15 foot canoe measures about 36 inches by 24 by 24 or so when folded up and bagged.

Weight is around 30 pounds....I'm guessing here, but it's light.

MTV

I know this boat would be hard to strap under a plane, but I thought someone on here might be interested.

http://mokai.com/the-mokai.html

I have a port-a-bot and so does the Mexican/Canadian. One would be great once you got there, but I don't know how you would get it in a 172, as most are carried externally on the floats. Ford may have some words of wisdom for you on that. One thing that I do have that I would suggest, is a folding outboard motor, mine is an 3 horse Evinrude that was made in the 60's, comes in it's own carrying case and does not take up much room, it is small enough I can put it in a float compartment. I found mine on Craigs List.

Steve

mtv wrote:

OscarDeuce wrote:Ok, so I think I want a Pakboat, but why don't they have any videos or pictures on the website showing the thing folded?

My 15 foot canoe measures about 36 inches by 24 by 24 or so when folded up and bagged.

Weight is around 30 pounds....I'm guessing here, but it's light.

MTV

Thank you, sir! That's really what I wanted to know.

Best,
O-2

Check out this Sea Eagle http://www.seaeagle.com/PaddleSki.aspx. This company makes a few different inflatable boats. I have one of there Kayaks which packs up nicely and fits in the back of the 170.

The alpacka raft are pretty awesome. I can't believe how light they are, and the inflation system is pretty cool. I'm still on the fence on weather or not I wont a motor. on one hand there heavy, and its one more motor I need to take care of. On the other hand I can go a lot farther with the motor and can avoid getting exercise .

Maybe some of the float flyers can help me out. I would like to move to a seaplane in a year or two and am thinking maybe I don't wont a motorised boat. If I wont to go a longer distance on the lake wouldn't I just start the plane up, and do it that way? Don't know if this is a practice option as I have never flown a seaplane.

The folding outboard motor looks really cool also. Anyone have some suggestions on who makes the lightest 2-5hp outboards? Have any of you attached a small electric, or gas motor to your seaplane?

It all depends on what the lakes are like in the area that you fly to. Many places here on the east coast and eastern canada it is hard to find a good spot to put the plane on shore, once you do find a nice place on shore you usually don't want to move it very often. Depending on the floats you have on a plane, some have a storage hatch in them and a nice small three horse can fit down there nicely. If you plan on landing on any big rivers to fish then I would reccomend having a small motor. It just allows you to explore that much more and go more places. Also if you flying then you can run some 100ll in the motor when puting it away for the off season and not has fuel issues when you take it out next time(always worked for us)

http://www.soar1.com/soar_14.htm

Try looking at one of these. I took one camping with me in the floatplane this past summer. It kicks ass, quick to inflate and quick to deflate.

I spent 5 weeks in a pakboat canoeing the Hayes River in Manitoba, great boats, they take me about an hour and a half to put together and 45 minutes to break down each time.

These soar boats are lifetime boats, same material as commercial rafts, field repairable and handle great.

-Brad

Also you can get a motor mount for the soar boat. I have one haven't tried it yet.

-Brad

cfimechanic wrote:Every once and a while I fly down to a lake that is a short 1hr. south of my home airport to go fishing. I hike down threw the woods to a public boat launch and fish there. Well I got to thinking about purchasing an inflatable boat and a small motor to expand my fishing possibilities. Does anyone have any suggestions for a light weight zodiac style boat? I am shore I am not the first person to think of this so any suggestions would be great.

P.S. I fly a 172, so no I cant fit a cabin cruiser in my plane.

Thought about building a cargo pod that doubles as a small boat -to be attached between the main gear and front tiedown eye. About 40 inches wide-6 1/2 ft. long and 18 inches deep . Made from Aluminum tubing framework(1/2 inch square 6061) and .020 sheet. Thought it would be good "carrier " for tote goat ATV or Bikes for Back country adventures- Capacity TBD. I've draw it up with research on materials estimates -estimate about 200 bucks .

What I use is a one person pontoon boat. You can use a small motor with it. The fram , It will come apart so it will fit in to the plane. Sam,s club sells them here. I have seen them in other sporting good stores. I fly a Stinson so it will fit in your plane. It takes about 10 minutes to set it up.

Ken in Alaska