Bloat the Boat then Fish and Float
Greetings everyone!
I must admit that I’ve been thinking of buying a fishing kayak for a while now but something always stops me from going ahead with the purchase.
There is an old Chinese proverb that basically says that one should never think about anything three times because twice is enough. If I followed this line of thinking I’d probably have ten kayaks by now!
A recent episode of Fishing Australia aired on the weekend and there was Rob Paxevanos inflating an i12 Hobie Kayak with a hand pump. Believe it or not he flew the kayak into a Torres Strait Island resort in its own suitcase. That’s right it comes with it’s own carry bag and the whole kit weighs in at 25kgs. Even so once inflated it can handle loads of up to 500lbs or 225kgs.
You can throw it in the boot of your car and away you go.
Now that’s pretty cool.
What’s more the kayak can be inflated in around 5 minutes.
That’s pretty good too.
The kayak utilized pedal power, or what Hobie refers to as Mirage Drive. If you’ve never seen a kayak propelled in this fashion it’s an amazing sight as each time you pedal, two underwater flippers move back and forth.
Being powered by your feet means that you have both hands free to fish. There is also another clever inclusion with a hand controlled rudder that sits next to the driver.
As the name implies the i12 is twelve feet in length once inflated. Rob mentioned that there were no rod holders but these were on there way on the latest model. It also comes with a high back seat and an 8 inch hatch for storing things that are not meant to get wet.
I live near the Georges River in Sydney’s south west and the thought of heading down to Kelso Beach, blowing up the boat and setting course for the local bridges is pretty enticing.
I went and had a look at the cost of the kayak and I only found pricing in US dollars at around $1800 which I think is a little excessive but how convenient is the storage and transport of this thing?
In the past I’ve looked at solid kayaks and had thought that the inflatables were like toys but this one seems to have jumped a few hoops in the making.
I’d be happy to hear from anyone out there who has had some experience with fishing kayaks. In particular anyone who has any first hand knowledge of the i12 Hobie inflatable.
Sea you later,
Skipper Meggs