Budget Boats: Part Two
Inflatable kayaks paddle well, are light enough to portage easily, and handle easy moving water. You can find these for less than $200.
As with other boats, double paddles do a better job for fishermen than singles. They are easier to manage in moving water and, when you get a hit while paddling, you can more quickly set the paddles down across your lap and grab your rod. If you need power, you must attach a cross-brace to the boat to hold a small motor. Dinghies, the donut-shaped inflatables famous as life rafts for the military, neither paddle nor power well. Rowing, without the frame used on heavy-duty river rafts, is hopeless. Sailing rigs tend to be dogs. Smaller dinghies do move fairly well on p0- ponds when powered with electric motors. Most have some sort of hard motor mount system.
Note: Specialist backpacker's and river runner's models suit special needs; translucent pool toy types are best avoided. Most military models are designed for "one time, emergency use only" so don't hold up well.
Sportboats, U-shape inflatables with a solid transom and floorboards let you use large motors and offer superior perform-ance. I used a Sea Eagle for seven years on medium-size reser-voirs as it ran fast enough to cover remote areas. It eventually wore out. As usual, motors half the manufacturer's maximum work well. A few of the most expensive sportboats offer sail options; some, like Zodiacs, are wonderful rough water boats. None suit budgets.
FOLDING BOATS Folboats and the expensive Klepper kayaks break our budget ceiling, but offer solid performance for those who don't mind the sometimes fiddling assembly project. A variety of other folding boats that clamshell or nest together work as well as cartoppers. The PortaBote, a unique "folds flat" craft may be the choice for boaters who find canoes or Scanoes a bit tippy. With it's 12-foot length and five foot beam, it's extremely stable. I used an olive model as a duck boat and a white one as a sailing dingny. Both are exceptionally durable even though I skid them over rocks and such. They handle motors up to 7 1/2 horsepower or so, but I like my mini 1.2 horsepower model on the 12-foot model I use now.
Note: Van and RV owners sidemount PortaBotes on inexpensive brackets and avoid the strain ofcartopping. BEYOND BUDGET BASICS Ancillary gear can bust budgets too. Don't conserve
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