Update on our Sea Eagle Kayaks

Since “inquiring minds” have asked about the status of our Sea Eagle boats, I thought I’d let you know the latest.

You may remember, we had a problem with the first two kayaks,  and  Tim and Crystal from Inflatable Boats 4 Less immediately had two replacements shipped out.

When we took the second two out, one kayak had a leak in the exact same spot as one of the first boats.  It’s evidently an area that requires a bit more adhesive.  This is not an area that would make the boat sink, it just allows water between the keel and the hull.  Not a major issue and I’m sure we could have repaired them ourselves.

As expected, Tim and Crystal responded immediately and worked on getting the issue resolved.  We never had a doubt that they would make it right, but it was a bit aggravating that we had the problem once again.  They  were quite concerned and decided to let the owner of Sea Eagle know what was happening because evidently there was a problem.

It turns out that this is a new model boat and it’s been very popular, so they cranked up production.

Evidently were making them a bit too fast and quality suffered.  Plus, they were having  some issues just because of the new design.  After they got our first two boats back they checked them out and decided on a few design changes.

They were going to make the changes on a new run of boats.  Tim asked if we could wait until the end of the month for our replacements.  That’s no problem because kayaking isn’t in our immediate future, but we still had the old boats, just in case we needed them.

Even though we found no problems with one of the last two boats, I asked if we could replace that one as well, since it came from the same run.  No problem…they would replace both boats.

Last Saturday, boats number 5 and 6 came.  We still have 3 and 4 and just need to box them up.  Tim asked that we let him know when we had them ready and they would send Fed Ex to pick them up.  No hassle, no expense.  We will get them boxed up in the next day or two.

Of course we haven’t had a chance to try out the new boats, but we are confident they will either be right, or they will be replaced.

Even though it’s been a bit of a hassle, Sea Eagle stepped up and did the right thing.  We would have no problem recommending these boats or this company.  We really liked the kayaks the few times we have actually used them.  They are easy to inflate and they paddle quite nicely.  They track straight and they are comfortable.  The only issue is deflating them and packing them back up, and that’s mainly because you have to dry them off first and try to get all the sand and dirt off of them.  That part takes more time, for sure.  The 385 Fast Track boats we have have an inflatable floor (that you can actually stand on to paddle).  We really like that feature, but you splash water inside the boat getting in and just paddling, so that water ends up underneath the floor.  You have to take the floor out to dry it and it takes a bit of time.    We may carry them on kayak racks on the roof and dry them back at the campsite.  These kayaks are sturdy enough that you can actually transport them on the roof of your vehicle.

Anyway, that’s where we are on these boats. 

Yesterday in about a 3 minute time frame I saw quite a variety of birds in the bird feeder.  Al put this feeder by the back window so the kitties could bird watch.

Goldfinch

Male Northern Cardinal

Red Bellied Woodpecker

White Breasted Nuthatch

It was a busy feeder.  I also saw a Brown Thrasher and a Bluebird, but I couldn’t get any pictures.  We have two Bluebird nests, each with 5 eggs. 

Getting Ready to Head Home

Sweetwater Rv Park – Zephyrhills, Florida
We’re getting ready to end our wonderful 3 month stay in Florida.  The weather has been great.  I had forgotten just how nice Florida winters are.  It’s been getting pretty hot during the day, but the evenings get really cool.  It’s perfect in my opinion!  I love those cool nights.
Our house in Georgia is only about 275 miles north, but it’s amazing how different the weather is.
We intend to leave Sunday, but since we don’t ever get an early start, we may just go half way and spend the night somewhere between.  We really don’t like to drive more than 150 miles a day…I know, I know, but that’s just us :)
We have a big job ahead of us when we get home and I’m not really looking forward to it.  I think living in the motor home for the past 3 months has given us a better perspective on what we actually need, use,  and have room for.  It may be a little easier to unload some stuff because we know better what we actually will need.
I have not posted for a few days or posted about our latest kayaking adventure on the new Sea Eagles.  I just haven’t had the heart to get into it until now. Here’s why.
You may remember, we got the first ones sent to us at Vero Beach and we had problems with both boats.  One had a skeg that was coming unglued and the other had a leak in the seam by where the keel is glued on.  Water was getting inside that seam making it difficult to deflate and fold the boat.  Both were minor issues, but since we just paid $1600 for brand new boats, we wanted them to be right.
We contacted Tim and Crystal from Inflatable Boats 4 Less.  They requested pictures for Sea Eagle.  In just a short while we were told Sea Eagle was sending us brand new boats and that we could keep the old ones until the new ones arrived.  They shipped the new ones Fed Ex 2 day delivery and we shipped the old ones back.  It was very good service, but still a hassle packing and shipping the old boats.
We never got a chance to try out the new ones before we left Vero Beach, but made plans on Monday to take them out to the Hillsborough River with our friends/neighbors Dean and Shirley.
We really love the handling on the new Sea Eagles.  They are stable, easier to get in and out, and handle well.  They weigh half of what the old hard kayaks did and are much easier to carry. 
Inflating them doesn’t take much time, but the deflating process it a little more time consuming.  Our Fast Track boats have a “drop stitch” floor. It gives the boat more stability and you can actually stand up in the boat and paddle if you like.  We love that feature, however it makes it more difficult to put them away because you have to make sure the bottom of the boat (under the floor) is dried out.
Our old boats got thrown into the truck bed wet and dirty and we were off. With the new boats, you have to dry them off before you roll them up and put them away.  Of course the sand is a big problem and you seem to have sand everywhere! 
Anyway, it was getting late, and while drying and deflating the boats we noticed water leaking from the EXACT same spot by the keel as the first boat.  I was extremely disheartened, to say the least.  Evidently Sea Eagle has an issue with that seam and it needs to be rectified.  I’m not sure if the other boat had the same leak or not.   By that time, we were in no mood to check it out, or even care.
I haven’t notified Tim and Crystal yet because I have just not been in the mood to deal with it.  I’m sure Sea Eagle will make it right, but it’s more hassle.  We aren’t going to be sending any boats back until we get back to Georgia though.
We did have a nice kayaking trip that day, although it was late when we started, so we just made it a short trip.  Dean and Shirley got a little nervous because the gators that had previously been hanging around on the banks, were swimming around in the river.  Dean  said Shirley was  concerned that it was feeding time and since they feed at night, maybe it wasn’t a good time to be on the river.  I’m still not convinced it was Shirley that was concerned about the gators :)
We did have a few swim right underneath us and it was a little unnerving.
This next picture is my view from my kayak. You can see the floor in this picture.  The hole you see is one of the places you inflate the keel area of the boat.  There is a valve for the keel, the floor and each side.

Here is Al on the Sea Eagle Fast Track 385.
The next picture is of Dean and Shirley's Sea Eagle 330.  You can see there is quite a difference.





It was a pretty day.  The new growth on the trees was so bright green and pretty and despite the issues with the boats and the wandering gators, it was a very nice trip.

The Sea Eagle Saga

Since we didn’t get the new kayaks from Fed Ex until 8pm, we decided to wait until the morning to unbox them.

They came packaged in 4 boxes.

The following picture is a 12 1/2 foot kayak in a carrying case!

We quickly read through the directions and got it inflated in just a few minutes.

It has a drop stitch floor which is also inflated. It makes the floor hard and firm enough that you can stand up to fish or paddle.  We thought that would be kind of fun.

The next photo shows 2 scupper holes in the stern of the boat.  You can open them up to allow water to run out.  It’s mostly recommended for  use if you do any white water kayaking (not likely).

I was pleasantly to find the boats are a light grey.  I thought they were white and those white boats give my camera fits trying to compensate for all that white.

In the next picture Al is holding onto the front keel.  It’s supposed to help keep the boat stable and track straight.  It also keeps it more rigid than some of the other model Sea Eagle kayaks.

The skeg in the rear will also help with stability and tracking.

There are 2 sets of paddles and 2 inflatable chairs.  I forgot to get a picture of the chairs.

After we inflated one boat at home, we decided to head out and give them a water test at Sebastian Inlet State Park.

We went out on the pier for a while to watch the surfers.  A lot of people were having good luck catching fish.

We put the kayaks in by the campground and headed towards the calm waters.  The tide was slack, the wind was light and it was warm and sunny.  A perfect day to kayak.

They inflated fairly quickly now that we had one practice session under our belts.   We put them in the water, being mindful of that skeg sticking out.

I immediately noticed a big difference in the feel of the boat.  I could actually feel the waves splashing underneath me.  It was a different feeling, but it felt very stable and a little wider than the old boat. 

I was concerned about “yaw,”  which is where the boat will go left when you paddle left and then right when you paddle right.  It wasn’t a problem in this boat at all.  It  tracked very straight and handled nicely.

We didn’t go too far but enjoyed a family of pelicans fishing together.  I don’t know if mama was teaching them, but they would all fly up at the same time, then dive down together and hit the water.  It was fun to watch.

We saw lots of birds and we think even a manatee, but we never got a good enough look to be sure.

A Great Blue Heron

Limpkin

Not sure what these birds were but I thought they were cute.

It was getting late so we decided to head in.

Now the fun part.  Getting sand and salt water off the boats, deflating them and folding them up and getting them back in their carrying case!

We decided we need some kind of mat to put the boats on when inflating and deflating.  Something just like the camping rugs we just sold at the yard sale :)

We removed the flooring in order to dry underneath it.  That’s one little extra step we have with this boat that we wouldn’t with another boat.  It is more work, but we feel it is worth it to have that nice firm floor.

We found a problem with the bracket that holds on the skeg on one kayak.  It was coming loose.  It would just need to be glued on, but it was annoying that our brand new boat was already coming apart.

Another thing was there was a hole in the inflatable footrest.  No big deal, but we would need another foot rest.

We made sure each boat was completely dry inside and out and then deflated them and folded them back up.

The first boat went back in the carrying case very easily.

The second boat gave us some problems.  We just couldn’t seem to get all the air out and get it folded up tight enough.  When we rolled it up water kept coming out.  We finally decided there may be a leak and water was being forced out when it was rolled up.

So this morning, we inflated the boat again at the campground and were able to find a small leak in the area where the keel was glued on.

We notified Crystal and Tim from Inflatable Boats 4 less, of our problems with these boats.  They responded quickly and requested pictures of the problem areas.  No problem, you know I always take pictures!

Chrystal called me right away and said Sea Eagle would send us 2 new hulls.  She said they do have occasional problems because these are inflatable boats and sometimes they can spring a leak in one of the seams, but that it was very rare that we would have problems with both boats.  They are sending the new hulls 2nd day air, so we should get them  on Friday.  We will keep the old boats  until the new ones come in, so at least we can do some kayaking….  It looks like Sea Eagle will stand behind their product.  A good thing.

When we came home from kayaking, out of the blue I started having some pain in my right wrist.  It kept getting worse until it got to the point I didn’t know if I could even sleep.  I finally found an ace bandage and some Joint Flex pain cream and it felt a little better.  I have no idea what I did to it.  I don’t think it was from too much kayaking, because we had an easy paddle.   It seemed to just start hurting out of the blue, but I must have sprained it somehow during the day.

I don’t see me kayaking until it gets better….however,  these kayaks are tandem kayaks, so I guess I could go along for the ride and Al could paddle me around :)