Touring Inflatable Kayaks

CALL - 925.820.2628 IInnova Helios Tandem Innova Sunny innova Solar New Helios I ! IBC Mississippi Innova Traveler Innova Seaker I Incept Pacific and Tasman Trinity AIRE AIRE SuperLynx AIRE Traveler AIRE Sea Tiger- discontinued

Touring inflatable kayaks & canoes like the AIRE SuperLynx, AIRE Traveler; Innova Helios, Solar, Sunny, Seaker, and Incept Pacific & Tasman, along with other models below are intended for paddling oceans, bays, lakes, and flat rivers.

The designation "touring" doesn't mean these boats cannot be used to some degree on whitewater. Some boats below will work better than others in the rapids because of self bailing floors, or because they are wider and more stable. AIRE's SuperLynx and Traveler are both fine whitewater craft as long as you are not consistantly running shallow, boulder filled streams where you will need to pivot sharply every few seconds. Small-tubed models like the Innova Solars and Sunny will fill quickly with water since they are not self-bailers like the AIRE's, but if you don't mind emptying them often, they could be used on easier class II rivers. We've used the Mississippi canoes on runs even at fairly high flows but they could hardly be called a whitewater boat either. Juniors and Trinitys aren't bad in the rapids, whereas the Yakka and Seaker models should only be used in the ocean or on relatively flat water.

A good touring inflatable should have as little resistance to the wind & water as possible, yet it should not always feel on the verge of tipping over. How fast do these boats go? It depends on the hull design of each model. The Seakers, for example, go very fast. They're comparable in every way to plastic bodied sit-in kayaks. The best of the rest below will be about as zippy as a decent folding frame boat, and a bit faster than a sit-on-top (with the exception of the AIRE Traveler).

Under some conditions, a well designed inflatable has advantages over it's plastic and fibreglass cousins. If a hard boat is being paddled through choppy two-foot waves, each time a wave face collapses onto the front deck the hardshell comes to a near-dead stop. Sit-on-tops are really bad this way. The inflatable will tend to ride up over these same waves, slowing somewhat but not halting. There is also the additional safety factor you gain with an inflatable in turbulent seas, or big fresh water bodies like the Great Lakes where wind storms often begin with little warning.

Performance is not the only positive issue with regard to inflatables. Maybe the idea of flying with your boat and avoiding huge cargo fees appeals to you, or perhaps you would simply like more stability, safety, floatation, and easier re-entry than rigid boats offer. If so an inflatable is a great way to go. Some paddlers just want to be able to throw the boat in their trunk and not worry about it being stolen off a roof rack, which has actually happened to several of our customers. .

For information about multiple boat discounts, and discounts on accessories that are purchased with your boat, please see the F.A.Q. page of our website. Basically all kayak and all raft accessories (except rowing frames) are priced at 10% off if purchased with the boat. This can even include high-ticket items like drysuits.

Please note the changes in the way we've priced out the kayaks from AIRE, discussed in the header to that section below.

Innova's boats have increased in price again for 2008, something they and we have no control over since the jumps are due to the Eurodollar being strong, and to increased wages at the Czech Republic factory where the kayaks are made. However, all Innovas shown here are five percent off of the list price.
We are actively pursuing a second source for touring boats with the owners of Innova, but the product won't come to fruition until we can find a supplier willing to build boats with urethane material rather than pvc. Most Asian builders - on order of 98% of them - do not work with urethane and lack the training to properly weld this material. Our first product, when we can get to it, will be along the lines of the Sunny model below. Tim from Innova also wants a Helios knock-off, whereas we are more interested in a longer boat with multi-day capacity for couples. AIRE is also working on a touring model for next year though we don't expect either it or our own upcoming model to be less than a thousand dollars.
Always bear in mind that if you can pay with a cashier's check we will generally discount the Innovas by another 5% below our website figures. The Sunny for example would be $899 if you pay this way.

This page was updated in April of 2008.

Innova Junior

As of mid-June 2008, we have sold our last Innova Junior. If you are really jonesing for one, there's a small chance some other dealer may still have one in stock if you're willing to do enough hunting.
We always loved this simple, quick little boat but the investment group that bought Gumotex's (the company that makes the Innovas) boat and air bed division in 2006 deemed it not worthy of keeping in the line-up. We're guessing that there was not enough profit in it. In any case, we are continuing the search for a manufacturer with the capability of welding urethane boat fabric, similiar to the construction of the solo & tandem NRS Bandits found on our Whitewater I.K. pages. A company known as Oilfence in Seoul had looked promising a few years back, but it seems they have shut down their inflatable division.
If and when we can line up a boat builder, a slightly longer Junior copy will be one of two projects we'll be working toward. If there is any news on that front, we will update this section.

Innova Helios II

The Helios II (12'6"; $949) which replaces the Helios 380 do not have any kick on the ends, so there is plenty of room for two adults. Quite speedy on flat water, these can also be used for easier rivers. Helios kayaks are a good choice for people who paddle cold waters such as the Great Lakes or Alaskan waters because you sit down deep in them, and the bow dodger minimizes the amount of splash that will hit your lower body. Folks who feel they cannot do without a rudder will also have to chose between a Helios or the more expensive AIRE Sea Tigers and Innova Seakers. The 1200 denier polyester base fabric is as bombproof as you could want on this type of boat and it inflates very firm.
The revamped Helios II has had an improvement to the forward backrest in that it's now built just like the comfortable fold-down rear seat. This was actually how the boats made back in the late 70's and early 80's looked seat-wise.

New Innova touring models (both Helios's, the Solar, and Sunny) are not coated with rubber on the 50% of the boat that faces up and inward. Specifically, the tops of the inflatable floors, and the half of the side tubes facing toward your legs are only coated on the inner surface, along with the spray decks and some of the accessory pieces. What this means is that salt crust will tend to absorb into the uncoated parts, so those of you who paddle in the ocean and choppy bays should spray that portion of the boat with exterior grade Scotchguard before you use the boat. We also recommend thoroughly hosing the boat after salt water use.
"Can I do an overnight trip with my wife out of a Helios or Sunny?"
We get asked this question quite often. No doubt some people have stuffed gear into a 380 and on top of the decks and made it work, but the honest answer is that no, this is wholely unsuitable for camping if two adults are on board, as is the Sunny. You really need the extra length of an AIRE SuperLynx if you both want to be in the same boat with sleeping bags, tents, food, clothes, cook gear, etc. Yes, we know the SuperLynx is more money, but options are limited on 14 foot or longer models. That's why we are trying to get a longer Sunny copy made overseas, but development and quality checks take time.
The tandem Helios is not great as a solo boat. If you are going to use your boat alone much of the time you should really be looking at the Sunny below. The Helios II comes in green/grey or red/grey. Drybag & footrests included.

Both Helios models can be equipped with a foot-operated Rudder ($119). This rudder is a bit Flintstone-ish; it screws to the back of the Helios with stainless bolts, and then small cords lead up to stirrups that you slip over your shoes, which means there is no way to really lock the rudder straight. Despite this, any rudder is helpful - especially if you are looking to cover many miles in a more-or-less straight line - and this one packs down to a very tiny size. Tim from Innova wanted something that would fit into the boat's drybag/carry bag and it does, easily.

Innova's Vagabond, which is sort of a "touring" boat, is more often marketed as a river craft and therefore you will find it on our Tandem (whitewater) inflatable kayak page. The Vagabond is a good choice for hunters and fishermen - or fisherladies - who float sections like the North Fork Flathead in Montana and want a big gear carrier and don't mind slower hull speed.

Innova Sunny

Our favorite tandem kayak from Innova! The symmetrical Sunny is far more versatile than the "cockpitted" Helios models because if you want to use it solo, you can turn the "front" seat around or re-position the rear one, leaving you perfectly centered instead of having to choose between sitting way aft or way forward as you do in the Helios. You cannot buy a faster tandem inflatable kayak than a Sunny for less than $2,000. These outsell every other boat in our inventory by more than double.
We like the fact the Sunny does not have inflatable dodgers like the Helios, since they are more vulnerable to damage from the sun being way up out of the water. In other words this is a simple boat with very little to go wrong. The Sunny seats were improved last year and no longer have the obnoxious sub-lumbar bulge of the older model. You should still inflate these seats tight though for maximum comfort.
Unlike the Helios & Junior models, the Sunnys and Solar series use single side tubes (rather than a stacked "double tube") like most other boats on this page, increasing stability somewhat and making this boat far easier to re-enter from the water. This makes it ideal for swimming, snokeling, and for scuba divers.
Sunnys and Solars come with a removable aluminum fin to keep the boat tracking. Without the fin the Sunny in particular is very squirrely, so only leave it off if you are paddling very shallow water. Some of our customers have used the stock aluminum one as a hole pattern to cut out a smaller or different shaped fin from something like 1/4" polyethylene or plexiglass. You might desire a longer, more shallow skeg for low-flow streams.
These are not self-bailing but for class I & easy class II rivers they'll work just dandy. More solid class II's are a bit trickky in a Sunny. A high quality drybag and patch kit are included. The photo at left shows a Sunny being used in the "surf zone". Although the price has increased the last two years, this boat is still a good value. Anything equivalent made in West Europe or the States would be $1800 or more.

For information on other brands not shown here, please see our FAQ page. We would ask that you do not send emails with a vague inquiry as to "what do you Boat People think of such-and-such a kayak". We're happy to answer questions, but please let us know what you will be using the boat for, how far you might be paddling, if you will be flying on airplanes with it, whether you want to carry camp gear, etc. The more you tell us the better we can dial in the advice.

Innova Sunny Package Deal:

Our Sunny Package includes two 230cm fiberglass shaft Clear Blue Hawaii take-apart paddles, one Bravo II or Bravo I footpump, and your choice of either a kayak bilge pump or a 12 volt Dyna inflator to get you started. The price for the package is $1,099 plus shipping and this deal will run through July. No substitutions on package deals other than the choices given please.

Innova Solar

The new version of the Solar has redesigned seats like the Sunny and Helios models and also has the inner facing part of the hull made with material only coated on one side. This cut the boat's weight down a tad but also means the boat is more prone to staining. We strongly suggest using outdoor grade Scotchguard spray on all the uncoated (grey) parts of the new Innovas, and doing so before the boat hits the water the first time. This will make it far more stain resistant and it will dry faster too. Whether or not you use Scotchguard, you should always hose the Innovas down after salt water use.
The new seat is more comfortable than the older model Solar, and the boat now has a second set of lift handles near the seat which are easily visible in the picture. These are quite helpful for re-boarding the boat if you happen to be swimming and are in the correct place for carrying the Solar on your shoulder. The newer Solar also has a different footrest set-up and weighs about 2-1/2 pounds less than the pre-2007 version.
Solars are a good choice for those who find the dimunitive size of the Junior (above) a bit scary, or boaters who would like to carry a reasonable amount of camping, fishing, or diving gear behind the seat - something the Junior has little space for. Put another way, it is a wider, more stable, non-self bailing version of the Safari (the Safari is listed in our Solo Whitewater inflatable kayak section). It still has the same tracking fin and zippy hull design as the Sunny but weighs less than any tandem. There is a lot of room for overnight gear behind the seat in the Solars, and if you are not too tall there is also space for a smaller drybag in front if you leave the footrest deflated. This boat could very easily be used for a week-long expedition. The Solar can also be used for mild whitewater if you don't mind emptying the boat out after sets of rapids. It works fairly well if you are dealing with a pool-drop river with lots of recovery space between rapids. The Solar can handle large bodies without much trouble, up to about 290 pounds, but will perform far better with people under 200. The 220 pound "limit" given in Innova's brochure & website is reasonable but not the upper limit, in other words. Shoulder strap drybag standard, and all Innovas come with a minimal patch kit.

Helios I solo model

This model, which was new for 2007, looks more sleek than we would expect from a boat that is just a shortened version of the Helios tandems, maybe because the ends are tapered more gradually. For that matter the new Helios II tandem also looks more pointy than the older "380" edition.
Like the other Innova touring models, Helios's no longer have exterior-coated fabric on the parts of the hull that face your body. The top of the inflatable floor, the dodgers, and the secton of the side tubes that face your hips still have a thick rubber coating on the interior surface for air retention, but no nitrylon on the outside. Everything that is light grey in the picture below is bare fabric. If you use this model in salt water, it's a good idea to thoroughly wash it off with fresh water after each use. If you live on a sailboat and cannot do this, remember that the Safari (found on our Solo Whitewater Kayak page) is still made with all coated material.

Like the tandem Helios, this one does not come with a fin, but reports from Tim at Innova are that it tracks quite well on it's own. We've yet to paddle this one though we have spent a ton of time in the 340 Helios, which is only 13" longer, and we feel that it tracks well on it's own sans fin. The accessory rudder kit for the tandem Helios models above will fit this, but the runner cords need to be lengthened by a few inches because the back deck is longer on this model than on the tandem.
One thing we like about this new model is that unlike the tandem Helios, which is useless for couples trying to do overnight trips in terms of gear space, the solo model easily allows multi-day trips with ample room under the rear deck and in front, with bungie cord for flatter, lightweight items on top of the decks. The same situation holds for the tandem and solo Seaker models below. The solo can run two weeks worth of gear no problem; the tandem Seaker is challenged to hold much more than overnight goodies assuming two adults are using it.
A common question is "should I get a Solar or Helios I"? Well, the Helios is a slightly drier, warmer boat with it's dodgers, which deflect some smaller chop. And it is arguably more attractive, but beyond this there isn't any huge difference in hull speed. The Solar does come with a fin, and the Helios doesn't, but as we said the reports indicate most folks won't need a fin with the Helios solo. One big difference is that the Solar is quite a bit easier to re-board, so if you swim or dive keep that detail in mind.
The specs shown in the block above are accurate even if they differ slightly from that given on Innova's site. The weight looks low but we confirmed it with a very accurate 0 to 30 pound scale.

IBC Mississippi

The IBC Mississippi is an unusual design that actually looks like a short, wide canoe when inflated. We have a very limited supply of these discontinued boats, and when they're gone, they're gone. The entire boat, top and bottom, is made of high grade 80% hypalon material, in a strange light orange color. These were produced quite a few years back at the Riken raft factory in Japan, and would cost easily twice this price to make today. Mississippi's are only 12' 6" long, but very wide in the middle. They have the same "double" side tube design as the Innova, and with the thick inflatable floor there is lots of gear storage space and a high payload capacity to match. These are fairly low speed boats and were intended for use on lakes, bays, and very flat rivers only. There was/is a tendancy for the tall double side tubes to tilt left or right sideways, "trapezoiding" the hull when you sit on the bench seats. We have made stiff, lightweight, closed-cell ethafoam braces that slip tightly underneath the seats to alleviate this annoyance. The only thing is, when you use the foam braces they make the Mississippi feel a bit less stable - though they do increase the hull speed. We recommend padding the wood seats. With three military valves, and a 1-year guarantee on seams and material (I-beam blowouts are not covered).

Innova Traveler

We've resisted listing this model on our website from the day it became available, because we know there are people who will insist on using it in whiteater. Even the photo below is from a river. It is no mistake that we chose to list it on our Touring page rather than with the solo whitewater models. There is also the confusion of having two boats on this page with the same name - one from AIRE (below) and this one from Innova.
The Traveler is essentially a decked version of the Innova Safari (which is listed with our whitewater one person models) with three differences. First, the seat back is lower to accomodate the deck. Second, there are no bail holes since the boat is completely enclosed. Since it doesn't have to bail, the third difference is that the floor thickness can be reduced from the Safari's 5" down to just 3". This allows space for your legs inside, which you would not have if the floor was two inches thicker. Just as importantly, the thinner floor chamber also lowers your gravity center enough to make this model quite a bit more stable than the tippy Safari.
Even with the increased stability and the Traveler's fairly large cockpit opening, only paddlers with short legs who have a bomb proof roll on both sides should even think about using this in whitewater. The problem is that your legs can be entrapped easily in a broach or wrap as the boat folds up. Even older polyethylene hulled kayaks used to bend so fast under the force of a wrap that paddlers who lacked adequate pillars (vertical bracing inside the hull between their legs) often ended up drowning. So, despite the fact that some paddlers in Europe may use these for class III and IV runs, we would suggest this is not the best use for the Traveler. There is a new decked model from Incept in New Zealand called the Sally that has an even larger cockpit opening, and it would be a safer bet if you really want an enclosed river inflatable. The Sally also inflates more rigidly than the Traveler.
Now that we've scared some of you, let's talk about more appropriate uses for this kayak. The Traveler's strength is that it is arguably the warmest model under $1900, since half your body is protected from the elements. As long as you use the included sprayskirt the Traveler makes a great and zippy craft for cold water like Alaska, Canada, Maine, and the great Lakes region. This includes both milder conditions and the open ocean, where you don't have the worry of being held between or against a rock like you might in whtiewater rivers.
It's pretty hard to stow a sleeping bag inside this one though, unless yours compresses awfully small. We do not inventory this model, but delivery times are still roughly the same as with others that we do stock - 2 to 6 business days depending where you are. If you are afraid to put on a sprayskirt, we would humbly suggest you may be better off with the solo Helios I above, which is still a bit drier than some of the more "open" models. But if you are looking for a fast, sporty kayak that offers good protection from the elements, the Traveler is worth looking into. We know it is a fair bit more expensive that the Safari or Helios I, but the inflatable deck adds a lot of labor to the process. And for the time being this model remains fully coated with nitryl on both sides of the fabric. We hope it stays that way because decked boats are always harder to clean out anyway.

Innova Seaker 1

Innova's high end Seakers compete not only with the Grabner Explorers, but moreso with the technical folding skin boats from companies like Feathercraft, Klepper, Nautiraid, Pouch, and others. Seakers are not marketed to have a big advantage over "folders" when it comes to the packed size. In other words, dragging one along on a plane will be just as big of a pain in the ass as two-bag folding model. However, folding kayak makers, be they French, German, Canadian, Russian, or otherwise universally underestimate set-up times for their rigs in sales literature and on websites. The easiest solo folders take no less than 45 minutes, and many tandems run close to two hours. A solo Seaker, by compare, takes about ten minutes.
Seakers have cargo hatches fore and aft, and a full Seal Line rudder system that your feet slip right into. The ultra rigid double side tubes prevent any sagging and the sleek, long hull can make in excess of 6 m.p.h. in the solo model. At 64 pounds, it's not lightweight, but it's still less than most 16' skin boats. It folds smaller than some of them too but you need to keep in mind the cargo hatch rims and especially the large cockpit rim are rigid, i.e. they do not bend when you roll the Seakers. . The two rubber cargo hatch lids are tough to get on, especially the larger rear oval shaped one, so it's best to use a bit of 303 Protectant (remind us and we'll throw in some 303 wipes). The large interior of the Seaker should be able to handle enough supplies for a week or more depending how bulky your gear is. There is also the usual bungie lacing on top of the deck that you will find on most plastic sea kayaks, which can be used for the smaller items you will need during the day.
The inflatable floor and partially inflatable top decking are grey nitrylon, the same 1200 denier fabric used for all the other Innova boats above on this page. The afforementioned side tubes inflate stiff at 3.3 p.s.i. because they are made with the a less stretchy pvc coated polyester, which as also used in Innova's K2 & K1 whitewater kayaks. Overall, it is a very labor intensive design for the factory to build, and it has more man hours than many full size whitewater rafts. Other than fiberglass or kevlar kayaks of equal length, there really aren't any other boats that will beat these in performance - and none of those others roll up.
One thing that is not included, since they come in different waist sizes, is a spray skirt. For most of you, an economical medium-rim nylon skirt should be all you will need. Neoprene skirts tend to be about twice the price and are more appropriate for whitewater kayaks.
One nit-picky detail is that there is a small area, about six to eight square inches, on the front underside of the inflatable floor right near the end that seems highly susceptible to abrasion. We would suggest either gluing an extra layer over it with a small round patch, or painting some Aquaseal on it, which has super high abrasion resistance.

We can also special order the seventeen foot tandem Innova Seaker II shown above in green. It is 76 pounds without the bag and is currently running $3.039, and has the same specs otherwise as the solo model above.
This model is even faster than the solo, assuming two competent paddlers are on board. It has been clocked at a stunning 7.5 miles per hour, which was a new record for inflatables until the Incept tandem below came along. Set-up times on the Seaker II will be a bit more than the solo model but not much, maybe 13 to 15 minutes.
Remember a tandem boat of this style has far less area for camp gear than two solo models would, but you will have double the space requirement. If your camp gear is on the bulky side, you might not get everything in this model. Of course, the same is true even moreso of most tandem hardshells.
The biggest drawbacks of the Seakers are their price point, which is hardly what we'd call a great value, and their rolled size & weight, which makes air travel with them costly and in some cases impossible. The rolled size of the tandem is monstrous - as large as a Tributary 13' self bailing raft. The Incepts below represent a better value in our mind, and they are both able to travel on planes without going over the 50 pound limit.

Incept Tasman & Padific

These two relatively new models from Incept in New Zealand seem to be the best deal going right now in higher-end ocean worthy inflatables. Their hull speeds are second to none due to both their hull shape and the rigid inflation level they attain, and they will even beat a number of slower plastic sea kayaks. A gentleman named Steve Gurney recently used one of the (solo) Tasman's to retrace a 1898 New Zealand exploratory expedition. His path included a coast to coast crossing through the appropriately named Tasman Sea to the Pacific from the South Island, a long mountain pass carry, and even some intermediate whitewater on the Hurunui River. All done with 1890 vintage clothing & gear too - well, except the boat!
The stowed size and weight of these two kayaks makes them more portable than the Innova Seakers above, and their price points and performance are better than Grabner's Explorer series, which we do not carry. The stowed size is so small in fact that you can get the solo model easily into an overhead airline hatch, and on most planes the tandem will also fit with a little effort.and proper folding. Incept even includes a wheeled carry-on bag for this very purpose!
Along with their ease of transport, another very strong selling point for these Incepts is the ability to open the decking for camp gear storage. This makes them easier to load by far than either the Seakers or the Grabner Explorers.
The solo Tasman model above is running $1,769, and the tandem Pacific below is $2,179. Please note that these prices include the suitcase bag mentioned above, the full rudder system, patch kit with excellent glue, a foot pump, inflatable seats & footrests, and spray deck covers/skirts. Also note that there is a chance these prices may be adjusted upward a bit during this season due to a continuing weak American dollar. In most cases you will not see boat pricing change in the middle of the year but Incept USA did not raise them at the beginning of 2008 as they probably should have. Even if they go up 5 to 10% though they are still the best deal in this type of craft.
Set-up times for both Incepts are better than the Seakers and about the same as the Grabner Explorers. The tandem Pacific takes a full ten minutes and the Tasman about eight. This can drag out longer with any inflatable if you are using an under-qualified pump of course.
The foot controlled rudder and linkage are both removable, and there may be times you don't want this hardware in or on the boat. Personally we would take it out before putting these on a plane, and also if we were playing in the surf - though any boat this long and skinny is hardly an ideal surf toy.
Some people may paddle these occasionally without the sprayskirt covers, but assuming they are in place and you capsize, there are three way to get out of the Tasman & Paciifc: Loosen the waist drawcord on the skirt portion, pull the edge velcro up, and/or undo the zipper that runs down the center. This makes these safer than the Seakers above, which are still pretty good with their large cockpit openings. But it makes them waaaay safer than any hardshell.
One annoying detail on both models is the use of the lame "twistee" stem-mounted float bag valves on the inflatable seats. AIRE used to use these when their kayaks still had inflatable seats. The actual valves work fine, but there seems to be no glue made that will adhere them to the vinyl stem compound for more than a few years. Once they come unglued, it is difficult to re-glue them back into the stem permanently.
Another point that buyers of all Incept products should be aware of is that on every model boat they make, there is some glue holding a few items down. On the whitewater rafts, there are a lot of glued attachments, reinforcing, and D-rings. On the whitewater kayaks there are some backrest & dodger attachments, but on the sea kayak models there is very little that is not welded. About half a square foot's worth in total. We mention this though because anything that is glued onto pvc boat material will eventually come unglued, and all owners of Incepts will need to purchase a dremel-type tool and a bag of mini sand drums to remove the old glue from both surfaces when this happens. Only after the old glue is removed can you re-glue whatever came loose. On the Pacific and particularly the Tasman there is so little glued that it is hardly a concern at all. All seams, internal tube & floor I-beams, floor edges, and most D-rings & attachments are welded. Incept only uses glue where welders won't really work.
The Incept sea kayak material is a blend of urethane and pvc that has higher abrasion resistance and lower weight than straight pvc, along with excellent salt and UV resistance. Color fastness in any pvc, pvc blend, nitryl, or neoprene will not be quite as good as true hypalon, so a red Grabner Explorer (which has a hypalon exterior) than is exposed to a lot of sun over 20 years will hold it's color somewhat better than any red boat made with a different fabric. Wash your boat after salt water paddling whenever possible, and keep it covered if it will be on the deck of your yacht.
Grey colored Tasmans & Pacifics are available by special order with a deposit. The solo model has two dozen D-rings and the tandem 31.

Trinity

Our Trinity K2 is a 14'6" long, double-tube inflatable kayak that came on the drawing board when Semperit (now Grabner) Explorer/Dolphin boats were unavailable. It might have stayed on the drawing board, too, if we knew that the these other boats would resurface.. The Trinity was designed by us to be as multipurpose as possible, with an emphasis on touring. Using tough, American-made urethane coated fabric and a flat drop-stitch floor, we ended up with a fast, stiff, sleek nflatable kayak that had only mediocre tracking, but turned out to be a more interesting river boat than expected. The hull speed is better than a SuperLynx and comparable to an Innova Sunny. With the addition of an Innova-type fin kit system, the tracking would be better. We'll assist you with this if you are interested. There is a continuous grommet strip running along both sides of the tops of the tubes, for securing seat backs, gear tie-down, and to lace homemade decks to should you wish to make one. We have plenty of boat material and heavy nylon packcloth here that a deck could be made from. There are just a few left, including prototypes, priced from $1,250 to $1,795, in blue and yellow, so call for more details if you are interested. Photo does not show backrests..

Note: We will be adding the Incept Pacific and Tasman touring models here soon, if you are looking for something similiar to the Seakers, but lighter in weight and lower in price.

The AIRE kayaks on this page include the SuperLynx and Traveler inflatable canoe - not to be confused with the decked solo inflatable kayakwith the same name from Innova above. The AIRE Sea Tiger is still available sporadically by special order for $2,199, no color choices (might be red, but more likely yellow) though we have removed it from this page. Let us know if you want one, but don't be in a huge hurry. As mentioned above we will be adding one more new solo and tandem from Incept here soon. .
These Traveler and SuperLynx are high quality American-made products with the best warranty in the industry -- 10 full years that even includes damage you do to your boat. We like to carry certain brands due to reliability and ease of repair, and others because of the strong, friendly, manufacturer support. AIRE offers the best of both worlds. The owners are nice people and good personal friends and the benefit for you, our customers, is a boat that will be serviceable for a very long time without any hassles. AIRE boats use the air-cell system: inner bladders that can be accessed through full-length zippers along the hull. This means they are easier to repair than any other brand. All AIRE's have British Leafield valves and the kayaks use tough high-denier pvc fabrics with a hard, shiny finish. The backrests (and seats in the Traveler) are repositionable, and the SuperLynx seats can be removed and used like a Crazy Creek-type camp chair. These are the best seats of any kayak made though they can still be improved with the addition (or substitution) of some stiffer Walmart sleeping pad foam - call us for details. For more info on AIRE and their warranties see the top part of the Whitewater Raft section or write us for a catalog.

AIRE Pricing-

Traditionally, ever since our website has been operational, we've had AIRE kayaks, rafts, and cataraft tubes priced at about 5% off the retail. AIRE had requested quite a while ago that all dealers list their products at the regular retail (with the exception of Alaska, Hawaii, and Canada, where dealers incure high incoming freight fees and must sell above U.S. retail) to "level;" the playing field - though we've been successfully resisting for a couple years now. Due to crabbing from a certain dealer the issue has been more or less forced, and being friends with the good folks at AIRE we don't want to create headaches for them.
The AIRE and Tributary pricing below is at retail, however in most cases you will not pay any more than you would have before we made the change. What we are doing is to give you 5% of the boats price, rounded up to the nearest dollar, toward UPS fees or any accessories you may get with the boat now or later. If you need no accessories and your UPS is less than 5% of the boat's cost - which is often the case with the more pricey U.S.-made AIRE's - we will work something out for you that's agreeable. Additionally, if you use a Discover card for your order, you will get another 1% off, and if you want to pay with a cashier's check, you will save even more. This can be substantial on rafts in particular, though less significant on something like an import kayak. Email us for a quote. There is no obligation, and we will not spam you with follow-up emails beyond the initial quote.
As an example for the SuperLynx below, if your UPS fee would be $50, that will be included in the $1,399 price, and you will still get another $20 toward any pump, thighstraps, pfd, helmet, throwbag, footbrace kit, clothing, or paddle you might want. If all you needed was the boat and a set of curved Boat People thighstraps, you would pay a grand total of $1,412 (plus tax if you are in CA). The thighstraps are $37 less 10% with your accessory discount, making them about $33. If the UPS was $50 and we applied the remainder ($20) of the 5% credit toward the thighstraps, that would leave you owing $13 for them. That plus $1,399 would equal $1,412.
Please note that Package Deals do not include the 5% shipping/gear allowance.
The last point we want to state is this: if you have a nearby dealer who has been helpful and seems the type who will take care of any problems after the sale, it may be best to make your boat purchase through them. As much as we want your business, it is not worth selling out someone who has done their best to work with you for a few dollars. We don't appreciate it when it's done to us after spending considerable amounts of time talking or composing lengthy emails, so if you buy from us we prefer it's because you want to, not due to us beating another dealer by ten or twenty dollars.

AIRE SuperLynx

* Pricing includes a $70 allowance toward UPS and/or accessories. See above AIRE information in italics.
AIRE's SuperLynx was built to fill the gap between the regular Lynx K2 whitewater inflatable kayak. and the longer, ruddered Sea Tiger below. The SuperLynx meets the demand for a touring boat that can run moderate rivers yet also holds multi-day camp gear, a child, or a big dog - something the shorter whitewater models are hard pressed to do. The SuperLynx is one of our best selling AIRE boats and was redesigned a couple years back. Instead of the left and right tube being separate entities like before, they are now one continuous hull like the main section of a raft. The tubes still taper at the ends, but they no longer diminish to a point. Instead, the left bladder runs through the front and one third of the way back along the right side, and vice-versa for the right bladder. This helps float the boat in a more paddle-able shape should you puncture one area. It also gave the boat a much more sexy look, and it means that the front end will have higher rigidity for punching big ocean (or river) waves.

The floor is very thick from top to bottom, so SuperLynx's have phenomenal weight capacities for self-bailers. The first customer ever to buy a SuperLynx from us put four adults (whom he estimated totalled 600 lbs.) in one without swamping -- pretty amazing, considering some small self-bailing rafts with much larger tubes can barely do this. The sleek, low-slung ends have very little wind resistance, and because AIRE seats are repositionable you can use the Superlynx solo or tandem with equal ease, and you can even purchase a third seat for a child if you wish. Since this boat was designed to be multi-purpose, there is no rudder like the Sea Tiger, but the tracking is decent for something that's river-worthy and the hull speed is at least as good as the Sea Tiger, if not better. A few other inflatables in the fourteen foot range, like the Soar canoes and Incept's C42 tend to be much wider, slower, and heavier than the SuperLynx.
If you like AIRE's products but feel the SuperLynx is priced a bit high, it's worth looking into the Strike 2 in our Tandem IK section. The Strike is fairly quick too and seems to track about as well as the SuperLynx, though it won't hold overnight gear with two people on board. On the subject of tracking, it is best to be a bit patient with this kayak, and give it a few weekends. At first you will have some trouble getting it to go in a straight line, but for most people 5 to 8 days of usage brings them to a point where zig-zagging is not a problem. If you still have trouble after that, we would humbly suggest trading the kayak paddles in for two little 3-1/2' single blade wood paddles, which you will tend to draw close to the hull, thus decreasing the arc of the longer kayak paddle that makes you zig-zag in the first place. In red, green, purple, yellow, and blue. We stock the last two, and sometimes green. We don't stock red and rarely have purple, but if you want those it only takes an extra day or three.

SuperLynx Package Deal:

The SuperLynx Package includes two take-apart 230cm fiberglass shaft CBH Tour paddles, a Bravo 10 standard foot pump (upgrade to the B10 Greenie pump for $20), an AIRE Skeg Kit, and your choice of a small size SeeThru drybag, or a Dyna 12 volt electric inflator to get you started. The package price is $1,529 plus UPS; this package does not include the 5% freight allowance. Pring good through June 30th of '08.

AIRE Traveler

* Pricing includes a $100 allowance toward UPS and/or accessories. See above AIRE information in italics.
Not to be confused with Innova's product of the same name above, AIRE's canoe style model competes with boats like like the Soar's, Grabner Outsides, and Innova Vagabonds. With it's very large 14" tubes and 15' length the Traveler could also be looked upon as a super narrow narrow two, three, or even four person whitewater raft. It has an extremely high payload of over 750 pounds, something most of the other inflatable canoes can't match. And if you want it to hold more than that and are running mild water, you can temporarily defeat the bailing by covering the holes with duct tape. Our friend Tracey Harmon, from Anchorage, AK has used it with nearly half ton payloads with excellent success. The 6" thick floor helps a lot in this regard. If you have bail holes punched in the Soar 14, Soar 12, or the Innova Vagabond and load anywhere near this kind of weight in them you will have one to three inches of water in the bottom all the time since the inflatable floor top will be lower than the exterior water level. Even the Soar 16 and New Zealand made 17' Incept C52 (no longer listed here) won't match the Traveler.

Like the Innova Vagabond (found on our Tandem Whitewater Kayak page), the Traveler has lace-down seats and can be paddled seated or kneeling. Unlike the Vagabond though, the seats can be moved around. The Traveler is intended to be paddled with single blade canoe/raft paddles, not extra long kayak paddles. Unless you are an experienced whitewater canoeist this is probably way too much boat to paddle solo. Tracey is very experienced and he told us it took some time to find the "sweet spot" for solo use, though he eventually did. Tracey is also a hunter, and he said that the Traveler is so stable that he can actually use a shotgun standing up in the boat without losing his balance. For most folks that might want to use the traveler solo, the best bet is to order the optional rowing frame ($349, or $314 if you get it with the Traveler) with your boat. .
How fast is it? Big wide flat bottomed boats tend not to be rocket ships on flat water but the feedback from Tracey and others regarding the hull speed of the Traveler has been good. A SuperLynx with competent paddlers will make about four miles per hour on flat water. The Traveler will do about 3 mph, but it is more subject to getting blown around by the wind than most of the boats on this page. The Traveler is twelve inches wider than boats like the Solar II and Sunny above, so you should not expect to keep up with these models. If your expectations are realistic you should not be disappointed.

As a three person raft, it's possible to mount footcones in the Traveler, and have a paddle captain at one end and a paddler on each side - sort of ideal for those really narrow, technical low water runs!

Available in four colors (blue, green, red, and purple; yellow is no longer available). Green and blue tend to be the most common colors and are usually available even if we don't have them in stock when you call.

Motor Mounts are not yet available for the Traveler but hopefully will be soon. Soar's Larry Laba does sell an excellent heavy duty aluminum motor mount, which we can recommend. With a bit of strapping it's fairly adaptable to the Traveler even though it was meant to rest on slightly smaller tubes.

AIRE Sea Tiger- see text at beginning of AIRE paragraph up above.