LandfallVoyages

Introducing the Zodiac Zoom!

For $700 I kind of expected an inflatable boat like the first one we ever bought. It was, coincidentally, another Zodiac, however that poor limp thing had been abused and neglected to the point where all of the glue was letting loose of the fabric and the air had free license to move in and out of the pontoons at will.

We’d bought the inflatable with every intention of making it flatable again, but the longer we looked at it, the more clear it became that even after we scrubbed and scraped and gooped and glued, we’d still wind up with a somewhat questionable inflatable that was a good 2 feet short of what we’d actually need. And all that pondering of needs vs. wants naturally snowballed into The Great Inflate Debate of 2010, closely followed by The Hypalon vs. PVC focus group Think Tank. We pretty much bounced all over the place trying to decide what kind of skiff would work for us.

Turns out, every decision you make is something of a tradeoff– I mean, say you’ve got an unlimited budget. You get a big rigid hull inflatable, because they handle best. You go for Hypalon over PVC because it stands up better to the UV and while you’re at it, pile on all the bells and whistles. Now you need a boat that can literally support your luxury skiff. Next thing you know, you’re sitting on a 390′ super yacht outside of Morro Bay, too big to get in the harbor. Seems like all that luxe is effectively cutting you off from a lot of places, from a lot of fun.

In the end it was price that effectively settled our debate–Defender had a ripping good deal on PVC Zodiacs. I guess we’d rather go cheap if it means we get to go now. I wonder if Zodiac has a warranty program as good as Gill’s?