Stable, lightweight and easy to board or dismount, Sea Eagle’s PaddleSki™ 437ps is ideal for downsizing.
By Tom Schlichter
For senior boating fans looking to downsize their platforms, Sea Eagle’s PaddleSki™ 437ps offers a lifeline of more fun on the water. Stable, lightweight and easy to board or dismount, it is the world’s most accommodating and versatile inflatable watercraft.
“It certainly has been the perfect choice for us,” says Graeme Ireland, 73, of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. “We’ve been spending time on the water together for over 50 years, and we have no intention of giving that up as we grow older.” His wife, Jenny Ireland, 71, agrees, noting they are both retired and fortunate to live in such a beautiful place. “There are so many lakes, rivers and ponds to explore that I don’t think you can see them all in a lifetime – but we hope to see as many as we can and our 437ps Paddleski™ will certainly help make that dream come true,” she says.
No strangers to boating, the couple had owned three boats prior to getting their PaddleSki™ 437ps. They purchased their first boat, a 14-foot runabout, in 1974. Their second boat was a 19-footer that was perfect for inshore action, and it was followed by a 32-foot vessel on which they did a lot of offshore fishing. As they progressed in age, however, both Jenny and Graeme found traditional boats growing progressively more difficult to handle. The couple decided the time to step down to something smaller and more manageable had arrived about a year ago after Jenny tripped and fell on the dock as they tied up for fuel.
“Physically, aging is tough,” allows Graeme. “Jenny has had a knee replacement, hip replacement and back surgery. I have bone cancer that has left me with steel in my back and right femur. It can’t be cured but it can be held in check. So, obviously then, we are both very compromised at this point, too much so to comfortably handle a big boat.”
Enter the Sea Eagle® PaddleSki™ 437ps. Stable, lightweight and easy to board or dismount, it is, quite simply, the world’s most versatile inflatable watercraft. A popular choice among inflatable boaters of all ages, it features the “all-in-one benefits” of a catamaran, motorboat, and extremely rugged portable boat. Easy to pack and transport, this two-person, self-bailing and comparatively speedy inflatable glides effortlessly across the water while affording the options to paddle, motor, fish and sail.
“We figured at this point in our lives we needed something lightweight that we could inflate and carry to the water,” continues Graeme. “We wanted an inflatable boat that could accommodate two people so we could continue to fish together and Sea Eagle’s PaddleSki™ has proved perfect for that. It takes only about 15 minutes to inflate, and it’s light enough for us to carry it easily to the water’s edge. We also love that it folds up into a surprisingly small package we can just stick in the back of our van or on top of the cage at the back of our motor home when heading to or from the water. Once there, we carry it to the shoreline (or use our optional EZ-Cart to wheel it down) and inflate it with the electric pump. The inflating and launching process, including positioning the swivel seats and optional electric motor, probably takes us about 20 minutes total.”
The Ireland’s first learned about Sea Eagle boats on outings with their fly-fishing club, the Island Waters Flyfishers. “Several of our club members were already using older, single-person and two-person Sea Eagle models with the seat on the floor,” revealed Graeme. “We instantly liked the added convenience of the raised seats and room for two on the PaddleSki™.
While Jenny and Graeme enjoy some cruising and wildlife observation, fishing together is their primary focus while on the water. “We’ll try for anything,” reveals Jenny, “but mostly we target salmon and trout. I like to take a few home to eat but Graeme is really a catch-and-release guy these days. We are both predominantly fly-fisherman, although we also troll from time to time. Like most of our club members, we catch fish to about 20 inches in length on a regular basis on our local lakes. Anything bigger puts you in contention to win one of our tournaments.”
No doubt Sea Eagle’s PaddleSki™ is feature-rich with it’s rigid, high-pressure inflatable drop stitch flooring, rapid self-bailing, and fuel-efficient, minimal draft, near-zero-drag catamaran hull design. It sports five separate independent air chambers for added safety, a removable transom for increased storability and portability, seven conveniently located high-strength carry/grab handles, a pair of Universal Scotty® Pads to attach a variety of optional Scotty® accessories, plus an EZ-Attach on/off seating system. It also sports non-slip EVA foam deck padding, an anti-splash protective rubbing strake bumper and a high-strength bow D-ring amongst other features and options. It has a load capacity of two people or 885 lbs. yet deflated weighs just 58 pounds (68 lbs. with the transom included). As for portability, it breaks down into a stowable package measuring 36” x 21” x 12” – that’s small enough to fit into a car trunk or even a large backpack. Room for a cooler and plenty of fishing gear? You bet.
“It’s a great package at a fair price,” says Graeme. “It’s exceptionally stable, rugged and durable, easy to set up and easy to store away, but it’s the swivel seats that really stand out to us. With a dinghy or a kayak, getting on isn’t too bad, but getting off is nearly impossible for us. With the PaddleSki™ though, we simply turn the swivel seats to the side before we get on. Then we sit down on the pontoon with our backs to the seats, slide our bodies onto the chairs, and swing our feet around. To get off, we just reverse the process. It’s so simple.”
In addition to being great for cruising or paddling, notes Graeme, the PaddleSki’s raised swivel seats are also great for fishing and enjoying each other’s company. “You can swivel the seats to face forward, to the side, or even the back of the boat. They are so comfortable that when we first received our boat I was posing for a photo with a fish I had caught when it suddenly occurred to me that I actually had my feet over the side. The positioning was so comfortable and natural that I hadn’t even noticed because there was no effect on the boat’s stability at all!”
Generally speaking, Jenny and Graeme prefer to paddle in shallow water and use their 40-lb. thrust optional electric motor to get where they need to go if distance is a consideration. Because of the PaddleSki™ 437ps’ unique hydro-dynamic design, they have been able to fish on some larger lakes which they visit by motor home for up to an entire week without having to recharge the battery.
Of course, living on Vancouver Island, the couple’s fishing season extends into the colder months, so they stress the importance of picking and choosing your days wisely when heading out over open water. When they were younger, they would battle the elements with their bigger boats but these days they are quite content to pick the safest and most comfortable weather windows.
“At our age,” there’s no fun in fishing when it’s freezing out or we might get blown off the water,” says Jenny with a laugh. “But as long as you keep an eye out for the best days weather-wise, you’ll squeeze in all the water time you’ll need. That goes for the summer, too, of course, during which we have so enjoyed the added feature of the Sun Canopy we bought to give us some shade. Even up in BC, our sun can be relentless!”
Ask the couple straight up if they would recommend the Sea Eagle PaddleSki™ to anyone looking for a simpler on-the-water lifestyle and their answer is an unwavering “Yes!”.
“That goes double for anyone with disabilities like a bad leg or bad back that make it hard or unsafe to lug around and operate a bigger vessel,” adds Graeme. “If you are compromised at all with your ability to bend down, pick up and carry anything heavy, the lightweight Sea Eagle® PaddlSki™ is the way to go. It’s already helping us to continue living our dream of sharing as much time as possible fishing and being together on the many beautiful waters of Vancouver Island.”