Intex Mariner 4 Inflatable Boat

[PMDun]

I've always wanted a Intex Mariner 4 inflatable boat. First read about these boats on Rubberboats in the US. Would of bought one when our loonie was above par but they wouldn't ship to Canada. I wanted something that I would fit in the trunk of my subcompact car and stow away in the crawl space of our condo.

After reading many reviews and seeing the following these inflatable boats have, I decided it was the boat that fit my budget.

Amazon Canada decided to drop their prices significantly, so I bought one. It said that it would take 1 to 2 months to deliver. I was stunned when I got an email from Amazon a few days ago saying that it was arriving on Tuesday by UPS. Took only a few weeks.

I inflated it in our living room last night and it looks great! My wife was very understanding. I reassured her that I'd put it away in a week as I wanted to see if there were any leaks. All I need to do now is to buy a few extra oar lacks from Intex ( $4) and a spare patch for my emergency kit.

If anyone out there has a Intex Mariner 4, I'd like to hear your stories.

[ÜberFly]

Years ago when I had a seahawk ( pretty much the same), I made some bench seats and upgraded the oar locks with Nickel plated eye bolts. Also had to replace the cheap oars it came with. Worked great for floating the bow.

[PMDun]

Uberfly,

Nickel plated eye bolts for the oars locks. Now, you got me going. I'll have to look into that!

 

We still have our old Intex Seahawk 500 that we bought back in the early 90's. This is one reason why I purchased my new Mariner 4. Our Seahawk 500 is still in great shape and hasn't sprung a leak yet.

We still see plenty of Seahawk 500 floating the Bow every year.

 

Intex built the Mariner 4 (M4) with heavy duty 30 gauge material. The inflatable keel and rigid floor keeps this boat good and tight. The air chambers are good and solid. I can sit on them and they don't sag down. I'm no split shot either...weighing at 235lbs.

Unlike the Seahawk 500, the M4 bow & stern are tipped upwards which should create less drag.

I was looking at ways to incorporate a anchor/pulley system and rigging it to the motor mount (not included). Then, I found this guy on YouTube that uses a retractable 45lbs dog leash, karabiner to hold his mushroom anchor. All he does is secure the leash handle ( with the karabiner) to one of the molded rubber O ring fittings that are used to fasten the motor mount to the boat. When he needs to drop the anchor, he simply pushes the button on the retractable dog leash and it releases the anchor. When it hits the bottom, he locks the button in place. I gotta try this.

Now, I wouldn't advise anyone to do this while drifting in the current but rather in slower moving waters where it's safe to do so.

For my rower's seat, I plan to drill four holes into the lid of my old Coleman 48quart cooler and bolt a seat swivel ( $12 ) and a cheap folding boat seat ($20). I can then use the cooler/seat for a shore lunch as well. Sounds like an episode of Red Green!

The rigid floor is pretty good but I plan to use three layers of 3' X5' corrugated plastic sheets (old election signs would work) with duct tape raped around the edges and then rap pipe insulation on top of the duct tape. I've done this to my Seahawk and it's never came apart. I just flop it into the boat floor and take it out. Fully waterproof/water resistant.

Haven't figured out a way to use the current rod holders and modify them to hold my fly rods ( PVC piping?).

Looking forwards to floating the Bow with our new boat as much as we did with our old Seahawk 500.

 

 

 

 

[ÜberFly]

Yeah just be sure to use the nylon nuts so that the eye bolts get locked in.

[Vitalshok]

You tube rowing frames there really easy and not that expensive for parts if you have a welder or a friend I built one for my zodiac out of aluminum and made it some it comes apart just working on oar locks to attaché to the frame that's the tricky part.

[threepwood]

Just took a chance on one. We'll see how it goes.

[PMDun]

Just picked up a spare manual Seyvlor pump, an emergency Tear-Aid patch kit (patch), an Intex motor mount, a Scotty fly rod holder and a 2 wheel folding truck cart to haul the fully inflated boat from the parking lot to the launch at Fish Creek park.

[KrookedOne]

I've never owned the 4, but I had the Mariner 3 about 10 years ago. You can't beat it for the price. I also have an old pontoon frame that one of the pontoons is blown out on and is beyond repair, so I mounted the frame to the Mariner. It worked great for 2 people on the bow or rowing on the lake. Lots of ideas for what people have done with that boat on youtube. Cabelas often carries the Mariner 3 and 4. I managed to pick up another Mariner 3 last year for $269.

[PMDun]

Amazon Canada was selling the Intex Mariner 4 back in April for as low as $280. Several weeks ago, they marked them back up to $360, right in time for the peak summer season.