TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands SUP

Next trip down in April.... Anybody with any experience with inflatable SUP's? Like the concept but nice to hear from someone with experience.

We have them on our boat & I love them!!!

We have two of them and I think they are great. The ability to inflate them as needed is a great value. The only issue we have experienced is that when they are stored outboard they can be an additional challenge. having said that the challenges are not an issue.

I've been bring an inflatable SUP on my trips for the past year or more. Four trips so far. I think it's great, but quality varies widely with inflatable SUPs. I have a Red Paddle Co. 12'6" Race.

We use A red 10.6. It works great.

Thanks.. Great feedback. I was looking at a Tower model but will check out these.

We use the Xterra 10' models. Easy to transport. Did upgrade paddles but overall very happy with the boards.

Ours are Big Fish; we have a 10' & an 11'. Because we bought 2 they gave us a fantastic electric pump which allows you to set the desired pressure (15#) and it shuts off when it reaches it, so it's a good dinghy pump, too. The 10' is rated to 250# & the 11' is rated to 300#. My only complaint is that since they're white they tend to get a little grungy & need cleaning more often than I'd like. We ordered them at a boat show so we received a significant discount off the website's price.

As a beginner paddler I find them incredibly stable & easy to use, but I haven't tried any others! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Tonguea.gif" alt="" />

what brand of electric pump do you have? I have only used the hand pump provided. It works well but that last few PSI get a little tough

They gave us a Bravo High-Pressure 12v pump. Works perfectly but comes with alligator clips to connect to a battery, so we got a rechargeable 12v battery pack from Amazon (about $100) in order to use it on the foredeck.

We have 2 Tower Inflatable SUP's , they are great. We inflate with a small shop vac and then finish off with the hand pump. We have the 10 ft 6 in model and the 14 ft 6 in model. I attached D rings to the longer one and snap shackle a pair of kayak seats to it and use it as a tandem kayak. I much prefer the longer one of the two when standing up and paddling. It tracks very well, you can paddle on one side for many strokes and it just goes straight. The shorter one seems to turn a bit with each stroke.


A high pressure electric pump would be very nice!

Tony

Here is link to Xterra http://www.xterraboards.com/. Sometimes you get get 50% off sales on their boards. Disclosure: I do not have any financial interest in Xterra

How much of a pain in the rear is it to travel with one of these? Checked baggage I assume?

How well does the 10 ft xterm track when paddling? Sounds like the Tower
does better with the long board. They do have a sale on for the 10 ft boards.

Checked baggage, and most will be technically oversize, though I have yet to be called on it.

Mine came with a roller bag... deflated board and 3-piece carbon paddle and accessories all go in the bag.

We checked the inflatable SUP's and carry on the 3 pc paddles. Earlier this month we arrived to the baths in red flag conditions. We towed the longer sup behind the dinghy to the dinghy mooring line. The confidant swimmers swam in, I brought 2 of the less confidant ones on the sup along with me in one trip, a couple of our "confidant swimmers" had a bit more confidence than competence so I let them hang on the the SUP. I also brought a pair from an adjacent dinghy to shore when we were leaving.

Tony

longer boards will track better. We checked the SUPs and put towels, sunblock and other items into their duffle bag. Still was under 50 lb limit. Even if we had to pay a fee to check, it was still cheaper than renting for a week.

This year we bought the 11 foot 132 Current by California Paddle Board Company. The price was very good in comparison and I absolutely love the board. They gave us free shipping and it took less than a week to get it. Comes with everything you need as well as a kayak seat for those that prefer to sit. We used it a ton in the two weeks we were in St.John and the BVI and it was great. Eventually I'd like to get a rolling bag and an electric pump for it. No problem checking it and we actually stuffed other items in the bag with it.

I have the original Adventurer 9'10" Tower board and I've brought it down to the BVI with me 3 times this year. It has held up well! The Adventurer 2 came out about a month after I bought mine ...

As someone else said, it tracks very well with the fin it comes with, and the included paddle is well made. It only takes about 5 minutes to pump it up with the hand pump (maybe longer if you take a beer break in the middle). It's more "tippy" than a regular SUP but I think that's probably true for most iSUPs since they sit out of the water more. This also affects your paddling power when going into the wind. I sometimes sit (or kneel) and paddle if it's windy.

It travels well - but I would not recommend buying their backpack bag to use as checked luggage. It would be fine for local hauls but Delta about destroyed mine in one round trip. It's also pretty heavy when you put everything in the bag - maybe 40 pounds? Not comfortable to carry around. So I bought a large wheeled duffel to use for the next two trips and it's worked out well, and has room for all of the accessories, including the pump, paddle, and inflatable roof rack (since I usually do land-based trips):

http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006...arch_detailpage

I also have an underwater LED light kit that I LOVE! In Great Harbor, JVD I've seen lots of turtles, tarpon, & rays. The tarpon actually follow you around. And minnows jump up onto the board! The lights go in my carryon (they have their own travel case).

Overall I'm happy with my Tower board, and their customer service is fantastic.

Felix

Tell me more about the submersible led lights? Obviously battery operated, could it be used to light up the area under the steps on a cat?

Must. Own. Those Lights!!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

Oh good.... The gift that keeps on giving....

The ones I have are SurfStow SUPglow, but there are a lot out there. They run on AAA batteries that actually last a good while:

http://smile.amazon.com/SurfStow-Supglo-...ywords=surfstow

They attach to the bottom of the board with heavy duty suction cups, so you could really mount them on any smooth surface, though I wouldn't leave them mounted on a boat while you're underway, of course

Felix

So... Sounds like the inflatables are a plus; just a matter of sorting out the ones to get. This has been really helpful. Really don't need 'high performance ' so maybe the Tower or Current 123 given the price me be good options. Thanks... Not back down till April so still have some time to sort.

Felix, looks cool!, how do you attach the light to the board? I read on the Amazon link there is a sticky pad to attach to rough surfaces.

Thanks for sharing,

Tony

Ditto

The SurfStow light kit comes with big, heavy duty suction cups that work well on any SMOOTH surface. My Tower board is textured on the underside, so they wouldn't attach directly to the board. Thankfully SurfStow was prepared for this - included in the package is a pair of sticky pads that you put on the bottom of the board where you want to attach the lights. This gives the suction cups a smooth surface to adhere to. So far so good with those pads, they haven't shown any sign of falling off.

The lights float, and can also be secured to the board with a tether (included), so there's not much chance of losing them. Overall I've been really happy with them Just wish I could use them more often!

Felix

never used or saw these lights but they looked pretty cool.... I bought the portable navigation light and saw these on the same site.

http://www.navisafe.com/products-2/underwater-lights/

Another vote here for the Tower inflatable board. I own one and love it. Build very tough and inflates easily with this pump: http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HN...arch_detailpage