Intex Seahawk 4 Boat Set - four man inflatable dinghy with oars and pump #68351

This item was distributed by KMS Distributions Ltd.I bought this inflatable dinghy as a birthday present to myself and because it is the only kind of boat I can afford. I love to fish and have often found fishing from banks, or shore to be somewhat restrictive especially at sea, so I bought this boat to give me a bit more versatility when fishing.The boat arrived fairly quickly. I ordered it on Tuesday the 5th of June and it arrived on the late afternoon of Friday the 8th of June around about 2.30pm the day before my birthday. I was really pleased to see it, but, sadly, filled with anticlimactic expectations after noticing the outside cardboard carton containing the package was damaged. I reported the damage to the courier, filled the form and signed it.I deliver food to people's homes for a local restaurant on Friday and Saturday evenings from 3pm until 1am, so I had to go to work at 3pm on Friday afternoon. On Saturday, I had to work in the daytime from early in the morning and then deliver food in the afternoon until 1am. This left me no time to take the boat out of its packaging to inspect it. However, when I removed the damaged, outside cardboard carton, it was plain to see that the inside carton, the box containing the boat was also damaged at the corners and edges. What is more, the box was not sealed; it was open. I suspected that by the look of the package, I had been sold a second-hand, used item, or one that had already been returned to the company and then fobbed off to me. This discovery heightened the anticlimactic expectation that I already had even further.Sunday the 10th of June arrived, the only day I have off of work and the day after my birthday. I had planned to take the boat to my favourite fishing spot and give it a go. I took the boat out of its package at the spot where I had planned to fish and unravelled it. I was filled with excitement and quite elated at this point. Then I began to inflate the boat starting with the inner Boston valve... so far, so good, it inflated well. Then I inserted the manual pump into the outer Boston valve and inflated that compartment successfully. When I moved to inflate the floor of the boat, I was a bit disappointed to see that it did not have a Boston valve on it, but only one of those valves that you get on rubber, inflatable arm bands for when you are learning to swim. More disappointment was to come when after inflating the floor compartment, I discovered that not only did the valve release air when I removed the pump connector and had to very quickly put the flimsy rubber cap on the valve to prevent further loss of air, but I heard a hissing sound coming from somewhere else - there was a small incision like hole on the outer skin of the floor towards the bow of the boat.... Just as I had imagined - a hole in the boat!!... my feelings of anticlimactic expectations justified.This is the downside to ordering goods online. Clearly, here, the quality control was appalling. The boat should never have been sent out to me in this condition - someone should have spotted that puncture. I doubt very much that this puncture was the result of the damaged packaging because the boat was folded up inside the box with the punctured section folded inward.In effect, the boat cost me £88.00 to purchase and because I live alone it cost me one day's wages, about £100.00 to wait on delivery; it will cost me a further day's wages to wait for the damaged boat to be collected for replacement, and another day's wages to wait for the replacement to arrive - £388.00... that is an very expensive £80.00 boat, £88.00 with delivery.I don't believe in giving manufacturers second chances with items such as this one - an inflatable dinghy for goodness sake. If they don't get it right the first time round then they are not doing it correctly and when that happens, it is always the indigent customer who suffers most, which should not be the case. Quality control apparently was non existent here. When that happens a full refund and a free boat in good condition should be provided to the customer and this should be made law because where there is no heavy consequences, substandard services, who-gives-a-damn and who-cares-attitudes will prevail - this is what appears to have been the attitude here. Until there are heavy consequences facing these big businesses for delivering substandard, damaged goods, the customer will always be the one paying the price of their mistakes and carelessness. They must get it right first time round when selling products this way. When there are heavy consequences, they will make sure they get it right first time, improving standards. There is no excuse for damaged goods arriving at the door of a customer. Good quality control and well-packaged items prevent damaged goods from arriving at customer's doorsteps. It is that simple.Apart from the above-mentioned disappointment, I am also disappointed that the floor of the boat did no come equipped with a Boston valve. Nevertheless, I truly like the boat and would like to have one in good condition and to buy an outboard for it and maybe upgrade the paddles.I give this boat five-out-of-five stars for look-good appeal and safety - five stars being excellent and 0 stars being rubbish. I give it three stars out of five because the oars are too short, making rowing awkward and difficult, however, the oars are sturdy and strong. I give it one star out of five because it does not have swivel oar rings for rowing, making the boat difficult to manoeuvre and giving the rower a feeling that the rings could break or tear off of the inflated compartment to cause the compartment to deflate. I give the boat 0 stars out of five because the manufacturer failed to put a Boston valve on the inflatable floor compartment to give the boat the appearance and effect of a serious boating craft. The current valve is weak and makes deflation a bit slower. I give the boat one star out of five for not providing a way of fixing the inflatable seats to the boat to prevent them from blowing away. I give the boat 0 stars out of five because there is not a storage box, carry box, or bag to transport the boat around once it is deflated. Unfortunately, I have not managed to try it fishing yet, so I cannot make any comments about its suitability for that task.I hope this review has been helpful to you in deciding which boat to buy.I may add comments to this review later, after the exchange of damaged goods for new goods are made.Best wishes.PSI contacted KMS Distributions Ltd this morning after emailing them from Amazon's website about the damaged boat that they sent to me. They gave me a number to Intex's (the maker of the boat) sales agents. Intex sent me back to KMS explaining that the responsibility lies with KMS Distributions Ltd. However, KMS have not been very cooperative. Firstly, their advisor requested a photo of the hole in the boat, secondly they questioned my sincerity regarding the honesty of my claim asking me why I didn't refuse to take the package when I seen it was damaged. I told them that I reported the damaged carton to the courier, but had no time (because I was going to work) to open the complete package at the moment of arrival.KMS then told me to send an email to them explaining what happened (I had already done this via Amazon's website). After sending this email, I then received an automated reply saying that it may take one to three days to reply to my email... what a lengthy wait and what a rigmarole!I already regret choosing to purchase this item from KMS Distributions Ltd. It appears that they are an irresponsible bunch with little concern for their customers - their customer care is not very helpful so far.Judging by my experience so far of KMS Distributions Ltd, I would not recommend that anyone purchase anything through KMS Distributions Ltd.PPSI received an email back in response to the second email I sent to KMS Distributions Ltd. Here is what they said: Dear Lawrence,With regards to your e-mail, we are very sorry about this however the warranty does lie with the manufacturer and will need to contact them on T: 01480 414361 - this number is for John Adams but they are part of Intex and will assist further.Kind Regards,KMSI contacted Intex's sales agents before I received this above-mentioned email and they were very helpful. After I explained the lack of co-operation I experienced from KMS Distributions Ltd, Intex's sales agents (John Adams UK Sales) were helpful in helping to resolve the situation by offering me a new, replacement boat under the manufacturers warranty to arrive at my door by Wednesday the 13th of June 2012.KMS Distributions Ltd, however, seem to be very economical with their explanations as to why they believe they are not responsible for sending me damaged goods that were delivered to me wrapped in unsealed, damaged packaging. I cannot be certain who is responsible. All I know is that my boat is unusable because it had a hole in it when it arrived to me. Hmmm!! However, I made the purchase to KMS Distributions Ltd and I believe that my payment was received by KMS Distributions Ltd. Therefore, in my view, KMS Distributions Ltd are responsible for delivering to me the damaged boat.I'll keep you posted.PPPSFinally, I have some good news regarding this order. After speaking to a very helpful adviser at John Adams (Intex's Sales Agents) called Karen, the situation was resolved. Karen ordered a brand new boat for me under warranty on Tuesday 11 June and it arrived at my door on Wednesday 12 June.I have inflated the boat in my back garden and so far so good it seems to be in tact with no visible punctures. I am keeping it inflated for a few hours just to make sure there are no slow punctures.Visibly, the new boat looks like a new boat whereas the old boat by comparison looked used.I am a happier person today thanks to the speedy arrival of my new boat. I am looking forward to having many happy fishing days using my Intex Seahawk 4 inflatable dinghy.I'd like to thank Karen at John Adams for being very helpful and understanding, and for making sure of a prompt delivery. Thanks.As for KMS Distributions Ltd. They shunned all the responsibility. I shall not wittingly order anything through KMS Distributions Ltd ever again.I do hope this review has been helpful.Best RegardsPPPPSNow that I have received a new boat that is in good, undamaged condition, I can give a little time to write a review on the boat's capabilities, its usefulness, and the quality of build.I managed to set a day aside this week to get out fishing. I chose Wednesday 13 June 2102 because weather conditions that were forecast for that day by the met office suited an excursion out at sea.I prepared all my fishing tackle on the Tuesday night, the night before my planned fishing expedition. I had all of it ready along with the new Seahawk 4 boat to be loaded into my car early the next morning.High tide was expected at 07:34 on Wednesday morning, so I prepared to leave home at 06:30 for a twenty-minute drive to my favourite spot just off the coast of Dunure, South Ayrshire, on the South-West-Coast of Scotland.When I arrived, the conditions were perfect. The sky was overcast, but the clouds were high. It wasn't cold and it did not look like it would rain. The sea (Firth of Clyde) had a gentle ripple on it. There was a gentle easterly breeze blowing, I guess between one and three miles per hour as predicted by the met office. Maximum wind speed that day was forecast to be seven miles per hour, switching from an easterly direction in the morning and making its way across the compass points via a southerly direction towards a westerly direction by late afternoon, early evening.At Dunure harbour - a picturesque, Scottish, fishing village - I reversed my car down the slipway and unloaded my boat, unravelled it and then inflated it to the pressure recommended by the manufacturer. Once distended, the boat looked good. I lifted her into the water and held her at the shore's edge by a rope attached to a small anchor. I loaded her with all my gear. She looked like a fishing craft with my rods and nets on board. There was plenty of room for my gear and enough left over for me to stretch out in the boat. I then drove my car up the slipway and parked it, making sure to leave a note on the windscreen saying that I was out fishing alone on a dinghy, explaining where I intended to fish and that if I had not returned by 3pm that afternoon to notify the coastguard.I had my waders on, lifted the anchor and waded out to thigh-high water before climbing aboard because I didn't want to risk stepping into the soft floor of the raft in shallow water in case it flexed and came into contact with a razor-sharp shell or barnacle on the sea bed to cause the raft to puncture.I dislike wearing waders at the best of times because they really do restrict your movement, but wearing them on an inflatable dinghy is much worse than I can explain, so I removed them when I got into the raft and put on a pair of light-weight sandshoes (plimsolls).The boat took my weight well, about 68kg. I fixed the very short oars into the oar locks and began to paddle, sitting at the bow of the boat with my back turned towards the direction I was rowing as is properly done. It was fun and exciting exiting the harbour and entering the open sea. The boat was very stable and I felt completely safe knowing that there were three inflatable chambers on the boat and that if one of them punctured, the other two would keep the boat afloat. I remember thinking it would be highly unlikely and very freaky if all three chambers were to deflate or somehow get punctured out there. I thought the biggest risk of puncture would probably be from one of my fishing hooks getting snagged in it, or clumsy handling of my fillet knife or scissors. Extra care should be taken when using these tools on board.Many thoughts go through your mind when you are out at sea alone. I put together a few 'what if?' scenarios, e.g: what if I get hit by a freak wave and I'm thrown overboard?: what if all three floating chambers get punctured?: what if I lose my oars and the current drags my boat further out to sea?: what if my boat is attacked by a shark, or other marine mammal or fish? I managed to conjure up a few good safety precautions by thinking this way. As it happens, I did meet a lonely seal out there, which startled me slightly, as did a couple of seagulls by stealthily paddling up behind me then diving below the surface of the water and exiting it like a submarine launched ballistic missile. My heart got a thorough workout at these times, I tell you.For extra safety, I tied a four-meter length of four-millimetre diameter nylon cord to the small hole on the oar locks using an anchor bend hitch and attached the other end to a spring-loaded, quick-release karabiner using the same hitch - the karabiner clipped to my specially-designed waist belt. That way, if I fell overboard, my boat would not get too far away from me in strong, fast currents - I could use the cord to pull the boat back towards me.At first, I was a bit afraid to take the boat far out, but as the seconds ticked away, my confidence grew. I rowed out to about half-a-mile offshore, cast my creel, with bait in it, into the water and let it sink to the bottom; it went down about thirty-five feet. I secured the end of the creel rope to the bow of the boat. The creel acted like an anchor, stopping me from drifting; the boat stayed put. Then I baited up one rod with a piece of dead fish, kitted the other rod with some feathers and a six-ounce weight, and on my third rod, I put on a 2" spinning spoon. I cast the line of the baited rod out to reach the sea bed and placed it in the rod holder on the port side of the boat closest to the stern. The rod holder held it well, but it was not a tight fit; quite the opposite, it was loose because the rod handle has a small diameter. Fortunately, the rod holders are quite deep and hold the rods almost upright, so there is little risk of the rods falling out. My boat rod, in contrast, has a greater diameter on the handle and was a tighter fit, but it is also a heavier rod. I wasn't confident with this rod in the starboard, rod holder nearest the bow of the boat because the weight of the rod and tackle distorted the rod holder and you could visible see the stress on the welds where it is welded to the PVC boat chamber, causing it to stretch. However, I did leave my rod in the holder for lengthy periods and the material didn't tear or puncture, so I take my hat off to the manufacturers for the apparent toughness of the skin of the boat.All went well, I caught lots of Mackerel and nothing else. There was lots of fish blood getting splattered over my new boat, but it was a great day. The boat handled the job well in fairly calm conditions. I experienced three small swells during the day; in all three cases, I felt safe enough in the boat.I have two or three gripes with the boat, one of them is that the oar locks, while very strong, do move about a bit when rowing, and, once again, it is plain to see that stress is being placed on the welds where they join the PVC chamber. I would have liked swivel oar locks on the boat to take away this stress factor. The second gripe, is that the oars are very short, making rowing awkward and difficult, and also giving only a small part of the oars at their ends just enough room for the oar holders at the side of the boat to grip onto. I did not use these devices in fear of the oars falling out and into the sea, leaving me with no means to power the boat to port; I kept them inside the boat, which took up valuable room, but they were not a great hindrance.The other disappointment I felt with the boat is that it does not have a Boston Valve on the inflatable compartment on the floor. this makes deflating the boat completely very difficult and slow, and makes packing the boat to its original packaged size nigh on impossible.Nevertheless, I had a great day and caught some nice fish to eat. I only kill fish to eat them, so I didn't take many home. In total, I caught twenty-seven fish, all Mackerel. I returned twenty of them and killed seven. I filleted four of these fish for myself and three for my neighbour to whom I promised to give some of my catch.When I arrived home, I washed all my equipment and boat with some warm, not hot, soapy water using a mild car shampoo detergent to take the salt water off of the metal parts of my reels and rods, and to take the fish blood and scales off of my boat so that it doesn't smell when in storage. This boating and fishing game isn't a stroll in the park, you know; it is hard, time consuming work, but very interesting and challenging, satisfying and great fun.We got off to a bad start with this purchase order, but Wednesday's successful outing has made up for it a bit.I do feel a little bit jealous when I see glass-fibre fishing vessels about the thirteen feet to seventeen feet class on the water with cabins and outboards, but, for now, I am happy with my Intex, eleven-and-a-half feet Seahawk 4 inflatable dinghy. I am hoping to take her out to sea again this coming Sunday, weather permitting, to do more fishing.Best wishes

I have used this boat 2x since I bough 6 month ago.it had been packed up in the box both times today we where getting it ready for next weekend doing out pre checks on the raft and on the inside lining near the rear one of the plastic welts has come apart.I'm really gutted had a lot of fun on this boat when we use it but it should surely last more then 6 months.its now at the skips I know its a lot cheaper then the rest but still a lot of money.

Great value

This is a good inflatable boat has lasted me nearly 3 years I purchased in 2019. Unfortunately due to lots of use and a few tears I now need to buy a new one however the price has increased from £87 to £140 so I’ve found a similar inflatable boat for under £100 that’s the same material and sturdiness. If the boat was still the same price this would have been my first option.

Wow, I'm so impressed with this dinghy. For £90 I really wasn't expecting much but it's superb. Very very sturdy, oars better than expected, surprisingly quick to inflate and deflate (pump included). Inflated it at the beach in 10 minutes. That surprised me because when I got it out of the box it was BIG. Clever valves mean the pump attaches quickly and easily.Be warned, it is heavy. I had to carry it for 20 minutes from the car park to the beach and it was hard going. Best bet is to roll it up and carry it over the shoulder or buy an appropriately sized bag so that two people can take the strain.Kids absolutely loved it. Played in the sea with it for hours. We're a family of four and we easily all fit in. We had several people asking where we got it and could they have a go!You can buy a motor for around £150 and attach it to the back (there's a special place where it can go). That's our next step.Seriously for the money you cannot go wrong. Similar dinghies in stores are going for £300 or more.

For the price, this dingy is absolutely incredible. Really tear resistant and a great size. Have had so much fun taking this out on the water with friends and my dog. Easy to inflate, takes about 10-15mins.The only downside is that the paddles are a bit too short so this makes it a bit harder to row…

Brilliant boat, incredible value! Sadly, it's not the most robust and will eventually acquire punctures if used anywhere a little prickly. We're using it on a narrow river, with plenty of brambles to encounter, so probably at the edge of its operating threshold.Easy to inflate, (very) easy to deflate and a very comfortable ride. Floor is a bit wobbly (not reinforced) but for the price that's only fair.Have attached a 2hp electric motor to ours and it goes like stink! This probably hasn't helped with the bramble encounters.The oars and associated rowlocks seem a bit miscalibrated, you'll struggle to skim the water when they're in the rowlocks. Let's be honest though, this is marvellous value... happy to forgive a few minor flaws like that for all the fun it's provided over the years. Was more than happy to purchase a replacement (this one) after 5 years. Planning to use the old boat as an 'outer skin' on the new one... hopefully reducing the likelihood of future punctures.

We got this so that my husband could take our grandchildren on the rovers and lakes. It was ideal. Easy to inflate and transport. It was the highlight of our trip.