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It failed on the yellow/blue seam shown in the pic in this post. Right below the guys butt. It failed on the inboard aspect of the boat.
I spoke with him today and apparently he was fidgeting around quite a bit with legs/hips, and he feels he put too much outward pressure on that seam. The guy paddling in this photo is light, it didn’t fail in this pic. It failed with the other guy sitting on the stern and I guess he sort of wiggled in deeper and it blew about 8cm.
I feel like the failure was our fault and we exceeded the limits of the packraft. Like I said, I’ve had my 8 year old in this for countless hours. We used it so much. Whenever we were in cold water though, I always had a back up packraft with someone in it for this very reason. In 60 degree summer ocean temps you can survive quite a while, not so much in 39, as you know.
In almost all drownings in AK either alcohol or no life vest is a factor. I always wear my life vest whether on a packraft or our 22′ boat. Always……..
If the packraft had failed in this pic, neither had life vests, we were just leaving the boat. I’m sure they would have both died. No way they’d get back on the boat freezing. We were very lucky.
Hopefully people learn from this. I’m sad about my packraft, but whatever…….
Also went back this morning and retrieved our lost rifle at low tide, so we got all our gear back!
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Second packraft just finished. The first one was an 80″ floor on the Voyageur. Learned a lot in that build and applied it to this build. This one was much easier and more fun to build. Good times ahead. Still needs a spray deck. And I’m using my ExPed large camping pillow for a seat because it’s only $30 and I don’t need to spend hours making it;)
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Got the “packship” down the Mendenhall and Herbert Rivers with me, wife, and 7 year old. Working well. I put 3M 5200 on all the seams instead of Aquaseal because I had some minor leaks and for whatever reason, nobody will ship the big 8oz bottle of Aquaseal to AK (hazmat?). It’s ugly, but I could care less, it works great.
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When I made the Voyageur longer it was my first packraft build and I screwed some stuff up. If I had to do it over again, I’d say no, it is not harder, just more time consuming by adding a couple seams.
I can’t answer your question about self-bailer. If you buy a Big Agnes, be sure it fits your floor length. My Voyageur is gigantic, and it fits perfect and works really well.
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The long seams were tricky trying to reach inside those tubes. If I remember right, my floor is 84″ long. I’d say think it through before you proceed so you are sure you’ll be able to effectively seal those long seams from the extended tubes. I had some persistent leaks there that I finally sorted out.
Don’t mess with the 3m stuff, I just used it because I couldn’t get Aquaseal in town. Stick with Aquaseal or Seamseal, it cures faster.
My inflatable sleeping pad is 78″ I believe. It’s 1000% better than trying to make one. I’d go that route. $80 for a pad, no time to build, doesn’t leak, works perfect. I also use Exped inflatable camping pillows for seats. They cost $35, don’t leak, fit perfect, and saves time from building the seat kit.
Not doing self bailing, this is a calm water, family boat. If I need self bailing, I’m in water I shouldn’t be in.
Overall this thing is working great. I’ve had it down easy class III alone, and use it several times per week on my boat to get to shore when we anchor our 24′ boat. Will be fishing from it for a few weeks on the Kenai and Kasilof rivers soon.
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Paddles fine, and outside of my craftsmanship, I’m totally happy with it. I didn’t foresee how difficult the inside tube seam would be when I made the floor length 16″ longer and had difficulty with those seams being airtight. So….3M 5200 to the rescue. Works fine now.
I sit with my knees slightly bent and feel I can navigate easy rivers fine. My 7 year old being a 7 year old insists on having a paddle as well. His contribution to the effort is noble;)
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