Wednesday, July 31, 2013


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    Few years back I was fishing with friends at Punggol, while waiting for the bites we saw a small boat heading towards the Coney Island, which's right opposite of where we were. We watched them docked their boat at the beach and fished on the Coney Island. At that moment we were thinking that how nice it would be if we had a small boat that could bring us there. I even suggested to get some plastic barrels or big piece of Styrofoam and tied them together to ferry us across.


    The idea of getting a boat was not materialized, here in Singapore you are required to have a Power Pleasure Craft Driving License (PPCDL) to drive a boat which have motorized device on it, be it petrol or electric. And the wild idea of having barrels or Styrofoam tying together was abandoned as the current at the canal is quite strong. 


    One day while browsing the Chinese online store AliExpress.com I came across this inflatable raft and was hooked on it, I decided to get one of this for fishing. I spent almost two months reading reviews and watching videos on YouTube to find out which brand and model is best for me, I also needed to consider on the price tag as I was on a tight budget. Various online stores were visited and eventually I found the cheapest seller on Taobao.com, another Chinese online store, but the problem was that they didn't offer international shipping. Coincidentally I heard of my elder sister was coming to visit my parent in Malaysia and she worked in Beijing, China. I made some calls and she agreed to help me brought back the raft and the rest was history.


   I anxiously waited for almost three weeks and when I picked up my sister at the Singapore Changi Airport I finally saw it, it was wrapped nicely with layers of plastic sheets and it was heavier than I expected. My sister complained to me on how difficult it was to bring it here and I felt bad as I told her that the package was not bulky and heavy. After sending my sister across the border to my parent's home in Pontian, I returned to Singapore with full of excitement and was eager to unwrap my new toy.




        I carefully unwrapped the package with a penknife as it was wrapped with thick plastic sheets with strong scotch tapes all over it, no damages were spotted as the carton was well protected by the three pairs of Life Jackets, the seller cleverly placed them at the three sides of the carton and the remaining side was stuffed with lot's of bubble wrap. There you are, the Intex Seahawk II Inflatable Raft which I purchased from the Chinese online store and the three pairs of cheap Life Vest were given as a freebies.  

     When I opened up the carton there was a huge carrying bag which stored the raft, I didn't know the package included the bag and I was thinking of making one. I lifted the bag out from the carton and unzipped the bag, the accessories were bagged separately into thick plastic bag, first item I took out was the hand pump, then a pair of aluminium oars, two set of inflatable seats and two rubber pouches, a Menu was found too with the soft plastic pressure gauge ruler inside and lastly the Seahawk II inflatable raft.
    I lifted out the raft with the help of my daughter and we laid the raft on the floor to check for defects, It turned out to be perfect and the next step was to inflate the raft up to find out if there was any air leakage.
    

    The Intex Seahawk II come with three separate air chambers, one on the each side of the tube and another one is the floor base. The main air chamber (the tube) is using the Boston Valve whereby the floor base is using a normal air valve. There was no indication on how much air pressure could be inputted, according to the Menu it said using the soft plastic pressure gauge ruler to measure the printed marking on the raft, do not over inflate by exceeding the mark. I did some research at some website and many said it depends on the weather and temperature, as in hot summer day the raft should not inflate to it's fullest, on the other hand during cold season or night it can be inflated to it's hardest. Anyway for now my intention was to test for air leakage so it didn't really matter. 

    The Intex company has marketed this raft is capable of fitting in three people and the advertisement has shown a family of three enjoying the raft on a lake, my verdict was this raft is just nice for two adults of my size for fishing. On the inner side of the tube there is some fine print saying the maximum weight it can carry is 200kg, which is also just nice for two 70kg adults and some fishing equipment. So if you are lucky enough to hook up a fish that is 70kg during the fishing trip with this raft you might need to call for help. : P  

    I took out the hand pump and started to inflate the raft, it was quite easy at the initial stage but after the air chamber no.1 was done, I could feel the sourness on my arms and back, my legs were tired too. I regretted for not getting the Electric Air Pump which cost $30, saw on a YouTube clip someone using the Electric pump to get the raft fully inflated in minutes with no sweat and Yes, I was sweating like a cow for your info.

    Me and my daughter took turn to struggle with the hand pump for almost 25 minutes and we finally got it done. The Seahwak II looks solid and spacious, the inflatable flooring is so comfortable and the inflatable cushion seats are nice as well. 


   The Intex Seahawk II Inflatable Raft was left at the corner of my living hall for the next 5 days and it only leaked slightly, the testing and inspection was completed with perfect score and a week later I brought it to the Desaru beach at Johor, West Malaysia for the first real test on the sea.

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