INTEX 68376EP Mariner 4 Inflatable Boat Set: Includes Deluxe 54in Boat Oars and High-Output Pump – Wear-Resistant Keel – Removable Fishing Rod Holders – 4-Person – 1100lb Weight Capacity

When I first bought this my wife thought I was nuts. I blew up the boat in my living room to make sure I knew what to do and my kids immediately thought it would be fun to jump on it. Thankfully, I was able to stop them. The boat is easy to blow up. The pump looked like it was going to be a lot of work, but I was amazed at how quickly I could fill it. Everything is numbered. The one mistake I made in the beginning was filling the central tube on the floor after I filled the sections around the boat. The floor was not easy to put in and I had to deflate one side. Lesson learned.Maiden Voyage Day: I went out to the local lake and put down a tarp to fill up the boat. For some reason I thought there would be very few people out, but much to my chagrin, I was wrong. In fact boats were moving in and out of the lake at the ramp and here I was with my 4 person mariner blowing it up on the side. NOBODY said anything, but I sure did get a lot of looks. My boys and I filled the boat up quickly and politely waited for an incoming Jon boat to load up on the trailer.I remembered my earlier experience and put the floor in first, tucking it in as I blew up each compartment. This worked much better. I did make another mistake which I will tell you about now, but will explain later. The boston valves are awesome, but I managed to pull off one of the rings that connect the valve to the boat. I absent-mindedly screwed the valve back on without putting the ring on properly and in essence screwed over the top of it. I was excited and nervous? What do you expect?My wife and 16 year old daughter were highly skeptical that this boat would work and to be honest even with all the reviews I read, I didn't know what to expect. I grew up on row boats and motor boats and the only experience I ever had with inflatables was the pool. Once I filled the boat I slipped it easily into the water on the ramp and stepped in. It is amazingly light in the water and at first it did feel like a "pool" experience. I bought the aluminum oars from intex which I highly recommend and positioned myself on the dock. I don't like the ones that come with the mariner and it is worth the $28 to have piece of mind.I went out first in the water alone, because everyone else was skeptical. The fishermen on the peer were a bit nicer than I expected maybe because they wanted to see me flounder around in the water (pun intended). Anything but that occurred. The boat moved through the water easily. Between the floor and the air compartments, central one included. I easily rowed far out on the water and back within a couple of minutes. *A small not here. Another Jon boat went into the water at the same time and I was rowing back from my exploration and they were still setting up.When I rowed back to the dock, I picked up my wife and daughter and took them out. This was a fair amount of weight, probably around 500 pounds of human in there and wasn't sure how the boat would handle. It handled as easily as I handled myself. Wow! I thought this was cool. So my wife goes from "My husband is nuts" to "Drop off the kids and let's go rowing around the lake." I don't think I have seen her that relaxed in a long time. My 16 year old? Well apart from the argument over the life jacket (there were other teens fishing) she loved it too. The boat was a hit.Sorry, I'm not done. I rowed the ladies back and picked up my two younger boys who waited patiently on the dock. This was the true test as we were going fishing. So I loaded up tackle, the boys, lunch and waved goodbye to my wife and daughter. There was no lack of confidence that the boat would float. I took the air pump with me, because I noticed section two was losing air. This was my fault, because of what I mentioned before. The valve did not seal right, because the ring was caught in the threads where it screws on. I added air and it filled immediately with about three or four pumps of air.We went out fishing in a quiet cove, ate lunch and fished. Each of my boys caught a small panfish and had a blast. I didn't fish, because I wanted to make sure they kept their lines in the water. Since I don't have an anchor I just kept repositioning the boat. After about an hour, we called it quits for the day. I noticed we lost air again on the #2 section and decided to see how the boat held up. The other three compartments and the central tube in the hull kept us afloat without issue. It's not that we lost a lot of air, but the section wasn't firm. I believe if we had blown a hole it would not have been much of an issue.When pulled up to the dock, we unloaded quickly and I packed up the boat into two bags. We were done so quickly, I thought I forgot something. We beat another Jon boat who pulled in and loaded up. It was very easy and the valves let the air out quickly.Pros: Very Sturdy Boat, Love the Floor, Easy to set up and break down, Great boat to get into difficult placesCons: I don't know how this rates as 4 person. I think you can do 3 adults for a fishing trip or excursion comfortably. 4 maybe with kids and the probably have to lean to the side. Intex may want to consider not including the original set of oars as they can break easily.Recommendations: Get the aluminum oars even if you are getting a motor, A small, light anchor kit is helpful for windy days. I also placed a piece of fabric underneath the seat at the front to keep the valve from popping up on the floorboard.I have not gone out with the electric motor yet. I bought the Minn Kota C240. As soon as Virginia returns the registration we are on our way.This is an excellent product for the price and we all had a blast. Enjoy!

Pro's: Solid Craftsmanship, material seems strong and resistant to puncturing.Inflates easily, and pump that comes with it is excellent.The solid floor insert, makes the board sturdy and legal on some waters.A motor can be easily attached with a $25 kit from Amazon.Has a keel which makes navigating waves easier.5 separate air chambers, nice safety feature.Update:You can legally register this boat in Illinois. Just recently got all my paper work for it.Con's: Bag that comes with the boat is pretty flimsily and is starting to tear.When inflating the keel there is no measurement to let you know when that chamber is full. I just guess but I am surprised there is no mechanism to let you know if the keel is properly inflated since the other four chambers have a measurement device.I am constantly amazed at how amazing this boat is considering I only paid $232. I have taken this boat out ten times so far and never had one issue. I've had up to 4 grown adults on this boat but it is a tight fit. Three adults are pretty decent but two is ideal. I first took this boat out on the lake without a trolling motor with four adults - bad decision. I find rowing this boat rather difficult compared to other aluminum and wood boats I have rowed before. The next trip out I attached a 40 lbs Minn Kota trolling motor and my level of fun and adventure on this boat was vastly improved. I have taken this on several lakes and rivers including the Chicago River. Particularly on the rivers, I am glad I went with a 40 lbs thrust.I have heard others gripping about getting holes and punctures on this boat. I am not sure if they had a bad product and/or operator error to some degree. I pulled up on rocky shores and hit pieces of trees on the water. I have not had any problems thus far. Another person in this forum recommended putting a tarp down on the ground before you inflate and deflate this boat - I highly recommend that. I think that is where people are running into problems because when air is in the chambers of the boat it seems to be pretty impervious to punctures. I am still careful though even when it's inflated.For those wondering it takes me about 20 minutes to unload, inflate this boat, and attach the motor mount. The pump that comes with it works surprisingly well. I have nearly every accessory for this boat and was contemplating buying an automatic pump to inflate this boat. However, the pump works so well I decided not to. I followed another person's advice about inflating this boat. I inflate all the chambers to about 30 percent and then insert the plastic floor and motor mount. I then inflate to the recommend amount. The boat comes with a measuring ruler which lets you know when each chamber is full. When each chamber measures 10mm it is fully inflated.I have done 10 hours of research about boats in this price range. I will save you the hassle. At this price point, you cannot find a better deal on an inflatable boat. I highly recommend getting this boat over the Intex Excursion 5. The Excursion 5 has an appealing price point of approximately $130 and fits up to 5 people. It load capacity is higher as well. However, it does not have a factory solid floor insert. The Intex Mariner has a roll up PVC (I believe) floor insert which makes the boat floor solid. This is not only important for stability and function but on some lakes I have been on this is mandatory. I was stopped by the Forest Preserve Police and luckily I had the solid floor insert because the Officer initially thought I didn't have one. I think he wanted to give me a ticket which I heard is around $120. I live in Cook County, Illinois. Long story short, pay the extra $100 and get this boat. From my research, it is much better quality and also many lakes won't allow an inflatable without a solid floor insert. Hope that helps.