Hi Mike, thanks for chiming in.  I haven't made a decision yet since I
planned to hold off for a bit in case some more insight from the group might
sway my opinion.  A lot of people on this list have experimented with
different options so it's good to hear what has and hasn't worked for
others.

I had seen the Mariner 4 on Amazon when looking through options.  It gets
great reviews and is very affordable.  It is helpful to hear your
perspective since you have used it as a tender for the R22.  I plan on just
using paddles/oars for whatever I end up getting for the trips in the
foreseeable future, but it would be nice to have future flexibility to add a
motor mount for a trolling motor for some longer trips down the road.  I see
that there is a Mariner 3 as well which technically could hold 3 people but
looks like that would be a squeeze, especially while rowing.  

I plan to use this for me and one or two other people.

The mariner 3 is about double the weight of the kayaks I was looking at, and
the mariner 4 is a bit more than that.  I was trying to stay on the light
side so I could easily store it in the boat while trailering.

The foot pump on the Sea Eagle seems like it would be easier on the back
than the pump that comes with the others.  However, I have an 12V electric
pump that I got for my stand up paddle board so as long as I pump up the
dinghy by the vehicle (I wouldn't want to drain the battery on my R22 by
doing that) then the manual pump isn't a big factor.

How compact is the Mariner 4 when stored?  I live in a condo with limited
storage space so that is a factor.  

Thanks for all the info!



--
Sent from: http://rhodes-22.1065344.n5.nabble.com/