Thread: Naiad Inflatable

Hi,

Anyone have any experience with the smaller Naiad Inflatable Boats, looking at getting a 2nd hand 3.8-4m for beach launching fishing and diving.

I have had a 6.5m Zodiac open-pro in WA and plenty of experience with Surf club IRBs so like inflatables for comfort of ride and stability, I dont like the lack of room/storage but happy to compromise for ride and ease of one up use

Naiads seem to have good reps and look pretty robust with the dual tubes (inner/outer)

couple on trade me at the moment.

Cheers

They will be good. Look at Wavebreak boats as well, same D pontoon style
I had a 3.6 m with 30hp tiler steer for many years, sold to a mate and is still going strong.

Was perfect for beach launching, super safe and we would take it a fair distance around the coast of fiordland with confidence.

Originally Posted by Gkp

They will be good. Look at Wavebreak boats as well, same D pontoon style
I had a 3.6 m with 30hp tiler steer for many years, sold to a mate and is still going strong.

Was perfect for beach launching, super safe and we would take it a fair distance around the coast of fiordland with confidence.

Attachment 227077

Jeeeze, that would have fair zipped along with those 30 horses pushing it along

A couple of things to bear in mind: European sourced PVC and polyurethane have far better plasticer agents incorporated into the materials now. From about 2015 onwards. Earlier versions eventually lost their plasticisers via volatilisation and then hardened and cracked and lost air. Also better quality boat manufacturers high frequency weld their major seams, so won't suffer from the glue weakening in very hot circumstances. Hyperlon used to be the gold standard, but modern polyurethane has surpassed it. Most militaries from about 2010 on specify their rubber ducks to be made from polyurethane.

Good thing with Niad is they have been around for 40 odd years in Picton. Completely different kettle of fish to deal with compared to a no name inflatable made from Chinesium

Originally Posted by XR500

Good thing with Niad is they have been around for 40 odd years in Picton. Completely different kettle of fish to deal with compared to a no name inflatable made from Chinesium

In about 1983 when Steve Schmidt was developing the Naiad, he built a fibreglass plug to test the concept... 2.5m long with a 25hp.
Steve would commute across Queen Charlotte Sound with it and tie up at the wharf where I was working... one day he let me take it for a run. Steve was a good bit taller than I and he would wedge his elbow into his hip to keep things steady. I on the other hand kinda lost control when she started chine walking and ended up doing a violent 180 degree turn. Not to be beaten, I went and fetched 2 or 3 foot of pvc tube that I used for a tiller extension and off I went a second time full throttle flying along with nothing much more the outboard and the last bit of the hull touching the water... then she chine walked again and it was over in a flash, I was in the tide, the pvc pipe bent in half, kept the throttle about half open, and this 2.5m naiad was doing big sweeping circles around me in the middle of Picton harbor.
After about 3 or four passes, I mustered up the courage to latch onto a life line on the side of the inflatable tube... stretched my arm about a foot, kinda was thrown back on board, the boat dropped off the plane from shock and the extra weight and to this day I dread to think what the prop could have done if things went wrong.
Putted back to the workshop, tied up and went inside as was asked what the purpose of all the circles in the har..... oh, you are wet!
And that is my Naiad experience.

Originally Posted by LBD

In about 1983 when Steve Schmidt was developing the Naiad, he built a fibreglass plug to test the concept... 2.5m long with a 25hp.
Steve would commute across Queen Charlotte Sound with it and tie up at the wharf where I was working... one day he let me take it for a run. Steve was a good bit taller than I and he would wedge his elbow into his hip to keep things steady. I on the other hand kinda lost control when she started chine walking and ended up doing a violent 180 degree turn. Not to be beaten, I went and fetched 2 or 3 foot of pvc tube that I used for a tiller extension and off I went a second time full throttle flying along with nothing much more the outboard and the last bit of the hull touching the water... then she chine walked again and it was over in a flash, I was in the tide, the pvc pipe bent in half, kept the throttle about half open, and this 2.5m naiad was doing big sweeping circles around me in the middle of Picton harbor.
After about 3 or four passes, I mustered up the courage to latch onto a life line on the side of the inflatable tube... stretched my arm about a foot, kinda was thrown back on board, the boat dropped off the plane from shock and the extra weight and to this day I dread to think what the prop could have done if things went wrong.
Putted back to the workshop, tied up and went inside as was asked what the purpose of all the circles in the har..... oh, you are wet!
And that is my Naiad experience.

...Yet we are all still alive!!

Oh and I like them so much I have one at home in Queenstown and another at our north island holiday spot. Both in 4.9m center console with 60hp 4 strokes

Had a 17ft niad with 150 hp on back did 65mph plus real scary , beware the stitching on bags seems to go and new bags at time were made in levin but resold by niad in picton so double mark up . Clown in levin was a real jerk aswell .

There used to be a few in the commercial fleet up the able tazzy but they gave up using them in favour of Aloy.

Turns out the granite sand round here gets in all the nooks and crannies and is very abrasive.

Might be something to bear in mind if you were going to use it in the Top of the south FBD.





Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

The actual Naiad parent business has been sold to an Australian firm in Western Australia but can probably get spares through Picton still as original owners have now retired.

For a long time numerous boat builders could build the hulls and assemble design around the place.

Wavebreak is basically a copy but would have no hesitation going with one of those as maybe more competitively priced now, especially as you will be dealing directly with manufacturers.

Saw a guy spearfishing all the way out White Island in a 4m one thought it was a yacht dingy at first…

Thanks fellas for the replies,

I like the wavebreaks and almost, almost.... almost put an order in for a jet powered one back in 2008. Not many come up 2nd hand and they hold there price.
@kukuwai yep planned use would be Top of South, here for foreseeable future and if I head back up north it would be used for around the EBOP so plenty of bar crossings, beach launches and coarse sand up there too. I keep looking out the window at Delaware Bay and think man I need a boat now just to zip out around Pepin island and chase carrots and blue cod... Only have limited space to park one where we are and something smaller would suit the launching out this way at D-bay and Cable bay.

The inflatables are pretty capable boats, I could go a hell of a lot quicker in my 6.6m with a 150hp on the back in rougher seas than mates in FG or alloy boats. I would typically travel at 5-10knots faster in most sea states except flat and the surf that we would take the IRBs in was pretty intense and fun... Never flipped one but came close a few times.
@tibo heard of guys taking their jet skis out to White island, now thats another toy on the list..

Originally Posted by Fat belly Dog

Thanks fellas for the replies,

I like the wavebreaks and almost, almost.... almost put an order in for a jet powered one back in 2008. Not many come up 2nd hand and they hold there price.
@kukuwai yep planned use would be Top of South, here for foreseeable future and if I head back up north it would be used for around the EBOP so plenty of bar crossings, beach launches and coarse sand up there too. I keep looking out the window at Delaware Bay and think man I need a boat now just to zip out around Pepin island and chase carrots and blue cod... Only have limited space to park one where we are and something smaller would suit the launching out this way at D-bay and Cable bay.

The inflatables are pretty capable boats, I could go a hell of a lot quicker in my 6.6m with a 150hp on the back in rougher seas than mates in FG or alloy boats. I would typically travel at 5-10knots faster in most sea states except flat and the surf that we would take the IRBs in was pretty intense and fun... Never flipped one but came close a few times.
@tibo heard of guys taking their jet skis out to White island, now thats another toy on the list..

Those big capable jetskis are a big pricetag though. Same $ if not more than the outboard jet powered inflatables currently doing the rounds. But not many jetskis can carry 600kgs or bounce off rocks undamaged...

jet junkies in Christchurch have something really different..its like a cross between the two..a fullsized jetski sits inside the rear of inflatable..guess they would seat 6-8 people in the inflatable ...

XR500, the jetski for ocean use only, they go faster and straighter in rough windy conditions. About the same price a 470 inflatable with a 50hp jet unit on a trailer is well North of 30K same cost for the Yamaha wave runners or seadoos

If I was to get a river boat the outbacks/solars inflatables with outboard jet unit look pretty good, couple even did the crossing over to Stewart Island last year, so they probably ok in ocean conditions too, bugger now i have another toy on the list.