I am looking at a few different rafts now. one that has caught my attention is the maravia spider. I am also looking at the aire tributary 14.0 I am still having a hard time grasping the differences in the two boats. I know that I am looking to float the yak, methow, some of the coastal rivers and of course the sky and skagit. I am also hoping to go to montana in july and float a few rivers. I plan on doing the occasional overnight trip, but I am not sure the 3 or 4 day trips is in the cards for me anytime soon. I usually fish alone or with one other person and sometimes my 65lb lab. I am fairly experinced on the oars, but in no way a pro. all things being considered, would the spider be a better fit then the 14.0? I am concerned about the width of the spider at 5'6" possibly being too narrow to comfotably fish from. Also, is a narrow boat less laterally stable in whitewater? Would I have a higher chance of flipping it on its side? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
The spider is basically the same footprint as the air super puma. I would reccomend you get the diablo or the super duper puma from aire. the super puma is narrow and doesnt hold a lot of gear and doesnt really row well with more than a rower and one fisherman. I don't know if that is true for the spider .
A raft with a width of 66" less the tubes diameter of approx 20" each it gives an inside usable space of just over 2' is that right, boy that seems really narrow. If I had one complaint about the raft that I have is the usable inside space compared to a drift boat. the tubes really take up a lot of room. but it is way wider than that. Blessings jesse clark
The 14' Sotar has 20" tubes and 80" outside width. So 40" inches room inside of tubes. It obviously tapers at the ends, but a 96 qt Igloo cooler (36") fits great behind the oarsman. I got your message I don't have a trip to the west side planned but we could meet half way. Blessings jesse clark
I own the spider. You're welcome to come see it, or if we can figure a schedule, go on a float together. Jon
Jesse, I've looked at the Spider's before. As Shawn mentioned, very similar to a Super Puma. I was considering a Super Duper Puma, but wanted more fishing and gear space. I ended up buying a Aire 143D. Gave up some maneuverability for comfort. The 143D is 80" wide with 20" tubes, so I've got 40" of fishing space. It's been a good boat for floating the OP and SW Washington rivers over the past three years.
thats what i am thinking as well. Id love the nimble spider, but im probably going to get into something bigger. I suppose that should have been an easy choice given my 6'4 height and 280lb weight
I love my Spider, but if you regularly fish with friends as substantial as you, you'll want a bigger boat. I'm just glad you didn't take me up on the offer of a float! It's fine up front or rowing, but if you put that much weight in the back seat which sits right over the tube, the boat becomes difficult to row. Jon
Im not sure what kind of Aire this is but we fished out of it alot on the MO and the yellowstone. I like it alot. I know it's a 14 footer. I've fished out of a NRS Otter alot too and even though they were both 14 feet, the Aire was bigger and just seems better imo. Here's the vids I took on whitewater. 2 other of my friends bought the same raft this past year. Maybe it's a fad. <---green raft is the aire all 3 guys that have the aire said they bought it because it was the best raft for the money, but I don't know much about it really. Just passing on what they say, heheheh
interesting you should mention that sean.... I was just looking to make a post reguarding the ins and outs of cats
I am a rafter my self, and have a super duper puma, which I really like, but sounds like a drift boat might be better for you. My brother in law is about your size, and fishes a lot solo or with 1 person and a 16 foot drift boat his choice (note he also has a raft too for when we go whitewater multiday trippin). A drift boat is probably spot on for your needs and much cheaper too. You can pick up pretty good used deals right now with the economy on craigslist. I grew up on drift boats on the McKenzie and Umpqua, they are hard to beat if your main use is fishing, they take a lot more abuse (not from hitting rocks though) and can sit outside no problem all winter. Go for aluminum, especially if you put in on some bank slides. Shapp p.s. looks like we are neighbors in Everett
