Al D wrote:
Excuse the novice question, but I need an inflatable boat of some sort
for the purpose of crossing a 1/2-mile wide river estuary
occasionally.
........

Budget is limited, so I have been looking at the Sevylor Tahiti (10 ft
2-seater inflatable canoe) and its 12-foot 3-seater version (both
under $200). My main concerns about these are that I they get blown
around by the wind and track terribly. If a wind blew up when I was
half-way across the estuary, there's no telling where I might end up!



Wow, this is a challenge. Are you limited to a $200 expediture? At 200
bucks you won't get a boat of any sort, you'll get a glorified air
mattress- a toy. A real inflatable will cost at least 4-5 times that
amount, and many cost much more. What's the most you would consider
spending for a boat that would actually meet your requirements? If you
want to have enough options so that advice is meaningful or applicable,
you will need to expand the universe of boats available for you to
choose from. At $200, there won't be many at all.

I use a 9' Zodiac with a folding floor, wooden transom, and something
of an inflatable "keel" as my primary dinghy. It's easy to launch, one
person can handle it when deflated, inflates with a foot pump in about
7-8 minutes. (Used to 5 minutes, but I used to be younger). When too
lazy to row, I use a very small Nissan (Tohatsu) outboard and it will
run at about 10 knots or so. It would work pretty well for the light
duty applications you are describing.