FISH SKIFF

Abstract

A fish skiff includes an inflatable floor made of high pressure drop stitch material; inflatable sides made of high-pressure drop stitch material formed at port and starboard sides of the inflatable floor, respectively; and a rigid transom formed at a rear portion of the fish skiff. The rigid transom is formed between the inflatable sides configured to have an outboard motor mounted thereon.

Description

BACKGROUND

1. Field

Embodiments relate to watercraft, and more particularly, to an inflatable roll-up fish skiff having drop stitch construction.

2. Description of the Related Art

A skiff is a small flat-bottomed open boat with a pointed bow and a flat stern. A skiff is often used for inshore applications including as a work boat and pleasure craft. Traditionally, a skiff was powered by rowing but can also include a transom-mounted outboard motor. Originally skiffs were made from wood but may also be made of other materials such as fiberglass or metal.

One of the most popular types of skiff is a fish skiff used by fisherman because the shallow draft of a fish skiff allows the fisherman to navigate the fish skiff close to the shore or in marshy areas.

However, even a small fish skiff requires a trailer to transport the fish skiff. Accordingly, there is a need for a fish skiff that is capable of holding at least two anglers and that may also be rolled up when not in use and stored in a small space such as the trunk of a car when not in use or being transported.

SUMMARY

Therefore, it is one aspect of the present invention to provide a fish skiff having an inflatable floor made of high pressure drop stitch material; inflatable sides made of high-pressure drop stitch material and attached to a top surface of the inflatable floor at port and starboard sides of the inflatable floor, respectively; and a rigid transom formed at a rear portion of the fish skiff, the rigid transom being formed between the inflatable sides configured to have an outboard motor mounted thereon.

In the fish skiff, the inflatable sides may be glued or welded directly to port and starboard sides of the inflatable floor.

The fish skiff may further include at least one seat detachably positioned above the inflatable floor.

The fish skiff may further include a flexible bow molded plastic cap covering the forward ends of both of the inflatable sides.

In the fish skiff, the high pressure drop stitch material of the inflatable floor and inflatable sides may be a polyester fabric of approximately 1000 denier. The fish skiff also may have an additional 1000 denier fabric wrap on all sides of all three air compartments.

In the fish skiff, the inflatable floor and inflatable sides may be configured to be inflated to 15 psi.

In the fish skiff, the inflatable floor and inflatable sides may be dimensioned to leave an open well abaft of the transom configured to receive the outboard motor.

In the fish skiff, a hull of the fish skiff may consist of three inflatable chambers, the three inflatable chambers being the inflatable floor and the inflatable sides.

In the fish skiff, the inflated thickness of the drop stitch material used for the inflatable floor and the inflatable sides may be approximately 6 inches to 12 inches.

In the fish skiff, the fish skiff is configured to rolled or folded to have dimensions no larger than 5 feet×3 feet×2 feet in a deflated state.

The fish skiff may include 4 to 8 special molded double grommets to hold the transom, which may be made of marine plywood.

The double grommets allow the transom board to be assembled onto or taken off of the inflatable hull, permitting more compact storage or carrying space, if needed. Conversely, the transom board can be left on permanently if the owner does not wish to take it apart after the first one-time assembly.

Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a top view of a fish skiff in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the fish skiff in accordance with the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the fish skiff in accordance with the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the fish skiff in accordance with the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the rigid bow of the fish skiff in accordance with an embodiment including a canopy and outboard motor; and

FIG. 6 is a conceptual view of the drop stitch material of the interior of the fish skiff in accordance with an embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below to explain the present invention by referring to the annexed drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the fish skiff 10 includes an inflatable floor 12 made of high-pressure drop stitch material. The inflatable floor 12 may be made of 1000 denier polyester fabric but may be made of other stronger or weaker fabric materials. An example of the drop stitch material is shown in FIG. 6 where thousands of drop stitches are provided to maintain an equal distance between a top surface 46 and a bottom surface of the inflatable floor 12. The drop stitch threads may be in a linear, zigzag or random pattern. The drop stitch thread may be configured in linear, or various other patterns including “X” and “V” patterns. The use of drop stitch material in the floor 12 allows the floor 12 to be flat and to be inflated to a pressure of 15 psi. The fish skiff 10 also may have an additional 1000 denier fabric wrap on all sides of the hull, i.e., the inflatable floor 12 and inflatable sides 14, 16.

Glued or welded directly to the inflatable floor 12 are inflatable sides 14, 16 which are also made of high-pressure drop stitch material attached to a top surface 46 of the inflatable floor 12 at port and starboard sides of the inflatable floor 12, respectively. The inflatable sides 14, 16 may also be made of 1000 denier polyester fabric but may be made of other stronger or weaker fabric materials. The drop stitch threads may be in a linear, zigzag or random patterns including “X” and “V” patterns. The use of drop stitch material in the inflatable sides 14, 16 allows the inflatable sides 14, 16 to be inflated to a pressure of up to 15 psi.

A foot pad 30 may be permanently glued or welded to the top of the drop stitch inflatable floor 12. The foot pad 30 may be made of ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) or any other suitable material that can provide the user with standing stability and a no slip grip. Either or both of the foot pad 30 or the inflatable floor 12 may include two or more sets of double D-ring straps 32 configured to secure to swivel fish rig seats 34 to the foot pad 30 or the inflatable floor 12.

As shown in FIG. 3, the inflatable sides 14, 16 are configured to extend outboard of the inflatable floor 12 to allow the fish skiff 10 to plane with an outboard gas motor and to give the fish skiff 10 greater stability. With this structure, because the boat rides just on the drop stitch inflatable floor, the drag is reduced and the speed and ease of handling the fish skiff 10 is increased, particularly in difficult conditions.

The fish skiff 10 may have an exterior length of approximately 10 feet to 20 feet and an interior length of approximately 8 feet to 16 feet. The exterior beam of the fish skiff 10 is approximately 54 inches to 75 inches, and the interior width is approximately 36 to 48 inches. When inflated, the fish skiff 10 can hold two people and their gear for a total of up to 900 pounds. When deflated, fish skiff 10 having a length of 16 feet packs to approximately 48 inches by 24 inches by 18 inches, which are dimensions configured to allow the fish skiff 10 to be stored or transported in the trunk of a car, cargo bay of an SUV or be of a pickup truck.

The thickness of the drop stitch material used for the inflatable floor 12 and the inflatable sides 14, 16 is approximately 6 inches to 12 inches.

The inflatable floor 12 and the inflatable sides 14, 16 each include an air valve 18. The air valves 18 are preferably one-way air valves to prevent blow back during inflation, and to make it easier to close the air valves 18 with a valve cap. The air valves 18 may be locked in an open position for fast deflation prior to transportation and storage.

The inflatable sides 14, 16 each may include canopy mount grommets 24 configured to mount a canopy 26 thereon. The inflatable sides 14, 16 also include additional mounts 28 configured to receive components such as oarlocks, anchor system, fishing poles, etc. The inflatable sides 14, 16 further include handles for easy transportation of the fish skiff 10 in either an inflated or deflated state. In a deflated state, the 16 foot long fish skiff 10 is configured to have deflated dimensions of 5 feet×2 feet×1.5 foot, and thus be able to be easily transported in the trunk of a car, cargo area of an SUV, or bed of a pickup truck.

At the bow portion of the fish skiff 10 is a flexible molded plastic bow cap 22.

At the stern portion of the fish skiff 10 is a rigid transom 40 configured to have a outboard motor 42 mounted thereon. The rigid transom may be made of marine plywood or another suitable material. Each of the inflatable sides 14, 16 includes two or more transom mounts 44 configured as double grommets which connect the transom 40 athwart the inflatable sides 14, 16. The transom 40 is configured to support up to a 10 horsepower outboard motor which enables the fish skiff to travel at speeds up to 18 knots. Alternatively to an outboard motor, the fish skiff 10 may include one or more paddles used to paddle the fish skiff 10.

The transom mounts 44 best shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 using double grommets as the transom mounts 44 allows the transom 40 to be assembled onto or taken off of the inflatable hull, permitting more compact storage or carrying space, if needed. With the double grommet transom mounts 44, the support of the transom 40 is increased to a level unavailable on conventional inflatable watercraft, while still be able to be removed for storage, transport or repair. Conversely, the transom 40 can be left on permanently using the transom mounts 44 if the user does not wish to take it apart after the first one-time assembly of the fish skiff 10.

As shown in FIG. 5, the fish skiff 10 may also include a canopy 60 and an outboard motor 62. The outboard motor 62 is mounted to the rigid transom 40. The inflatable floor 12 and inflatable sides 14, 16 are configured to leave an open well 64 abaft of the transom 40.

Although several embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A fish skiff comprising: an inflatable floor made of high pressure drop stitch material;inflatable sides made of high-pressure drop stitch material attached to a top surface of the inflatable floor at port and starboard sides of the inflatable floor, respectively; anda rigid transom formed at a rear portion of the fish skiff, the rigid transom being formed between the inflatable sides configured to have an outboard motor mounted thereon.

2. The fish skiff of claim 1, wherein the inflatable sides are glued or welded directly to the top surface of the inflatable floor.

3. The fish skiff of claim 1, further comprising at least one seat detachably positioned above the inflatable floor.

4. The fish skiff of claim 1, further comprising a rigid flexible bow molded plastic cap covering the forward ends of both of the inflatable sides.

5. The fish skiff of claim 1, wherein the high pressure drop stitch material of the inflatable floor and inflatable sides comprises a polyester fabric of approximately 1000 denier.

6. The fish skiff of claim 1, wherein the inflatable floor and inflatable sides are configured to be inflated to at least 15 psi.

7. The fish skiff of claim 1, wherein the inflatable floor and inflatable sides are dimensioned to leave an open well abaft of the transom configured to receive the outboard motor.

8. The fish skiff of claim 1, wherein a hull of the fish skiff consists of three inflatable chambers, the three inflatable chambers being the inflatable floor and the inflatable sides.

9. The fish skiff of claim 1, wherein a thickness of the drop stitch material used for the inflatable floor and the inflatable sides is approximately 6 inches to 12 inches.

10. The fish skiff of claim 1, wherein in a deflated state, the fish skiff is configured to rolled or folded to have dimensions no larger than 5 feet×2 feet×2 feet.

11. The fish skiff of claim 1, wherein the rigid transom is mounted to the fish skiff using transom mounts positioned on the inflatable floor and inflatable sides.

12. The fish skiff of claim 1, wherein the rigid transom is detachable from the rear portion of the fish skiff.

13. The fish skiff of claim 1, wherein the at least one seat is a pedestal seat or a swivel seat.

14. A fish skiff comprising: an inflatable floor made of high pressure drop stitch material and having a top surface;inflatable sides made of high-pressure drop stitch material, the inflatable sides attached to the top surface of the inflatable floor at port and starboard edges of the inflatable floor, respectively; anda rigid detachable transom disposed at a rear portion of the fish skiff, the rigid detachable transom attached to the rear portion using transom mounts, the rigid detachable transom being configured to have an outboard motor mounted thereon.