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GoBoat 2.0 – iReviewGear.com

Do you love to be on the water? Are you a fan of paddle boards or small boats? If you said yes you need to look at GoBoat! This little craft is sure to be a hit with you and all you meet. Simply inflate the boat, attach the motor, and let the adventure begin!

Just the Facts:

Introducing the most lightweight and compact motorized boat in the world: GoBoat 2.0!  This rugged PWC is virtually impenetrable and fits in a bag. The Stealth is our flagship product that was built with the fisherman in mind. With multiple attachment points for accessories, you can mount multiple rod holders, fishfinders, cup holders and so much more. With its rich camo pattern, the Stealth makes the perfect duck-hunting companion; enabling you to hide from, and collect your prey without the use of a dog. With our 5-speed motor, you can cruise at 5 mph. The GoBoat’s quick maneuverability and shallow depth allow you to reach places most boats can’t go. When you’re done, simply deflate it and toss it in the trunk, and it’s small enough to store in a closet!

SPECIFICATIONS

Weight: 57.00 LBS

Height: 6 Inches

Width: 70 Inches

Depth: 70 Inches

My Story:

Do you love to fish? If so, you absolutely need to look at the GoBoat. Its not often that I just put my feelings in the first couple sentences of a review but here we go. The GoBoat is an absolute homerun and something that I think you will absolutely love! I know I sure do.

When I first saw the GoBoat at summer OR I knew it was something that I had to get my hands on. I instantly saw this as an incredibly versatile option for nearly all types of aquatic adventure. I mention fishing in the beginning of this review but don’t get stuck on that. This amazing boat can be so much more than a fishing vessel, it is an every adventure boat.

I’m sure by the picture you get the idea of what this product is, but in case you have any basic questions let me try and answer those here. This is an inflatable boat, this mean you will need to pump it up with either a hand pump or an electric pump. The boat comes with a small 35lb thrust electric motor that mounts to a small detachable transom and allows the motor to mount above the hole in the front of the boat. So, the boat more pulls you through the water than pushes. The power source is a lithium-ion battery that I have not yet been able to run out of juice. I’m sure if I just drove around a lake forever I could do it but for my fishing trips this battery has held nicely and not yet left me stranded. Now, lets get into my testing.

My first use of this boat was at my family cabin. I arrived at the cabin and began to unbox the GoBoat, which quickly drew some neighbors. They had a ton of questions for me, and I was like, “I haven’t used it yet so I can’t really tell ya!” The questions just kept coming so I was in a hurry to get this boat into the water even if only to escape them. I inflated the boat with the SUP pump that is available on the GoBoat site. This thing works wonders and I highly recommend you add it to your cart.

Once inflated I attached the transom and rod holder to the deck. I inflated the seat and attached that to the appropriate points. After that was all complete, I got the boat into the water. Once it was floating, I attached the motor to the transom and put the battery in the designated spot just behind the motor mount.

Sadly, the battery that was meant to go with this boat was delayed so I had to get creative. I used my battery from my big boat as a stand-in, and while this is not ideal, it does work. So, off we went on the inaugural journey. No, I did not break a champagne bottle on the bow LOL. The first thing that I notice was how well the boat tracks in the water. For the shape of the boat, I figured it would be difficult to navigate but I was very surprised at how easy it is to keep straight. This is surely due to the 3 detachable fins that are evenly spaced out starboard, port and aft. So straight travel is not as difficult as it would seem due to the round shape of the boat. I was also pleased to see the boat offers pinpoint turning which makes navigation in tight places a snap.

My main thought was to use this boat as a quick little fishing vessel that would take me to the little holes that I can’t walk to. So, off I went, and I was delighted to find success on my first cast. I spent the morning cruising the shoreline and pulling bass after bass out of the water. I must have been asked 50 times about the crazy boat I was on. People loved how unique it was and we very curios where they could get their own.

On the flip side to the fishing trip my children loved the GoBoat. It was always a race to see who was going to get to the boat first as they just loved to cruise on this fun little gadget.

My finial testing was done during a summer camp high in the Cascade Mountains. I was on a lake that has proven to be a bit difficult to fish and I wanted to try my had at trolling. The first thing I found was that even at the lowest setting the GoBoat does just that, it goes, and it goes a little too fast. So, that is something to consider if trolling for trout or kokanee is in your intended list of uses. If you need to minimize speed you may need to run a drift sock out the back of the boat to get you to a more suitable trolling speed. That said, I was still able to wrangle a few trout and I would call that a success.

If you are looking for a very fun little aquatic toy/tool you would be silly to overlook the GoBoat. This is a solid product that I am sure you will enjoy. I do want to point out that I had some difficulty with the seat. The small plastic retention clips are flimsy and broke almost immediately making adjustment impossible. I had the same issue with the storage bag. When I brought this up to GoBoat they told me that the plan was to move to a metal clip in future production so hopefully that is not an issue that persists.

I used the GoBoat for the majority of the late summer and was able to boat hundreds of fish, see parts of lakes that were previously unexplored by me, and watch my kids have a blast on a really fun and unique product. I love this little boat and it is absolutely going to remain in my “Forever Gear” which is a stash of only my favorite test items that I never intend to part with.

I plan to use the GoBoat for some early season duck hunts as well and will revisit this review with that update. Stay tuned for that! 

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