Yamaha’s “Why Wait For Spring” sales event will end December 6th, hurry to save on small portables and get extended warranties on mid and big size Yamaha Outboards.
Inflatable Boat Center is a Yamaha Key Dealer and Certified 5 Star Yamaha Service Center located in Portland Oregon.
Call (503)235-2628 for all of your Yamaha Outboard needs or stop by and talk to our trained and certified Yamaha Sales and Service Team.
The Inflatable Boat Center is Zodiac’s Senior Dealership and Military Elite Certified Zodiac MILPRO Dealer located in the Pacific NW. Inflatable Boat Center is a Yamaha Key Dealer and 5 Star Certified Service Center carrying genuine Yamalube Products.
During the colder months of winter rescue teams and agencies should be organizing their assets and preparing the training cycles to begin the new season. Weather events around the country, and the world in general, have become more and more frequent with devastating results/consequences. We mustered early today to work with another group to carry out their mission. It’s not like we want to be working at 4AM but necessity doesn’t follow a schedule, you go when and where you need to.
Recently we had the opportunity to work with Pacific NW Search & Rescue as they plan for their upcoming season. They needed a replacement vessel better suited for the conditions in the Columbia Gorge-Hood River area which can mimic a highly confused sea state. Being one of the best wind surfing and foiling spots in the world means things happen real fast in waves that break or sink boats not equipped to endure the conditions. Their recreational grade Caribe was no match for the beating the Columbia doled out and after many repairs they decided a boat more purpose built was in order.
Built to suit Pacific NW Search & Rescue’s unique operational parameters the Zodiac MILPRO SRMN600 was tubed in orange with “SEARCH & RESCUE” APPLIED to the heavy 1880dtx fabric. The tubes were married to the heavy-duty hull featuring dual scupper trunks for quick bailing if waves break over the boat during a rescue. Featuring enough deck space to stabilize a victim or resuscitate them if needed until they can be transported by ambulance or aircraft to a medical center.
From concept, to getting it loaded on the trailer, IBC worked with Pacific NW Search & Rescue every step of the way, including some hasty training on a twin-engine Zodiac MILPRO SRA750 helping them hone their skills prior to receiving their custom boat.
Don’t wait until the season is upon you and victims need help, call Inflatable Boat Center today to speak to one of our qualified staff and bring the right tools to the job!
We get quite a few calls from users who have an old Zodiac that they’ve had for 20-30 years, we don’t get calls from people who have other brands for as long. At most they’ll have their brand X inflatable boat for 5 years and it’s falling apart or sun cooked. With so many newcomers to the scene that are direct shipped to your door we catch those calls too because there isn’t any support after purchase. With that old Zodiac there’s a dealer network and often times some real know how to overcome what’s ailing the user. Some of the calls start out with it being a Zodiac but then when trying to understand the caller it’s determined to be a fake brand X they just call a Zodiac in attempts to impress us with their “smart purchase”. We hear stuff all the time like, “It’s better than a Zodiac because it’s the same thing and only cost 1/3 the price.” Um….. no, sorry no it’s not.
Some things are just right from the start, Zodiac’s fabrics and seam construction for example, their I.C. valve and rapid inflate systems too. They’re virtually unchanged since their design and production. Old fashioned construction and materials that work in suiting the applications they were designed for. Newer materials are always being investigated, cheaper production processes implemented in every aspect of our lives from food to toilet paper but most of the benefit in these endeavors enriches only investors and share holders not the end user.
It wasn’t too long ago you stropped your straight razor and lathered up your face for a good shave. Someone with an over abundance of the wrong material made lemons into lemonade and changed the face of shaving with the marketing of the “safety razor”. Safety razors were to make shaving easier and safer than the scary straight razor. People ate it up and the industry changed not because safety razors shaved you better, they convinced the public that it was some how safer and the old way was dangerous despite it dating back to pyramid times and likely before. Fast forward to 2024 and now razors come in plastic disposable shave heads with pivots and special strips to fight the problems they introduce. Landfills are saturated with disposable shaving products, sea turtles get them stuck in their noses and birds and fish have them in their bellies but somehow the shave isn’t as good as the old straight razor despite the carnage. I shaved my face this morning with a razor made in England in 1840 and I didn’t nick, cut, or rash my face at all.
I stopped believing the hype the companies filled my generation with (Gen X), “Two blades are better!”, “Three blades are better!”, “Five blades are better!”, “Made for real men!”. When I was in the miliary we had to shave every day in order to pass inspection, if you had any time off at all you let the hair grow and your skin heal before going back to duty, it was miserable. The expense alone kept you demoralized. Today’s new brand X boats remind me of the shaving myth perpetrated upon us us by unsavory bottom-liners.
Zodiac continues to use the best materials and assembly practices despite the costs and has done so since 1896. Sure we have machines to aid us these days but the core remains the same and in the end it’s people and talent that builds boats to carry the the most precious of cargo, our loved ones and ourselves. When I was but a boy seeking out work and learning from the old timers they’d impart knowlege that sounded dumb at the time but ended up being sage. “Don’t cheap out on a bed or a boat.” was one I remember from around 1970 which seemed weird but considering we spend a third of our life in bed it makes sense, and having been on the water most of my life the second part is crystal clear to me now. Working with search and rescue professionals after my military career has only hammered that point home harded. Getting the calls everyday from people who bought thier inflatable boat from an online only brand discover they’re all alone and the ocean is big. Give us a call and we’ll try to help you but there is no possible way we could stock all parts for all boats, we do sell decent glue and fabric to get you by in most cases though. If you’re a pro user, law enforcement, rescue agency, military, film maker etc. drop us a line or give us a call we likely have what you need or can get it for you. Don’t belive all the shiny marketing online or you’ll end up with razor rash and bumps when it’s time to get wet and do work.
Inflatable Boat Center 2041 SE Powell Blvd. Portland Or 97202 (503) 235-2628 www.inflatableboats.com
Dealer in Zodiac Recreational, Elite Zodiac MILPRO, Yamaha Outboards sales and service.
When the algorithm suggests pages and products it doesn’t try to find the best or brightest, it’s likely just putting up paid ads based off your activity online. Talk about something and it magically starts to show up in your feed, is your phone listening…?! Chances are good that it is, and it’s serving you content to consume as if by mere coincidence? Suprise!
It’s no coincidence that I’m constantly talking about inflatable boats, repairs, and the like so my feed is usually inundated with so much garbage and noise that it makes me wonder how the non-initiated can navigate the web of lies and get a decent boat at a fair price.
Most of my calls are from people who don’t own a Zodiac that can’t find help with their issues anywhere from where they bought their disaster from. These unscrupulous venders are there to make their money and move on to the next sucker. Flexing those algorithm muscles to dupe Mr. and Mrs. America out of any money they have left with psychological warfare and targeted ads. It’s really scary when you think about it, and it’s not just for Halloween either.
We’re not playing the game at IBC, we offer good Zodiac Recreational boats as well as the Zodiac Military and Professional line. We embrace the old world and welcome the new if it means our customers get a great boat that has value, is safe, and fun to use. Examples include the Zodiac Bombard Commando, a rough and tumble recreational grade boat that will do what you need without breaking the bank.
The C3 Commando is 12’6″ (3.8M) of new school tech built with old school principals that shun the shopping algorithm. C3 Commandos use Zodiac’s proprietary materials and Thermo-Bonded tubes to make a boat that’s ready to go when you are. It simply does the job, and like it’s namesake, does it clandestinely, never seeking attention, just providing results. Able to take up to a 40Hp outboard but still useable with a smaller portable, the C3 Commando is more than a sum of it’s parts. Cargo is handled, people are moved, fish are harvested, and weather is tamed with a C3 Commando.
Inflatable Boat Center
IBC’s founder and all around nice guy Captain Ron still has a C3 Commando that he uses from 1982.
If you take care of your Zodiac Bombard inflatable boat it will take care of you for years to come. Try that with the algorithm branded boat being force fed to your page. Not only is that algorithm marketed boat bad for the environment, it’s bad for your safety and mental health. Buyer’s remorse is pretty bad with those other boats, they are not financially sound, cost more to repair than they are worth, end up being a disaster for the environment where they’re made and not to mention the landfill they’ll end up in.
C3 Commando users are stewards of the environment, seeking quality over quantity, and looking towards the long term rather than immediate satisfaction from algorithm fueled retail therapy. Our C3 Commando users operate with complete freedom from the Arctic to the Antarctic in the pursuit of happiness. The Zodiac Bombard Commandos are on sale thru Christmas in honor of Dr. Bombard’s solo crossing of the Atlantic in a prototype inflatable boat that became what we recognize today.
Après un exercice de survie en mer, le docteur Alain Bombard regagne le remorqueur “Rhinocéros”.
Give us a call or stop by the IBC Showroom in Portland Oregon to package up your own adventure.
Inflatable Boat Center 2041 SE Powell Blvd. Portland Oregon 97202 (503)235-2628 shop our website inflatableboats.com
