Thank you for checking this thread. First, let us ignore the price difference between Sea Eagle TC 16 and Innova Seawave.
I am mainly concerned about puncture and scratch resistance. We will trade performance for durability. On paper, it looks like the 1200 Denier Nitrilon bottom of the Innova Seawave is more durable than that of the Sea Eagle TC16 canoe (1000 Denier PVC?). Am I wrong in this regard? Will I see a real-world difference in puncture /scratch resistance (is there a significant difference)? This is my question #1.
For reference of real-world durability and the lack of, we do have oyster reef nearby, but have been fine with a lowly Sea Eagle 330 (600 Denier PVC?) for 3 years by being careful. But our friend managed to have the kayak cut open, after we loaned it to him.
On paper, the Sea Eagle canoe (10 PSI, 16’ x 38’’, 70 lbs, 915 lb capacity) seems to look better on the performance front, compared to the Innova Seawave (3 PSI, 14’9’’ x 31’’, 41 lbs, 551 lb capacity). But we are going to have 2 young kids (4yo 35 lbs + 8yo 50 lbs) and 2 small/light adults (wife 120 lbs 5’2’’ and me 140 lbs 5’9’’) in such a boat and 2-3 paddlers of the 4 do not know how to paddle well (I am the only decent paddler). We will mostly use single blade canoe paddles, to avoid getting wet and paddle collision. Very calm and flat water. And I will put a rigid PVC plumber tube under seats of Seawave to make it more rigid, if we buy it. Will we see a real-world performance difference, in our case? This is my question #2.
My last question #3 is also on real-world performance in hands of poor-decent paddlers. Innova offers a shorter inflatable kayak/canoe named Solar 410C. Its specifications are almost identical to the Seawave model, except that it is 1’5’’ shorter. Will we see a performance difference between Solar and Seawave, in our hands? Solar will save us $250.
To save your time, you can simply answer by #1, #2, #3. Thank you again!