Welcome to River King . . the world's finest fishing and working catarafts.
River King catarafts can be found floating anglers down the great trout waters of the West, hauling gear and scientists into remote sites for geologic and fisheries research - or transporting anglers, hunters and wildlife photographers through some of the most remote waters in the world - places where the design and quality of the materials that your boat is made of - can make all the difference.
If you're new to our catarafts, here's what we're known for . .
Modular rowing frames . . that easily break down into two foot long segments. Also, the upper decks and lower decks can be left partially or fully assembled providing almost unlimited options for transport and storage. The new upper deck connectors we developed this year clamp the deck sections tightly together using captive nuts. These make assembly / disassembly faster than ever and produces a strong assembled frame.
This is the cataraft for flying-in to remote locations by float plane, portaging in to small lakes in the mountains for scientific research - or for any situation where a full-size cataraft needs to be stored or moved around in a small package - like in the cargo compartment of your RV. Of course, the light weight of the basic cataraft design make them a dream to trailer, fully assembled. The modular frame also means that you can set the boat up in many different ways, from a solo fishing float to a cargo expedition boat loaded with gear - and the frame can conform to those needs and almost anything in between.
(In the picture at right is a complete 16 ft River King Cataraft package on its way to a customer in Mississippi - including the rowing frame with outboard motor transom, bow leaning bar and other accessories, the oars and the inflatable tubes.)
- Only marine grade polymer ever touches the tubes . . with this design. There is no possibility for the wear spots and discoloration often seen on inflatable tubes where metal or wood frames rub against the fabric. Our upper decks contact the tube through a surface of King Starboardtm - a light-weight polymer material for boat-building that is impervious to sun, salt and weather exposure.
A double layer of industrial weight polypropylene-coated mesh fabric suspends the lower deck on each side and provides protection of the tubes from activity in the cockpit area. That mesh extends around the edges of the 34 inch wide cedar lower deck so that not even the wood deck touches the tubes.
- Integral full length lower deck and 14 inch wide upper decks . . that extend the full frame length - offer many square feet of flat working / fishing / standing / sitting space. Our catarafts are exceptionally roomy and easy to move around in compared to drift boats where most space to set things such as coolers or gear boxes is curved and not flat. Also, inflatables can handle low water, sliding over rocks that would damage a rigid-hull drift boat - and there's no place for water from high waves or a downpour to collect inside a cataraft frame.
- Two-inch wide straps encircle the tubes . . for attaching the tubes to the frame using adjustable snap-action buckles. Compared with traditional D-ring / buckle strap attachment, these encircling seat-belt style straps can save you a half hour or more when assembling your cataraft at the put-in or if you ever need to adjust the position of your frame on the tubes during a float. A full set of 16 stainless steel D-Rings (four on the inside and four on the outside of each tube) are available for extreme conditions.
You should be able to find everything you need by clicking one of the links on the left. If you have any problems navigating or finding something please call or email using the addresses at the bottom of this page.
