what Stephan says. he knows inflatables, and I would recommend
buying inflatable thingys from his company -
www.defender.com - as well as anything else
boat related you need.
I've owned my seaworthy
inflatable since the 90's and it's still very serviceable. they were made in the Balkans and imported by boat u.s. when boat u.s. had their own stores, until they were bought out by west
marine. I can't tell you how to patch it because I've never had to do any
repairs to mine...