dinghy wars: hard, soft, nesting, folding...

[s/vAngel]

Wow! Thanks guys for all of your input and views so far. I'm really learning alot and this helps with the seemingly never ending dinghy dilemma. There was so much that I didn't know out there and it's fascinating. One difference is to have the dinghy match the sailing grounds, which for a long time, I wasn't properly "matched" that way.
I didn't mean to sound to casual about how Angel lifts the heavy outboard on and off the ding. A buddy of mine does the same thing with his motor, a heavy monster, but it's much more of a dangerous struggle merely due to a few feet of higher freeboard on his cruiser. I didn't realize this 'till I helped him. Angel's so little, that her dinghy motor only gets lifted a short ways, so it's seems easier. Four-part tackle strapped to the end of the boom is used to lift the outboard and a safety line is also attached in case the topping lift fails or something slips. The boom itself only swings in and out, but isn't raised or lowered (too much stress on the gooseneck). I saw one fellow break his gooseneck by trying to use the boom that way. The motor's lower unit is also temporarily tied in a thick towel so no scratches. All that jazz helps a really short person like me to get things done. Thanks to you guys, I've learned some new tips!
Rebecca

[Talbot]

I dont see how there can be more stress on the gooseneck if you raise and lower the boom, or if you raise and lower a 3 part tackle below the boom, though of course there is less if you are just swinginging the boom. The forces acting on the gooseneck are identical, and are minor compared to the forces on the topping lift.

I dont know how big your engine is, but I have frequently lifted out my main outboard. That weighs 100kg so suspect it may be a bit heavier than your one for your tender. I do double up the topping lift with the main halyard, but thats primarily cause the topping lift is not exactly in its first flush of youth!

On one occasion I even lifted that engine into my dinghy (Zodiac 2.6m), having laid a false wooden floor on the bottom to take the weight. The difficult bit was getting it ashore, and eventually allowed it to dry out on a slipway so that I didnt do my back .

[capt lar]

We now have 2 tenders...an old Dyer dink w/ sail and a 1999 9' Zodiac with solid floor and inflatable keel. The Dyer is great to row around the marina and tow short distances. The Zodiac will fold up small enough to stow below so it will be our traveling dink. Both can be lifted to the deck with tackle attached to whisker pole. Our Honda outboard is only 3 hp so it is light enought to handle. If we take the boat to the Bahamas and beyond we think we will need a rigid with a bigger motor since it would really be the family car. There are some versions available that, when deflated, could be lashed to the forward deck. For coastal, the current Zodiac is a good compromise and it will easily stow on any boat. I think they are now called the "sport" version.
Larry

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha All,
By far the best dink I ever had was a hard dinghy called a Naples Sabot without too much patching. It ran well with a B. SeaGull, sailed almost as good as an El Toro and when I was younger I could carry it on my shoulders. It towed better than the Walker Bay style although I don't recommend towing any dinghy in winds above 10k. Too many fiberglass patches and it becomes too heavy. I've had two of them and would get another if I could find one in good shape here in Hawaii.
Kind Regards, --John--
P. S. I've had Avons, Walker Bays, and sailed a Tinker before. Sabot was better, easier to get in the water and didn't take up too much space on deck at 8'.

[defjef]

If you live aboard on a hook you need a large dry dinghy.. with a powerful motor. Anchorages can mean you are anchored well off and need to rely on the tender to get you back and forth from the mothership with provisions.

We have a AquaPro RIB with and 8 HP Honda 4 stroke. This works well. The motor is quite heavy (94#) so we use a Garhauer demountable lifting crane to easily pull the motor and stow it for sailing. We typically tow the tender. For a passage we would place the RIB on the foredeck.

Jef
sv Shiva
Contest 36s

[Entlie]

Having suffered a puncture that almost ruined a Bahamas cruise, my opinion is that whatever dinghy you have, you need a backup. We went again on another 6 month cruise with only one dinghy, but are considering an inflatable kayak as a second source.

[ssullivan]

I have made a couple decisions regarding our tender now that we use it so much more. It's a 10' Achilles with aluminum floor

1) No more dragging it up on a beach. I'm buying a stake today to use as a temporary "piling" when I go ashore at beaches.

2) Forget a 90lb engine (Johnson 9.9hp). Who needs it? I have been anchored out with 1.5 and 2NM dinghy rides to shore to provision. There is no reason I have to plane when loaded to the gills with provisions. I can take a whole car load of cans and bottles out a couple miles and just take my time running it as a displacement hull. I now use the Tohatsu 5hp, which I can just grab from the tender and climb up my swim ladder with to put it up on the pushpit. No fuss... no muss.

3) I'm looking to sell the Johnson, if anybody needs one in the north east.

[Talbot]

My last zodiac suffered greatly from being dragged out of the water (especially as it was up a concrete slipway) so I have fited pelican dinghy dolly wheels to my new one, and it makes all the difference.

[Vasco]

Obviously the type of dink you buy will depend on your intended use. In the Bahamas where I cruise the most common usage is to go fishing, exploring other cays, or lugging supplies. They're not just used for a 100 yard trip to the beach. Often these trips are more than ten miles long and through some choppy waters. We once circumnavigated Conception island in the dinks, a trip of about 20 miles. When fishing we often go out in Exuma Sound with its ocean swells. The most common dink in these waters is a 9 to 11 ft. RIB with large tubes, usually an AB or Caribe and the most common outboard is a 15 hp Yamaha 2 stroke. I have had four inflatibles over the years. My present one is a ten and a half foot AB with a 15 hp Yamaha two stroke.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha All,
I just traded a bunch of Indian Ocean paper charts and $150 for a nesting dinghy called a Nest Egg. Haven't tried it out yet but will publish a report after sea trials. The front section weighs 66lbs and the rear section weighs 88lbs. The total length is 11'4" when assembled and the forward section fits into the aft section very snuggly to a length of 6'6". Should fit overturned on my foredeck nicely. It has a daggerboard trunk, mast step and one gudgeon (one is missing). It came with oars and rudder so I think I got a good deal. Just have to see how it performs.
Kind Regards, --JohnL--

[Lynx]

Does anybody have the new plastic Portland Pudgy?
http://www.portlandpudgy.com/index.html

7 foot 8 inches 130 pounds and

Its durable, rugged polyethylene hull is impact- and puncture-resistant.

[Talbot]

portland pudgy - weight 128 lbs so that is not on the list.

[otgadventures]

Originally Posted by S/V Elusive

As an aside - I had heard that the fold-a-bote was also a major pain to assemble on deck, unless you had lots of unencumbered deck space and a couple of hands to help?? OTG - comments?

We had the 12' model and it was generally OK, but the transom was weak, the seats and the pin system to hold them was poor, the whole thing was alleged to be 'sailable' but forget it, unless you had to use it to go downwind to an island when you were abandoning ship. The size made it impossible to dismount and store onboard, and it towed 'ok' but again the whole porta-bote was generally an attempt to compromise, which resulted in poor performances in all areas except SPEED. Damn thing planed with 2 heavy adults and a 5 hp engine! Got lots of stares for sure.

Woke one morning, last hook near container facility in Nassau , to see a huge containership looking down at us, and the crew had a hundred questions about our 'little boat' which they had apparently never seen before. How that behemoth backed in to the facility was a miracle, but they did it without even waking us, so when I came up on deck in the morning it was like "son of ship" --enormous wall of steel, 10' from our aft anchor! Neat memory.

[rsn48]

In Vancouver, BC, the new Walker Bay Genesis inflatables are hot sellers. Here is a link. I own a Walker Bay 8 RID.

http://www.walkerbaygenesis.com/

[Talbot]

If anyone is looking to build a nesting dinghy, they could do worse than http://www.fyneboatkits.com/trolleyed/3/96/index.htm