Getting Closer to a Porta Bote

[hellosailor]

Dockhead-
If you're thinking portaboat and kayaks, also check out the origami kayak at Home | Oru Kayak | Explore outside the box


But really, if you want to solve the dingy problem, you just call Switlik and order up a disposable inflatable helipad. Toss it overboard, secure the painter and inflate it, let the crew bring in the helo and you're done. Keeps the helo off the foredeck too, they can just fly ahead and meet you in the next port.


Built for comfort, built for speed? Sometimes, none of the choices are perfect but there's none better to be had. Maybe custom davits of some incredible kind would work better for you. (Ask the origami folks what they can do.)

[Hard Rock Candy]

First off, Like they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I had a good friend in Isla Majures, He had a 10 ft PB. He used to come out of his sailboat and climb dawn the transom ladder and jump into his PB. The sides would go back and forth and I expected it to fold up at any minute. But after seeing this happen for about forty times and nothing would go wrong, I finally excepted that it was just normal. I still think they are really ugly but I can see that they are very usable craft. I personally had a white plastic 10ft Walker with sail gear. I also hung it on a Davit. It treated me well for ten years. the only way to hang one with no trouble is upside down. I had a friend that hung one upside down over his cockpit. Kept the whole cockpit fairly dry. Mac

[TacomaSailor]

I described surfing my Portebote in several other threads here; but to summarize - it surfs like a long board. If you want a cruisers dinghy that you can also use in real surf - the Portebote is what you need. I have surfed head high breaking waves side by side with a friend on a long board at La Cruz in Banderas Bay. It is great fun and less work when paddling out.

I've come ashore several times in big surf that no inflatable owner wanted to challenge.

Here is a longish story, with lots of pictures, of about me and the Portebote in the surf at Tenacatita. I was the only boat to get ashore for two days.
http://www.svmirador.net/March_17_2003.htm

Here is another dumb Portebote surfing story in Tenacatita:
http://www.svmirador.net/March_29_2003.htm

SO - if you are looking for a surf boat - buy the Portebote

Just my less than useful opinion after 15 years of ownership and cruising with the Portebote from the north end of Vancouver Island to Zihuatenejo.

[Mike OReilly]

I am biased here, but perhaps happy portabote ownership is much like other refined tastes -- much like the appreciation of old peaty scotch, or love of ascomycete fungus known as truffles. It's not for everyone .

I see portabotes as the Laphroaig of sailboat dingys .

[weavis]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I am biased here, but perhaps happy portabote ownership is much like other refined tastes -- much like the appreciation of old peaty scotch, or love of ascomycete fungus known as truffles. It's not for everyone .

LOL so right there Mike.
Thats 3 out of three I dont care for..........

[weavis]

I love the CF community for threads like this where honest appraisal of a boating implement can be discussed without rancour or irritability.

Now......... the PB has a use, and I for one am all for using things for what they are intended for. For some, the PB is the darned gonnit best compromise on a monohull in the cruising area that they sail. I have a Westerly Centaur and dont need a tender where I sail much....... but I have an inflatable slung on the deck and can throw it in the water in seconds and attach the outboard in 2 minutes. If Im on and off during the day I just tow it.

On a multihull, Davits dont matter too much and I would sling a Rib back there. On a large expensive monohull like Dockheads, well Id either get sleek Davits or be looking for the larger vessel with a 'garage'.

What ever a person chooses is fine by me as long as it works for them........ A PB is a wonderful thing if the problem is solved.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by weavis

......What ever a person chooses is fine by me as long as it works for them........ A PB is a wonderful thing if the problem is solved.

Weavis
Exactly, the problem is we all see the Problem differently. When the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. I personally don't include surfing my dinghy as a big part of dink selection. And yes, I have cruised Pacific Mexico. For me, a dinghy is a work boat that gets hard use daily. It needs to stand up to that for many years and be easy enough for me to place on and off deck without pulling my back in a bouncy anchorage. So I'm not going with the largest RIB I can get, but one that is smaller, lighter and easier to manhandle.

[ZULU40]

I just find an inflatable such a good proposition
lots of safe reserve buoyancy, and a built in fender all round

no theyre not perfect
on smaller cruisers in particular theyre too bulky,
perhaps too heavy
they carry a lot of windage
and theres a risk of a sudden but catastrophic deflation

I think there was always a better way of doing it
its just that no manufacturer produces that kind of tender
perhaps because the ultimate requirement is so diverse
even the specification is too broad to handle

what I need is a tender that can fit inside a station sedan
thats safe and reliable as a small inflatable
but doesnt require the inflation procedure inflatables live on

[Celestialsailor]

I don't want to get a tit for tat debate here but I'll say that if you listen to morning cruiser nets here in Baja, many mornings you'll here people asking for inflatable repair. There was almost a fist fight in La Paz, due to a person raising their outboard up while tied up.

[rwidman]

When I bought my boat, the previous owners had discarded the inflatable dinghy because it failed (they didn't say why but I'm guessing UV exposure). I bought a Zodiac inflatable and the transom rotted out (not repairable because it rotter where the tubes attach) after only three years so that's $1,200 down the tubes (no pun intended). So I was rushed because I had a cruise planned so I spent $2,000 on an Achilles inflatable.

Meanwhile, the fifteen year old Porta Bote sits in the back yard unused except for an occasional trip on the river near home. To be honest, the plywood transom rotted bot replacing it was nothing more than putting the original on a sheet of exterior plywood, tracing around it with a pencil, cutting it out and applying a few coats of deck waterproofer.

My point being that the Porta Bote has an indefinite life while an inflatable will succumb to UV or other damage sooner or later.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by rwidman

When I bought my boat, the previous owners had discarded the inflatable dinghy because it failed (they didn't say why but I'm guessing UV exposure). I bought a Zodiac inflatable and the transom rotted out (not repairable because it rotter where the tubes attach) after only three years so that's $1,200 down the tubes (no pun intended). So I was rushed because I had a cruise planned so I spent $2,000 on an Achilles inflatable.

Meanwhile, the fifteen year old Porta Bote sits in the back yard unused except for an occasional trip on the river near home. To be honest, the plywood transom rotted bot replacing it was nothing more than putting the original on a sheet of exterior plywood, tracing around it with a pencil, cutting it out and applying a few coats of deck waterproofer.

My point being that the Porta Bote has an indefinite life while an inflatable will succumb to UV or other damage sooner or later.

Well, a quality Hypalon RIB also has an almost indefinite life.

[weavis]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Well, a quality Hypalon RIB also has an almost indefinite life.

Quit procrastinating.
Get the bigger boat and the boat garage!

[Greatketch33]

When I purchased my 8' porta boat in another state, it was very easy to fold up and place inside my Rav4 . On my boat, the porta boat folds nicely and is secured between the port side cockpit combing and stanchion.

Looking at my boat from outside one can barely notice the PB as she is ticked behind the spray skirt.

One must see themselves using a dinghy and try it. If the type of dinghy doesn't work then change to a different solution. It is rare that the first solution is often the best.

Greatketch33
Herreshoff Cat Ketch

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by weavis

Quit procrastinating.
Get the bigger boat and the boat garage!

Yes, that's one option.

Another is -- I shudder to pronounce the words -- a cat.

This is purely a thought-experiment, because there are a number of things about cats which deeply contradict my aesthetics and ideas about boats.

However, a cat would solve this and several other problems, including the inside helm station.

Maybe worth thinking about, at least purely hypothetically.

[weavis]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Yes, that's one option.

Another is -- I shudder to pronounce the words -- a cat.

This is purely a thought-experiment, because there are a number of things about cats which deeply contradict my aesthetics and ideas about boats.

However, a cat would solve this and several other problems, including the inside helm station.

Maybe worth thinking about, at least purely hypothetically.

The things you hold sacred and inviolable today, will be different and count for nought in 5 years.

Or sooner if you get a Cat.