Getting Closer to a Porta Bote

[hpeer]

Clearly Dockheads problems and mine are different, you've got WAAAY more money than I. I've bought 3 Porte Botes for $2,000. And there is no inside steering or cat on my future. We've got what we have got, we need to make it work.

Also I use a windvane, that doesn't work well with davits. So I'm towing or storing on deck.

Re the PB transom, I have had one fill with water while stored on deck. I drilled a few holes in it and filled it with Great Stuff, minimal expanding foam. The old plywood transomes haven't been provided in a dogs age or two.

[CHM]

I have. 10 foot model I bought used for $500. I use it with a Tohatsu 3.5 hp 2 stroke. I have stored it folded but assembly on the deck of my 43' beneteau is a pain. Also the seats etc take up a lot of space below. So, I have lately just towed it underway and have been very satisfied with this arrangement. The decks are clear and no worries on assembly. If weather gets rough, I use a spare halyard to hoist it on the deck to lash it down. It serves the purpose of a tender nicely. I had an inflatable first which was heavy and ultimately fell apart. (It was old).


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[UNCIVILIZED]

Can't say as I understand folks fussing about 15 min to set up a dinghy. I mean you're on a sailboat, so you have a sked to keep? That & my Avon rollup takes 10min max to setup, & that's using a foot pump. Though I far prefer hard dinks. The next likely candidate being the PT Eleven Nesting Dinghy home page

Dockhead, if you were to move your traveler, would there be space on deck for a dink, nesting or otherwise? I don't know how your mainsheet's setup, but on a lot of boats in the last 10-15yrs, the manufacturers have moved travelers out of the cockpit & onto the cabin top, thus wiping out prime real estate for dinghy storage.
With a little bit of thought, & a weekend filled with tools, one can move the mainsheet & traveler, thus making room for a dink on top of the cabin. Albeit, then you have to get out from behind the dodger to see forward, but...

Also, on a fair number of boats of size, a spot for a nesting dink can be made out of the aft half of the cockpit/over the lazaretto. Or if the boat's truly big, then a full sized dink can be carried transversely back aft, inverted.
There IS room on most any 40'er for a dink, you just have to be willing to reposition some things. Even though that may mean unbolting them, & re-attaching them elsewhere.
Although yes, it's a crime that modern boats are designed with no thoughts to dinghy's what so ever.

On the broken davits problem, there must be a way to rig up a 4:1 or 6:1 tackle, led to a self tailing winch. I mean with that kind of purchase, depending on the winch, one could pretty easily lift a ton or more. It's but a question of rigging, not one about the davits holding capability.

For Unsinkability, & stability upgrades, 2-5 decent sized cylindrical fenders affixed tightly just below the gunwales can do wonders. And it's easy enough to do the math to see how much floatation one can add based on fender size.
Or you can even go to the pre-made inflatable collars for dinks. Which wrap fully around everything but the transom. Some folks add them to their hard tenders so that they can be used as ad hoc life boats. And indeed, some of them are marketed thusly.

Still, I honestly think that this horsepower race on dinks is about as silly as the Arms Race was. Living aboard, I'd row the 1/2 mile to & from the beach a couple of times a day, & didn't mind a bit (a 7'ish min. trip). Quite the opposite, it was very meditative, as well as good exercise. And while it was a dream to row, my hard dink was also bullet proof. It even lived through being landed on by a 900lb sea lion looking for a good spot to take a nap.

Seriously, can anyone tell me why a dink that can hold 1,500lbs is needed, unless you have a family of 8 living aboard? Let alone one that can plane while holding that kind of load.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

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

Unless you hit something sharp. My friend and slip neighbor came in one day and hit the corner of the metal piece on the dock surrounding the piling. Pop!

He tried to patch it but it never was the same and he ended up replacing it.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by UNCIVILIZED

Can't say as I understand folks fussing about 15 min to set up a dinghy. I mean you're on a sailboat, so you have a sked to keep? That & my Avon rollup takes 10min max to setup, & that's using a foot pump. Though I far prefer hard dinks. The next likely candidate being the PT Eleven Nesting Dinghy home page

Dockhead, if you were to move your traveler, would there be space on deck for a dink, nesting or otherwise? I don't know how your mainsheet's setup, but on a lot of boats in the last 10-15yrs, the manufacturers have moved travelers out of the cockpit & onto the cabin top, thus wiping out prime real estate for dinghy storage.
With a little bit of thought, & a weekend filled with tools, one can move the mainsheet & traveler, thus making room for a dink on top of the cabin. Albeit, then you have to get out from behind the dodger to see forward, but...

Also, on a fair number of boats of size, a spot for a nesting dink can be made out of the aft half of the cockpit/over the lazaretto. Or if the boat's truly big, then a full sized dink can be carried transversely back aft, inverted.
There IS room on most any 40'er for a dink, you just have to be willing to reposition some things. Even though that may mean unbolting them, & re-attaching them elsewhere.
Although yes, it's a crime that modern boats are designed with no thoughts to dinghy's what so ever.

On the broken davits problem, there must be a way to rig up a 4:1 or 6:1 tackle, led to a self tailing winch. I mean with that kind of purchase, depending on the winch, one could pretty easily lift a ton or more. It's but a question of rigging, not one about the davits holding capability.

For Unsinkability, & stability upgrades, 2-5 decent sized cylindrical fenders affixed tightly just below the gunwales can do wonders. And it's easy enough to do the math to see how much floatation one can add based on fender size.
Or you can even go to the pre-made inflatable collars for dinks. Which wrap fully around everything but the transom. Some folks add them to their hard tenders so that they can be used as ad hoc life boats. And indeed, some of them are marketed thusly.

Still, I honestly think that this horsepower race on dinks is about as silly as the Arms Race was. Living aboard, I'd row the 1/2 mile to & from the beach a couple of times a day, & didn't mind a bit (a 7'ish min. trip). Quite the opposite, it was very meditative, as well as good exercise. And while it was a dream to row, my hard dink was also bullet proof. It even lived through being landed on by a 900lb sea lion looking for a good spot to take a nap.

Seriously, can anyone tell me why a dink that can hold 1,500lbs is needed, unless you have a family of 8 living aboard? Let alone one that can plane while holding that kind of load.

My traveller is behind the cockpit, with control lines with their own winches. The superlative traveller, the Platonic Ideal of a traveller -- I would never dream of touching it.

There is room on the after deck for a dinghy of some sort. Behind the traveller, proceeding along the centerline of the boat, is the hatch for the master sleeping cabin, after that the liferaft locker (dorades on either side), then the lazarette. There is room for chocks, but I would be blocking one or another of these things. I guess if the chocks were raised, putting them over the hatch would be ok. The beam would be about 13 or 14' at that point, so in order not to block the side decks, the dink couldn't be more than about 10', but I guess I could live with that. SO that's one variant.


As to tackle to substitute the broken davits -- I'm already doing that. I have #64 electric sheet winches, so no purchase at all is really required. Last summer I was using a 2:1 purchase arrangement to lift the dink in place, then ratchet straps with stainless buckles to hold it. Not an elegant solution and looks like a real bodge. If I were to go down this route for a more permanent solution, I would put in some kind of rope clutches. Thinking actually about separate lines to each lifting point, which would make two on each side. That's because there's not enough room between the bottom of the davit and the top of the davit falls (from which two legs go down to the lifting points in the dinghy floor) for tackle. But if I bypass the falls and just attach directly to the lifting points, with separate lines, each with its own rope clutch, that could work. I'd just bend on a larger line to each pair of lines and run that to the sheet winch. That's more elegant and might be acceptable as a permanent solution.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by rwidman

Unless you hit something sharp. My friend and slip neighbor came in one day and hit the corner of the metal piece on the dock surrounding the piling. Pop!

He tried to patch it but it never was the same and he ended up replacing it.

Something like that happened to mine, but after professional repair is as good as new. Holds air indefinitely; I have to let air out in the spring when the temps come back up. And this is not a new dock queen RIB -- 12 years old Avon used pretty hard by me for many years.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by weavis

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.

Maybe or maybe not . . .


But I have to say, the Chris White Atlantic 57 cats do speak to me. They have many Dashew-esque features and values. Light, easily driven, narrow hulls, coupled with a modest, easily handled rig . . . Perfect inside steering position, perfect cockpit. . . .

Over to the dark side? Well, not likely.

[Celestialsailor]

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.

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Maybe or maybe not . . .


But I have to say, the Chris White Atlantic 57 cats do speak to me. They have many Dashew-esque features and values. Light, easily driven, narrow hulls, coupled with a modest, easily handled rig . . . Perfect inside steering position, perfect cockpit. . . .

Over to the dark side? Well, not likely.

You buy a cat and we will disown you!

[weavis]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Maybe or maybe not . . .


But I have to say, the Chris White Atlantic 57 cats do speak to me. They have many Dashew-esque features and values. Light, easily driven, narrow hulls, coupled with a modest, easily handled rig . . . Perfect inside steering position, perfect cockpit. . . .

Over to the dark side? Well, not likely.

I fell in love with Catamarans just by sailing them. By sleeping on them, and by being impressed with every aspect of their design in use. They are not for everyone. But then they dont have to be do they?

[hellosailor]

"Seriously, can anyone tell me why a dink that can hold 1,500lbs is needed, "
Yes. Three Sump wrestlers on shore leave coming back to the boat.
Or, four big Colonial guys plus fifty gallons of fuel or water and the groceries. With a little reserve buoyancy to keep the spray down and trim the boat nose up.
Or the same four guys with SCUBA gear, which can easily run 100# each. 1200# in payload, only 300# of reserve.

[Dockhead]

Further to Uncivilized's idea of re-rigging the existing davits, I ran across this:






Now this is really nice!! A winch mounted on the davit somewhere, a rope clutch, 2:1 purchase -- simple, elegant, bomb-proof, repairable. Unlike the existing davit mechanisms.

A couple of used Lewmar 30ST (or 40's), a couple of rope clutches, some blocks and fairleads, and I would be in business here.

[hellosailor]

Or mount a pair of those silver statues instead of plain ugly davits?

[Celestialsailor]

Here are a couple of pictures of the 10ft. Portabote in Kayak racks supplied by Gaurhauer. I can lift it in and out of the racks myself. I will be making a sheath for it which will also house the oars. Most likely the 4 thwarts will be in the aft cabin or their own bag lashed down somewhere.

[hpeer]

Celestial,

I like that. How did you secure it fore and aft?

How did the Garhauer frames mount? Did you have to take the life lines down to slip them on? Or did the bolt on using u bolts or something?

[Mike OReilly]

CS, do you ever have any issues with boarding seas? I would love to mount our bote like you have, but I'm concerned about the forces of an impacting or boarding wave. No issue?