New Dinghy Purchase

[barnakiel]

A most basic cheapo bombard was good for 10 years. Anywhere the sun heats the glued parts expect issues long before the rest starts giving you any issues (on bombards the floors are glued while the tubes are heatsealed). Hence: cover the dink and especially so when it is upside-down.

I would buy a bombard again but they do not make red ones anymore ;-(

b.

[zeehag]

had a beautiful caribe that had new hypalon and it bubbled--was NOT paint, was the inferior no longer du pont material with life long warrantee. good luck. mebbe pvc is way to go these days.....

[2007.pierre]

Originally Posted by nancyb

We were tired of pumping water out of our old Zodiac and planned to invest in a new one next season, but this weekend the floor came completely unglued. Any suggestions of a manufacturer to look at who offers reliability without spending a fortune? We need to get our precious little dog to shore! We also want davits which we have never had.

No knowing the size of your boat. On our 41, I got rid of these inflatables and bought a 9' Boston Whaler, a dream but need 15HP to lift-up. However was pretty good in the marinas or small bays with my silent drive Min Kota 30lbs, 50AH battery.
If you travel, anywhere you go, your infatable wil not last more than two years, in the ports, mussels, oysters etc..love it

[Dulcesuenos]

Were looking at the 11' mares azzuro 5 year seam warranty weighs less then most 9' ribs. And under 1k, Wish our 12' apex was lighter...it is an awesome dinghy I will add our last. Pvc dinghy lasted 8 or so years before needing gluing. Then it only went another 5. So for the price of todays opvc dinghys they are appealing. Our old pvc dinghy we used for diving had lobsters and fishing gear everywhere. Never ever needed a patch. Out pf. 3 hypalons I've owned everyone has had at least a patch

[Nicholson58]

whatever form you decide on, I think Hypalon for an inflatable will beat Vinyl big time. Most makers offer it as an option. We have a Caribe. They are all hypalon and mostly immune to the sun.

[Curmudgeon]

There are lots of good ones (so long as you insist on Hypalon), but you can't go wrong with Avon. They last. My Avon roll up will probably outlive me.

[s/v Jedi]

In the tropics, Caribe and Avon are pretty good. Zodiac is about the worst just like every other PVC dinghy.

If you do more than paddle between boat and the shore, get a RIB, davits etc. It is your car, pleasure craft and it's garage. We do expeditions up rivers where no man has gone before or anchor for diving and snorkeling on reefs far from the big boat. You want very good gear in that case, incl. a big anchor and a waterproof bag with GPS, handheld VHF and personal EPIRB. I don't see it work with less than 15hp outboard in that case.

ciao!
Nick.