West marine ru-260 dinghy and evinrude 4hp

[northoceanbeach]

How does this sound? As some of you may have read, I have a really nice RIB with a Honda 7.5 that is just the funniest thing ever. The dinghy is hypalon and very well built. I love my dinghy. I loved towing around cruising the PNW and planing to some of the mile plus docks.

Now I need a dinghy I can stow and an engine I can lift and stow. The Honda weighs 83 pounds and the dinghy, I have nowhere to put. I have wracked my brain and can't come up with a solution.

So I put a for sale or trade ad out and I have someone willing to trade an evinrude two stroke 4hp for my Honda, that weighs a beautiful 14kg.

Someone else has "maybe" a five year old west marine ru-260 which I looked up and is their basic pvc dinghy. He says it's been well taken care of, hardly used and stored in the bag.

What do you guys think. Would I be happy with this? I won't be able to plane and have fun but I will be able to cruise in a safe manner which is what is important.

The engine sounds perfect, I'm more worried that the dinghy isn't made well and it's pvc. I'm already in warm sunny places. If I take care of it will it last or are they just poorly made?

I really do need a roll up I can stow in a bag on the foredeck under the jib boom.

I was out in heavy weather today getting my ass kicked and if I had had a giant rib on deck trying to reef around it I would have been in real trouble. It would have been unsafe.

[Viking Sailor]

Just an idea... Have you look at the suitability of a nesting dinghy? Since you are already looking at a non-planing solution a hard dinghy would also allow you to row or maybe even sail. Google search is your friend! Best of luck...

[Terra Nova]

That dinghy is WAY small--tiny, even. 4hp is plenty for that, however.

It sounds like your Honda and RIB are worth much more than what is being offered. Why not sell what you have, and then buy what you really want?

[northoceanbeach]

Good idea, I don't want to dump the stuff. I got the evinrude today though. Seems like a good deal especially since my Honda was having trouble idling. I like four strokes for sailboats but maybe for a dinghy a two stroke is the better choice. I'm really sick of not having an engine that I don't have to fiddle with to make it go. I just want one that I can pull and start and go. So party of my decision was based on a couple months of a poorly idling engine.

Now I have to decide where to stow the engine. The dinghy Ina bag, once I get it, will go on the deck below the jib, but how strong are stern rails, to mount one of those plastic plates and put the engine on the stern rail? The engine is maybe 30-35 pounds.

[Bulawayo]

PVC dinghies can be a royal PIA when they start falling apart due the UV - even chaps do not prevent this. A PVC dinghy that is several years old is most likely just waiting to start coming apart at the seams. Why not look for a used hypalon dinghy, preferably that has worn chaps since its birth - something like an Avon roll-up 2.85 that has a rigid floor when its tubes are pimped firm but rolls away super easily. The Avon also comes as a 3.1

[IdoraKeeper]

I have a West Marine 9' with a hard floor. It lives inside except when in use. Even that limited use has worn it near limits. I don't see much more than 5 years in any of the PVC dinks I have had. One actually failed catastrophically while tied along side at anchor. Luckily I heard it and was able to save the motor. This is such a common and difficult problem that it just has to be a business opportunity. I too want a deck stowed roll up but have yet to find the right one.

[Terra Nova]

I have the Hypalon 2.85 Avon roll-up with the vinyl slatted floor. It is a very substantial dinghy that weighs over 100 lbs and is fairly large when rolled up. But it is durable and stows where most other dinghies cannot. It will plane, solo, with 4 hp.

[Old Swampy]

We have a West Marine roll up (Made by Zodiac) which is about 8 feet long. Wish it had come with a seat, but it didn't. We tow it. We have a Nissan 3.5 F&N that we store on the stern railing. Good combination.

[Boatguy30]

The floors come unglued on those. You can get a new zodiac real cheap like $700 for an 8' from defender. Should last 2-3 years if used hard, maybe even get some warranty service when it does fall apart. That's cheap in dollars/ years.

Don't buy a used PVC inflatable!

[Terra Nova]

Friends don't let friends buy PVC.

[Ahoogha 3 times]

You may laugh,
I pruchased a PVC 2 perso raft and motor mount at a sporting goods store, cut a piece of 3/8 in Exterior ply, Drilled 1 1/2 inch holes where the floor are valves are cut into two pieces for compactness added froam pipe insulation around the edges to protect the PVC. I used a 1HP cruise and carry motor added a foldin louge chair for comfort and fishing. I once towed a very embarased and thankfull group of six people in a 16 foot boat to safety after their engine gave out. I even bought another one equiped it the same way minus the motor for my wife I would tow her behind me then we would tie up side by side and fish. we got a lot of thumbs up from other boaters.

[northoceanbeach]

Grr. I sold mine, and the guy just spent the entire time tearing it apart.

"Hmm, maybe I'll get a year or two out of it"

"It looks like it's coming apart"

"The walker bay I have has smaller tubes, smaller tubes are better"

"Walker bay makes a really high quality dinghy"

"Wow, your dinghy is really deep, that's weird, it shouldn't be so deep"

"I don't know, maybe I'll just keep my walker bay. Can you come down on the price?"

And he bought it anyways like I knew he was going to. Some people are so weird.

Defender has some cheap prices. Some on sale. PVC is pretty bad huh? Too bad there aren't more used one listed. I guess I want one that I can deflate and roll up quickly.

[Bulawayo]

Originally Posted by northoceanbeach

Grr. I sold mine, and the guy just spent the entire time tearing it apart.

"Hmm, maybe I'll get a year or two out of it"

"It looks like it's coming apart"

"The walker bay I have has smaller tubes, smaller tubes are better"

"Walker bay makes a really high quality dinghy"

"Wow, your dinghy is really deep, that's weird, it shouldn't be so deep"

"I don't know, maybe I'll just keep my walker bay. Can you come down on the price?"

And he bought it anyways like I knew he was going to. Some people are so weird.

Defender has some cheap prices. Some on sale. PVC is pretty bad huh? Too bad there aren't more used one listed. I guess I want one that I can deflate and roll up quickly.

As I said before; look for a non-patched Avon roll up. They last for ever as they are made from hypalon. Keep them pumped up and they just go on and on especially if they have fitted chaps.