What type of Dinghy / Tender ?

[GordMay]

Take a look at the 110 pound 9 Ft, or the 140 pound 10 Ft cats from “Livingston”:
http://www.livingstonboats.com/boats_9.asp
http://www.livingstonboats.com/boats_10.asp

[Bob Norson]

We used a hard dinghy. 8 ft "whaler" kind of thing. Very stable and rowed well though most of the time powered by outboard. With a 3.3 hp it would plane with just me on board, with the 2 hp honda it deffinately would only chug along. As we were on 16 ton steely with great davits, no worries about stowing it. The way we were using it and with the coral all around us an inflateable would have lasted about 10 seconds. I think the hard dinghy is the best IF you have a place to stow it.

[ssullivan]

In a lot of ways, I agree with Bob. My inflatable is very new, and already has some scratches in the Hypalon from me dragging it up on beaches. No more of that!

Does anyone know a good way to keep the dinghy "moored" off the beach without risk?

I am thinking of either getting a stake and hammering it in, or possibly springing for a mushroom anchor just for the dinghy. Leaning toward the stake for cost, and because it seems more sturdy. Sort of a portable piling.

[Vasco]

Sean,
My dink (AB RIB) has a deep enough "V" that the tubes don't touch when dragged up on the beach. The fiberglass bottom gets some gouges and scratches but when it gets bad I'll fix it. Friend of mine tried those rubber strips you can glue on the keel but it kept on peeling off. My old dink, a Calypso (now Apex) was just Hypalon with wood floors and a wood keel under the floor (instead of the blow up sausage type) but it had a good thick rubber keel on it that withstood oyster beds. If you want to anchor your dink off the beach get a good anchor, those little mushrooms aren't much good. Get a decent size Danforth and a few feet of chain. I don't know what the tidal range is where you are but you might have to swim out at high tide. We'll anchor the dinks if the tides going out rather than lug them down to the water when we get back. If the tides coming in, we haul them up pretty far and then dig the hooks in the sand. Nothing worse than coming back to no dink!

[GordMay]

Set out Anchor with short chain to becket on block.
"Continuous" Anchor Rode from boat, through block to Stake on shore, and back to boat.
Secure Anchor Rode to Stake, so boat is set afloat. Haul in when ready to depart.
Works better /w permanent moorings.

[colemj]

If you take a couple of fenders to shore, you can easily roll the boat up on land on them. The height of the fenders keeps the tubes off the bottom. If you need to drag up a long distance, rotate the fenders stern to bow like the old log roller trick

Mark

[Dreaming Yachtsman]

Originally Posted by ssullivan

In a lot of ways, I agree with Bob. My inflatable is very new, and already has some scratches in the Hypalon from me dragging it up on beaches. No more of that!

Does anyone know a good way to keep the dinghy "moored" off the beach without risk?

I am thinking of either getting a stake and hammering it in, or possibly springing for a mushroom anchor just for the dinghy. Leaning toward the stake for cost, and because it seems more sturdy. Sort of a portable piling.

Sean,

We picked up an Anchor Buddy at as boat show a couple of years ago. It is essentially a long bungy cord attached to the anchor and about 40 feet up the rode. Drop the anchor about 50 feet off shore, beach the dinghy, get out and let the bungy pull the boat back out. When you want to leave the shore, reverse the process. It works quite well. See their web site: http://www.anchorbuddy.com/ for a video demo.

[Chuck Baier]

over the years we have covered most of the northern and western Caribbean and had hard and soft dinghies. The one we are most satisfied with is our current Caribe. Buy the largest you can safely carry. The inflatables you can buy at Worst Marine and many other places we found woefully inadequate for any serious cruising and that includes the expensive Avon's. Buy the largest tubes if inflatable or the highest bow flare on a hard dinghy. If you have ever crossed Elizabeth Harbor in a light breeze over to Georgetown you know that in most dinghies you will need to wear full foul weather gear to stay dry. And that is not comfortable on a hot afternoon. The inflatables seem to be a more stable platform for fishing, diving and snorkeling and the hard bottoms are best for beaching, etc. Keep all of this in mind when making a purchase for other than afternoon cruises around your marina. Get the largest HP outboard your tender will take. Nothing is worse than getting left behind when all the other boats in the anchorage go exploring and it helps if the dinghy can tow the big boat in light conditions. Those are our considerations and i am sure others have their own needs according to how you plan to use it.

[Bob Norson]

Well said Chuck. "Those are our considerations and i am sure others have their own needs according to how you plan to use it." A popular option for around here where there are 6 metre tides are the flip down wheels mounted on the transom. I used the set up Gord described above when we lived aboard in Bowen harbour. Again, big tides, no dock and a coral , rock and broken shell 'beach'. (but it was only $600 per year!) An infalatable in that environment was a no hoper.

[LaLeLu]

Originally Posted by AnotherSailorman

Homemade wooden dory, supposed to have a cat rigged sail - but haven't got that far yet, so just oars for now

This is our daughter’s Cape Dory sailing dingy. The rig is called a “spirit rig.” It looks like it’s gaff rigged until you tighten the hailyard all the way and pull the tip of the mast up. It is a strange rig – the mast is two pieces and one piece cradles the other piece.



We also have a 10.5 Avon hard floor inflatable with a 6 hp 4-stroke. Works fine for us – we opted for not going rigid bottom with big o/b in exchange for the lighter set up we have.

[Jeff H]

Actually, the Cape Dory rig appears to be a sliding gunther rig. This was an extremely popular rig for small boats affording the spar stowage advantages of a gaff rig and the sailing abilities of a leg Bermuda rig.

Jeff

[LaLeLu]

Originally Posted by Jeff H

Actually, the Cape Dory rig appears to be a sliding gunther rig. This was an extremely popular rig for small boats affording the spar stowage advantages of a gaff rig and the sailing abilities of a leg Bermuda rig.

Jeff

Hi Jeff - Thanks for setting me straight. The PO of the dingy told us it was a spirit rig. I just googled gunther and spirit rigs and it is definately gunther.

http://www.rigrite.com/Spars/Spartan...ar_system.html

[s/v 'Faith']

THat little sportyak is pretty cool, at 42 lbs, it would be just the ticket.

Really comical.....
Here is an add for my current dink on Amazon....

Product Description
Product Description
Versatile, practical, durable, and affordable, the SANDPIPER 8 Dinghy is the perfect tender or general dinghy for the whole family. Designed as a car toppable tender/dinghy, the SANDPIPER 8 is made in the USA of solid ABS plastic that is UV stable and maintenance free. Weighing in at only 75 lbs., the SANDPIPER 8 is light and easy to handle, and is easily rowed or powered with up to a 3 HP motor. The foam-filled hull's deep-V design provides surprising stability and responsiveness, yet draws little water providing maximum freeboard and minimum drag when being towed. Standard features include a stainless steel bow eye, motor mounting plate, and an adjustable wooden seat. One year warranty. Meets USCG and NMMA safety requirements. White hull, wood seat.

Mine does not look like the picture any longer, it has been the subject (victim?) of several repair efforts after the plastic hull (outter hull) has been cracked, split, holed, and generally messed up. Some of these repairs have worked, and others have not. (mine of course are the good ones). ;D
The combined effect of the varying levels of effectiveness of these repairs has been to allow water to soak the foam core until my dink that started out at #75, now weighs more like #150!

She still floats, even with the drain plug pulled. She is just really hard to lift, and produces quite a bit of drag when towed..... not to mention she is a pretty good contestant in an ugly dink contest.


Yea, that sportyak might be just the thing... anyone know if BIC markets them in the US?

[Chrisc]

This is "Golden Girl"s new dinghy, which I thought to name "Golden (be)Hind". I built it from a John Gartside design, No.135. Very quick and easy to build, lightweight and very stable. It also rows very well. Prior to, I had a Zodiac inflatable and was becoming too much of an expert at fixing leaks for my liking. I enjoy rowing, which you can't really do in an inflatable, and having a dinghy that performs well under oars means I no longer have to carry an outboard motor, petrol, oil etc.
I also admit to a certain pride as I row through the anchorage that I didn't have in the Zodiac...

[seafox]