What type of Dinghy / Tender ?

[seafox]

Resolution Bay, Marlborough sounds, New Zealand. Where "Wheels" sails.

[Octopus]

Originally Posted by Chuck Baier

.... Buy the largest you can safely carry. ...Buy the largest tubes if inflatable or the highest bow flare on a hard dinghy. ...The inflatables seem to be a more stable platform for fishing, diving and snorkeling and the hard bottoms are best for beaching, etc. ... Get the largest HP outboard your tender will take. ...

Thanks Chuck, some useful tips.

We are turning our thoughts to a tender/dinghy for our new Lagoon 420 cat. I don't think a dinghy exists that matches our criteria.
1. Light - so as not to spoil the performance of our cat
2. Strong enough to beach confidently
3. Easy to row
4. Stable - so as not to pitch our children over the side in a swell
5. Capacious to accommodate the whole family (parents & 6 kids) in a single trip.
6. Small enough to fit in the Lagoon 420 davits
7. Cheap (we spent all our money on the 420)

Any suggestions?

[rsn48]

Chris, check out the new Walker Bay inflatable. The bottom "hard" section is pressed like the smaller hard dingies which makes production cheaper. It can take abuse because the inflatable has a hard bottom. In Vancouver, BC these new WB dingies are selling like crazy.

http://www.walkerbaygenesis.com/

[cat man do]

Those walker bays still come in at 59-5 kg and that style of thing will suffer from deteriation in the sun and still get cut up on the reef and always seem to be the first to get stolen.

Weight is the killer for a multi. Part of the reason we are doing a 50 ft cat was so we could carry a decent dinghy, We picked our dinghy first then built a boat to carry it. The transom steps are 3m long and all to carry a decent dinghy without suffering the weight penalty.

We'll be carrying something like this. We can happilly run it up on reef and concrete ramps and step out with dry feet avoiding CROCADILES and STONE FISH and it has a 700mm freeboard to keep said crocks out and stable with its 1650mm beam.

It also weigh's in at 50KG, 10 kg lighter.

Dave

[CaptainJeff]

LaLeLu,

I'm sure you mean sprit rig instead of spirit rig. Same usage for "bow sprit." The sprit, in this case, is the horizontal yard that becomes vertical to support the sail.

There are many variations on the sprit rig, this being not at all the most common.

[SkiprJohn]

Nest Egg 11'6" nesting dinghy. Motored, rowed and sailed.
JohnL

[SkiprJohn]

Oops. Forgot to mention it is fiberglass and weights 135 without any gear aboard. Two sections fit together. The longer of the two is 6 feet.
Regards, JohnL

[Tnflakbait]

I have an avon redshank I think its 12 feet. It can hold a ton of gear or people. It has a soft floor and thats no fun. I don't really care though. I have a 4 hp seagull. Its good. The dinghy is not a dream setup but it works better than a cheap new one!

-Monkey wrangler

[northerncat]

has anyone ever built a ply duck, i have seen one that looked pretty cool. the guy used 3mm ply and rolled into cylinder around circular baffles he had cut, he reckoned it took a weekend and a bit to make cost 200$ and was great for diving out of, as i live in the tropics this would interest me as there would be no risk of delamination or puncture on one of the many reefs out here, he also reckoned that it only weighed 34 kilos dry
sean and used three sheets of 3mm
sean

[viking69]

tried a sit on kayak.....no good cant carry supplies or other people, tried a 8' pvc thing it was unstable and could not get in and out of it for diving and it was damn heavy for a little boat, now I have a 2.7m Aquapro inflatable with the Alloy hull and so far so good... but only had it for 2 weeks so we will see, so far have found the only problem is rowing if there is a fair bit of wind but i usually use a 3hp anyway.

[cat man do]

Found this poem about Dinghy's by Jo Djubal on the emultihull site

Tender Dilemma There's a topic more debated, more discussed by yacht barflies, than even hulls and riggings or the fastest cruising times, the issue isn't meagre, despite its smallish size, and can create some mega headaches - not induced by beers or wine!
The object of discussion - the troublesome offender is everybodies favourite nuisance, the humble little tender ...
Now 'Tender' denotes faithful, affectionate and loving,
which is how the things SHOULD be when you consider all their mothering, the endless 2 stroke feeding and care of tired outboards, the tiresome bouts of bailing and patching up of sores,
visits to pristine anchorages and constant runs ashore, what well mannered dinghy could ever wish for more? But it seems a faithful tender - the loyal and loving kind is a fantasy living hopefully in every yachties mind ...
A dinghy that will trail you without thought of cutting loose,
that will come forth when you call it like a pup you had in youth,
that would never dream of stalling or needing Aerostart,
and would never tip you seaward like a beer soaked snack for sharks ?
whose body is a mixture of comfort, strength and lines that please,
that will plane on any seascape at ridiculous high speeds...
And to top it off quite nicely - this dinghy beyond belief, has a price tag more than reasonable,
well ... like the wind ... it's free ...
So there it is - the problem - the dilemma that can never be solved,
the endless search for the ultimate dinghy, that quest for a tender of gold ...
And all over the country in bars fringed by masts, hopeful grotties, continue their pitiful chants ...
"...if only I'd bought that inflatable..."
" tinnies the best way to go ... "
"rubber duck with a V hull hard bottom ..."
" ... something that's easy to row-"
"the things just too gutless/ too heavy/ too light..."
You'll hear them lamenting late into the night,
while down at the jetty bobbing at their short reins, are the ignorant tenders being filled up with rain,
not too flash or shiny or mechanically sound, but at least in existence within earthly bounds ...
So when tempted to join that group without hope,
consider the devil you know's better than one that you don't ...
and all that's really required of these little boats,
is to find a good owner
and keep them afloat!



Dave

[Pete the Cat]

I have a 10 ft Zodiac with an inflatable floor. Worst Marine is still selling this PVC junk, though I bought mine from a Zodiac dealer. The floor popped out of mine while inverted on my deck (no not over inflated)--the glued seams just popped. I had had a old Zodiac Cadet Hypalon for about 15 years before that and the salesman said the Decitex PVC was Better than Hypalon. He lied. PVC is crap and Worst sells a bunch of them. Spend the few extra bucks to buy Hypalon no matter what your use is and since Zodiac (Decitex primarily) bought Avon (Hypalon primarily) we should expect a similar deterioration in quality. Well made Hypalon. Probably don't screw around with an inflatable floor as they have proven to be not very useful when you are really cruising. You need a hard floor for pointy things you use when you actually need a dinghy--fish hooks and anchors, for instance.

PS. If you plan to beach and go ashore, buy a good set of inflatable wheels and use them. It will save your dinghy and your engine and prop.

[dana-tenacity]

the nice thing about the Avons with the soft transom (redcrest,redstart???) is that they can be stowed on a very small boat and are the only inflatable I know of that can be rowed, just throw away the silly paddles they give you and get a pair of 6-7 one piece oars. I have raced hard dinghies with this rig and beaten them.

[David_Old_Jersey]

I am not a "Kayaker", but I am quite tempted by one of these - (even if I didn't get the Scuba gear out again!) for occassional use on my own / some excercise (my 2007 resolution!) with what appears to be a bit of load carrying capacity.........at least the shape would make it easier to deal with while inflating onboard!



Diveyak Inflatable Dive Kayak by Sevylor

(perhaps not so much for everyone else's benefit - more so I know where to find the link!)

[dory36]

We also used a WaterTender 9.4 for several years. We towed it when in the ICW, pulled it up when offshore.

No fears at all about the condition of the shore when we went ashore.