Who carries a hard dinghy while cruising?

[Roy M]

I'm looking for a foam dinghy designed by Jay Kantola, called, I believe, the Santa Barbara 3.3 meter. There weren't many built in the 70's. It has a centerboard, a tall rig, and it rows. It's very light and fits on the sterncastle of a Searunner. I may have to build one if I can find the offsets.

[Artful Dodger]

The best dingy, of which I've found is the walker bay 8 foot with the inflatable attachment, does not flip and very stable, sits well on the fore deck of my Morgan 33 O/I, also very easy to launch and bring back aboard. Total investment about 2,000

[stuffinbox]

I have had both in the last 2 years and have come to the conclusion that the Zodiac and the Whaler both have advantages. Weight ended up being the least deciding factor, the outboard is smaller on the Whaler and offset the the differance and difficulty in lifting in the davits. The greatest benifit of the inflatable was performance, the 8 hp. Yamaha had more power than really was needed and high end was scary at times. The biggest factor for making the change was deterioration in the elements and from beaching, shells and sand inside the boat was worse than abrasion from beaching. The 9 foot whaler is bulletproof and stability for standing while fishing or more important boarding from the boat is the biggest benifit. The only negitive is securing the thing in the davits. I will finish the stainless "strut" system and if it works well in moderate weather I think the hard dink will stay in service for some time. If anyone has a system that secures their dink while in davits while underway please post a few pics.
Thanks

[Latitude9.5]

We're using an aluminum dinghy, rides great in the davits and tows easier then anything else we've owned, we call it the battle dinghy cause it's pretty much bullet proof.

[Roy M]

Ken Rosenquist, now living in Florida, contacted me last night. He has the offsets and plans for the Jay Kantola Santa Barbara 3.3 meter. It is 10 feet long, five feet wide, and weighs 50 pounds. He says a man (probably not my size) can stand on the gunnel, holding a five gallon can of gas, and still not put the edge under. He and Jeff Allen built one many years ago, when I first saw it. Jay lived at Ken's house in Los Angeles for a time, and passed this design along to him. It is constructed of strips of 1/2" foam, glassed with 8 oz. fiberglass in epoxy. It has a tall stick, a centerboard, and can be loaded aboard by a crewmember of slight build (how's that for PC?). I am eagerly awaiting the mail, since Ken doesn't like computers. It rows and sails like a dream. The only challenge will be in the building, as it has significant tumblehome, so it must be popped of the mold before securing the transom. Oh, and of course, building the mold......

[slomotion]

I have no experience with them, but an outfit called DinghyUS makes rigid FP dinghies which have the appearance and supposedly the stability of a RIB:

Fiberglass Rigid Boats ... Made in the USA

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Fishspearit

What kind of dinghy does JB have?

I don't know. The beer has run out and he's back on his boat...

Originally Posted by theonecalledtom

Hey Mark - what soft bottom model do you have? .

We bought a 2nd hand Zodiac 1999 model with wooden slats in the bottom. They are breaking up as the water penetrates. I would next buy an Air Deck one. Can still be rolled up but have an inflatable V hull and keeps the feet dry!

[Fishspearit]

Originally Posted by slomotion

I have no experience with them, but an outfit called DinghyUS makes rigid FP dinghies which have the appearance and supposedly the stability of a RIB:

Fiberglass Rigid Boats ... Made in the USA

Those are the same as the Boss boats, Boss Boats hard-body dingy - inflatable boat replacement which are made by Rigid boats www.rigidboats.com

Latitude 9.5 , what kind of aluminum boat? Is it the riveted aluminum jon boat type or something different?

[Lance]

I am going for the same as my last tender , A "Polycraft" (Queensland ) 2.1m(9ft) tender , w/ 9.8hp tohatsu , can carry 3 people easy( once took six a shore slowly), Planes with two , has tri hull underwater shape ,used to tow a skier on a surf board. stable as ,unsinkable twin skin moulded poly , light weight version due soon the weight was the only draw back but never really a problem on the davits of a 36ft Cat. I think they named it "tough tender" , costs a lot less than the deflatable crocodile denture testers .

[waterworldly]

Are there no aluminum boats anywhere? I checked on line and found zero returns on my search for an aluminum dingy in the states. Had a great one as a kid on the river, lightweight pram and very stable. Any info would be appreciated.

[defjef]

I just received a 10 aluminum rib. When deflated it is deck stowable. But this is not a great solution. The upside is that in port it males a great dink and it is towable in coastal water without the motor. Since we spend a lot of time in port and coastal cruising this works for us and we will deal with the deck lashing for the passage time. I think this is the best RIB for the money and it's not as expensive as the Avon 310 and very stable.

[Morgan Paul]

Are there no aluminum boats anywhere? I checked on line and found zero returns on my search for an aluminum dingy in the states. Had a great one as a kid on the river, lightweight pram and very stable. Any info would be appreciated.

Here is one:

Koffler Boats - White Water Prams

[DWT]

That White Water Pram Koffler looks like a tuff little boat. I could not find the weight of it.

David
69 Morgan 30'
Carolann

[Artful Dodger]

You should check out the walker bay 8 foot or 10 foot with the inner tube around it, you can get two designs, one cell, or mulity cells. Very stable and can carry good weight, and sails well with the kit, planes well with a good motor.

[Latitude9.5]

I've had rigid inflatables and have found them to have all of the disadvantages of rigid dinghy's and none of the advantages of inflatables. They aren't light weight, they wear poorly in the florida heat, the don't wear well banging against docks or other dinghy's, you can't deflate them and stow them, when they leak you have to fix them, etc, etc... I recommend going with one or the other, but that's just my opinion.