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Rorzech · 11-11-2018, 10:37

I love that Freakytiki

Tayana42 · 11-11-2018, 10:40

Freakytiki, I had an orange sportyak dinghy 45 years ago. It was not light weight but it was nearly indestructible, towed okay and rowed well.

olivert · 11-11-2018, 11:17

Everyone has an opinion many are fixated on a particular type but please go back to first principles: what will you do with it? How much must it carry? How fast must it go? How well must it row? What wind and water conditions? How stable - will you need to stand in it? Do you reckon on dragging it up a beach? What awkwarotems will it be loaded with?

How many more criteria can you think of. I know it is teachingmy grandmother to suck eggs, but it seems to me that too much focus is put on too few criteria.

picklesandjesse · 11-11-2018, 11:50

May I suggest a PT11 or Port Townsend 11. You can buy a ready cut out kit and you will have something of great beauty and they nest so not too much space. Lots of videos on them too.
This will be your last love !!!!

tmcdonagh · 11-11-2018, 11:58

I love my skin on frame rowing dinghy. Check out Geodesic boats. Fairly easy to buy and repair rips with duct tape. Rows very efficiently with one on board and supplies distributed properly. And, the best part, she weights 30 lbs. http://gaboats.com/boats/westportdinghy8.html

model 10 · 11-11-2018, 11:59

I don't get all this about kayaks etc. You need a regular dinghy just like any other cruiser, like maybe a 15hp RIB. It doesn't matter if you are a single hander or not. Almost everybody has some sort of lifting machine anyway. Sure it's nice to have help sometimes, but you figure things out.
Looks like almost everybody has davits anyway. Having some half ass set up if you are really going cruising is a waste of money.

Scout 30 · 11-11-2018, 13:03

Outside the box:

https://www.seaeagle.com/InflatableFishingSkiffs/FSK16

https://www.seaeagle.com/FishingSUPs/FS126

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykimn4x1bXk

Althebass · 11-11-2018, 13:47

I use a FRIB 275 + 6hp outboard as a tender to my 32' Nicholson yacht. Lift it aboard with a halyard. Deflate/inflate on deck. It's a proper, planing, GRP hull RIB which will get up on the plane with just me on board. Best tender I've used. I've made lightweight nesting dinghies too (Graham Byrnes' Spindrift and Two Paw) but the FRIB is best. There's a sailing version of the FRIB 275 too. Reassuringly expensive lol!

Delfin · 11-11-2018, 14:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by picklesandjesse

May I suggest a PT11 or Port Townsend 11. You can buy a ready cut out kit and you will have something of great beauty and they nest so not too much space. Lots of videos on them too.
This will be your last love !!!!

We just bought a new Porte Bote after using the last one for 20 years, and just built the PT 11 (Spear). The later is a true joy to sail, row, or power but takes around 600 hours of labor to complete the kit. It could be less if you didn't care what the end product looked like, but not that much less. The nesting PT is a great option for a sailboat, with each section only weighing about 45#, but based on the OP's part, I still think the Porte Bote would be the best choice.

Mike Banks · 11-11-2018, 14:36

Polycraft Tuff-Tender or its American equivalent. You will be glad you did. Built like a brick shyte house and puncture proof--rows like a dream, can be fitted with a Bimini if you like to fish, and if you want to knock up a couple of plywood lee boards and tie them to the lifting handles and get a windsurfer sail second hand, you can even sail it. Mine is the heavy model which will take a 15 hp outboard although I have only ever had a Yamaha 3.5 on it. The lighter model is easier to hoist but will only take a 6 hp outboard--more than enough for a normal tender anyway.

AND--if you opt for the foam-filled unsinkable version--it is a little heavier, and is built under survey it is accepted by SOLAS as a life-preserving device and is OK as a coastal life raft. That is a biggie really--nothing inflatable or non-specialist aluminium is so certified. A little extra sense of well being when cruising.

Mine on a new trailer with spare wheel and registration cost me under five grand when I bought it. I could not get a decent inflatable for that price alone--if there IS such a thing.

https://www.polycraft.com.au/model-r...00-tuff-tender

tmcdonagh · 11-11-2018, 14:53

Oh, and did I say my dinghy is not butt ugly too! https://gaboats.com/boats/westportdinghy8.html

jen1722terry · 11-11-2018, 15:07

It may depend on how fast you want your dink to go under power. If you want that 6 hp. motor to plane a dink, a hard-bottom RIB or a hard dink may be the way to go, though it may be harder to hoist on deck and not stowable in a locker or below decks in a storm.

We use an Achilles LS2-RU, a very light (57 lbs.) inflatable floor model that holds 3-4 adults, but can only handle up to 3 or maybe 4 hp. for a motor. It does not plane but goes about 6 knots or so with our 2.3 honda (29 lbs.). The upside is we can quickly roll it up and stow it on deck or in a locker in our small (31 ft.), old (1985) Cape Dory sailboat and easily hand up and stow the motor on our stern pulpit.

For us, with weak backs/small boat the above is perfect. But again, if you want something that planes with a larger motor (useful in the Caribbean) you will have more weight and less stowability.

Whatever you get, if it's inflatable, pay the $ for hypalon. It lasts for decades (we have a 1986 Avon inflatable on our wharf all summer in Nova Scotia and it still holds air like the day we bought it). PVC may last 5 or more years in southern sun, or maybe less and is not as tough.

Just our thoughts. Good luck with your cruising.

Jenn and Terry
Kearsarge, NH
Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia

Delfin · 11-11-2018, 15:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmcdonagh

Oh, and did I say my dinghy is not butt ugly too! https://gaboats.com/boats/westportdinghy8.html

That's very nice. Not sure how well it would hold up on the PNW's rocky beaches though. Or with a couple of dogs...

jen1722terry · 11-11-2018, 16:03

You're right. While we cruise in Maine all summer with many rocks (though not too many actual beaches) we are careful to drag the dink away from the sharp stuff. We also glued on patches under the aft ends of the side chambers to take the wear when we do drag it. Hypalon is easy to glue and patch.

We don't have dogs, but have had dogs on the airfloor. No problems that we can see.

Cheers!

Jenn and Terry