Dinghy dilemma

[Mike OReilly]

Ours gets assembled on our 37-footer's foredeck. We did the same on our 34-footer. I don't know if it would be possible on a 28-footer. It would certainly have to hang over the port/stbrd when doing so, but it might be possible. They do make an 8-foot portabote, which might suit your boat better.

They aren't the easiest thing to put together. Like any skill though, you get better the more you do it. Ours is always quite stiff if it has sat folded for a long time (like at the beginning of the season). It is better after that, but it's still a challenge.

Putting together alone is harder than with two people, but I've done both. The trick is to get a brace in across the mid-ships right away. I use one of the centre seats, but I think the botes comes with a wood stick. Either way, once the brace is in, the rest is pretty simple.

They weight is a lot less than most comprable rubber dinghies, but they're not light. I haul ours up out of the water by leveraging it over the toerail.

[Grith]

Thanks for all your advice Mike. Well I bit the bullet and purchased a second hand 3.27 metre (so called 10 foot) Portaboat. It was relatively cheap and close by and barely used so a no brainer really.
I considered some nesting dingy alternatives but in the end the ability to carry it on my SUP safety rails carrier sealed the choice along with price and close by availability.
My yacht already uses a torqeedo 1103 as an auxiliary and alternatively this demounts to become the dingy outboard.
My foredeck is about 10cms too short but adequately wide so the nose may have to rest off to the side of the forestay on the pulpit.
Construction on deck is going to be “interesting” especially if I try to still take the inflatable as is currently planned.
I would find it hard to leave this behind as it fits so perfectly over the forward section of the cabin not obstructing the side or bow decks whilst also doubling as cabin roof shade and as an inflated life raft alternative.
I also immediately whipped up a carrier method for the side of my truck with slide on camper using some heavy duty safety rail bases mounted under the alloy tray and 1inch stainless tube allowing the Magna SUP carriers from the yacht to mount there as well.
Several reasons for this and these include windage up high on the side rails of the yacht whilst towing, extra weight on the trailer as if loaded for really extended cruising we are currently right on our 3,500kgs limit and also the ability to carry the dingy separate to towing the yacht for other activities as we currently do with the inflatable.
It’s all yet to be tested on water whilst I used the supplied piece of timber to unfold it on land and will report back for anyone’s interest when I have tried to construct it onboard!

[Mike OReilly]

Wow, you move fast. I was going to add, that another challenge with Portabotes is storing the seats and transom (the new model has the transom folded in). These are not small items, so in addition to the large surf board the bote folds down into, you have to find a place for the seats.

On our cutter these neatly fit on the foredeck, leaning in front of our cabin. We have a bag that they all neatly fit in. But on our previous boat we had to store all this stuff down below. It was a bit of a pain.

Good luck with the PB. I hope it works out.

[Grith]

I had been mulling the Portaboat as an option for some time and this one just came up on Facebook marketplace close by and looking good value at a third of new price and only having had a couple of uses.
The newer model fold in transom had me concerned for a moment as I had previously only seen older models and picked the boat up from the owners brother in law who had never seen it in use.
It came with the three seats and unfolding plank and I asked where the transon was and he didn’t know.
I had to ring the owner to question the transoms absence!
It is pretty heavy to carry. Was the earlier model with separate transom lighter to carry just the folded hulls?
The location to store the seats is going to pose another dilemma. I may have to bag them and strap them to the outside of the safety rails on the other side of the yacht as there is not another space available big enough to store them.
Alternatively they may fit under the upturned inflatable if this still allows the forward hatch to open but I will need a way to secure them if stored there. Untying the nose of the inflatable to access them is pretty simple.
Fitting everything for a 3/4 month cruise for a couple without resupply opportunity’s on a 28 foot trailerable yacht is like tackling a complicated puzzle.
The Imexus 28 was however purchased with this long held goal of exploring The Kimberley’s by trailer sailer specifically in mind.
Previous and likely future very extended cruises don’t pose the logistical, access, predator and storage challenges of The Kimberley’s.
Like my recent 12v reverse osmosis watermaker made portable, the Portaboat may only have a one trip lifespan with me depending on how it performs and how easy it is to use.
The safety rail carrier is shown here in its normal position. The inflatable dingy still fits neatly on deck even in trailering mode with the mast clearing it by a paper thin margin.
Thanks again for your advice.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Grith

It is pretty heavy to carry. Was the earlier model with separate transom lighter to carry just the folded hulls?

I've never used a newer model (yet), so I can't say much about the weight. I assume the newer one with the integral transom must be heavier, but I only have experience with our Genesis IV version, bought new sometime it in the early 2000s.

Good luck with the bote. I hope it works out for you. As I say, they do take some getting used to. They can't be used exactly like an inflatable, but for our needs, it has been great.

[Grith]

Thanks Mike.
I have now found an old kite surfer board bag in my horder style stored stuff which fitted the three seats, stretching board and nose cone perfectly. Most other bags I had were too short.
Whilst understanding many here are completely liveaboard based and minimalist being cruising trailer sailers we have chosen to buy a very cheap waterfront with jetty home remote base to sail and adventure from allowing the luxury of storing way too much often useless ****!
Permanently living aboard even a biggish trailer sailer is just a bridge too far!
The occasional repurposing like this helps me justify my hoarding disease to my keep it simple partner!
The Portaboat seats and stuff now nicely contained in this bag fitted inside my starboard safety lines and only blocked the light from the forward of three starboard cabin windows whilst they also do block access down the starboard side of the cabin.
Being in this position however they somewhat weight balance the port side outside safety rail location of the main Portaboat hull opposite.
My yacht being a fairly light water ballasted trailer sailer means weight and its distribution are always top of mind.
My life vest harness attachment strap also passes down the port side deck so not a great loss of forward access.
I have decided to end the Portside safety lines with pelican clips to the pulpit allowing easier launching of the Portaboat between this and the first life line stanchion as well. I am hoping my spinnaker pole topping lift to cabin top winch crane can successfully one person launch the Portaboat from the foredeck like it does with my lighter smaller inflatable.
Yet to be sea tested but it all looks OK.
Did you mount some lifting eye bolts on your Portaboat and how about drain plugs in the side panels near the stern?

[Mike OReilly]

That bag looks perfect Grith. Sometimes hording is a good thing .

We've always launched or retrieve our bote manually. We assemble on the foredeck, with the bote aligned across the beam. I drop one side set of lifelines (usually the port side), and then we can slide the bote, stern-first, over the toerail and into the water. Retrieval is the reverse; I haul up on the bow painter, lifting the bow first, then leverage the bote over the toerail until I can pull it up on deck.

Although we usually do this together, I occasionally perform both tasks by myself. We've never used a halyard or lifting harness of any sort, unlike with dubber dinghies of the past where we definitely had to resort to winches and harnesses.

As you note, the portabote doesn't have a drain plug. I've mused about putting one in -- probably wouldn't be hard to do. But we've always just bailed and sponged out any water that gets in -- most commonly from sitting alongside in heavy rains. As a side benefit, it's a great rain collector this way, so we often collect this water for use in our deck shower.