Air aluminum or plywood dinghy floor

[bmiller]

Looking for a new dinghy. Our current one is a fibreglass sailing dinghy, we have not owned an inflatable. How solid air the air floor models, any issues with the laminated plywood ones? Our biggest issue is we need to roll it up in order to take up as little space as possible during transport.
Any opinions on inflatables are appreciated.

Bill

[GordMay]

Most "roll-up" inflatables will have an air-floor, with wood floorboard slats. If available, more durable materials (aluminum or plastic) might be preferable to wooden slats.
Notwithstanding, I'm not aware of any particular problems with wood slats.

Has anyone tried the Micron ‘RIB-SLEEVE” conversion (soft bottom to a hard bottom deep vee) ?
Ribsleeve.com

[mickmul]

I have a Honda Marine 3.3 metre air keel tender which retains the deep(ish) V as long as the floor section is properly inflated. (no boards, aluminum or slats.Great to tow as it doesn't "dig in" - only downside is with even a cupful of water aboard, your dry boatshoes and socks ain't dry anymore. But that's the only downside so far - it's an ease to stow because without the floor solids it just rolls up.

[SkiprJohn]

Our local YMCA had an Avon that had a plywood floor over an inflatable keel. They left it out in the weather, it filled with fresh water and after a year the plywood was rotten and no good anymore. Very abused but that's what happened. A particular problem with the hard floor over rubber bottom seems to me is that sand and coral get between them and could be a potential abrasion concern. I like the idea Mick's dinghy with no hard surfaces.
Kind Regards,
JohnL

[mickmul]

I once had a Bombard inflatable with an internal timber keel and painted plywood boards as a floor sitting on the top of the keel. Not so easy to stow, but with a little time and effort would fit in a large suitcase, then the re-assembly needing time and patience again. Boy could that thing plane! (9.9 Yamaha on the back). Very solid feeling compared to the air floor, if you have the stowage and assembly patience. Then again, never any harm to have an inflatable upturned on the deck in case of emergency . . .

[graham2]

If you go with an inflatible I'd recomend NOT Zodiac which is a PVC plastic and delaminates after a few years. Avon tenders, esentially the same company, are made of a much more durable plastic. That's why Avon has a 10 year warenty, and Zodiac has a 5 year warenty.

Cheers,
Graham

[brian and clare]

In The Keys the universally revered was the hard bottom inflatable, but there most folks lived aboard on the hook or mooring and needed a good strong tender. People who were not going anywhere on their boats caved and bought a big fiberglass carolina skiff (no way to store that sucker on deck!). Aluminum hard bottoms are lighter than the glass versions. Here is NZ theere is a cool one that slides onto the tubes and the 2 parts are seperate for storage. I dont think they have that in the US though and it is a PVC (Force 4?). Consensus on the dock at the time was that the ultimate dinghy is either the Caribe or AB hard bottom.

[beetle]

Originally Posted by graham2

If you go with an inflatible I'd recomend NOT Zodiac which is a PVC plastic and delaminates after a few years. Avon tenders, esentially the same company, are made of a much more durable plastic.

The decision of PVC or Hypalon is locality-driven. Hypalon is a soft rubber and handles sun reasonably well. PVC is a harder plastic and handles abrasion well.

In the Pacific Northwest there are a lot of barnacles and rocks on the beaches and not a heck of a lot of sun - PVC becomes the best choice. In the Caribbean the beaches are mostly soft sand/crushed coral and a huge amount of sun - hypalon becomes the better choice.

As an aside, Hypalon is synthetic rubber, not a plastic.

To add to the dinghy-type discussion, my Avon R3.10 died after 20 years use in California (the hypalon become porous). It had the 3-section plywood floor and was always a pain to put together and take apart, so I wanted a roll-up floor dinghy that would stow in a sail bag and I could drop down the forward hatch. At that same time Avon ceased making the roll-up dinghy! Rats! So I purchased an Achilles hypalon LSR rollup aluminum floor dinghy - it's worked great, though the dinghy is heavy when lifted with the floorboards inside of it. After the dinghy is rinsed out (anchor locker washdown pumps fitted to a short garden hose are good for squirting sand out of dinghies), rolled up and bagged, I use the spinnaker halyard to hoist up the bag, open the hatch, and lower the dinghy down into the forepeak where it stands on end, lashed to a bulkhead. Works a treat for a singlehander.

- beetle

[Lancerbye]

I have an Avon R3.10 with the air floor. Like the weight factor compared to other types of floors and easy to roll up and stow in the sail locker. There are some problems with PVC when they come in contact with diesel exhaust but not with Hypalon. The abrasive problem with hypalon is a consideration. The last inflatable I had lasted 15 years and the tubes made out of hypalon were still good but the bottom made out of PVC was totlly trashed due to UV degradation and abrasion. I used to carry it inverted on the roof of a Trawler type boat in the PNW.When I was totally on the darkside. LOL