Porta-bote or Inflatible?

[2Wind]

No affiliation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNlcx2idUuQ

[clockwork orange]

I really like the Quickboat and had made an inquiry about getting one to the US a few years ago when they had a different name, what I don't like is the price. But they have proved that these types of boat do not have to be ugly like the porta bote. I wish Porta boat would do a re design to get rid of the ugly bow shape and make it look like a normal dinghy.

Steve.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by Muscongus

Anyone have experience with Porta-botes? How do they compare to using an inflatible to keep stored on your boat so you don't have to tow a dinghy?

How do the two compare in regards to set up time?

Experience with both.

Much easier to store a Porta-boat.

On the other hand I have an inflatable based on how I use it. I am a skin/SCUBA diver and can use my inflatable for that. I feel lots more comfortable carrying half a dozen eight gallon water jugs in an inflatable. I feel lots better tying up my inflatable to a friend's boat since a soft inflatable is much less likely to damage a big boat.

Both have advantages depending on what you want them to do.

[Celestialsailor]

I'm glad to see someone (quickboats) give Portabot a run for their money. I have a Portabot 10 footer. Good concept but the engineering could be better. The guy that owns the company micro-manages everything about the company. Hence few inovative changes and a poor confusing website. I would say Quickboats has the perfect boat either. It's seams are equally questionable as are the Portabots. At least the concept is moving forward.

[Mike OReilly]

We've had our 10' bote for a number of years now. I like it a lot, but I've been thinking of building a bow spray deck, similar to what the Quickboat has.

I've been very happy with our bote, but like all things on a small sailboat, it's a compromise. Our double-ender has no space for davits (and I'm not sure I'd want them anyway), and the cutter means limited space to store a dingy on the foredeck. I wanted a dink I could row, that could be stored on our side deck, and would take a small outboard when needed. The portabote does all these things, but there are definite downsides...

[onestepcsy37]

Originally Posted by tfay412

They have stainless steel Kayak carriers that mount to the stanchions so I can carry the porta bote on the outside of the lifelines. They adjust to snug right up to the porta bote and can then strap the porta bote to the stanchions using the snap straps. Awesome idea and don't look bad either

i see boats carrying kayaks that way. my only caveat would be the strength of the stantions. i would check them to make sure they're thru-bolted with backing plates. unfortunately some stantions are just screwed in with self tapping screws and will rock back and forth with a side load until they wear out the glass around them and suddenly pull out.

[Boatguy30]

Had some friends with on in Belize in 2004. Seems to be falling apart. They used it till they arrived in new Zealand in 2008. Transom had fallen out by then but they were hoping to repair it.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by onestepcsy37

i see boats carrying kayaks that way. my only caveat would be the strength of the stantions. i would check them to make sure they're thru-bolted with backing plates. unfortunately some stantions are just screwed in with self tapping screws and will rock back and forth with a side load until they wear out the glass around them and suddenly pull out.

I have the Garhaur racks. They are stronger than the stantions they fasten too. That said, the weak point is how a factory boat fastens their stantions. They need good backing plates and not a thin deck. I have my racks resting in my teak toe-rails and with the eye-rings at the top of the kayak racks, lash them to the stantions, creating box support member.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by Boatguy30

Had some friends with on in Belize in 2004. Seems to be falling apart. They used it till they arrived in new Zealand in 2008. Transom had fallen out by then but they were hoping to repair it.

I've seen this too but usually on a 15 year old+ bote. It is their weak point and apparently, the factory is pretending it does not happen. I'm hoping someone takes the concept and does it right, quality and customer service wise.

[ricco]

Hi there,
Living in the Caribbean since 79 I am spending my time whenever possible sailing my 39’ boat. I use as a tender an Apex dinghy with a 6hp Tohatsu four stroke and a 2hp Honda as spare. Wanting to go a little faster without changing motors and having more space available I decided to buy a Porta-Bote 10’ Alpha 1 series from the local dealer.
Got my brand new PB a couple of weeks ago, installed four u-bolts with backing plates on the gunwales and off we went last Friday morning to do some cruising and trying out the new toy (left the Apex at home).
Here my impressions so far as we are anchored in the middle of a well protected large bay with variable winds of up to 22kts during the day and a max. chop of 1’.
The good:
The PB is quick considering the 6hp motor. It planes in flat water with my wife, our 100lb dog and myself at 390lb. total plus 3gal. of gas. Or it will plane with my dog and myselfe with 1’ chop.
We have plenty of space for cooler, fishing gear etc.
The hull seems to be tough.
It behaves well on the davits with cross ties.
The fast folding feature of the new PB is for me an important advantage.

The not so good:
My first mate (and I) finds the PB unstable compared to our Apex. She does not like it so far.
When our dog shifts from one side to the other, both, my first mate and I have to do some shifting as well immediately to keep the boat stable.
Our dog just hates it. He cannot find a comfortable position on longer rides and going in and out is not practical for him, especially at the beach. He loves the rides on inflatables so.
Assembling would take 4 to 5 minutes if the locking pins on the seats would align well, they don’t.
The foldable transom looks flimsy to me; time will tell how long it will last.
After the first 20 minutes of using the PB y found some small nylock nuts on the floor. The bolts they belong to at the transom are too short and the threads never reached the nylon for locking.
The 4 wing nuts locking the transom have to be constantly tightened.
The black seats get so hot in the sun that you cannot sit on them without putting a towel on top.
Picked two friends up at the local dock and returning about two miles into an 18knt wind with 1’ chop was very wet for the person sitting in front.
Going fast with one person on board, the ride feels wiggly as the boat does not track too well at high speed.

Once I get back home I will install proper ball locking pins well aligned, right sized screws and replacing the bolts with the wing nuts on the transom with ball locking pins and flange bearings. The seats I will flame treat as they are plastic and spray paint with grey epoxy paint including the black close cell foam around the inside of the gunwales. Once all this is taken care of I think the PB will serve me well having the choice to use the Apex when conditions require.
The dog and myself are getting used to the PB, not so the first mate, so far.
I don’t think I will ever use it to surf in 5 foot waves, so.
What I do not understand is that with over 100,000 PBs sold, as advertized, those issues mentioned above were not taken care of long ago, it’s a no brainer one would think.
Regards

[sailcruiser]

Also chiming in as a new PB owner. I'm still working on my opinion. One thing I hate though is the black scuffs from the PVC tubing. Anyone found a decent solution short of don't let it rub the mothership which can be tough in some situations.

On the dog front I'm using a rubber backed carpet to help the adjustment from RIB to PB. Still trying to get it right though.
SC


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[hpeer]

After some years as a strong PB supporter I have to note some recent reservations. M

For the records I have 2 Sailboats and a PB on each one. These are the Genesis PB with a rigid transom. I’ve made some modifications such as adding real par locks so I can use real oars and nylon straps that act as cleats. Our rear seat broke so I’ve added some 1x10 pressure treated lumber to the middle and seats as additional support.

Now the PB has started to leak in the lower set joint of the “bladder”, the flexible piece behind the transom. I’ll come back to this.

A few months ago I had a couple approach me with their new PB. It was a replacement as their first one developed a transom leak. According to them PB said it could not be fixed and gave them a new boat. They had 2 complaints similar to above. The rub rails leave black marks, while mine do not. In fact this is what got the to approach me, they saw my older PB laying alongside, touching our boat, without leaving marks. They wanted to know my magic. I e none, PB must have changed the material they use.

Second they were concerned about the folding transom, even with a smaller motor than I have. I can see why. It was very flexible. They were considering somehow trying to support to by tying it to the rear seat. IMHO that ain’t gonna work.

Back to my leak. So I called PB to see if I could buy a hull only as mine is leaking and I don’t like the looks of the crack. Apparently the “new” boat is totally different from my Genisis, transom won’t fit, seats won’t fit, but he claimed it was much better and faster. HOWEVER he says that the boat should have no more than a 52lb and SIX hp engine. I’ve seen the 52lb rating in their specs but not the SIX hp max rating, and I have looked.

He tried to convience me my leak was because the motor was to big. Baloney, it’s cracking because of the bending when folding. But I could not discuss it, he quickly shut me off and told me he had paying customers waiting on the line to buy new boats. I told him about my concern with the folding transom and he insisted the other owners had a too big engine; they didn’t, they were very by the book folks. He did recommend I use EternaTale to fix the leak. I e read about that and am dubious but will give it a try.

In summary:
The old Genesis is a good boat, had some issues and improvements I could make.
New boat has what’s looks to me a problematic transom that will limit size of motor. IMHO durability questionable. If I buy one I would make a new rigid transom, not terribly difficult.
New PBS leave scuff marks.
The leak issue is at best a nussience, I’ve since read of others having the same issue.
PB will not respond to email. At best you get a silly cost packet. Poor attitude on phone.

My suspicion is they have “improved” PB into a less useful and less desirable product. I may buy a new one, but I will surely be looking for alternatives.

Sad report, I really like the buggers.

[Mike OReilly]

That really sucks hpeer. I too have been a happy portabote owner and user for many years. My bote is the 10’ Genesis III or IV. It has served us well for many years. No leaks or broken seats yet, but most of my years with the bote have been short seasonal. I bet my bote has not seen the wear yours has. Mine does leave marks on our hull though. Kinda a pita. I must have a newer version than yours.

I was thinking the new folding transom might be a nice feature. Perhaps not. I knew there was max. weight for the engine, but like you, don’t see any max. hp specified — anywhere.

Products that fail over a reasonable time can be forgiven, but poor customer service such as you describe could easily be a deal-breaker. When I bought my boat about a decade ago I recieved great service, but it sounds like things have changed. That is too bad…

There are other alternatives to portabote now. If they’ve gone to the dark side then I will definitely look elsewhere if I ever have to replace ours.

[clockwork orange]

Interesting to read hpeers experience with customer service as I experienced a similar reaction when I called a couple of weeks ago. I have an old PB that has failed in one of the transom folds and I was just asking for advice on how to fix it. The guy just wasn't helpful at all and couldn't wait to get rid of me because I wasn't buying a new boat. I like the concept of these boats but its hard to accept the low quality. I have to agree with Ricco a few posts/years back that if they have sold so many boats all the little quality issues should have been taken care of long ago. Another thing that would prevent me buying a new one is that I find it difficult to see why they need to be so darn ugly. I'm sure you have all seen the Quickboat and its a very nice boat. Yes its a lot more expensive but that's more to do with build quality than style. I wish someone would make something in between the two.
Mike you mentioned other alternatives, are there others besides the Quickboat?

Steve.

[Mike OReilly]

I was thinking about Quickboat, but I’ve run across some others over the years that look interesting. I know there are more, but here’s a site that lists a few:

www.portableboatshop.com - Portable Boats Home

My understanding is that high pressure rollable rubber dinghies have also improved over the years. I’d consider one of those if they really have improved.