Is there a Dingy that doesn't sink when rain water collects?

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by cal40john

Here's one way -

That is so brilliant it’s crazy.

[Bluebeard]

Quite a few sailing dinghies are self draining, as johnjuliano has said, they have a false floor which is above the normal static waterline, often high enough that the helm and crew don't cause it to back flood. Drainage is either through the transom which will have a flap to prevent back flooding, or through self bailers in the bilge which use the venturi effect as well as a flap.


Old sailing dinghies make good tenders

[basssears]

Originally Posted by svHyLyte

See "EasyBailer"... Discussion at Practical Sailor.

I've been contemplating building something like this myself for a dinghy that may eventually be left on a mooring ball.


My curiosity (concern?) is if the swell picks up in the anchorage and the water starts sloshing around in the bottom of the dinghy... I envision (along with some clogging problems if there's debris) the float cutting in and out and in and out.

[taxwizz]

Just drill a hole in the bottom.
The water will run out by itself.

[Siggiland]

https://www.takacat.com/

Made in New Zealand - open bow and open transom

[HopCar]

I believe that any boat built in the USA, under 20 feet powered by an outboard, is required to float level when flooded.

[jmschmidt]

Of course there is. No inflatable will sink, RIB or fully inflatable, unless you load so much weight in it there is no reserve buoyancy or its completely deflated. They will even float if unpunctured with dead bodies in them because dead bodies inflate with gases when the spoil.

[john61ct]

lovely

[Lihuedooley77]

Hmmmm,

long ago, down in Little Harbor, Jost van dyke, we had a rain squall go
thru during the night. Our hard dink pretty much filled with water.

What to do ? . Rain stops, Grab the bio degradible soap, have a happy bath,
Then bail her out, go ashore to the trust bar, Sydneys Peace and love, and start
pouring our own drinks, and putting a slash mark next to the name of our boat in
the book for each drink.

In the OP's marina, forget the bath, just bail 'er out and splice the main brace.

Or, haul her up on deck, and invert it , well secured, so rain water will not collect and do not worry about it .

[hamburking]

Originally Posted by meridian28

Use a small bilge pump, motorcycle battery and a cheap solar charger.

OR....drill a few drain holes in the bottom of the dinghy, and let gravity do all the work.

[Taipe]

You didn't mention whether inflatable vs. hard dinghy and whether you want an outboard or sail it or row it.


That being said, the Fatty Knees is a fbg dinghy and is unsinkable because it has glassed-in air-tight compartments. Lyle Hess designed it to be oared through windy chop, and it does that beautifully. The story behind the design is that one day, Lyle saw a man in an inflatable dinghy pull out the oars on a windy day when his outboard quit running about half-way across an anchorage. He watched as the inflatable with the man in it, were blown back to shore with the man making no headway, beating futilely with the oars. That is when Lyle went to the drawing board and designed the now famous Fatty Knees. It can also be sailed, using it's 2-piece mast, dagger board and a kick-up rudder. As you might guess the 7' model does not do quite as well as the 8' and 9' models. I would only attempt to put a motor on the 9' model. They are not designed to move particularly fast, but are very seaworthy.

[Mike Banks]

The bungs on my Polycraft "Ugly Duckling" when removed and attached only by their lanyards keeps the dinghy dry while afloat, because the drain holes are above the waterline. One has to lean down and screw them in before coming aboard andf affixing the outboard though.. We get a lot of rain where I live in the Summer. Not having to bail out a dinghy, even an unsinkable one such as my last Zodiac is a biggie. That still allowed water to come in, but not to any great depth, when the bung was removed.

[brucesagnol]

Polycraft tuff tender - it will support itself when full or you can leave the bung out and it will self drain - worth checking out - cheers

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by Copacabana

May I ask, how do you make a hard dinghy self-drain?

I decked mine over with a small cockpit above it's waterline with me in it and put a 2" plug in the bottom. You don't want to only keep it from sinking and drowning the outboard you want to be able to keep it drained so you don't have to climb down into it in the middle of the night in the rain to bail it.

The handle up the front is for the front wheels of a trycycle arrangement which is partially retractable and the slot for the outboard keeps it from hanging out the back, puts the prop under the hull and makes the motor usable without a tiller extension. The hull is also full of styrofoam.

The hull form is that of a Boston Whaler which carries it's buoyancy mostly at the beam and has a tunnel hull and the wide flat decks allow me to sit on the side and swing my old legs in like you get into a car. Since I occasionally go ashore over surfy beaches I also wanted to mitigate the effects of getting pooped and the wide side and aft decks give me something to step down onto when entering from my big boat and jetties.

The handle on the front wheel extends and I am told it looks quiet spectacular me sort of skate board push offing from the top of a boat ramp and accelerating down and into the water.

It's so practical that I dunno why they don't build the damned things this way in the first place.

[Bjooste]

Where can you anchor out, without being harassed by the “authorities “ in Florida?