Anyone Ever Heard of Newport Vessels (Cheap Dinghys) ?

[Codysheehy]

I'm new to this site, so hello everyone!

I'm looking for a good, but cheap dinghy and came across this deal . . . seems to good to be true.

Here is the company website, NEWPORT Vessels although when you call the phone # it takes you to a personal voicemail with a message about "TI brands." I'm 50-50 on whether or not it is sketchy, so if there is anyone who has bought one of these, I'd be all ears.

Cody

[Solitude]

I don't know about this specific company but I did buy a cheaper imorted from China (Aquamarine boat) That was alot cheaper that WM or other retailers. Its been great.

[Catalina_Cruise]

We've had a 10'6" Newport Vessels tender for a little less than 2 years now. It's been a great boat. No problems at all and way less expensive than WM. Nothing but good things to say about it.

-Greg

[grantar2]

I have had my 10'6" for about 6 months. It's a relatively new product from that company that has brought you those fan blown stick figures used for advertising. The personal phone number is because this is still very much a garage operation. I have visited the owners home here in the So Orange County. I am very happy with mine. The price has gone up about 20% since I bought mine after seeing the listing on Craigslist before they had their website up. I was upgrading from a 10' Achilles Hypalon raft. Although I prefer Hypalon for it's durability I couldn't pass up the Newport and I liked that it had a wood rather than air floor as I like to take my 2 German Shepherds out to the harbor sandbar to swim and play. It is rated at 15hp. I am currently running a 2.5 Suzuki and it runs great. This summer I will put my old Honda 8hp on it an see how it runs. 1/2 the price of a West Marine and every bit as nice.

[TonyG]

Cody,

Did you get a boat from Newport Vessels? If so which one? How are you liking it?

Tony

PS I ask cause I'm thinking of buying one.

[El_Nino80]

We bought a Newport from the company's website in early 2009. We have it attached to the back of our swim step with a davit system. It's usually stowed out of the water on our swim step when not in use, but we also often deflate it and store it inside. Before this boat we had a West Marine that only lasted about a year because the transom become undone. They were no help in getting it fixed, so I decided to scrap the boat and just get a new one. I've had my Newport for almost 3 years and it's far exceeded my expectations. The boat has been nothing but fun and with our 9.9 honda it's more like a jet ski than a dinghy. I don't often write positive reviews, but I was googling Newport Vessels to buy the set of roller launch wheels and saw this forum, which didn't have many comments on the brand, so I decided it was only fair to tell of my experience. I recommended the boat to 2 friends which now have very similar positive experiences than my own.

[SkiprJohn]

Thanks for the input. I'll bet there are a number of folks in the market for inflatables that will be reading this.
kind regards,

[norcar303]

How is helping a person a commercial post? I offered the guy my experience and my phone number so he could see a Newport since there are not a lot of locations in the country to try them. Wow good job you stopped me from helping a fellow cruiser hope you feel good!

[zeehag]

i had a newport 11--is also known s a kite. awesome fun sailing dink. but this company is a different one that took on the name , albeit modified, of that one.

be careful of pvc--doesnt last long without being covered.

[arjand]

It is officially banned to relight old threads but actually curious whether opinions have changed. They are still a lot cheaper that competition, everybody still happy with them?

[Strait Shooter]

Originally Posted by arjand

It is officially banned to relight old threads but actually curious whether opinions have changed. They are still a lot cheaper that competition, everybody still happy with them?

What did you mean by "It is officially banned to relight old threads" ?

Says who? As of when?

[Skipperbob2]

I'm New here (skipperbob2) so hello everyone

I have had 1 west marine and 1 Zodiac zoom they were ok Dingey's towards the last I couldn't get the bottom to stay on the zodiac. had it professionally repaired twice.
I researched inflatables to the best of my ability and reading the reviews on them. I finally purchased the Newport Vessel . It looks good and I am purchasing a 6 HP Tohatsu to power it. the air up floor has an aluminum crosspiece that makes it very firm to stand on. the only problem I see is I like to use Weaver snap davits and it is going to be a real problem figuring how to attach them with the signage and decorations on the side of the boat. if anyone has any experience gluing them to this inflatable I would like to hear from them
Skipperbob2