Can you deflate your Dinghy everynight to store?

[simonpickard]

Hello all,

Been looking at inflatable Dinghy's a bit. Is there any reason why you can't inflate / deflate these every night to safely store in a locker?
I've heard stories of Dinghy's being stolen, etc, just wondering if this is an option?

Does anyone use a Dinghy in this way or isn't that practical for some reason?

Regards,
Simon

[Pelagic]

No reason not to.. but it is a lot of unnecessary work…. Why not just lift onboard and leave inflated for next day?

[boatman61]

Most of us are to lazy...
And a surprising amount of dinghy's turn up tied up behind finders boats.. to much beer makes bad knots..

[Paul L]

It would be way too much of pain. Much better to pull it up on deck on use a halyard to hold it out of the water. Most dinghy thieves are after the outboard, not the dinghy.

[Zanshin]

I have a deflatable dinghy and a dinghy garage as well, but wouldn't dream of deflating and re-inflating it every day (and I've got a built-in air pump). The effort of dismounting the outboard, remove oars, gas tank and other odds-and-ends plus the anti-theft cable that's threaded through everything is just too much. If theft is such a potential issue, then attach the dinghy to a halyard (spinnaker makes a good one) and crank it up out of the water alongside the hull, that is what many boats do here in the Caribbean.

[Zanshin]

Wow - when I started responding there were no other answers, now there are 4 within 2 minutes!

[romanos2b]

Just lifted on side or on the davits, or chain locked to the boat.
Deflate a dinghy and inflate it everyday is an hassle, don't give yourself this kind of chores while a lot of solutions exist or you'll hate cruising

[simonpickard]

I guess it depends on the area and how likely it's going to still be there when you return. Also when doing crossings I'd like things packed away safely I guess.

Not sure really, I guess I just like the uncluttered deck look

But to sum up, they are designed to go up and down and that wouldn't have any bad effects on them?

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Zanshin

Wow - when I started responding there were no other answers, now there are 4 within 2 minutes!

Ahhh... but so much more concise...

[atoll]

Originally Posted by simonpickard

Hello all,

Been looking at inflatable Dinghy's a bit. Is there any reason why you can't inflate / deflate these every night to safely store in a locker?
I've heard stories of Dinghy's being stolen, etc, just wondering if this is an option?

Does anyone use a Dinghy in this way or isn't that practical for some reason?

Regards,
Simon

i've had a few dinghy's that deflate themselves evey night.....without assistance!

10 minutes pt with the foot pump in the morning to turn the "deflatable" into an "inflatable" is a pita,can't imagine why you would to choose to willingly do this chore

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by simonpickard

Also when doing crossings I'd like things packed away safely I guess.

Well, sure. On a passage a lot of people will deflate their dinghy and stow it away. But every night? Way too much work.

No, it won't hurt the dinghy to deflate it and re-inflate it every day.

I'd be willing to bet a sizable amount of money, though, that if you plan to do so, that plan will last less than a week before you decide it's not worth all the time and effort. There are much easier ways to secure it at night against theft.

[Hydra]

The only real motive I have for stowing my dinghy in the evening is to be able to get underway in minutes, in case of an emergency, such as a sudden change in weather.

I have the same motive for always washing the dishes in the evening when at anchor. I don't want to sail with dirty plates in the galley sink or the dinghy on the foredeck.

Alain

[Reefmagnet]

Nifty electric dinghy pumps can be brought for a couple of hundred bucks. With one of those babies, the dinghy can be pumped up effortlessly in minutes making this idea entirely practical.

I still have only the foot pump on my boat, but I regularily half deflate my dinghy (as in leave the back inflated and the front deflated) for foredeck storage and really don't find it too much of a hassle reinflating it.

[Boracay]

I had one of those very small cheap light inflatable dinghys a fair while ago. Something like this Sevylor. I used to bring it in the car, inflate, row to boat, "use" boat, then reverse the process.

It wasn't too much of a hassle, about the same difficulty as lifting a big dinghy out of the water.

The key here is small and light as inflating/deflating only takes a few minutes. Larger heavier inflatables take much longer to inflate/deflate, unpacking/packing is time consuming and difficult on a boat and storage is only really possible on a bigger boat.

With a small dinghy it was possible when I was young and keen It gets old really quickly with a big heavy inflatable.

[nhschneider]

There was a post recently on noonsite.com where a cruiser reported that their dinghy was suspended from a halyard and the thieves came by in a panga - an open, twenty-something foot boat, put the panga under the dinghy, cut the halyard and took off. I believe it was in Mantanchen Bay, near San Blas on Mexico's Pacific side. Regardless, I still look forward to cruising Mexico again and I hope this thread doesn't digress into another Mexico-bashing forum.

We pull our dinghy up on its davits every single night, regardless of how late or incapacitated we are, whether we're in a marina or isolated anchorage. Our 25-year old daughter, who is with us full time, knows the drill so well she doesn't complain about it anymore - she finds other things to complain about.

Fair winds and calm seas.