Dinghy & outboard considerations from scratch

[wkearney99]

I have a Torqeedo 1003 and used it on a 10' Zodiac inflatable floor for several years. Worked great and the charge typically lasted for a weekend's worth of back/forth to the shore. It wouldn't get on plane but did push a steady 8kts at WOT. Typically shore trips were 3kts or so. Bumped up to a different boat that came with an Avon 310 RIB. One season the Yamaha 15 was still 'in the shop' so I dug out the Torqeedo for it. Battery still showed a full charge, even after sitting unused for over a year. It pushed the Avon at 4kts, max, but took a considerably greater amount of battery to do it. Understandably, as the Avon was quite a lot heavier.

[NYSail]

I ended up with a new tohatsu 9.8 for my highfield 310. More than enough power.engine is very quiet and weighs in at 80 or so lbs. Boat gets to plane quickly with me, wife grand daughter and her friend.

Greg

[donradcliffe]

From scratch (based on 15 years of live aboard full time cruising):

You want a RIB that is
--light weight so you can pull it up on beaches
--light weight so you can easily hoist it out of the water
--big and long enough (>= 3 meters) so that it will plane with 3 people
--has biggest tubes so that you stay drier
--has hypalon tubes for longetivity
--has a good reputation for not falling apart.

You want an outboard that:
--starts every time
--can sit out in the weather for 10 years
--you can lift with one hand
--will plane 4 people for 10 miles
--doesn't get stolen.

Realizing that there is no outboard that fits all these criteria, you really want 2 outboards. I used the 3.5 hp outboard 97% of the time, but had the 18hp when I wanted it.

[NYSail]

Have not the space
For 2 outboard sot the 9.8 is perfect….. right in the middle.

Greg

[Joh.Ghurt]

Originally Posted by NYSail

Have not the space
For 2 outboard sot the 9.8 is perfect….. right in the middle.

In many European countries no driving license is required for up to 6HP (5kW). That makes those outboards quite attractive compared to a 9 HP, which is just a little over the limit.

[scooper321]

Originally Posted by Phennessey

Whatever you do DO NOT buy a PVC RIB from West Marine. They are pure junk, in fact it won’t last a year. Goes sticky so that you will actually stick to it when you get up. Doesn’t matter that your in the NE. Doesn’t matter how often and religiously you apply UV protectant, it will start to rapidly degrade immediately. I shop at West Marine but will NEVER buy another RIB from there. Don’t want to hurt their business either but they do a good enough job at that themselves.

This is the second bashing of the WM inflatable so I feel compelled to share my experience. I bought a used 310 WM inflatable - the one with the inflatable floor and keel. Obviously, this isn't a planing boat but it moves through the water just fine. Even when we overloaded it with 4 people and powered it with a Lehr 5HP propane motor. We replaced that with a 9.9 Mercury 2 stroke this year and she runs just fine. Sure, we are low in the water and don't have great handling at speed, but I just said we run with 4 people a lot of the time so we don't have "great speed" to deal with very often. LOL

Anyway, I did buy this boat used. It was a few years old when I bought it and I've had it for 3 years now. And it lives out on the dock, under a cover, here in the Chesapeake Bay region. It's not sticky or tacky. And the seams are all still in good shape. She's held up just fine. I somehow put two holes in it last year at the same time - on the outside of the tubes EXACTLY opposite each other! But I patched her up just fine and the patches have held for the season (and still hold). This is the PVC model. Like I said, I do keep her under a cover, so perhaps that's why she's held up so well? She doesn't get direct sunlight on her. And (shame on me) I've never used UV protectant on her.

We are getting ready to replace her - probably with a Highfield CL310 aluminum RIB (that's how I happened upon this thread) and we will use the same 2-stroke motor for now. But I have nothing but good to say about my WM dinghy. Whoever buys it off me will be getting a nice inflatable. Yes, it's an inflatable boat with an inflatable floor, inflatable hull and inflatable keel. So no disillusions about high performance. But her floor is solid, her tubes are intact, she's in good shape and she's gotten me everywhere I need her to go. My experience clearly differs with yours.

BTW, WM doesn't make their own dinghies. They're like Walmart. They have their own brands, but they don't *make* anything. I'm pretty sure mine is the WM-branded version of the low-end inflatable that Zodiac made at that time.

[Jammer]

There are widespread reports that inflatables come from a handful of factories in China and that all brands use all the factories at one point or another. Some factories are better than others and quality varies accordingly. Based on the reports I've seen and the inflatables I've looked at myself you "pays your money and takes your chances," as it were.