Dinghy Suggestions- Your Choice

[SV__Grace]

We love our Portland Pudgy and the sail kit is fun. Bullet proof, well designed, stable, rows well, unsinkable, waterproof storage in both sides for paddles, etc., rocks and coral don't hurt it. Great for two people, OK for 3 people. We routinely use it to provision and it handles 100lbs or more of additional weight very well. Great company to deal with and worth the bucks.

[Hudson Force]

We liked the Caribe 9L (L for light weight ,- without the double hull) RBI. I kept a coating of rubberized paint on the inflated tubes which added a UV and chafe protection layer and extended their "lifespan".

[Rumrace]

I bought a ZOdiac with an aluminum hull. I have two options. A bolt on side helm and a bow locker. Has lifting rings in the hull. I bought a Bimini for it. It’s my fourth inflable but first with a solid hull. My second ZOdiac
I have not got around to buying the 9.9 so I put my trusted 4hp Yamaha. Alone I got it on plane leaning towards the front and hit 22kph Wee. The Yamaha Dealer suddenly shut down with Covid and the distant dealer wasn’t returning calls. Yamaha and Zodiac have worked together to option the boats with remotes lighting etc. I really like their collaboration and quality from both players.
Free Trade with Europe and a boat show deal dropped $1,000.00 off the boat.
So Zodiac gets my vote

[sail sfbay]

Takacat 340LX with a Torqeedo 1103 motor.

[somanyboats]

my brother got inflatable tubes for his hard dingy, think he called them dingy dogs. they worked great. I think Gig Harbor makes them for their boats

[CarinaPDX]

There is a reason that RIBs are so popular. I started with an 8' Fatty Knees (by Lyle Hess) dinghy. It sailed superbly, rowed very well (including getting off beaches), and motored fine with a 2 hp outboard. Unfortunately it was not built very heavily and so required occasional fiberglass repair - the wear and tear on a cruising dinghy is substantial. It was also slow and had a short range under power. I never found stability to be an issue - except when guests adapted to RIBs tried to board by stepping on the gunnel . If I had been traveling with young children then the sailing capability would have been useful; as it was, the last thing I wanted to do was more sailing after arriving somewhere.

I bought a fiberglass RIB with a 15 hp outboard, sold my beloved Fatty Knees, and never looked back. The extra speed and range has allowed me to explore many places that I could never have done with a non-planing hull, and to anchor away from dinghy and fuel docks and still have quick access. When I don't need the range I will often use my 8' sweeps with customized bronze oarlocks to row around an anchorage and leave the outboard on the rail. It doesn't row as well as the hard dinghy, but a lot better than with the OEM aluminum and plastic oars. With chaps from the first year onwards it lasted for 15 years. I now have an aluminum RIB, that I have yet to play with much.

I have known a lot of people that have switched from hard dinghies to RIBs, and none in the other direction, so that should tell you something. Also, I have met many that wished that they had bought a larger engine, and few that would downsize. With a 10 ft RIB go with at least a 10 hp, and if you have a way to handle it then 15 hp would be better.

Greg

[PhilC]

If you do buy an inflatable, carefully consider the pro's and con's of Hypalon Vs PVC. All PVC boats (regardless of the sales BS) have a limited lifetime of between 3 and 10 years at which point their value is zero. If you are OK with that then PVC offers low cost and light weight. If you are not, then it's either Hypalon or a hard dinghy.

[c.K.]

Originally Posted by Jammer

Interesting stuff. What happened at the sea wall?


Gig Harbor is a rounded hull shape that prioritizes rowing/sailing performance and stability in waves over stability with an unbalanced load. It has a pointed bow rather than a pram-type bow transom. A transom bow would provide more stability and capacity. Jon boats are the opposite extreme and have great stability when stepping aboard but are terrible in waves.


With lightweight boats, ballast will help stability. A 50# weight secured in the bottom center of the boat would do wonders. I sometimes use a scuba tank or a couple of dumbbells.



Pudgy look carefully at the dimensions as they are small.

tacacat, hope i spelled this right is a very stable choice but don't buy the smallest version, i have come to regret this just a bit
cheers

[valhalla360]

Used to have a Dux (same basic design as Takacat). Great fun with a bigger motor but the open transom means everything on the floor gets wet when you slow down and the stern wave comes in.

Also, like the livingstone. Built something similar but I overbuilt and it was too heavy to be practical (livingstone should be better). It was great for playing around locally.

I never did complete it but an outrigger canoe has some interesting potential.
- Downside, you aren't going to load it up with 8 other cruisers to tool around the harbor but for a couple and some groceries, quite viable.
- With your deck storage, you could leave it assembled or make it quick disassemble/reassemble. If you can disassemble, that might free up space to go a bit longer than 11ft.
- With a long skinny hull, a small outboard can move it pretty briskly.
- Easy to paddle (vs horrible rowing with typical inflatables)
- Setting up a simple sailing rig is certainly possible.

[VNCruzer]

OC 330 octenders.co.nz

[jalmberg]

For what it's worth, we have a 10' PortaBote and also an Eastport nesting pram with sail package. The PortaBote folds up and is strapped to the rail of our mono, and the nesting pram fits nicely between our hard dodger and main mast. We don't have davits because we value a wind vane much more than davits.

There's no perfect dingy, unfortunately!

[Tellico]

I hate dealing with air leaks so I just got a Whaly. It’s as stable as any rib and about the same price. They are near indestructible and UV safe. The only downside I see is they’re a bit heavy.

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by 01kiwijohn

I built a Danny Green designed Chameleon. Has the attributes you're looking for and have used it for 10 years in the PNW, Hawaii and Alaska.

Have you motored it?
If so, can it get on a plane? How many people and what size motor?

[fred4936]

I will second the comment on the Portland Pudgy. Is is very stable! And i like that there are three ways to get you home: row, motor, sail. So if (when) the motor fails, you have options. And can't deflate! We have had ours for two seasons, and no regrets. lifeboat option is a plus. I like the Pardy's point that a lifeboat should be active, so you have a better chance of rescue or getting to shore. This will do that too.

[ChrisPuget]

AB aluminum hull RIB with outboard (plaining) + small Walker Bay plastic rowboat for pulling up on barnacle encrusted rocks and beaches. You figure out where to put both, I just towed both most places throughout PNW.