Dingy Storage on Foredeck?

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by Don C L

I haven't seen models with inflatable floors in Hypalon though. There may be some, I just haven't seen them.

Well, start looking. They are out there. Many brands offer them.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by Ded reckoner

Some manufacturers and dinghy repair facilities caution against completely cycling RIB tube pressures between full (about 10psi or so) and empty. The reason is the tubes, patches, holds, and handles are glued on. Repeatedly inflating and deflating the tubes will stress the physical connections and could lead to early lifetime failure.

Inflatable boats are made to be deflated for storage. Some manufacturers call them "roll up" boats.

[Hahser]

BEWARE

YOUR FOREDECK IS YOUR FIRE ESCAPE.

Like you suggest many monohulls store their dinghies on the fore deck, well lashed down for heavy weather.

I did this for years and then had a fire in the night.
Unable to use the fire escape I had to climb out through flames. Result: a narrow escape and fur weeks in hospital plus loss of boat.

Whatever you do don't cover the escape hatch overnight. Plus buy a smoke detector while you are at it.

[jlynker]

Originally Posted by Fintry

While on the subject, consider replacing the gas outboard with an electric. Our 15 hp Yamaha weighs over 110 pounds, plus 25 pounds of gasoline. Our new Newport Vessels NT300 electric weighs 24 pounds and the battery another 25 pounds. Sure, it won't plane the dinghy with a four person load, but for going ashore it's great.


Jim

Great call!

My RIB285 w/ Minn Kota 55 lbs thrust (25# weight) & 16 lbs lithium battery gets 4 hrs @ 3 kts. For tending, works great! Less than $1,000 for just the power. Can store below decks safely.

[Marathon1150]

Originally Posted by Hahser

BEWARE

YOUR FOREDECK IS YOUR FIRE ESCAPE.

Like you suggest many monohulls store their dinghies on the fore deck, well lashed down for heavy weather.

I did this for years and then had a fire in the night.
Unable to use the fire escape I had to climb out through flames. Result: a narrow escape and fur weeks in hospital plus loss of boat.

Whatever you do don't cover the escape hatch overnight. Plus buy a smoke detector while you are at it.

The above is very good advice.

But because we don't have anywhere else to keep the dinghy, it covers the hatch in the V berth while on passage. At anchor, we lift the dinghy, primarily to let some air in, but also keeping in mind that the hatch is also the escape hatch. We also have a smoke detector and a fire extinguisher in the V berth. On passage, we are usually sleeping in the salon with lee clothes on a settee.

[wholybee]

I have the Achillies fiberglass rigid floor with a folding transom and a bag that it fits in when deflated. It's super convenient, as the bag also has some handles so it can be moved easily in the deflated state, for example in the back of a truck.

With an electric pump, I can inflate it and have it in the water in under 10 minutes by myself. Not much of a hassle at all.

[hlev00]

We have the Hjghfiels UL260 and a Beneteau 423. We store it on deck fully inflated upside down when offshore. It is out of the way of our anchor locker and mast stored whisker pole, just barely. I’ve seen others talking about deflating and I like the idea. I’m just not sure how secure it will be. Or if it will put the tubes under stress resting on a fold. I guess I should just experiment as I can see the advantage.

[sailcrazy]

We took a different approach on our Taswell 43-rerigged to be a cutter. We had a set of chocks made, fastened them to the foredeck, and set our 11' f/g rigid floor dinghy in the chocks when we do a serious offshore passage. If fits between the mast and the baby stay, and we no issues getting around it to go forward. For shorter, coastal sails we either tow it or hang it from our davits. BUT....do lash it dow... really well! We tied the transom and bow down, and added one cross strap. The winds and seas came up, then got really strong, a wave crashed over the bow and suddenly we found the dinghy off the cradle and up against the safety rail. We got things resecured....but it wasn't pretty.

[wholybee]

Here is a picture showing how well the Achillies packs up. This is the 300FX model, it's nearly 10' inflated. It's not in the way of anything on my 38 footer. Side decks are clear all the way to the bow, and the forward hatch still opens.

[malbert73]

Originally Posted by Marathon1150

We also do this - dinghy is deflated for passages and well tied down. On shorter runs it remains inflated with a single line over the top and two lines from the aft handholds to a shroud on either side.



On passages, we run the jackline down the middle of the boat as much as possible. This means that it has to go over the top of the dinghy.







Our long passage days are probably over but if I were doing it again, I would have davits for short hops and I would tie the dinghy down on the foredeck for long passages. We have a 3m AB RIB that weighs about 90lb. Launching and retrieving it from the foredeck seems to become more difficult each time that I do it I would also get a lighter dinghy - the AB replaced a Southern Pacific RIB that weighed about 60 lbs and was much easier to deal with.

Yes- we have a 3 part system. Davits that can raise and hold our CL290 with 15hp
Tohatsu on inshore sails, and calm coastal hops. For a longer coastal hop like overnight or when we think it’ll be slightly rough, we can take outboard off and stow on the rail. For offshore, dinghy will be on foredeck off davits.

Davits make deploying the dinghy with outboard a 2 min job. And can be raised overnight equally easily. Makes us much less likely to skip exploring a spot even if just a quick overnight stopover. Highly recommend considering these.

[Mal Reynolds]

Originally Posted by Hahser

BEWARE

YOUR FOREDECK IS YOUR FIRE ESCAPE.

Like you suggest many monohulls store their dinghies on the fore deck, well lashed down for heavy weather.

I did this for years and then had a fire in the night.
Unable to use the fire escape I had to climb out through flames. Result: a narrow escape and fur weeks in hospital plus loss of boat.

Whatever you do don't cover the escape hatch overnight. Plus buy a smoke detector while you are at it.

I'm surprised this hasn't received more attention, especially after the M/V Conception disaster with 38 dead. Does anyone care or have concerns about putting the dinghy on the foredeck covering the front hatch?

Galley or engine room fires could clearly block access to the companionway. First you get burned, didn't get or can't get the ditch bag. Now you've in a liferaft with burns.

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by Mal Reynolds

I'm surprised this hasn't received more attention, especially after the M/V Conception disaster with 38 dead. Does anyone care or have concerns about putting the dinghy on the foredeck covering the front hatch?

Galley or engine room fires could clearly block access to the companionway. First you get burned, didn't get or can't get the ditch bag. Now you've in a liferaft with burns.

It’s a good point. Even on my boat which is pretty small I keep the forward hatch uncovered and roll up and lash the dinghy on the foredeck (but not over the hatch) when it’s time to go. It really doesn’t take all that long to deflate and roll up most (inflatable) dinghies. It’s certainly worth it imo.