getting the outboard on the dinghy

[Bigmarv]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

The snide implication being that people discussing outboards don't even know how to row? Many on here, including me, have been rowing since before they could walk, and love a good row in appropriate circumstances.

But try rowing against a brisk headwind and head sea in a RIB sometime.

Try rowing a mile and back to pick up someone off the pier.

I am towing engineless dinghies all the time -- the people are always exhausted and grateful. Last summer in fact I got radio calls requesting tows, from one family

the cruising boat that chooses a rowable tender let alone rows it routinely is a very rare thing. of course ribs are hard to row, and buying one involves a decision not to row far.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Bigmarv

the cruising boat that chooses a rowable tender let alone rows it routinely is a very rare thing. of course ribs are hard to row, and buying one involves a decision not to row far.

The other day on a rather rare calm day someone was rowing a rib past our boat, his motor was up. I was about to get In my dinghy and go offer to tow him and noticed he was using some rather long, rather nice oars, then I noticed his butt was moving fore and aft.
He was obviously rowing intentionally, and had outfitted his RIB with good oar locks, good oars and even a rowing seat.

However the thing still was barely moving, even with someone that knew what they were doing, with good oars etc.
Apparently a RIB just can’t be made to row worth a crap, if you want to row, it’s going to take a good hard dink to do so it seems.

However I have seen several that choose to row, and a good rowing hull, with someone that knows how to row, just from observation seems to do at least as well as a RIB with a 2.5 hp outboard.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

The other day on a rather rare calm day someone was rowing a rib past our boat, his motor was up. I was about to get In my dinghy and go offer to tow him and noticed he was using some rather long, rather nice oars, then I noticed his butt was moving fore and aft.
He was obviously rowing intentionally, and had outfitted his RIB with good oar locks, good oars and even a rowing seat.

However the thing still was barely moving, even with someone that knew what they were doing, with good oars etc.
Apparently a RIB just can’t be made to row worth a crap, if you want to row, it’s going to take a good hard sink to do so it seems.

Well, obviously a RIB will be vastly worse at rowing than a good rowing skiff. RIB has totally different beam/length ratio and vastly higher drag due to the tubes and the bottom etc.

[Cheechako]

I found, even with a crane, it is dicey. Doing with nothing may end with disaster, although I've done it a lot. The dingy is often bouncing up and down, even if it is not, as you try to grab the motor, that pushes the dingy away from the mother ship. it's a real balancing act. If you stand in the centerline of the dingy, you are trying to grab 40# with arms outstretched fully.. try that at home sometime. So you have to go to the side of the dingy, which tips the dingy and pushes it away from the big boat. If you are worried enough to ask, buy a crane, at least when you fall into the water or into the bottom of the dink cracking a rib, the motor wont got to the sea floor... :>)

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

The other day on a rather rare calm day someone was rowing a rib past our boat, his motor was up. I was about to get In my dinghy and go offer to tow him and noticed he was using some rather long, rather nice oars, then I noticed his butt was moving fore and aft.
He was obviously rowing intentionally, and had outfitted his RIB with good oar locks, good oars and even a rowing seat.

However the thing still was barely moving, even with someone that knew what they were doing, with good oars etc.
Apparently a RIB just can’t be made to row worth a crap, if you want to row, it’s going to take a good hard dink to do so it seems.

However I have seen several that choose to row, and a good rowing hull, with someone that knows how to row, just from observation seems to do at least as well as a RIB with a 2.5 hp outboard.

Funny … I’ve had the same thing happen to me when rowing my portabote. I’ve had people call out from their boats asking if I’m in trouble, or when passing by in their zippy dinghy come zooming back around to help. I appreciate it, and thank them, but tell them my engine is fine. I just want to row. I usually get a funny look at that point, but sometimes I just don’t need the engine, or I want the exercise.

My portabote rows quite well. It’s fairly light, and the hull shape allows it to move along fairly easily. Inflatables, including RIBs, are not intended for rowing any distance. If you want to row, get some sort of hard dinghy.

[Tayana42]

I really love to row a rowing shell (scull). Unfortunately they don’t make good dinghies. My air floor inflatable with crappy oars rows okay for short distances in benign conditions but I’ve learned that I usually prefer to use my motor. Even a light 3.5 Tohatsu is a challenge to man handle up or down from my high topsides. Thanks for the Garhauer davit.

[Bigmarv]

It's surprising people find the smallest outboards hard to handle. Even in rough conditions it has never occurred to me that people would need cranes etc for them. A 15 is different, but a 2 or 3.5 I really don't get it. They are very light and can be held in one hand easily by a moderately fit adult. Is it a reflection of the age and fitness of the average cruiser? Perhaps that explains why so many gravitate away from hard dinghies.

Either way, it's a pretty sad picture. A hard tender with oars means better health, lower impact, less noise, no engine maintenance, not locking things up on shore, not having it stolen even if you do, not having to raise it each night, etc etc. Unless one truly cannot be stowed (which is rare because the smallest boats often have hard tenders and remind us it can be done) what is the reason for avoiding them - softness?

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Bigmarv

It's surprising people find the smallest outboards hard to handle. Even in rough conditions it has never occurred to me that people would need cranes etc for them. A 15 is different, but a 2 or 3.5 I really don't get it. They are very light and can be held in one hand easily by a moderately fit adult. Is it a reflection of the age and fitness of the average cruiser? Perhaps that explains why so many gravitate away from hard dinghies.

Either way, it's a pretty sad picture. A hard tender with oars means better health, lower impact, less noise, no engine maintenance, not locking things up on shore, not having it stolen even if you do, not having to raise it each night, etc etc. Unless one truly cannot be stowed (which is rare because the smallest boats often have hard tenders and remind us it can be done) what is the reason for avoiding them - softness?

Yeah, a 2 -3 ain't bad.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Well, obviously a RIB will be vastly worse at rowing than a good rowing skiff. RIB has totally different beam/length ratio and vastly higher drag due to the tubes and the bottom etc.

The tremendous difference is astonishing, makes one wonder how a RIB can plane.
I guess from excess HP.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Bigmarv

. . . A hard tender with oars means better health, lower impact, less noise, no engine maintenance, not locking things up on shore, not having it stolen even if you do, not having to raise it each night, etc etc. Unless one truly cannot be stowed (which is rare because the smallest boats often have hard tenders and remind us it can be done) what is the reason for avoiding them - softness?

There was a whole thread on this recently.


It's not out of stupidity, that the great majority of cruisers opt for inflatable dinghies. In a nutshell, they offer vastly more stability and load carrying capacity for a given size, are much easier to stow, don't scratch your topsides (a real problem with hard dinghies -- and I know, I've had one), and can be boarded from the water. Except for rowing ability, and for wear and tear on the tubes, inflatable dinghies are hugely better for practical cruising, than hard dinghies, hence their popularity.

[Wyamba]

Originally Posted by Bigmarv

It's surprising people find the smallest outboards hard to handle. Even in rough conditions it has never occurred to me that people would need cranes etc for them. A 15 is different, but a 2 or 3.5 I really don't get it. They are very light and can be held in one hand easily by a moderately fit adult. Is it a reflection of the age and fitness of the average cruiser? Perhaps that explains why so many gravitate away from hard dinghies.

Either way, it's a pretty sad picture. A hard tender with oars means better health, lower impact, less noise, no engine maintenance, not locking things up on shore, not having it stolen even if you do, not having to raise it each night, etc etc. Unless one truly cannot be stowed (which is rare because the smallest boats often have hard tenders and remind us it can be done) what is the reason for avoiding them - softness?

I’ll row our little air-floor dinghy for the quiet. But my son and his mates love zipping around with the outboard. He will go anywhere and fetch anything (ice, milk, papers, coffee) without complaint. That’s worth the hassle of lowering it. While I can carry the OB fine I certainly can’t lower it from the rail from above or below without a fair chance of dropping it.

[Bigmarv]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

There was a whole thread on this recently.


It's not out of stupidity, that the great majority of cruisers opt for inflatable dinghies. In a nutshell, they offer vastly more stability and load carrying capacity for a given size, are much easier to stow, don't scratch your topsides (a real problem with hard dinghies -- and I know, I've had one), and can be boarded from the water. Except for rowing ability, and for wear and tear on the tubes, inflatable dinghies are hugely better for practical cruising, than hard dinghies, hence their popularity.

I agree it's not stupidity. It's probably a rational reaction to priorities that lots of cruisers have, but I think a lot of those priorities are questionable. Any rigid hulled inflatable is no easier to stow, scratching topsides is easily addressed with a bit of thinking, and only small hard dinghies can't be boarded from the water by a moderately fit person. For those too unfit, or whose priority is ferrying heavy loads regularly, then sure. But not if you put a priority on tranquility, simplicity, fitness, theft-avoidance, kids learning skills, etc. A hard tender is quiet, reliable, responsible, can have a rig and sail and if you go the nesting way can be good at everything.

Oh, and those with catamarans don't even need to go nesting - a bigger cat could carry a terrific tender. But you never see it. Softness or something else?

[PamlicoTraveler]

Old boats like mine force you to figure out the dinghy conundrum. There's no sugar scooped stern to stand on, and there is a wind vane which prevents davits from being a possibility - So lowering an inflated dinghy with the main halyard is the only option. But let's be real - when you live on a boat it is a burden.

I keep the Honda 2.3 HP on the stern rail and put it on the dinghy before lowering it.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Bigmarv

. . . But you never see it. Softness or something else?

The reality is that for 99% of cruisers, the dinghy is not some kind of eco-fashion statement, or opportunity to display athletic ability, but a vital practical passenger- and cargo-carrying link to dry land, which may be called upon to transfer large quantities of equipment, supplies, and people back and forth in all kinds of weather and sometimes over considerable distances. A motorized inflatable excels in this duty.



This statement is a little bit like asking why everyone doesn't ride a bike to work -- it's so quiet, responsible, ethical, healthy, etc. And it is! (And I even do ride a bike to work sometimes!). But unfortunately, many people just really need to get to work by whatever means necessary, and sometimes over some distance, and often you just need a car for that, and you leave the quiet responsible healthy transport for weekends.

[Bigmarv]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

The reality is that for 99% of cruisers, the dinghy is not some kind of eco-fashion statement, or opportunity to display athletic ability, but a vital practical passenger- and cargo-carrying link to dry land, which may be called upon to transfer large quantities of equipment, supplies, and people back and forth in all kinds of weather and sometimes over considerable distances. A motorized inflatable excels in this duty.



This statement is a little bit like asking why everyone doesn't ride a bike to work -- it's so quiet, responsible, ethical, healthy, etc. And it is! (And I even do ride a bike to work sometimes!). But unfortunately, many people just really need to get to work by whatever means necessary, and sometimes over some distance, and often you just need a car for that, and you leave the quiet responsible healthy transport for weekends.

Poor straw man, I think. We aren't going to work, we are going out into quiet places and/or the poor third world. If shiny topsides are your thing, and you put your priorities where you do, fine, but in big parts of the world I think they're wrong priorities. Not just for environmental or health reasons, not just because speeding around is at odds with the feel of cruising, but because there are downsides that become very real. Outboard theft, damage to tubes (seals!), entire boat theft, vandalism, all that. Sure occasionally you might not anchor as far away if you have to row, but that's often a small price for never carrying a lock, never getting robbed, never stripping down a carb, not worrying about your kids hitting somebody with a prop, etc etc etc.