Help us choose our new dink

[Paul Elliott]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Should you decide on a dinghy with an inflatable floor, something to bear in mind: they are extremely vulnerable to spilled fuel. It will last way better if you plan never to let a drop of fuel on it.

Ann

This may not be the case with some models. As I recall, while my circa-2001 Avon was made of Hypalon, the high-pressure air floor was PVC. You don't want to spill gasoline on PVC. I now have a new Achilles, and both the tubes and high-pressure floor are made of Hypalon (or similar material), and should be less vulnerable to spilled gas.

For what it's worth, with my old 10-foot Avon air-floor, the 6-HP outboard could get it to plane with me any my wife on board (and I'm a big guy). With more passengers we were going slow.

[svseachange]

We had a Zodiac in our Defender shopping cart, then we read the comments regarding Zodiac, PVC and the tropics. We are heading to the tropics.

Our outboard is also underpowered (2.5hp) so we are going to start looking for a used quality dinghy/outboard pair... we will see how long we can hang on before we break down in and fork over the big bucks for a new pair.

We are in Erie, PA (great anchorage) waiting for mail then heading east if you have something to sell.