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Old 12-07-2010, 19:32   #1
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How Heavy of a Dinghy ?

We are anchored about 1 mile from where we can keep the dinghy and its not smooth water. It takes about 20 minutes with our current dinghy and we have to dodge ferries, floating pipelines etc.. It makes for a very wet ride... We can put a max of 4 people in and if we have any cargo we cant put in 4 people... We go out out to the boat several times a week and sail it often. When we go with a full crew we have to move the boat somewhere else, temporary anchor and ferry people back and forth. This whole procedure adds 60-90 minutes to leaving for a sail and also on return...

In short.. we need a bigger faster dinghy... But I'm wondering how I can determine how heavy my dinghy can be and be safely lifted on our transoms? I'm willing to modify our existing set up, so I'm looking more for an answer regarding stability of the boat itself.

Our boat is an Fortuna Island Spirit 37. Currently the dinghy is lifted up behind the cockpit using two pulleys and then lashed down to the stainless bars so it doesn't swing. Its a small Caribe with a 9.9hp engine... Because its small, the inflatable part actually takes up most of the "space". I'd like to get something that could ferry 6 people, with a steering wheel, and enough power to lift out of the water a bit in waves. The current dinghy is actually quite fast in calm water, but in the waves it just gets stuck down in the water so it ends up going very slow in our usual circumstances...
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Old 12-07-2010, 20:15   #2
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For me the size of dinghy comes down to how much weight I can comfortably hoist by myself without the help of other crew members, since there may not be any other crew available to help.

I use an engine that I can hoist and manhandle by myself without the help of other crew members.

For me, that means a 9.9 hp outboard and a sportboat with an inflatable floor that weighs about 100 lbs.

Anything heavier than that is too much for me. I don't want to have an emergency hernia repair in Bongo Congo.
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Old 12-07-2010, 20:33   #3
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With good davits you can haul a 10'06" AB Lite (120 lbs.) with a 15 HP Yamaha 2 stroke (80lbs). That's what I do on my CS36M. The davits are Ocean Marine rated 350lbs. with a 4 part purchase on the engine side and a 2 part purchase on the bow. No problem lifting it. I think a dink with a console/wheel would be a bit much.
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Old 12-07-2010, 20:48   #4
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6 people is a lot in a dink that would be sized for a 37 ft boat in my book. I carry 2 dinks on my 36 ft boat. It takes some sorting out, but I've made it work very well for me. Still, I don't like bumping into each other once we are all aboard, so 6 still sounds like a lot.

That is no answer for your question, so I'll throw this in. I've seen people get a seperate launch and leave it on their mooring when they leave for the outing. But you say you're anchored.

I started boating in an 18 ft tralierable powerboat. 6 people was a load for that.
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Old 13-07-2010, 05:15   #5
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Still, I don't like bumping into each other once we are all aboard, so 6 still sounds like a lot.
If you are talking about on board, its a catamaran, so 6 is nothing... We regularly have 10 on board.
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Old 13-07-2010, 05:23   #6
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For me the size of dinghy comes down to how much weight I can comfortably hoist by myself without the help of other crew members, since there may not be any other crew available to help.

I use an engine that I can hoist and manhandle by myself without the help of other crew members.

For me, that means a 9.9 hp outboard and a sportboat with an inflatable floor that weighs about 100 lbs.

Anything heavier than that is too much for me. I don't want to have an emergency hernia repair in Bongo Congo.
We have a compound pulley system on the engine side. One person can pull up our dink without stressing. It just takes a while because you have to pull up the bow a bit, tie it off, pull up the stern a bit, tie it off, repeat about 5 times.. but I never sail alone, always at least with my son and for 2 people its very easy. And in an emergency, one can do it without too much trouble.. or I can just tow it in such cases.

We have a 9.9 now, its an old Mercury though and is heavy. The Caribe is prob 100lbs, so we are already carrying about 200-250 lbs total.
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Old 13-07-2010, 05:25   #7
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6 people is a lot in a dink that would be sized for a 37 ft boat in my book. I carry 2 dinks on my 36 ft boat. It takes some sorting out, but I've made it work very well for me. Still, I don't like bumping into each other once we are all aboard, so 6 still sounds like a lot.

That is no answer for your question, so I'll throw this in. I've seen people get a seperate launch and leave it on their mooring when they leave for the outing. But you say you're anchored.

I started boating in an 18 ft tralierable powerboat. 6 people was a load for that.
We were planning on putting in a mooring for next year, so that might be an idea..... Now that its the off season, it turns out we were able to pull into the marina for the coming months, but likely when peak season hits again we'll need to go back out to the deep water port or other.

I really like the idea of leaving at mooring, but Id still like to get something that can be taken on board.
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Old 13-07-2010, 05:28   #8
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I am familiar with the Island Spirit 37 and don't think the davits can handle much more than what you already have on them. You might be able to reinforce them with strategically placed struts. Another idea is to get a larger Boston Whaler type boat for transport and leave it on the mooring/anchor when you go out sailing.

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Old 13-07-2010, 05:48   #9
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I am familiar with the Island Spirit 37 and don't think the davits can handle much more than what you already have on them. You might be able to reinforce them with strategically placed struts. Another idea is to get a larger Boston Whaler type boat for transport and leave it on the mooring/anchor when you go out sailing.

Mark
I'm not opposed to modifying the davits.. I just don't want to affect the stability of the boat in a negative way. Vasco has mentioned a setup that will handle 350.

The 12 ALX here is 300 alone
The Dinghy Doctor - inflatable boats - sale and repair
Plus decent engine at about 95
18 HP Two Stroke - Budget Marine

Thats 395 lbs.... ?
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Old 13-07-2010, 05:53   #10
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Sorry for intermixing davits/arches/stainless.. We have an arch currently which is part of the whole cockpit set up ant attached to the main cabin as well. Thats what the current pulleys are attached to, and I'm willing to modify reinforce that as needed if it won't affect the stability or safety of sailing the vessel.
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Old 13-07-2010, 06:13   #11
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350 lbs on a 37' monohull.

So maybe 395 is doable on a cat?

Here is another neat idea, without the weight of a full console:
unihelm inflatable boat seat, seats, seating and steering options

The reason Im looking for steering is control... In the waves, sitting way back and dodging all the moorings, fishpots, and other large and small items in the deep water port with a engine steering model is difficult as you cant see over the dinghy bow in the chop... We've been out in some boats that can power out of the water and they have a lot of control... vs what our dinghy is like.
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Old 13-07-2010, 07:24   #12
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Another idea is to get a larger Boston Whaler type boat for transport and leave it on the mooring/anchor when you go out sailing.
Ditto. Sounds like you have a specific need that doesn't need to complicate your dinghy/davit arrangement. I have a 12' RIB and it can still be a wet ride, so bigger/heavier dinghy doesn't guarantee a solution. I'd go with a small whaler/panga type of runabout and forget about lifting it.
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Old 13-07-2010, 07:30   #13
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I think the approach is to get a small fast dink and bring the boat in close and send the a crew back in the dink to pick up the others and then take off when all are aboard.

While you are motoring the 1 mile to the dinghy dock your crew can begin to get the boat ready, remove sail covers and so forth. If you also ferry some provisions on the first run they can stow them.

The need for a 6 person dinghy seems extreme. Even if you did a quick tie up a a fuel dock to load everyone pronto you can stick with a smaller dink.
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Old 13-07-2010, 07:49   #14
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Ditto. Sounds like you have a specific need that doesn't need to complicate your dinghy/davit arrangement. I have a 12' RIB and it can still be a wet ride, so bigger/heavier dinghy doesn't guarantee a solution. I'd go with a small whaler/panga type of runabout and forget about lifting it.
I agree the mooring is a great idea, and probably what we will do if we cannot find another solution. But if I can get it small enough, it would be great if we had the option to take it with us sometimes.. that is we can keep the smaller dinghy for day sailing, but if we want to take the big one we could, at least as an later option.

The main reason we get wet (and not I dont mean spray, we and all cargo generally are soaked) is because the 9.9 doesnt have the power to get the boat out of the water in the waves, so we end up just splashing through at low speed. If we can get even a slightly bigger boat that will accommodate a more powerful engine that will let us get it out of the water, we'll be fine....
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Old 13-07-2010, 07:54   #15
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I think the approach is to get a small fast dink and bring the boat in close and send the a crew back in the dink to pick up the others and then take off when all are aboard.
4 person + fast would be ok as well, but I think it needs a console. Controlling a motor steering one is challenging at any reasonable speed in the type of chop we have to go through, at least for any small inflatable.

We move the boat close now to pick up others, but that adds about an hour to loading and offloading as neither pickup area is really convenient either they are out of the way. The other option is we run the dinghy to a fishing shelter near the boat, but its so full of fishing boats its really hard to get the dinghy to a spot where people can get in and out.

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The need for a 6 person dinghy seems extreme. Even if you did a quick tie up a a fuel dock to load everyone pronto you can stick with a smaller dink.
Maybe a 4 person with console and a bigger engine? Is there such a thing? I guess the problem we have with our current "4 person" (yes its rated 4 person), is that its only a 4 person if people are all sitting on the sides, and that makes the ride even worse and even wetter....
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