I want a new Dinghy...Please help!

[Fence Man]

Originally Posted by Dave22q

Your reference not clear. Wailey site indicates typical PVC inflatable unless I missed something.

The link in post #5 goes straight to what's been described.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by skipmac

By the way, I understand and share at least some of your concerns about inflatables but after using a 12' aluminum boat for a summer I went back to inflatable. Getting in and out of the Al dink from the boat from from a dock in choppy weather it is way, way less stable than the inflatable. Plus if I was running in really rough water I would much prefer an inflatable to a similar sized Al boat.

Also, get a good inflatable and it won't leak. I have a 15 year old Avon, hypalon that only needs a couple of strokes on the foot pump every couple of weeks or so. It does go a little flat in the mornings but that is only because the air has cooled and the pressure dropped.

If you're worried about barnacles get a cover for the tubes or hang a fender.

+1

I have had two Avon RIBs and neither of them leaked. Basically add air once a year when cold weather sets in and then let some out in the spring when it warms up -- and that's it.

I love hard dinghies for just one reason -- they row far better than inflatables do. That's a big plus. But they have to my mind several fatal flaws for use as a tender, the main and most serious one being that they are far more at risk to being swamped (and in some cases, sunk) in case a wave comes on board in a rough anchorage. Another serious flaw is that you can't board a tinny from the water in case you've been snorkeling or if you're trying to recover someone who's gone overboard.

For years I kept two dinghies -- one hard one to get back and forth from my mooring, and one inflatable to take with me when cruising. Rowing the hard one was great, but I was always afraid of tipping it over, even in the sheltered waters of the upper Hamble River.

[Scout 30]

Might be a little big but this is a cool boat!

Munson Aluminum Boats - Custom welded aluminum boats, landing craft, workboats, patrol boats, fire boats, passenger boats, dive boats, research boats, fishing boats, boom boats

[fatherchronica]

I had to design and build my own in order to get what I wanted, which is a 12 footer for a 36 foot boat. I go by the 1/3 rule that I made up myself. Our dinghy " Mintberry Crunch" is made mostly of 1/4 " CDX plywood and epoxy. She rows great, motors great ( although our 6 hp outboard won't push it up on a plane) and sails pretty good. We also were able to put 2 Lexan windows in the bottom to look around and especially to look at our anchor set. Plus, when we had a chunk of the topsides smashed we were able to repair it like new on a foreign beach. Anyway, I suggest a custom in wood. But thankfully " beauty is in the eye of the beholder", otherwise we would all be chasing the same woman, and she would reject most of us.

[rbk]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave22q View Post
Your reference not clear. Wailey site indicates typical PVC inflatable unless I missed something.

The link in post #5 goes straight to what's been described.

Yup

Here is my first post with the link agian:

Originally Posted by rbk

If you can find one of these or similar they are a great compromise
Choose Whaly for boating fun! - Whaly
Made of PE, abrasion resistant etc etc.

Look again at the Whaly boats, they are not an inflatable, they are rigid polyethylene that look very much like inflatables BUT THEY ARE NOT INFLATABLES!

This is why i posted :

Just so you don't pass it over, it looks like a traditional inflatable but is solid polyethylene plastic. No need to add foam and can take serious abrasion. Same stuff whitewater kayaks are made from, and I've been dragging kayaks over sharp rocks for many years. This will be my next tender.

[Smokeys Kitchen]

Originally Posted by CarlF

S/V Delos uses an aluminum dinghy from this Australian company. Shipping one might not be as bad as you'd guess. Australian dollar is down against US.

OCEAN CRAFT Foam O Float

Doesn't have a center console but these folks look like they can adapt stuff.

+1

I haven't been on one of these - but this might solve your issue. The thing about these is that they are really built like an inflatable; it's just that the tubes are made from aluminum. Delos dives with this dinghy all the time and it looks like it is pretty stable as they get in and out - similar to how stable an inflatable would be.

[holmek]

Don't go inflatable. PLEASE. Eventually it will end up as yet more plastic waste.!!!

[SV DestinyAscen]

Have you considered a F-rib? They're rigid folding fiberglass bottoms inflatables.

TBH I think either a solid tender with a nice seaworthy shape for rowing or an inflatable. Alum tubes modeled after inflatables seem like the worst of both wolds .

[glcalahan]

Hello!

Have you considered a Port-A-Bote?? I never liked the having an upside down inflatable taking up deck space. and. Port-a-Bote is durable, stable and folds up and made sense to me.

Gary

[alansmith]

I second the Porta-bote option. The larger one (? 14') should fit your needs. Indestructible, collapsible, stable, uses smaller engine to plane, nice freeboard, won't sink if swamped, rows well, can add a sailing rig ( lanteen) to them. I honestly don't know why everyone doesn't have them.

[glcalahan]

Alan.....I bought the 10' to stow, folded on a '72 Pearson 33. I was so tired of climbing around a turned over inflatable!

[Mike Banks]

Why not have a centre case fitted--and you can also sail it?

[Mike Banks]

Get a Polycraft or some US equivalent--and get the foam-filled version which qualifies with SOLAS as a liferaft. No scratches--no sinking, no maintenance, rows like a dream and can be fitted with a bimini unlike most inflatables if you wish to do a spot of reef fishing.

When moored alongside the vessel, if it looks like heavy rain I pull out one of the bungs. The dinghy floats dry and self-drains. All I need do before re-boarding is to haul the dinghy stern up a little, lean over the side and put the bung back in.

All I need do now is to design a pair of lift-up plywood lee boards so I can sail it too--with a crab-claw sail.

About the same weight or perhaps a bit lighter than a quality inflatable of equivalent size, very stable--almost as stable as an inflatable and much more stable than a tinnie. They motor far more economically than an inflatable--and can carry a more powerful engine than most dinghys.

https://www.polycraft.com.au/model-r...00-tuff-tender

[JPA Cate]

For the local club's annual big regatta, shore transport is provided by two boats: a center console inflatable, and an outboard, tiller steered larger landing craft type aluminum barge that they call "the skiff". I have driven both these boats. They like to give me the center console one (probably thinking it is more appropriate to an old woman) than the bigger one, but I much prefer the skiff, because it responds quickly to steering actions.

The center console takes up a very great deal of space in the dinghy, plus, the feel of the steering is atrocious. If one is involved in ferrying people and or laundry and shopping, whatever the OP chooses, it should be easily maneuverable, and imo, the cc one isn't. So, to me, there's an issue to be addressed, and it is possible, it can be done successfully at the size level the OP is concerned with.

Ann

[evm1024]

Not quite to your specs...

My preference is to use a 3.4m inflatable but I have been known to pull a 17' Boston Whaler behind the sailboat when we want to go far in the "dink". Oh, I might add pull it on the Columbia River (I'm here in PDX).

The Whaler is not aluminum... But it is stable due to the tri-hull form. The 11' whalers may be close to something you like.

Or you might contract for a trihull aluminum boat with a center console to be welded up in the size you want.

Regards