My 3rd. Porta Bote

[hpeer]

There has been a lot of discussion on this over the years. I have never seen anything definitive. I have a 8hp 2 stroke in my 12’ and 10’ PBs. The 12’ seems to perform better than the 10’ with same HP motor.

PB’s performance are very sensitive to weight, weight distribution, and bottom condition. A correctly loaded, near empty PB with a clean bottom. A 8hp 2 stroke will drive a light, clean 12’ PB faster than I want to drive it. But most of the time there are 2 of us or a good load or the bottom is dirty. When all 3 hit I am very glad for the 8hp. But also we can sometimes put in several miles a day so we want it to move.

I have no direct experience with an 8’. Sorry.

[Mike OReilly]

I've only ever used a 3.5 hp, 4-stroke with our 10-footer.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I've only ever used a 3.5 hp, 4-stroke with our 10-footer.

...and it planes?

[ahun]

We have the 12 feet one, it's heavily used and I love it, I think it's the best solution for a dinghy. However, not all is perfect, the problems that came up the last four years are:

The foam on the sides started to degrade and made a constant black mess, so had to be removed.
The hinges at the transom are very weak quality, some are broken, some on the verge and I had to replace the rivets with through bolts that hold them.
The bit of plastic that covers the bow, is a joke, can't use it, yet to find a solution for this.
As a consequence, I can't tow the dinghy. Any small waves and the bow dips below, water floods in, gathers in the bow making it heavier, more dipping, more water, more heaviness, suddenly the boat is underwater.
The seats are trashed from the sun, they are not UV stable plastic, and it's not easy to replace them (we tried to buy replacement from the supplier, not a chance)
One of the sides tend to bulge outward at higher speed and certain conditions, and it creates a feeling the boat will fold in half around the middle seat. I might try some reinforcement along the side to stop this.

Otherwise a 6hp four stroke planes it, and we were glad to have it instead of an inflatable around the crocs in the Kimberly.

[hpeer]

Ahun.

Try towing with the LB bow as close to your transom as possible, if possible lift it a bit. Makes a HUGE difference. Then you don’t need that silly bow cover.

I made a plywood epoxy coated transom, a little heavy but works better than original.

Replace the wing nuts on the transom with EYE nuts. They work like wing nuts, can be tightened with a screwdriver and give you someplace to tie stuff to.

If you have a folding transom defiantly ditch it. A complete joke.

I replaced my seats with plywood seats, epoxy coated.

About the only thing original on my old PB is the hull. Many modifications including REAL WOODEN OARS.

I understand PB is now under new ownership with people you can actually talk to.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

...and it planes?

Yup. It easily planes with one adult in it, even a fat one. It will plane with two of us, but conditions have to be perfect.

Re: towing, one of the benefits of the PB, as I see it, is that you don’t have to tow it. It doesn’t take much to break it down and store it, so we almost never tow it. I would only do so for tiny hops in very protected conditions.

[mitiempo]

Improving a Portabote, including seats and folding transom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M40athlIT90

[gulfcoastsailor]

Glad to see the love for our dingy of course. I got the 8’ gen 3 around 2015 +/- boat show special (dolly, oars, seat & something else thrown in) At the time the Nissan 3.5 was the motor of choice. When it gives out I’m going electric. There are three methods of storage I use 1. On deck inverted behind the mast for short travels or overnight. 2. Lashed to the stanchions and toe rail (folded) 3. Long runs with open seas it folds up below deck in a modified surfboard bag with zipper and cloth handles. If I am outta muscle that day, the halyard does the heavy lifting. If there is a better way to taxi around without the mother ship, I have not seen it.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Yup. It easily planes with one adult in it, even a fat one. It will plane with two of us, but conditions have to be perfect.

Re: towing, one of the benefits of the PB, as I see it, is that you don’t have to tow it. It doesn’t take much to break it down and store it, so we almost never tow it. I would only do so for tiny hops in very protected conditions.

Thanx Mike...you're right. It takes a whole 15 minutes to break it down and place iut in the Kayak racks.

I had the crew from hell in 2016 from Guaymas, Mx., up in the Sea of Cortez, to La Paz, Mx. They hounded me to tow my 10ft.PB, like an idiot, I did but was at least smart enough to remove the outboard first. But Big bird and Grover (as they affectionately were called) insisted on showing me how much knowledge they had rigging a bridle and towing it. After an hour, it had gone on a walkabout. They were actually pissed that I did a MOB on the GPS to back track and luckily found it. The story with them could easily take on another complete thread.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by hpeer

Many modifications including REAL WOODEN OARS.

I understand PB is now under new ownership with people you can actually talk to.

I called them earlier this week and after getting past the reception to ask questions about size of outboard, I talked with someone who was very helpful and his info regarding outboard size difference 8'vs10'-14', was the the USCG determines the outboard weight. He went on to further state that they have been "tested" with much larger outboards.

How long are your wooden oars?

[hpeer]

7’.

The older ones came with crappy undersize oarlocks which I changed out for standard size. The new ones may take a standard size oar.

[ahun]

Originally Posted by hpeer

Ahun.

Try towing with the LB bow as close to your transom as possible, if possible lift it a bit. Makes a HUGE difference. Then you don’t need that silly bow cover.

I made a plywood epoxy coated transom, a little heavy but works better than original.

Replace the wing nuts on the transom with EYE nuts. They work like wing nuts, can be tightened with a screwdriver and give you someplace to tie stuff to.

If you have a folding transom defiantly ditch it. A complete joke.

I replaced my seats with plywood seats, epoxy coated.

About the only thing original on my old PB is the hull. Many modifications including REAL WOODEN OARS.

I understand PB is now under new ownership with people you can actually talk to.

Thanks, might try the new towing method. Re transom, I lash it together with the aft seat with a truckie's knot, and it works perfectly. Makes the whole back of the boat very stiff. Takes 5 extra seconds with a piece of rope permanently left in place trough the two sides of the folding transom.

[hpeer]

Think about this, how a transom transmits force into the hull.

Imagine a side view of the boat and motor on the boat.

The prop pushes forward, but is fastened to the boat at the clamps. Thus you have a rotating moment arm, which twists the transom around the clamps, the top rotates aft aft and the bottom forward. It tries to pick up the bow but the boat slips forward instead. Thats how you move.

The force from the transom is transmitted to the hull through the 2 each 1/4x20 bolts in each side holding the transom to the hull. Look at a heavily used one piece transom and you will see these holes are elongated, the bottom hole to the rear, the top hole to the front. Mine were so worn badly I had to reinforce the aluminum strips.

The transom needs to be quite stiff, vertically AND horizontally, to transmit these forces. Obviously the more HP the more flex. If the bottom flexes in the bottom of the OB leg will hit the point where the keel guard ends, where all the folds are. I believe this is one reason why so many PB’s leak here. In part by the folding but also in part because the lower unit is pushing on that joint. Not an issue with low HP motors but it will show up more quickly as you increase HP, and load, and hours.

I believe we, my Wife and I, are pretty heavy users. We are not small people, we run a lot of miles and hours at Wide Open Throttle at 8hp. There are some anchorages where we average 3 to 4 miles a DAY, easy.

I have heard of folks running up to 15HP on a 12’er. I would not recommend that for many reasons including safety of you and others but also wear on the boat and transom.

The way name plate HP is calculated 2HP is all they could put on. So why make a 8HP transom if you can not nameplate it and if you advertise more then your liability goes through the roof. I suspect that is how the folding transom came about, it is good enough fir these small motors. If you want more HP you need a better, more rigid transom, but then YOU are modifying the transom and any liability is on YOU. i would guess that over 90% of these craft are used for occasional fresh water endeavors. Fishing and gunk holing. We cruisers must be a tiny minority who use this boat the way we do. So the folding transom design makes a LOT of sense, for PB.

That I modify my PB and use it as I do is MY personal decision. And I can’t recommend it to anyone else, obviously.

[ahun]

I think mine is a newish design, the earliest didn't have this cross addition between the seat and the transom.

It works well now with the lashing:

[Celestialsailor]

I'm wondering if the support along the center line was to brace the folding transom. Mine is the solid Genesis version. I think down the road I will add 2 straps on each side at the transom 1/4 fasteners and run them forward to distribute the load further into the hull.