Porta-bote haters: what's not to like?

[Caddy Shack]

Mine is the same, but even with that brace there is still a lot of flex (enough to crack the hinge).

[Mike OReilly]

My Genesis IV model leaves black marks. It’s not particularly noticeable to my eye, but it does leave marks if left to rub against white hulls.

I just carry a small fender which we hang appropriately when visiting others. For out mothership, we let the dinghy hang aft of the boat, and only pull it up when we’re boarding.

[Ike]

PortA-Bote is manufactured in Mountain View, California

[hpeer]

Well, here’s a new one, broke the transom. Genesis IV. Not like you would expect, by pushing it too hard with a motor and forcing it forward. It broke going AFT!

No clear idea when it happened, I noticed it yesterday. I can see now it’s been broke for a while because the tilt of the motor has been off, I didn’t know why. The motor attaches to an insert in the transom, that is just an aluminum plate, very wide channel actually. It’s sandwiched between the molded plastic, held with rivits, the plastic ripped on the top allowing the motor to tilt backwards maybe a 1/2”.

My theory. We have been laying in anchorages with some significant swell and chop. Sometimes when the PB and mothership getnout of synch and the painter gives the PB a sharp snap. This actually seems worse when the painter is short. I hate doing anything in the PB on short painter because that snap damn near knocks me off my feet. A couple of weeks ago we had some 35 knot winds for 3 days and the PB was on a long painter with the motor attached. I noticed the snap was enough to throw the motor up and latch it in the up position.

So I’m thinking every time the boat experiences a snap it puts a load on the transom, the momentum of the motor stresses the motor mount. Eventually this broke the plastic holding the aluminum channel in place.

So anyway, this is an old PB, we bought it lightly used, and don’t use it much for some years. The last few years it’s been seeing more and more service and has been in use daily. The transom bladder leaks but that’s under control. So I’m gonna spring for a new transom to keep the PB going. I don’t have the where-with-all to do it laying in the hook so I’m having a local outfit make me one out of 3/4” ply. It can’t be a simple sheet because of the thickness of the existing PB transom. They will have to build up the corners to get the geometry correct. About $500 for 3/4” marine ply fabricated and glassed. But it should allow me to squeeze this orange another couple of years.

In the meantime I had some 1/4” aluminum plate that I through bolted to the transom to hold it together. That can’t be a permanent fix, the fender washers will just rip through the plastic eventually. But working for today. Tomorrow I’ll launch the 12’ Alpha 3000 and use that until I get the transom back.

I finished sanding and repainting and applying anti-skid to the mothership decks yesterday. Took a couple of weeks to do on the hook. Fun never ceases. I need a vacation.

I’ll report how it goes.

[hpeer]

ALPHA 3000 REPORT

So I splashed the Alpha 3000 this morning. Putting it together, accounting for the initial stiffness of a brand new boat, went well. The seats now fit in sockets and feel stronger. Appear to be aluminum clad not plastic. Just feel better. The transom, which is a 3000 style transom with a brace to the aft seat, swung together fine. So far, so good.

I tied the two boats together and to the mother ship so that I could use the motor crane to secure the motor for transfer, just so I couldn’t drop it into the Britney deep too far. I’m in an open bay with chop and wakes from a zillion small to huge yachts. So it’s kinda messy. I transfer the 8hp Yamaha Enduro over and slide it on the transom. NOT! The freaking transome is too thick for the engine!!!!!! WTF!!

So here’s the deal, they use the same block of black starboard as they do in the Genisis. The difference is on the Genisis it is attached with a strap of flexible plastic which eventually breaks, or at least ours did. No biggie, tie it on. On the Alpha it is attached with a stainless hinge on the Stb. half of the starboard. They actually routed out the starboard for the stainless plate, but did not account for the barrel of the hinge. So the transom is about 1/8” wider on the Stb. side than the port, the thickness of the hinge barrel. The motor will JUST squeeze into the port side of the transom but no way it was going on the Stb side. Screws full out, did everything I could, was NOT going.

Take the motor off, lay it down in the boat, get out drill and try to drill out rivits. They just spin after capturing the drill. Get out hammer to drive rivit through, vice grips to grab pushed out head, swear profusely, leaning over transom, wakes from all quarters, just loving life. The final rivit came out with a mighty tank bending the SS hinge plate. Oh well, I tie on a 1/4” polyethylene (AKA starboard) cutting board, motor slips right on. Why in hell they have to make that starboard so thick is beyond me. It’s not like an 8hp Yamaha is an unusual motor and I highly suspect transom thickness specs are widely known. If known about before hand one could check the transom measurement with the boat assembled on dry land. In that case the whole “fix” is less than a half hour job, less finding and storing tools. It probably didn’t take me much more than that, just felt like forever.

OK, got that out of my system. Otherwise the boat is fine. It has the brace from the transom to the rear seat which I just noticed has an added advantage of segmenting that rear compartment. A standard six gallon tank fits there just nicely on the port side off setting some of my Stb weight bias. Then I can put some other lighter junk in port compartment. Helpful.

The boat ran fine, I found that the brace bowed a little when running the boat with a max weight load at full throttle. But I didn’t see any transom flex. Time will tell how well this transom holds up compared to the old one. I think I will get a bit thicker and larger piece of starboard to replace the cutting board. Hopefully I can find some just a bit thinner than what they had provided. Tying it on is no problem to me.

Hope some find this report useful.

[ejlindahl]

Aren't the small PB rated for 5 or 6 hp? Your 8 is >25% more than the rating. Maybe a 12 or 14 footer can take more, don't know what yours is. Weight, not just HP is an issue, especially for the snapping you mention. Even with a 14 footer, 35 knots in an open bay is a heck of a thing for it with a heavy engine. Can you haul it out overnight or when big winds come? Ya gotta take the engine off but folks simply attach the painter to a halyard and grind it up vertically and lay it down on the deck. Easy peasy, especially if you have a crew to ease it down as you guide it. Its nice they can't scratch anything. Or rig a 3 point bridle so you can haul it horizontal to the side of your ship with the engine on. A little tougher to lay it down on the life lines or foredeck that way though. Probably you know all this. Good luck with the new expen$ive transom. It would be interesting to see pics of it posted before it goes on the bote.

[alctel]

I've had 3. I like they a lot but as others said, they ain't for everyone as there are compromises (like every dinghy)

Got a 2nd hand 10ft Genesis IV, which I found a little hard to assemble on my foredeck by myself so I traded it down for an 8ft model.

Unfortunately, it was the canoe style model, which are wobbly deathtraps (they look cute though). Eventually sold it and bought a 2nd hand 8ft Genesis IV.

Planes with just me in it with my 2 stroke Evinrude 4HP at 10-11knots, with 2 people in it doesn't plane, unfortunately. I can pull the boat onto my deck solo without having to use any kind of lifting device.

I can get in from the water via the bow or the stern (if no motor on) - the thing I like best about them is how well they row, even against the wind (safety!) and how tough they are. Even if they do mark the crap out of my boat.

Also noone is going to steal it from the dinghy dock as it's really ugly.

I really want the sailing kit for it as it looks hilarious but is sadly out of my budget.

[hpeer]

Originally Posted by ejlindahl

Aren't the small PB rated for 5 or 6 hp? Your 8 is >25% more than the rating. Maybe a 12 or 14 footer can take more, don't know what yours is. Weight, not just HP is an issue, especially for the snapping you mention. Even with a 14 footer, 35 knots in an open bay is a heck of a thing for it with a heavy engine. Can you haul it out overnight or when big winds come? Ya gotta take the engine off but folks simply attach the painter to a halyard and grind it up vertically and lay it down on the deck. Easy peasy, especially if you have a crew to ease it down as you guide it. Its nice they can't scratch anything. Or rig a 3 point bridle so you can haul it horizontal to the side of your ship with the engine on. A little tougher to lay it down on the life lines or foredeck that way though. Probably you know all this. Good luck with the new expen$ive transom. It would be interesting to see pics of it posted before it goes on the bote.

Depends upon how you do the math, if 6hp is 100% then 8 is 133%.

You are right, especially in this case HP has nothing to do with the failure mode, it was the weight.

According to PB THE “Maximum Suggeste Gas Engine Weigth” for 10/12/14 is 56 pounds. The Yamaha 8hp 2 stroke Enduro is 58-1/2 pounds. Which is 4% bigger, hardly a significant difference.

I have an email from PB claiming the hp rating for the 10/12 is 6hp but for the 14 it is 10 (or 12? I forget) with no explanation of the difference. The only difference I can see is at one time the new 8/10/12 Alphas had one transom, but the 14, marketed as the Alpha 3000, had the transom with the brace. My 12 came with the Alpha 3000 transom which should be good for the higher rating.

Name plate says 2hp. Pick your poision.

Yes, I’m going to have to do something different in the future. Up thread someone was talking about putting grommets into the stern. So you could lift the PB. Not a bad idea.

The problem with hoisting a PB in davits is rain. To leave unattended you absolutely need a drain plug else you risk bending the PB fore and aft. You want to think about where you put the grommets so that the weight is fairly supported on each side of the connection. Ideally you would also want a spreader bar.

My bet is that PB will not warranty any boat with such modifications, if you concern yourself with such matters. Why else would PB not sell the boat with a drain plug and aft lift points? Material under $10 and labor maybe 1/2 hour.

Thinking this through briefly IF I were to lift the boat horizontally I would want to add 2nsets if grommets, one centered on the rear set, one centered on the front. Make a dedicated unequal length harness so that the PB with one rail down to drain. Use a spreader bar so pick forces are vertical.

But I can’t see leaving the boat suspended in any kind of wind, it would just bash around creating havoc or if tightly lashed, would provide significant sail area to the mothership.

It makes much more sense to take the motor off and either store the PB or let it lay, with multiple painters. It’s no fun taking the motor off in any kind of swell with the mother ship pitching, even a foot makes life interesting. More than that calls for close coordination between the man in the PB and person operating the crane.

I really need to work on a better way to take the motor off amid ships where the mother ship pitches less. But the PB still rides the waves so it’s no cure all.

[Jibeman]

Thanks for the opinions on the PB. I am seriously considering one. I have a not so decent roll-up with insertable aluminum floors. It is difficult at best to put it together so I leave it inflated on the foredeck of a Sabre 34. It is totally in the way both to maneuver around or see over. I don't have davits nor do I want them. So the PB makes sense. I hope PB will be at the Miami Boat show so I can get my hands on one. It is great to hear others experiences.

[hpeer]

We have a 33’ cutter with a 10’ PB. Fits well.

We have a 12’ on the 44” cutter. And that fits well. I was tempted by a 14’ when I just bought new but the extra 2’ would bring it back the first chain plate.

I guess that’s the point of my post. Take a tape measure and measure the distance from your furthest forward chain plate forward.

Check specs for yourself.

8’ is 8’6”
10’ is 10’8”
12’ is 12’6”
14’ is 14’4”

The bow outline will curve up maybe about 8”. Which you can see in the online pics. So the last foot or so it doesn’t completly block the deck and hawse pipes and such. Anyway that will give you an idea of where it will lie. I don’t think you want it running back behind the plates, Then it would really interfere with deck passage.

[Jibeman]

Thank you Hpeer. I will get the tape out. I was thinking 12' but after I measure I may want the 10'

[Simi 60]

What's not to like?

Everything.
Totally useless for everything we use our tender for
But, f they work for you, great.

[Mike OReilly]

Jibeman, I got my current 10-foot portabote to fit my then 34-foot ketch (actually, 33’ 9”). Worked fine. Stored out of the way on the side deck, although in my case it largely blocked of that one side b/c my decks were not very wide.

I’ve kept the same bote on my 37-footer cutter now. If I were buying today I’d get the 12’ bote b/c I now have more room to store it.

[hpeer]

Mike,

You think my suggested way of measuring for fit is reasonable?

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by hpeer

You think my suggested way of measuring for fit is reasonable?

I guess it depends on where you expect to place the bote. I’ve stored mine on the side deck, against the cabin, for both my motherships. So in my case the chainplates are sort of mid-ship to the portabote.

I infer you store yours forward, tide against the stanchions? I’ve never tried to do this. It might have worked with my previous boat, but I don’t think it would work with my current vessel. Angles of my deck seem too angly .

I like having the bote snug against the cabin, as opposed to tied outward to the stanchions. I know most people do it this way, but I fear the impact of a boarding wave. Downside is it blocks some of the ports.