Visit our Popular Forums

**hummingway** · 03-12-2010, 07:53

I like those:
Tinker Class Owners Association

rebel heart · 03-12-2010, 07:57

I turned my nose up at inflatables the first (and last) time I get punctured at a dinghy dock because of some a-hole who had a sharp screw head jutting out of his bow on his skiff. The hole went right between the seams and the patch would never hold properly.

When they both work perfectly, an outboard+inflatable combination is great.

**boatman61** · 03-12-2010, 08:00

So now we've got one more skiff to watch out for......

Just jokin...

Minggat · 03-12-2010, 13:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by rebel heart

We have a walker bay 8 with the sail kit. The only thing that slightly sucks is storing the mast sections and boom; haven't really found a "great" place to put those yet.

RE: Inflatables
They certainly can carry more load and are much easier to enter, and faster too when the outboard works, but hard dinghies have great aspects none the less.

As someone said above it's great to sail the dinghie around an anchorage.

On the subject, if you have two or more adults consider a folding kayak as well. It's nice to have two "cars" so that while you're zipping around sailing the dinghie someone else can still go to shore.

Rebel Heart,

My mast boom and sail have been stored all assembled in one package living in the stanchion/lifelines, up off of the deck, for years. Since my friend owns a yacht canvas shop I simply made one long sock for it all that has a flap & velcro on the top end and closes with just velcro at the bottom end. I made to to come down only to the cunningham. I also modified(added vinyl) the top end to take the abuse of smaking the dock without putting a hole in the sock.

I simply roll the sail sweetly around the mast and boom and slide the sock over it. So it deploys easily and stows easily. I also made a 6" wide wrap that closes with velcro to assist keeping the sail furled around it all in between furling and stowing. With this I can stick the mast in the boat without the sail deployed until I'm ready. Or furl the sail and leave it in the boat until I'm ready to go again or stow it.

Which raises a question in my mind. What does everyone else do with their dingy sails when they are not reay to deploy them? Walker Bay didn't provide anything for that.

I couldn't agree with you more on the second "car". Like I said, I carry the sailing dink and a go fast inflatable on my 36 ft boat without a problem..... once I sorted it out. Both have outboards. And the inflatable is/was kept inflated on the foredeck. I've actually sold that and will be replacing it with a RIB Lite, which will save space and simply be a better go fast.

There are lots of advantages to carrying 2 dinks, besides what you mentioned. I "surveyed" the idea before I put my dingy plan in place. One thought is that a second dingy still on the boat when you are not tells the bad guys that someone is "still aboard". Don't want to open up a debate about that. Just one of the thoughts in support of having 2 dinks.

capn_billl · 03-12-2010, 14:01

The sailboat next to me just bought a dinghy sized lifeboat with a sail. It is a certified life boat with a removable cover made out of rigid orange plastic with sealed bouyancy, and a removable mast and sail. They love it and I see them often sailing around the marina in it.

Minggat · 03-12-2010, 14:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by capn_billl

The sailboat next to me just bought a dinghy sized lifeboat with a sail. It is a certified life boat with a removable cover made out of rigid orange plastic with sealed bouyancy, and a removable mast and sail. They love it and I see them often sailing around the marina in it.

sounds like...Portland Pudgey?

sabray · 03-12-2010, 16:58

Right now my new dink is a pile of small pieces of 1/4 " ply. The achilles is great with a motor but Im wanting a boat that will row and sailing a dinghy once the hook is down is great fun. Also I want my kids to get a feal for the sails which is so different on a 44' 30,000 lb boat. So Im building a chameleon and enjoying that. Pictures were clipped from a blog of another owner credit is DoryMan: Chameleon

capn_billl · 06-12-2010, 10:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minggat

sounds like...Portland Pudgey?

Yes thats it! I couldn't remember the name. Its a neat looking boat and they have a blast with it.

Roaring Girl · 06-12-2010, 10:41

Well, for the helluva it, here's our dinghy. They're no longer in production I believe, but have a double hull with very good bouyancy, and the modified crabclaw makes them fast downwind but able to cope with sizable seas. The original designer proposed a cover which would make her an excellent liferaft too.

Ours is called Bridgit, she comes apart to go on the foredeck but does shorter trips on the davits, and we use her enormous amounts whenever cruising. She's taken some dings and bumps but we love her.

Charlie · 06-12-2010, 16:08

Roaring Girl I like the rig. Do you just roll it up or do you need to take the sail off of the spars. Here is a dink that I am planning on building. I have the plans and the parts now all I need is the time. I asked the designer for the following items. 1) Spars are able to convert to volleyball net size, 2) handle up to a 15 hp engine, 3) self rescuing, 4) nesting (nested it is 2.04 m by 1.59m), and 5) capable of carrying four full size adults and gear. Wave Dancer Yacht Design - wholesale plan sales I hope to work on this in the winter if I do I will post pictures.

serah · 06-12-2010, 16:21

Our family had what we always called "The Galleon"; she was never truly christened. She's a 9 ft rowing shell, with removable mast. She's cat-riggged, with a loose foot. We used it for the first ten years of our cruising in the PNW, and interchangeably with our RIB after that. I loved that boat and cut my teeth learning how to sail on it as a kid. She doesn't go to weather for sh*t, but she gets up and goes in about 5 kts. Her mast comes apart into two sections, which fit into the boat if being towed, or easily tied to the lower lifeline up forward on the big boat. The sail was usually stored in a regular sail bag. It takes about 5 minutes to rig her. She has a large centreboard that drops down. When we were little, the four of us (plus dog + kit) would sail it about for shoreside picnics. Surprisingly she'd handle "rough" weather (i.e. chop up to 1' easily, and 2' with a bit of terror, but bearably) Best of all, she's a dream to row. She's light enough that my sister and I could easily drag her up a beach out of reach of tides (not an option with a RIB, and IMHO, critical if cruising with kids. We spent countless hours exploring beaches without mum and dad which wouldn't have been possible in a boat that weighed more) Brass rub strakes on her bottom avoided the worst of the damage.

When I "graduated" to my first real boat, a 24' Swiftsure, the Galleon came with me. She was fantastic to tow, which was fine for our coastal cruising. Even on our 24' with an 8hp we lost no more than 1/2 knot. Towing her across the Georgia Straight in moderate weather (~4' waves) she stayed dry. I know we towed her in worse conditions, but I don't think I'd happily do it again. We bought a little used electric 30 lb thrust last year which worked well on her transom as well. We still take her out sometimes, though Brodie is certainly partial to our ridiculously overpowered RIB.

We still a ways from leaving, but I'm pushing pretty hard to take her with us.

imagine2frolic · 07-12-2010, 05:22

I would want something I could put a motor on. There will be days when you need to get back to the boat, or to shore, and it will be convenient.........i2f

bruce smith · 07-12-2010, 08:05

I carry 2 hard sailing dingys on our 34'er. One is a modified Bequia Dingy (10') the other is my Brides El Toro. We have spent 8 hour days with 2 adults and a child sailing her(St Maarten lagoon).
Sculling can be a huge asset to a pram. For short hops ashore, only one short oar is needed. If you get caught in a blow, one can row and the other scull. Carrying out an anchor, a scull is far superior to rowing.
Our Bullship(toro) is 30 years old ,plywood. It should have been trashed two times over, but we keep rebuilding her.

Roaring Girl · 07-12-2010, 13:18

On the swifgig you drop the sail and roll the whole lot round the battens. The battens come out and come part for stowage. On the boat, you tie the battens together and re-hoist the lot to get it out of the way if you want to row.

She takes a small engine. We use a 2.3 honda because it was the only wee engine with an integral fuel tank for a 4 stroke when we were looking. Bridgit really only takes a little engine - but then so do we. We didn't/don't want to lift a bigger one up and down. If we were looking today then a small electric engine, sticking solar panels on thwart etc would be our preferred route.

We have never found 2.3hp too little. Once, in 37 knots, it took a loooog time to get home, but so far and touch wood, it mya be slow but it's got us there when we need to get there.