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Brob2 · 07-12-2010, 19:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by serah

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

I have an 8' glass dink

Let me rephrase that. I have an 8 foot dyer dink dinghy made of fiberglass. Cat rig, daggerboard, lovely teak seats and board cover, 2 rowing positions. Cool red and white sail. The "Wee Robin". Had her since I was 12 with my Dad's boat and wouldn't get rid of her for anything. But holds 2 adults in one footers or less, 1 adult in less. But as you can tell, I still have yet to attain the designation "adult".

Blair (Robinson)

ya gotta love the leer on that icon!

sabray · 29-12-2010, 16:32

Progress heres the dink not quite ready for sails.
Danny Greene Chameleon.

clockwork orange · 29-12-2010, 19:08

One of our customers has a Portland Pudgy,its about the most ridiculous thing ive ever seen,it is on the wrong side of the design spiral imho.I weighs about twice what a dinghy that size should,consequently if you went ashore to a beach it would require at least 2 people, maybe 3 to get it up above the tide line if you want to carry it and not injure yourself, it has a stupid little wheel built into the keel which would be of no help at all on a beach but does work (marginally) on a concrete ramp. It does motor ok ,no better or worse than any other hard dinghy,this one has a 2hp honda.We motored it across the marina and pulled it out over the edge of a low dock and it took two of us busting a nut to get it over the edge,no way you are getting it over the edge of a sailboat without using the spinny pole and topping lift or having davits. I dont know how it sails but probably ok with the internal leeboards. I used to build fiberglass dinghies and even they are typically too heavy for my liking. Plywood makes the best dinghies like the one Sabray is building but even then you have to be careful to keep the weight down. A nice lightweight dinghy can be portaged upside down on your shoulders for miles if you need to and row or sail great too.
Steve.

Minggat · 29-12-2010, 21:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by clockwork orange

One of our customers has a Portland Pudgy,its about the most ridiculous thing ive ever seen,it is on the wrong side of the design spiral imho..

.... it has a stupid little wheel built into the keel which would be of no help at all on a beach but does work (marginally) on a concrete ramp.....

Plywood makes the best dinghies .... but even then you have to be careful to keep the weight down. .

When you try to make anything multi purpose there are bound to be some trade offs.

I'd rather have a Portland Pudgey... for a liferaft.... than a liferaft.
I'd rather have a dedicated sailing dingy for fun, than a Portland Pudgey for fun.

It's pretty safe to say that the "stupid little wheel" in the keel is not intended for beach landings, but a wheel intended for beach landings would be pretty impractical because of size and weight for other purposes. And a concrete launch ramp is likely not as smooth as a driveway or parking lot or dock ramp, which some owners need to use on their way to the water.

My Walker Bay has a "stupid little wheel" that came in very handy when I was a liveaboard in a slip. No driveway, parking lot or even ramp do deal with.

As far as your opinion on plywood making the best dingies, I agree, if you're making your own dingy and enjoying the project itself. However, my "Clorox bottle" Walker Bay makes plywood seem less than optimal.

Fortytwo · 29-12-2010, 21:44

Tenders: Making the Hard Choice | Cruising World

clockwork orange · 29-12-2010, 22:34

I built hundreds of high quality fiberglass dinghies in the 1970s but it is very difficult to keep the weight as low as a plywood boat of the same volume,a ply boat made of 4mm fully sheathed with dynel/epoxy and properly sealed inside wih epoxy and painted may be 20 - 30lbs lighter than a similar glass boat and require no more maintainance,the only advantage to a glass or even more so, a plastic dinghy is mass production which translates to more profit to the builder(not a lower cost to the buyer) I do agree that the pudgy would be a good tough lifeboat but is way to heavy to be a practical tender (jack of all trades master of none)
BTW,it would be easy to mount a big floater wheel on a board that you can slide into the daggerboard trunk of a sailing dinghy,a couple of holes in the transom so you can stick the oars out with a couple of fixtures to tuck the blades under on the center thwart, then you can wheel the thing up the beach like a wheelbarrow.
Steve.