Talk me out of building a wooden dink

[Scout 30]

A wood dinghy can be made just as stable as an inflatable by adding a float collar.

[roland stockham]

Good grief, all these negative comments. Stitch an glue is a great, fast and lightweight way of building. If it comes out heavier than an inflatable you built it wrong! The only possible excuse for having an inflatable is that you don't have the deck space to store a rigid. Main thing is to find the right design for what you want it to do.

[boden36]

A fun project and with lots of satisfaction! (and I have built one!!)

Regards,
Richard

[double u]

Originally Posted by boden36

A fun project and with lots of satisfaction! (and I have built one!!)

Regards,
Richard

+1!
satifaction building & lots&lots using it in 7 years rtw!

[kmacdonald]

Originally Posted by Scout 30

A wood dinghy can be made just as stable as an inflatable by adding a float collar.

Training wheels.

[kmacdonald]

I built a 15' wooden catboat. It's my favorite boat. I've been to the Dry Tortugas a few times in it. I trailer it up to Maine every year to sail. Block Island, Outer Banks, Narragansett Bay etc. It's nice to be able to trailer it where ever you want.

[double u]

while the skiff was very "seaworthy" with just oars, if swamped one would have been in direstraits, because selfbailing it was not...
an inflatable will always be a beast and an eyesore & need an engine, but even capsized a 9' inflatable will be rightable

[_andi_]

ok, trying a different angle here:

Be aware that this wooden boats love is quite infectious / addictive. It starts out harmlessly with a teeny tiny dink and some recreational woodworking and wham, you end up sinking a decade or two in the refit of that lovely schooner you got for a bargain from a poor sap who went bankrupt over the boat. And it will bring you down as well. You, your marriage, your retirement fund, everything. Don't do wood! There's no intervention, start with prevention.

[double u]

9' should be ok...

[kmacdonald]

Originally Posted by double u

9' should be ok...

Until the "two more feet" starts. I cut the chase and am building a 19 footer now.

[valhalla360]

I built a 10' catamaran style dingy. I was just messing around and designed as I went based off my inflatable tunnel hull.

Very stable, rows nice but it's close to 200lb. If I built it again, I could probably get that down by half.

[Cheechako]

My first long distance cruising was with a Dyer Dhow tender on a 30 foot boat. These boats have a good reputation and a quality built fiberglass with a hard chine for stability. However, hard dinks are just wet and unstable compared with an inflatable. If you build one, make it with a ton of freeboard. I found with two of us in any chop you start to wonder if you are gong to fill with water before you get back to the boat. A small hard tender is just no match for an inflatable in every way except rowing.
If a rollup inflatable is "too much work" try assembling two halves of a nesting dingy on a cabin top deck or in the water! Your deck and cabin are going to look like you've been in a war.

[montenido]

I built a kit from CLC, the Passagemaker dinghy. What a blast to build. Oddly, I lost interest in it after completing it and sold it! They row and sail really well. Check it out.

Cheers, Bill

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by kmacdonald

Training wheels.

Every deflateable has them.

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by kmacdonald

Until the "two more feet" starts. I cut the chase and am building a 19 footer now.

We cut to the chase and simply bought the right tender and started enjoying its benefits 5 minutes later.