Dinghy garages. Pros/cons

[poiu]

I’m looking at a replacement boat. Many candidates have dingy garages for decent sized dinghies, say 3.6m. I’ve no experience of using one. I imagine it could be a handful or downright unusable in any kind of seaway.

What made me think of this is that I gave up failed to store my dinghy today on the davits in a 1m sea. Horrible. How would it be with a garage? Better or worse? Has anyone got some tales to tell or experiences to share?

[Rohan]

No experience here, but it's hard to go wrong. If you didn't like it, you could always put the dinghy on davits and use the garage as a huge storage area!

[poiu]

Originally Posted by Rohan

No experience here, but it's hard to go wrong. If you didn't like it, you could always put the dinghy on davits and use the garage as a huge storage area!

Yes, you are right. Can’t be worse than davits. Actually I’d probably use the foredeck. The trouble is that screws up the self tacking jib and visibility forwards, but with a small pole to act as a crane and a stretchy halyard it will be possible to hoist and launch the dink even in horrid seas.

[Amouage]

Dinghy's are unpractical anyway.....you use them a very small percentage of the time (but essential they are), they are wet, ugly and incredible to handle whether on a garage or foredeck. I have no experience yet with davits, and I had hoped this was the easiest to haul out the dinghy from the water.....I am puzzled.

Curious to read other experiences.....

Best solution is a water taxi!

[LL31]

We have a dinghy garage, and after one summer of taking the engine off, slightly deflating the dinghy, and then muscling it into the garage, we decided to get davits. The davits are far easier and allow for a quick trip to land if we feel like it.

What was once a 20-30 minute chore is now a two-minute task. With the davits, I can also do it alone; the garage was a two-man job. The gel coat can also chip easily if you're not careful when putting the dinghy away if it's an aluminum-hulled dinghy.

Very happy with the decision to get davits.

[JPK]

Most new yachts I'm looking at that have dinghy garages have some sort of crane system to move the dinghy in/out of the garage. I certainly wouldn't want to be muscling a 3.6m dinghy in and out of the garage myself without a crane. I would also stick with the largest dinghy you can go with that doesn't require deflating to get into the garage. I agree that having to inflate/deflate the dinghy every time you use it would be a PITA. I've been doing a bit of research into electric outboards like the ePropulsion Spirit 1.0. I don't have any personal experience with it, but the reviews and videos I've seen about it look interesting if if meets your needs. I like that I could remove the battery (~19 lbs) and then the motor itself only weighs ~23 lbs. Seems like it would be far easier to manage this than a gas-powered outboard (plus no gas to have to keep aboard).

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by JPK

Most new yachts I'm looking at that have dinghy garages have some sort of crane system to move the dinghy in/out of the garage. I certainly wouldn't want to be muscling a 3.6m dinghy in and out of the garage myself without a crane. I would also stick with the largest dinghy you can go with that doesn't require deflating to get into the garage. I agree that having to inflate/deflate the dinghy every time you use it would be a PITA. I've been doing a bit of research into electric outboards like the ePropulsion Spirit 1.0. I don't have any personal experience with it, but the reviews and videos I've seen about it look interesting if if meets your needs. I like that I could remove the battery (~19 lbs) and then the motor itself only weighs ~23 lbs. Seems like it would be far easier to manage this than a gas-powered outboard (plus no gas to have to keep aboard).

Then you get an unusable dinghy that has a ride wetter than a submarine.

Davits has lots of problems too. The best system is an arch with a dinghy hoist arm with single line hoist mechanism. Chris White got it combined with chocks to sit the dinghy on for the ultimate system.

[BenBowSirocco]

Originally Posted by Amouage

Dinghy's are unpractical anyway.....you use them a very small percentage of the time (but essential they are), they are wet, ugly and incredible to handle whether on a garage or foredeck. I have no experience yet with davits, and I had hoped this was the easiest to haul out the dinghy from the water.....I am puzzled.

Curious to read other experiences.....

Best solution is a water taxi!

Its interesting how different people can have different experiences. I think dinghies are so much fun and easily get at least twice the use of the mothership. I also find my dinghy an attractive boat and quite dry considering the speeds and conditions I operate it in.



Absolutely not trying to be disagreeable- but wanted to point out that not everyone has your experience with their dinghy. You may just need a different design.



We had a large arch on our Ovni with lift points for the dinghy and loved the convenience. Ruined the use of our windvane or would have done passages with it under the arch (motor on rail).



I have inspected the garages at the boat shows and had similar feelings as you: they seem clunky for their marketed purpose.
But at the same time, I couldn't imagine a better place to store a dive compressor and gear. Or maybe kiteboarding rigs.. Put a fresh water hose in there and your all set!


Had the chance to test more than one electric propulsion unit and all I can say is: make sure you test one or two before buying! I personally wouldn't consider owning a motor that wont allow my dinghy to plane with 4 people.

[poiu]

I want a fast and powerful dinghy, with range at speed so 3.6m upwards. 30hp min. Electric is not an option, though the dinghy choice is not something I expect difficulty with. There are a few folding and sliding transom dinghies that would be needed with a garage to maximise size. Aermarine and a couple of other makers do them.

It’s storage in a garage I don’t have any experience of.

I can see the appeal of the swing arm type of lift, but if a garage can work, that’s attractive. The most aesthetic solution. The safest when stored. Loss of space in the boat is not an issue as the boats otherwise are large enough, so for me potentially the best solution.

[TeddyDiver]

Not yet real life experience with mine but I have an arch and dinghy garage. Handy billy on the arch for easy stowing and for short day cruising the arch works as davits. Hard nesting dinghy for oars, sail and e-trolling OB..

[Shrew]

1M seas in an anchorage or mooring field are fairly rare.

Sure, squalls kick-up, but those are temporary.

Yes, wind direction turns and exposes an anchorage or mooring field to fetch. Usually weather apps give some forewarning. If I think I'm going to start taking 30mph winds on the nose with a lot of fetch, I'm loading things down and moving if given enough advanced notice.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Shrew

...
Sure, squalls kick-up, but those are temporary ...

Indeed.
However, even short lasting causes [like a squall], can have long lasting effects [serious boat damage/destruction].
By extreme example:
The complete process of a nuclear bomb explosion takes about a microsecond [0.000001 seconds], and the direct blast [over-pressure] and thermal radiation might last several seconds, depending on the blast's strength [yield], etc.
The effects of such a detonation, however, can be much more long lasting [permanent].

[TeddyDiver]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Indeed.
However, even short lasting causes [like a squall], can have long lasting effects [serious boat damage/destruction].
By extreme example:
The complete process of a nuclear bomb explosion takes about a microsecond [0.000001 seconds], and the direct blast [over-pressure] and thermal radiation might last several seconds, depending on the blast's strength [yield], etc.
The effects of such a detonation, however, can be much more long lasting [permanent].

And in a micro scale compared to that what a green breaking wave can do to your dinghy on the fore deck or davits so a garage=radiation shelter using your metaphor.

[thinwater]

If you are going to that extent ... get a cat. They have down sides, that discussion will rage, but carrying a dinghy is not one of them.

• The dinghy is not the behind the boat, it is between the hulls. Secure in any weather. I've sailed in gale conditions and the dinghy never got touched by a wave.
• Easier to hoist and board in waves, because you can work from the sugar scoops.

Starting at about 12, my daughter treated the dinghy as her personal wheels with her friends, while mom and dad hung out. Literally child's play to launch and recover. My wife could easily board the dinghy with a replaced knee and balance disease. More like having a private dock and shore-based dinghy hoist, but you can take it with you.


note that the dinghy is actualy clipped to the inside of the hull, for security when boarding.

[TeddyDiver]

Originally Posted by thinwater

If you are going to that extent ... get a cat. They have down sides, that discussion will rage, but carrying a dinghy is not one of them.

• The dinghy is not the behind the boat, it is between the hulls. Secure in any weather. I've sailed in gale conditions and the dinghy never got touched by a wave.
• Easier to hoist and board in waves, because you can work from the sugar scoops.

Starting at about 12, my daughter treated the dinghy as her personal wheels with her friends, while mom and dad hung out. Literally child's play to launch and recover. My wife could easily board the dinghy with a replaced knee and balance disease. More like having a private dock and shore-based dinghy hoist, but you can take it with you.


note that the dinghy is actualy clipped to the inside of the hull, for security when boarding.

Just a couple of caveats as price and beam. Both making it impossible have one for a lot of people so not a practical solution.