Seeking opinions on Porta-bote

[zUrchin]

I have an opportunity purchase a very lightly used Porta-bote with a Tohatsu motor both for a very reasonable price. It's one of these folding boats. 12 ft. Any real life experience from folks who have used these as an alternative to more traditional dinghy's? Pretty interesting when you consider that folds to 4 inches only. Various reviews have been positive but I'd like to hear it from a sailors who have actually used them. Pro's & cons?
Porta-Bote also known as Portabote, Portaboat. Folds to 4 inches(11cm) Flat

zUrchin

[delmarrey]

Had one once (10').To each his own! But I didn't like standing on the soft bottom. Plus with a bad back it was too hard to set up by myself on the foredeck of the boat. I'll stick with inflatables.

[sarafina]

We have an 8' and love it. The soft bottom doesn't bother us at all. I am a 5'1" woman, around 115lbs and can set it up by myself.

It stows along the lifeline up on the bow, out of the way, which we love.

Ours is an old one and we have replaced the wood transom as ours came with one that had been left to weather and was delaminating.

I power washed the whole thing last month and it cleaned up great.

Everything has it's pluses and minuses, but we like it alot. I can't imagine what would make us go back to a bulky inflatable. Maybe if we had a big boat to davit it on, but we don't ; -)

[zUrchin]

The asking price for both is worth the motor alone. And both are very lightly used, garage stored. Used in freshwater only.

[mbianka]

I've been using an 8 foot Porte boat for 11 years now and just love it. I can bring it on deck myself and fold it or unfold just like Sarafina mentioned. Others are paying $400 per year to have a dingy at the dock. I just fold and unfold mine and put it into the car when I leave the boat or go on when I head out to it. Paid for its self in the about the first two years. I don't treat it with kid gloves but, it takes a licking. Crew sometimes salt water fly fished standing up in it a number of times. Nice thing too is I can row it while facing forward. A 12 foot would be to big for my 30 foot monohull but, the 8 foot is perfect.

[CPseudonym]

20 years ago I owned an 8' model and used it for duck hunting the salt ponds in San Francisco bay. Reasonably good boat that withstood years of abuse and neglect without a single problem or leak. If it wasn't stolen I'm convinced it would still be a great boat.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy another used one.

[zUrchin]

Originally Posted by mbianka

I've been using an 8 foot Porte boat for 11 years now and just love it. I can bring it on deck myself and fold it or unfold just like Sarafina mentioned. Others are paying $400 per year to have a dingy at the dock. I just fold and unfold mine and put it into the car when I leave the boat or go on when I head out to it. Paid for its self in the about the first two years. I don't treat it with kid gloves but, it takes a licking. Crew sometimes salt water fly fished standing up in it a number of times. Nice thing too is I can row it while facing forward. A 12 foot would be to big for my 30 foot monohull but, the 8 foot is perfect.

Can you explain why you think a 12 ft porta-bote is too big for a 30 ft. sailboat? Am thinking it can be easily stored along the lifelines. Perhaps no issues with storing but with assembling?

[onestepcsy37]

cruising friends of ours bought a 10' portabote for their 40' cruising boat. that was back in the 1990's. liked it so much they gave me their old inflatable just to get rid of it. they've had portabotes ever since. they can plane with a four hp o/b and two people aboard. i rowed it one time and was amazed at how well it rowed and tracked...

[Target9000]

They work great


And we can set our 10' up on the foredeck without too much hassle

[RyanC]

I had a 10ft Porta-Bote on a 30ft sloop. The hull was easy to store lashed to the stanchions, but the seats and transom took up our entire quarter berth. To deploy we would raise with a halyard so it stood just off the deck and install the seats and transom, then deploy over the sides, took maybe 10 minutes. With 4hp it planed well w/ just myself, but was quite twitchy and had a cavitation issue I never solved.

Truthfully I would not go back to the Porta-Bote. I think RIBs or high pressure inflatables are much more safe for boarding and beach landings due to their natural stability. Porta-Botes also do not tow well if that is something you are interested in doing. I know lots of people love them, we tried it and it was a learning experience in which we gained the knowledge that most people use RIBs for a reason.

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by zUrchin

Can you explain why you think a 12 ft porta-bote is too big for a 30 ft. sailboat? Am thinking it can be easily stored along the lifelines. Perhaps no issues with storing but with assembling?

That was the other part I didn't like about my 10 footer, the 3 seats took up almost as much space as my deflated inflatable below decks, along with the boat itself on deck.

[LJH]

We have a 10 ft porta-bote that we love. It is nice to have real seats and we have had many inquiries about it where every we have traveled. Several friends found the flexing hull a little unnerving at first. I store the boat against the forward lifelines and the rest of the boat goes in a cockpit locker. It is easy to assemble on the foredeck. I added some pad-eyes to its hull so that it is quick and easy to hoist with a halyard. She planes nicely with two pers on board and is a joy to row compared to an inflatable. The one thing that you should not do is tow a porta-bote - it will fill with water fairly quickly.

[zUrchin]

Well, I pulled the trigger and bought it. I can see why most people buy the shorter versions. The 12 footer is a good sized boat! The 6hp Tohatsu was practically new. I can see where a 10 footer would have been better, but the deal was hard to beat. I have some explaining to do with Mrs. zUrchin!

[LJH]

Originally Posted by zUrchin

Well, I pulled the trigger and bought it. I can see why most people buy the shorter versions. The 12 footer is a good sized boat! The 6hp Tohatsu was practically new. I can see where a 10 footer would have been better, but the deal was hard to beat. I have some explaining to do with Mrs. zUrchin!

Congratulations. I am sure that she will be more comfortable with the porte-bote seats that the side of an inflatable. Good Luck.

[CPseudonym]

Congrats. 12' seems a bit big but you'll manage. My old 8' was a great little boat. Throw a big bag of decoys, 2 guns and hunters in waders in and 1 guy had no trouble rowing at all.

As I said earlier, we bought it used and showed it no love whatsoever and it never let us down. Anyone familiar with the Bay Area salt ponds will tell you they get pretty rough in the winter winds and never once did we feel uncomfortable. Their flexing around is a little spooky at first but soon you'll get used to it.