I’m looking to store an inflatable on fore deck for easy coastal cruising. Wondering what size fellow 320 owners have found best?
320 dink
- Thread starter agrunsky
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I would suggest you consider how your going to be using it as well as measure the foredeck. If your going to be using it a lot as well as it being the taxi cab and grocery store vehicle the largest one you can hold would be my answer. If the foredeck seems too small there are option other than davits. There are a couple you can drive onto, remove the motor and it flips up. Down side is you lose temporary usage of your swim ladder when underway if that matters. Many Options.
We have an 8.5’ west marine type inflatable that we generally keep on the foredeck. Weighs about 70 lbs so easy enough to winch up with spare halyard. Holds 2-3 people. I wouldn’t want to go bigger, as hard to lift & deploy, and too crowded when anchoring or mooring.
How you plan to cruise (anchored or marina dock), the number of crew, your feelings about rowing vs engine.
Having just spent 30 days in the Caribbean mostly at anchor or mooring ball, the ease of getting to and from shore becomes a big part of your cruising experience. Motorized access is the most popular. Rigid hull with inflatable bow a sides makes getting on and off the boat convenient. The boats are stable with a small outboard quick and serviceable. Short jumps to new anchorages towing the boat in good weather makes sense. Planning to make a passage stowage on the foredeck or secure to the stern using davits or tied can work. On the stern the dinghy can influence your sailing either as a wind or wave catcher. Test out the dinghy size at a store or boat show. Four crew in an 8/9ft dinghy can become a bit crowded.
Having just spent 30 days in the Caribbean mostly at anchor or mooring ball, the ease of getting to and from shore becomes a big part of your cruising experience. Motorized access is the most popular. Rigid hull with inflatable bow a sides makes getting on and off the boat convenient. The boats are stable with a small outboard quick and serviceable. Short jumps to new anchorages towing the boat in good weather makes sense. Planning to make a passage stowage on the foredeck or secure to the stern using davits or tied can work. On the stern the dinghy can influence your sailing either as a wind or wave catcher. Test out the dinghy size at a store or boat show. Four crew in an 8/9ft dinghy can become a bit crowded.
We have a Zodiac 270 aero floor. It is 8'10" and fits on the bow, but I can't say that I've ever gone anywhere with it on the bow. I have a davit for a motor that I've used to pull the dinghy up on edge to fit across the swim platform. It does fit nicely there but takes a bit of work to secure it that way. We don't have a motor & consequently we haven't used the dinghy as much as I'd like to. That should change this summer. We most frequently tow the dinghy, even off shore, but have never experienced rough weather with the dinghy towed or secured to the stern.
I don't like storing anything on the foredeck of our Catalina 350 as it gets in the way of the v-birth hatch. We have a Portabote. Not inflatable but stores nicely along the stanchions with room to walk by it. We unfold it on the foredeck and drop it in with a halyard. Never have to worry about leaks or rocks. It is a bit of a pain to fold and unfold it, though, and we find we use the inflatable kayak we have stored along the other side more convenient. But if we're in a situation where we want to motor, we drop the Portabote in and run it with a 2.5 hp propane motor.
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I carry a small roll-up (7.5 ft?) in the aft berth until I get to Catalina or other islands and inflate it in the cockpit after arrival, so I don't have to drag it 35 NM up wind. Downwind with the current going home in the same direction as the waves it's an easy tow and almost skips along if adjusted right so it's riding down the face of the wave behind. 2hp Honda (29lbs) rides on the rail and I mount it on the dink from the swim step.
We have a small Achilles RIB (less than 9') that we almost always tow. The only times we carry it on deck is extended sails in the ocean, like crossing to the Bahamas. Towing slows us a little, usually less than a ½ kt.
The problem with foredeck storage is visibility. The dinghy will reduce visibility forward, which is not a big issue 50 miles off shore, it is a problem on the Elizabeth River in Norfolk (don't ask).
It is best to not tow the dinghy for any distance with the motor on the dinghy. It puts the motor at risk if the dinghy should flip and adds weight to the tow which slows you even more. Do get a crane to store the motor on the pushpit. I have used both a Novalift and a Garhauer lift, far and away I prefer the Garhauer as the motor can be easily raised by one person in the dinghy.
The problem with foredeck storage is visibility. The dinghy will reduce visibility forward, which is not a big issue 50 miles off shore, it is a problem on the Elizabeth River in Norfolk (don't ask).
It is best to not tow the dinghy for any distance with the motor on the dinghy. It puts the motor at risk if the dinghy should flip and adds weight to the tow which slows you even more. Do get a crane to store the motor on the pushpit. I have used both a Novalift and a Garhauer lift, far and away I prefer the Garhauer as the motor can be easily raised by one person in the dinghy.
If you are asking me, no I don't the Garhauer was on my Sabre 30. I installed the crane about 15 years ago.
The more critical dimension is the length of the arm. Decide where you will store the OB and look for a good location for the crane. Then measure. The crane will need to be about 16" or more above the lifeline so the OB will land on the mount.
It came with the boat and I didn't choose it - so I'm not exactly sure which model it is. We also haven't used it very often. It's intended to be a lift for the dinghy motor, but I found that if I lift one end of the dinghy rail with the lift and the other by hand, I can secure the dinghy pretty nicely on edge and secured to the pushpit. I don't have a picture with dinghy secured. I have a few photos of the davit. I'm pretty sure it is the LD 6-1M Short. The differences appear to be the arm length and the tube diameter. I haven't measured either dimension but I think it's pretty clear that I have the 26" arm and the 1-3/4" tube diameter. The weights are very light so no need for the beefier model.
I don't have a picture of how it is mounted. Obviously, the top attachment is mounted to the pushpit rail. The bottom mount is secured to the back side of the stern bulkhead below the deck level. I thought about buying another lift so that I would have a lift on both the stbd and port sides and I would spread them out more to the sides (pretty much where the motor mount was (I took it off) to function better as a dinghy lift. I haven't had the urge to do that project so I haven't bought another and the original is still where it was originally mounted. I took the motor mount off because the wood was checked and I don't have a need for the mount anyway. If you mount the dinghy edge-wise across the stern, then you would need an alternate way to fly your colors!
