Feeling a little Dinghy?

[SEADANCE]

first time dinghy

This past weekend we sailed around Horn Island beautiful weather good winds and we anchored by the Island. Our depth was about 11 feet. My daughter wanted to go shell seaking and play on the beach. I blew up the dinghy the day prior so I grabbed the oars and said lets go we can do this. My first time ever doing something like this and I was nervous with daughter in tow. We definatley definatley need a motor for the back of it and a bigger dinghy to fit all of us.B/Seadance

 

[Bill]

Brig

We had an Avon for a while but it was old and parts hard to come by. We bought a Brig three years ago and it is great. Row's well and stores in a bag. I lost the drain plug and they airshipped one from Canada free.

 

[Harley Nygren]

BATTERY ON DINGHY MF3J

What Problems? A small gell cell battery from a golf PULL cart will drive a trolling motor and 9 foot hard dinghy at almost 4 knots for a long time. No mess, no fuss, no noise, no polution, and no complicated setup. Give it a try.MF3J

 

[sleepy]

Foam

For those of you with old inflatables I have noticed that the Navy & Coasties foam fill their inflatables, Kills storablity but extends the life of them.

 

[LordNelson]

14' row boat

i use a 14' aluminum rowboat to get out to my mooring. it also doubles as a fishing boat. i also use an sit upon kayak if i am sailing alone.

 

[larry w]

dink

I've had the same 10' Avon with wood floors, powered by an 8hp Nissan, for over ten years. It's still in decent shape. I used to keep it covered on a float in my slip, but the marina was rebuilt and that ended. I now keep it hoisted on the davits, but the cover is now a hassle to use. I'm looking for a 10' RIB with a 9.9 or 15hp two-stroke since I never take the engine off the transom except for maintenance.

 

[John R.]

Torqeedo?

Sequitor mentions using a Torqeedo electric motor. I've been looking at them (for a porta bote I just bought). These are relatively new and I've been looking for owner reviews of them. How do you like it, Sequitor? Any comments on performance, power, range, etc.? thanks.

 

[piseas]

Just bought Baltik

I just purchased 9.5 Baltik on Ebay based on several recommendations. Most have had inflatable for 1 or 2 years and reported no problem. Isnt it covered with 5 yr warrenty?

 

[Taylor]

Kayaks cover the distance

We carry two kayaks - One is Necky Manitou 13 - which I highly recommend - its a great little boat, paddles like a much longer touring kayak, and is available at a decent price (a bit more than a rec boat, but less than a full on touring boat) This year I scored a Pygmy Tern 14 for the second kayak; this is more of an enthusiast's boat, it is wood and epoxy, and needs to be treated with more care than the rotomolded Necky. Both of these are boats you can paddle for as many miles as you want, they have good glide for shorter boats. Now that we have a family, yes, I need a dinghy too. So we have a sweet 11 foot fiberglass lapstrake style rowing dinghy, with 8' oars, which really allows you to do some rowing compared to the junk I sometimes see. For me, the exploration around anchorages in the afternoon and evening is as much a part of the trip as traveling from place to place, and I want to do it in style, and quietly.

 

[Kearney Mason]

dingy, dingy, dingy

The use of a small craft to get from anchor or mooring is a must. To get to my moored airplane I use a sailboard. It never fills with water when left on the mooring. Our Fatty Knees dingy is great to row, sail, and motor. It drags behind the Catalina 25 just fine. Very useful and lots of fun to use. Our 8' rib resides on the davits on our Catalina 36 MkII. It is a great utility boat with the 5hp outboard,but just not the fun of the Fatty Knees. Each has its own place. Happy rowing, paddling, sailing, or just motoring. KLM

 

[Bill Blanchard]

Walker Bay 8'

My 35 O'day is on a mooring. I have an 8' Walker Bay injected moulded dinghy that requires "0" maintenance and rows well for one person. If two people need to use it suggest putting on a 4 h.p. outboard as there is no room to row correctly with two adults.

 

[SailboatOwners.com]

Final results

Final results for the Quick Quiz ending July 29, 2007:What kind of dinghy do you use?52% Inflatable26% No dinghy18% Rigid dinghy04% Kayak1,158 owners responding

 

[Larry]

Walker Bay * tupperware bowl

I have a Walker Bay 8. It is my idea of a large tupperware bowl in the water but it works. My wife and I have gone over in it trying to get out of our boat but hey, it rows pretty well and as someone else mentioned, it's maintenance free. In my opinion all dighys are IUV's anyhow (inherently unstable vessels). Good luck with yours.

 

[frankrHow do]

For those of you with kayaks

How are you getting into and out of your kayaks from the boat? They are not the most stable platforms. I have considered using one of our kayaks with some kind of platform suspended from the davits as my 12 foot sailing dingy is too big to hang from the davits. thanks

 

[Steve Kamp]

Kayaks and dinks

We have a walker bay 10 which hangs from the davits and a sit on top, roto molded kayak which we play on in warm water. To get on the yak we bring it up next to the swim platform with the ladder down, step onto the second or third step facing the mother ship and sit down on the yak. To get into the dink we bring it snug against the stern sideways with a painter and a stern spring and then step off from the swim platform onto middle of the thwart seat trying to keep the center of balance as low as possible. We do stay reasonably dry in the dink, which at this point is only powered with oars.Steve and Sheila KampH 38 Carolina

 

[WeeZerNeek]

Port-A-Bote

We have a 10 ft Port-A-Bote which we have had for 17 years. This is one of the originals with add on aluminum outboard motor mount. This dinghy has given us great service over the years, mostly for going ashore although recently, the grandkids use it for horsing around. The beauty of the Port-A-Bote is that it is almost indestructible. We have no hesitation about running it up on a rocky beach. Sure, we get the usual comments like, "Hey, is that one of those folding boats?" We keep it lashed down on deck when not in use. It takes about 30 minutes to set up, and another 30 minutes to tear down using the foredeck. We lower and retrieve it using a halyard. It has its share of cosmetic blemishes after all these years but is still 100 percent functional.

 

[Brian M H23]

Cheap rigid sailing dinghy

also known as SUNFISH! Ok, it's actually a scorpion, but it's 12' long, watertight foam-filled hull, worst case scenario it swamps with about 10 gallons of water, and is self bailing. The rig (mast and sail all rolls up into one small roll and it takes about 60 seconds to step the mast, hoist sail, and be off. Total cost : $120Total weight: 120 lb

 

[Jeff]

Want to see a little dinghy?

This is the Zodiac (West Marine) 2 man 6'9".I don't think they make these anymore and they are a rare sight.You can get a load of the size by looking at the oars.The 2.5 hp Suzuki accelerates this thing 0 to 5 knots in about 2 seconds. I zip around like a horse fly through barn stalls.They claim 2 man, but I think one is max. Or maybe one man and a small Asian lady.It fits in the bow storage or a 26 footer, including the motor.I use it for Catalina water taxi and cruising my harbor.Safety? Could possibly be a life raft however its never inflated under way. Would have to be a slow leak.