Hard dinghy vs. inflatable??

Tim R. · Jan 13, 2011

I have used both so I will share my experiences. Presently I am using a 9.5ft Mercury RIB with a Nissan 8hp 2 stroke. Perfect for Maine coastal cruising. My Cape Dory 10 that I had previously been using has been relegated to lake sailing at the camp.

I also have a hypalon roll-up for longer passaging. This can be stored in the sail locker or lashed on the deck.

In southern climes I would highly recommend Hypalon(or similar) if you go soft. Also, if you plan on always towing, get a RIB. It is a good mix of hard and soft.

Hard vs Soft

Hard pros:
Tow better(less drag)
Can get one with a nice sail rig
Less likely to be stolen(in most areas)
You do not need to inflate it
Much easier to row
Used ones are cheap
Will hold it's value if cared for
Will plane out better than a RIB

Hard cons:
Less capacity per linear foot
Less stable(especially when getting in and out)
Cannot be folded and stowed(except fold-a-boat)
You will need to tie alongside with fenders on calm nights
Can get banged up at dinghy docks(I always parked mine between soft dinghies; instant fenders)
Not as good as a soft dinghy for taking the pup to shore
Either could be wet or dry dependening on how you use it and how fast you can go. Soft dinghys are typically wetter unless you plane them which can be a problem if you are limited in no-wake zones.

Ol Dave · Jan 13, 2011

My Observation is:
First time buyers get an 8 ft, PVC inflatable with a 5hp motor. It's easy to store onboard and you can man handle it without davits.

I Mexico, yaears later I lwill ater see them sun bleached and rotted, discarded behind the shop at a boatyard. When I walk the docks south of the border, what I see resembles a 10ft, rigid bottom, hypalon with a 15hp motor.

My conclusion is, if you're dinking around the coastal US, go the inexpensive route. If you are serious about getting to shore and back with groceries or laundry, in the chop ... and want to get up on a plane and stay dry, go rigid and 15hp.

Ol' Dave

Benny17441 · Jan 13, 2011

Get a roll up inflatable. It will provide stability for getting in and out and will store with ease for convenience. You can move the boom to one side and inflate it on the cabin top and then lower it in the water with the use of the main halyard. Retreiving is just the opposite. Since you don't have a swim platform I recommend a light engine. Suzuki has a 4 stroke 2.5 HP engine that weighs in at close to 30 lbs and is easily handled with one arm. If you can find a 2 stroke in good condition that will work also as they are lighter. You may fashion a briddle out of floating yellow line to tow the boat in short hops. Florida law requires that if the dink is engine powered that it be registered. It is inexpensive and with FL numbers permanently painted it deters theft. Some believe that if a dink is used as a Tender to the main boat that it don't need to be registered but that is baloney. It only applies if the dink is used exclusively as a lifeboat and if it is put in the water do to a real emergency. There are some places where Marine Patrol makes a living ticketing unregistered dinks. Most are in the Florida Keys but can be found in other locations. I think I may have seen yout boat at the St. Pete Municipal marina, good looking one. Try the Vinoy Resort, same rates and you get to use the hotel facilities. Never with a strong East wind though.

Bill Roosa · Jan 13, 2011

rigid vs soft

First off you are not going to get an answer one way or the other as everybody has their preferred type.
I prefer hard as you can build one for less than $300. My hard shell is an 8-Ball sailable. You can row it, motor it, and sail it. The cost included the sail, mast, dagger board and rudder, oars and dingy proper.
That is a lot of dingy for $300.
Sails up on plane in 10 knots of wind, rows very well and seats two adults and about 100 lb of gear or one adult and two kids plus 75 lb of gear.
Construction time was 3 weekends dawn to dusk and all it took was basic skills at cutting plywood and mixing fiberglass. The dagger board, rudder and mast require some wood plane work but that is not hard to learn. I also made the sail which was not included in the time to build. I did that in front of the TV during the weeknights. The sailing hardware was the single biggest expense. If you went with the row only version you could do it for around $175 and about 2 weekends of work.

seadaddler · Jan 13, 2011

Roll up

I vote a 9' or 9 1/2 rollup air floor because easy to handle,I had a 8' rollup air floor and now have the 9'6'' with aluimin floor and wish I had the air floor,my back is not what it used to be and this one is heavier and harder to move around.
I don't have davits so I either tow with bridel or tie it side ways on my stern,8hp really does well.
Nick

richk · Jan 13, 2011

three options

Florida sail said:
I am now at the point of getting tired of being dependent on others to get to shore or to another boat at anchorage. I will probably be pulling the dinghy for the most part because of limited deck space and at present lack of davits. It is time to make an investment in a dinghy. Would appreciate any thoughts. Thanks...

ribs - best choice, but cost and weight made me eliminate them when I recently purchased a replacement dink.
hard - problem with banging it into hulls of larger boats in non-flat anchorages. also problem with it rolling when our large dog enters by himself from parent boat.
soft - my choice. went with pvc rollup rather than hypalon. storage and cost. maybe i'll afford a rib someday.

heart of gold · Jan 13, 2011

I have an 8ft Walker Bay PVC rigid air floor with a 6hp yamaha 2 stroke( maximum rated). It works great. It planes quite quickly and seems to be very stable even at going fast. I avoid rough water though and am very wary of debris. The only disconcerting thing that I see is the speed bubble near the transom on plane. Doesn't seem to bother anything though. I just acquired this engine last fall and it around 40lbs and while a bit heavier than my 2hp Honda 4 stroke, the extra power is sure nice. As others pointed out, I think the best thing about this set up is its weight. It can be carried up a beach easily with 2 people, hoisted on deck by one(no engine). I originally bought it because my last boat was a Mac 26M and this little dink fit perfectly on the fore deck and on my 34 there is tons of room. One other thing is it is easy on the body, the airfloor is nice to kneel on or sit down in when in rougher seas. Because it is PVC, I know it will rot in the sun if not taken care of so I invested its matching UV cover and this is what it lives in when not being used. I've had it four years now with no sign of deterioration. Like others, I am thinking of a RIB, but I hesitate as for my wife and I this setup works very well. If I went RIB way I would have to spend a bunch on davits etc. and I just don't know if I what more stuff hanging off of the stern. Cheers, Ian

Rick Belew · Jan 13, 2011

Look at the KL's Hard Dinghy

I am in the same dilemma you are having. I will be doing the coast of USA and the Bahamas plus some inland water ways and I have had a PVC inflatable prior. The seams separated and I glued them and they separate in other places and I gave up on at least PVC. So I found a boat that may interest you. It is made by KL Industries and they have double hull hard dinghy in many sizes and they are fairly light weight (115 pounds and up). Check out the web site klindustries.com. I am concern with the stability of these boat but searching the internet I have not found one review that had concerns about the stability. They are made of high density polyethylene and I have a kayak made by hobie from the same material and it has held up good. Compare to an inflatable the cost is less than half of an inflatable. I am looking at purchasing the waterquest 10.2 at 160 pounds which is rated for a 7 HP motor but I will be using my 9.9 HP mercury at 75 pounds which will give me 235 pounds with a max capacity of the 10.2 at 469 pounds.

I hope this help with your choice. I am still looking for someone who has one of these that can give me additional information about these units. How stable are they when stepping into the boat etc?

Buck420 · Jan 13, 2011

Re: Look at the KL's Hard Dinghy

Rick,

I bought one of these 7 years ago, after talking to a number of other cruisers, and have been VERY happy w/ it ever since.
http://www.abinflatables.com/i_producto.asp ....Navigo 9VS
Very stable, gets up on a plane w/ 2 of us aboard and has held up almost like new.
If you'd like to see a picture of it up on my davits, go to;
Forums ... Shared Forums ... Destinations ... "Name The Location".

Ed Schenck · Jan 13, 2011

Really like Bill's "8-Ball" : http://www.glen-l.com/designs/sailboat/8ballsg.html . Would be a great winter project. Love the idea of being able to sail around the marina or anchorages. Do you tow it or lift it Bill? Downside is the weight compared to my Avon.

Incidentally, my red hypalon Avon 8' inflatable is over fifteen years old and still in excellent condition. Well except that someone stole one of the floor panels. And I still have not tried the air-floor that I bought from Rich.

Sailm8 · Jan 13, 2011

We had an 8ft West Marine roll up. The bottom fell out and could not be repaired. It was PVC. We had an 8ft 6inch Mercury with and inflatable floor but I found it sort of shaky transfering the motor. We now had a hybred. It's a mercury dynamic inflatable. Hard fiberglass bottom and inflatable hyperlon tubes. We use a 3.5 nissan to move it along. Love this set up. Give us stability. We use the weaver industry lift system to fold the dink up against the stern. Bought the dink from Buster's MArine in NJ. Got a great price at the Miami boat show

Buck420 · Jan 13, 2011

Re: Look at the KL's Hard Dinghy

Rick,

How many locks do you have to go thru to get from Pickwick Lake out into the Gulf of Mexico??

Chuckbear · Jan 13, 2011

Here is our changeover and why,
http://tinyurl.com/5wyn9m4
Chuck

Rick Belew · Jan 13, 2011

Re: Look at the KL's Hard Dinghy

I think it is between 11 and 13 locks. I have the maps/charts on my boat. There is a lot of pleasure craft on the Tombigbee and the lock masters try to group them together and time the passage through so they don't have to wait at each lock. Tow boat/commercial boat have the right away so sometimes it not as smooth. It is approx. 450 miles and all is down hill except the first 40 miles to Bay Springs. Each year in spring and fall all the snowbirds travel back and forth from Canada, Michigan, and sometimes New York to seek the warm weather. They say that more dirt was remove from the Tombigbee than the Panama Canal that Jimmy Carter gave to the locals for FREE!!!!! The cost to traverse the Tombigbee: FREE!!!!!!!! Mast must come down due to some 50 feet bridges. Local Marina's with lifts charge about $1000 to drop mast but I hear once in Mobile area it around $250. I am building my own mast support out of stainless steel so I can reuse them. Thanks for information about your Dinghy. I thank that may be more than I want to pay.

Buck420 · Jan 13, 2011

Re: Look at the KL's Hard Dinghy

Thanks Rick.. very interesting

higgs · Jan 13, 2011

If you are going to be in waters with steep seas, towing is a pita. In the Great Lakes, where I cruise that is not an uncommon scenario. For that reason I like my roll up that can easily be stored on board.

Prime Time · Jan 13, 2011

Purpose!

As a kid, we used to tow a cape dory 10 sailing dinghy. It rowed like a dream and sailed just fine. It was a blast. That being said, if you just want to get from a to b by outboard, go with an inflatable.

Steve Dion · Jan 13, 2011

Do yourself a favor and stay away from PVC inflatables. They do not do well if you spill fuel on them, they abrade easily and are NOT easily repairable.

I would not consider a rigid dink if you have small kids or animals. They are tippy and usually cannot accept much of an engine. This may not be an issue (kids & pets) but you need to consider if you have guests. They also do NOT carry a lot of weight.

Assuming you will be going with an inflatable, you will probably want to be sure that it can be stored on the foredeck in case the weather gets bad. Even if you have davits, you will probably not want it hanging out there if weather closes in.

RIBs are great but they generally weigh quite a bit more because of the hull. They really are great if you are in rougher water or are carrying heavy loads.

Lots of options and a lot more opinions.

Be sure that you purchase a quality product that has repair facilities close by in case of warranty claims. WM has their own brand but I am not a big fan of theirs. Fabric quality does not appear to compare with AB, Caribe, APEX, Avon & Achilles.

It is not as important as to where the boats are built, but what they are made of. Units like Achilles are now mfg in China, but they are still high quality and built to Achilles standards.

Are 1994 Caribe just finally gave up the ghost. It was stored out in the sun for 15+ years. Other than an annual cleaning it was not covered or well cared for.

Capt. Kermie · Jan 13, 2011

I would recommend Hypalon over PVC if you go Inflatable or RIB, even with the extra cost. I have a 9'9" Titan/Maxon inflatable with air floor. The floor has a slow leak that takes a few days to go soft and the leak is too slow to find, I patched it once but it still leaks. The surface of the big 17" air chambers above the water have become sticky and gluey due to PVC breakdown by UV rays from the sun. I live and sail north of 49 degrees and I used 303 protectant on the dinghy as well, not to mention it is only exposed to sun July & August while I do weekend trips, the rest of the year it is clean and put away. Still over a few years the PVC broke down and I am not impressed with it, everything sticks to the sticky surface including my pants, next time I will get Hypalon.