The Best Dingy?

Camelot OD25 ~ /) · Jul 7, 2009

Dear Lord...Sorry I couldn't help it....

You may get as many opinions on "best" dinghy as there are dinghies. Here's mine. I have a Watertender 9 and an inflatable. Both are light enough and virtually unsinkable. The Watertender rows better with its hard hull. BUT the inflatable is much more stable getting into/out of and with crew. The Watertender rests beside the garage. The inflatable is at the dock.

LANCE ON CLOUD NINE · Jul 7, 2009

For a great , tough, inexpensive inflatable- check out the yacht tender at sea eagle.com. It is the perfect size for a small sailboat. I tow one everywhere behind an O'Day 23 and have been very happy with it. They will ship it to you and it comes with seat, oars, foot pump and patch kit. Good luck.

Joe11688 · Jul 7, 2009

The big question is; do you need a dinghy? If you don't have access to a live dock to load your gear, the answer to the question is yes, I need a dinghy to bring out passengers and gear. If on the other hand, you have access to a loading dock, I would buy a 9' kayak. It tows beautiful behind your boat and won't slow it down like a dinghy or inflatable and you can hop into it and go exploring or beach combing, or take the dog over to curb. It will fit Kitty cornered into a standard pick-up truck bed. At least mine does, anyway. The answer to getting in and out of the kayak is to have a 15' braid rope on the bow and keep it in the cockpit of the kayak. When you paddle out to the your boat, put the rope around the first lifeline rail and pull the slack out of it and tie it to the Gennie winch. You should be able to hold on to your boat and get right out of the kayak and into the boat. It takes practice and it's doable. You can do the same thing when you come up to a dock. With your kayak tied off to something, you're pushing against the rope and it's up to you to keep the kayak close to the dock or the boat while getting in or out of it. I've been doing it for years. If it can work for me it can work for you. The hot summer months is a good time to practice and get used to your kayak.
Joe

Everlong 25 · Jul 8, 2009

Trinkka said:
The big question is; do you need a dinghy? If you don't have access to a live dock to load your gear, the answer to the question is yes, I need a dinghy to bring out passengers and gear. If on the other hand, you have access to a loading dock, I would buy a 9' kayak.
Joe

Nelson,

To follow up on Joe's point, my boat is on a morring. I have a dingy rack at the beach where I have an 8 foot pelican row boat (bought used for $300) and 2 Old Town OTTER Kayaks. The Otters are very beamy and have a pretty good sized opening. I fly out to the boat, droip the ladder, swing my legs out of the kayak and climb the ladder....very quick, but I only use this when I'm running out to check on the boat, which you really need to do daily on a mooring, in my opinion.

I also have an old AVON inflatable, which I keep below if I'm going out for a bit for safety reasons.

With that said, I am actually going to look at an old 8 foot sailing dingy tongiht (like a Dyer).

We enjoy our dingys/kayaks as much as we do the sailboat. I highly recommed a kayak, since you can pick on of these up for a couple of hundred dollars and we'll go out for a "quick" half-hour paddle sometimes when that's all you have time for.

Chuck
Warren RI
Everlong
O'day 25

Joe11688 · Jul 8, 2009

LordNelson said:
thanks. i do have a sit upon kayak which i have used with limited success. i can get onto the sailboat 90% of the time, but end up flipping 50% of the time getting off. also, your butt gets wet 100% of the time even using the so called plugs so it is only good when the water/weather is warm.

I have an old Keowi which was made by aquaterra that I bought new in 1995 and I've never flipped it over getting in or out of it. I'm not too keen on the small Old Town of that size . I've tried one and they're not as stable as my Keowi. The small 9' 5" Herritage seems pretty stable although I've never tried one and I'm not certain that it would fit in my truck with the tail gate closed.

Joe11688 · Jul 8, 2009

LordNelson said:
i found a 6 yr old Achlilies 9 ft inflatable with hard floor on craigslist for $300. i may go take a look at that as an option.

That's a good buy and they're an excellent made inflatable, but you don't want to tow it with an O'Day 20. It will slow your boat down to a crawl.

Camelot OD25 ~ /) · Jul 9, 2009

Joe's right. My inflatable does slow me down. Hey I lose a knot just dropping my outboard in the water. But life is made up of many compromises and personal preferences. I like the safety & stability of the inflatable. However Joe's idea of the bow line on the kayak sounds like a winner.

Joe11688 · Jul 9, 2009

TJD 25 said:
Joe's right. My inflatable does slow me down. Hey I lose a knot just dropping my outboard in the water. But life is made up of many compromises and personal preferences. I like the safety & stability of the inflatable. However Joe's idea of the bow line on the kayak sounds like a winner.

TJD,
I can honestly say that the line on the bow is the secret to getting in and out of a kayak at a dock or the boat. It's really hard to explain my maneuver of getting in and out of the kayak without pictures but I'll try. When I pull up to a dock in the kayak on my Port side, I put my paddle on the dock and tie the rope off to a dock cleat. While holding on to the dock cleat with my right hand, I place my left elbow in the back center of the kayak and spin around so that my left knee is in the seat and I'm facing aft. Then I merely get right up and out of the kayak and on to the dock. I do the same thing when I approach my sailboat, only I pull up to the Port side of my sailboat and use my right elbow to pivot on. The kayak is always being held in place by the rope. The kayak can't go forward or aft, but it can go out sideways and holding on to the dock or the stern rail of the boat prevents this. with the boat tied off to Trinkka, I can stand up in my kayak while holding on to my sailboat. All I can say is, give it a try. Years ago, I observed a couple of girls in kayaks crossing the river and one of them tipped her kayak over. It was early spring and that water was cold. The girl that was with her didn't know what to do. Penny and I were in our kayak heading back to the Trinkka when we saw them. I paddled over to her kayak and tied my bow line to it while she swam over to fetch her paddle. When she swam back I told to to grab hold of the back of her kayak and I towed her and the kayak to shore about 100' away. The other girl just paddled her kayak along with us. She was all set once she got to shallow water. She was able to bail her boat out and head back across the river and get home for some dry clothes. I offered them hot tea on board the Trinkka but she declined and said that she would be OK. So the rope has it's uses.
Joe

Joe11688 · Jul 11, 2009

Well, I guess the dinghy is your best choice then. My late friend Walter bought a new dinghy made by Sturdee Boat Co. in Tiverton, RI. He paid about $1200 for it, I think. Last year they had a marine dealer in Maine sell his Mac 26, and they hung on to the dinghy. This year his daughter asked me if I knew what it was worth and I really couldn't give her an answer. They wanted to sell it. I never heard back from them, so I don't know if they ever did sell it. It's a real nice dinghy that will carry three people. I know that Walter really loved it. It was made real well with fancy wood work compared to some of the dinghies I've seen. They live in Norton Ma.

emergpa1 · Jul 12, 2009

Joe,
Assuming I make it back into the water, What do you do with the kayak to keep it from bumping into the boat at night when you are sleeping?

Joe11688 · Jul 12, 2009

emergpa1 said:
Joe,
Assuming I make it back into the water, What do you do with the kayak to keep it from bumping into the boat at night when you are sleeping?

I usually have the bow line from the kayak come around the first Port lifeline rail and tied off to the combing winch. Then I put out a fender. I also keep a fender hanging on my stern rail at all times for when I'm on a run with the kayak in tow. If the waters are really kicking up, the kayak has a tendency to tip over on a run. Keeping the kayak close to the hull prevents this. If I'm anchored in a quiet cove with no wind, I may give the kayak a lot of rope and let it stay out away from the boat. It really depends, but in most cases a fender will keep it from banging into my boat at night. If you get a kayak keith, practice with it by trying to stand up in it, or get into the water and try to board it by the stern. I took my kayak out on the river when the waves were really rolling and I'd head right into them. I always tell people to buy a kayak in the summer and just wear your suit and practice tipping it over or getting into it from the water. This will give you an idea of what it can and cannot do. I take Penny with me when I paddle my kayak in the winter months on the river, so I'm glad that I got acquainted with it years ago.
Joe