Travel with Dinghy

Mar 8, 2011
36
Catalina 310 Oriental, NC
How do travel with your dinghy?
Any other way than pulling all the time?
 
May 12, 2004
1,502
Hunter Cherubini 30 New Port Richey
Going on a day sail or overnighter I pull. Cruising any long distance she's lashed to the foredeck. The dinghy, I mean.
 
Jun 6, 2006
6,990
currently boatless wishing Harrington Harbor North, MD
Store it on the aft, on davits, or forward.
Couple of things to consider: Are there shorter members of the helm crew that cannot see over a dinghy stored forward? Does the dinghy stored forwared impead crew movement past it? Does the dinghy stored on the stern hid the aft nav light? Does the dinghy stored on the aft restricy mobility getting on/off the the boat? How do you launch and recover the boat either on deck or on the stern? Does the dinghy stored on the stern restrict visability for shorter members of the helm crew?
When at sea the visability issues may not be important since 99.94% of the time the auto pilot will be helming the boat so.........
 
Jul 27, 2011
4,988
Bavaria 38E Alamitos Bay
If it's fully inflatable (no hard shells or floor), deflate & stow it below between destinations unless they are close in space. If not, on the foredeck as mentioned above. Be sure it's secure at bow and transom. Just get the right sized one for your boat.
 
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Nov 8, 2007
1,523
Hunter 27_75-84 Sandusky Harbor Marina, Ohio
We deflate ours, and store it below. There are many good marinas and clubs on the Great Lakes, and most of our anchoring is where going ashore is optional. The inflatable works fine when we need it.
 

Tom J

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Sep 30, 2008
2,301
Catalina 310 Quincy, MA
We carry our Walker Bay 8 on davits when coastal cruising. Going offshore, we prefer to lash the dingy upside down on the foredeck, when forward visibility isn't an issue.
BTW, we enjoy stopping in Oriental!
 
Jan 1, 2006
7,039
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
Tow it. We did little offshore sailing. Mostly up to Ct. or East to Block Island in under 20 kts. It is a hard dingy which towed very well. Only once we had a problem when extremely heavy rain filled it. We pulled it in and dewatered it without a lot of fuss.
If I sailed over the horizon I would have to work out a different plan.
 
Jan 17, 2013
439
Catalina 310 St. Simons Island, GA
Have wrestled with this and found this sling to be a low cost but effective way to handle the dinghy. Have used it offshore and it is very stable and is better than towing, IMO...

www.harbormenmarine.com

Boat broker in FL told me about it and I can recommend it. Works great on a 310 with a 7 - 8 ft dinghy.
bob
 
Jan 17, 2013
439
Catalina 310 St. Simons Island, GA
Just noticed that there is a picture on that website of my boat using the sling with my old 9 ft dinghy. I downsized to a 7 ft dinghy since then because when heeled over the longer dinghy did drag in the water. My new 7 ft mercury air deck is a perfect dinghy for our use and perfect size for the sling on a 310.
bob
 
Sep 23, 2009
1,475
O'Day 34-At Last Rock Hall, Md
Bob,
Thanks for the headsup. That boat sling might be just the ticket for us. Only issue might be our narrower transom and keeping the dinks tubes off the exhaust it outlet. Do you have any more pics of how you set it up?
 
Jul 27, 2011
4,988
Bavaria 38E Alamitos Bay
Have wrestled with this and found this sling to be a low cost but effective way to handle the dinghy. Have used it offshore and it is very stable and is better than towing, IMO...

www.harbormenmarine.com

Boat broker in FL told me about it and I can recommend it. Works great on a 310 with a 7 - 8 ft dinghy.
bob
IMHO, it's only a fair weather (partial) solution. The dink is likely to catch wind when there is some, and might work itself out, etc. Better to stow it, lash it, or tow it--in that order. Another possibility that we've discussed here alot is the Porta Bote.
 
Sep 30, 2013
3,538
1988 Catalina 22 North Florida
We've always towed our inflatables behind in fair weather. The problem is when the wind pipes up, they always want to fly up in the air and flip upside down. Deflating and stowing (and later reinflating) is quite a hassle when the dink is darn near half as long as your boat, but it has to be done.
 

Sailm8

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Feb 21, 2008
1,746
Hunter 29.5 Punta Gorda
We have weaver davits that came with the boat and a smaller dinghy. When we upsized to a RIB we found it dragged when we heeled so now we just drag it behind the boat. We are coastal cruisers only.
 
Jan 17, 2013
439
Catalina 310 St. Simons Island, GA
The sling is much more stable than it appears because I originally had concerns about it being a fair weather option. It is not, the dinghy is very secure. Only thing I had to do it adapt my stern light so that it accepts a light pole that we would use if needed after dark. Not a big deal at all. Attached are some pictures but I won't be able to get pics from the cockpit until spring when I use it again. Anyway, have been out in rough conditions and no problem. Any other questions let me know.IMG_2033.JPG IMG_2032.JPG
 

Attachments

Oct 17, 2011
221
Catalina 310 USA
The sling is much more stable than it appears because I originally had concerns about it being a fair weather option. It is not, the dinghy is very secure. Only thing I had to do it adapt my stern light so that it accepts a light pole that we would use if needed after dark. Not a big deal at all. Attached are some pictures but I won't be able to get pics from the cockpit until spring when I use it again. Anyway, have been out in rough conditions and no problem. Any other questions let me know.View attachment 118201 View attachment 118203
Interesting. I wonder how it works with a hard dinghy? Any concern with it falling forward onto the transom?
 
Jan 17, 2013
439
Catalina 310 St. Simons Island, GA
This sling would not be a good choice for a hard dinghy. The bottom of the dinghy rests against the transom and the swim platform and you can adjust what angle to keep the top of the dinghy. You can see from the pictures that I keep mine almost completely upright, but still at an angle. The top of the dinghy is 2 feet away from the stern rail. This lets it rest securely with out any movement port to starboard. I frequently pull the top of the dinghy up against the stern rail to empty any water or if I need to reach something. It has never rocked forward against the boat while underway but I suppose in very rough seas that would be possible but would also be harmless. If that were to happen it would be a simple matter to just secure the top against the stern rail. All this contact with the boat helps with a soft dinghy but would be a problem with a hard dinghy.
bob
 
Mar 8, 2011
36
Catalina 310 Oriental, NC
The sling is much more stable than it appears because I originally had concerns about it being a fair weather option. It is not, the dinghy is very secure. Only thing I had to do it adapt my stern light so that it accepts a light pole that we would use if needed after dark. Not a big deal at all. Attached are some pictures but I won't be able to get pics from the cockpit until spring when I use it again. Anyway, have been out in rough conditions and no problem. Any other questions let me know.View attachment 118201 View attachment 118203
Thanks for this information and photo's.
Looks like a good option.
 

Rick D

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Jun 14, 2008
7,131
Hunter Legend 40.5 Shoreline Marina Long Beach CA
90% of the time when sailing less than an overnighter, we tow with two lines that have water-ski floats on them. 30+ years so far. When I raced and expected to do some cruising and harbor-hopping on the way back, I took my old soft-tail Mercury and tied it up vertically rolled up to the pushpit with the bottom resting on the swim step. It's not a big deal to inflate or deflate. The towing dinghy is one of those 9.4 hard dinks made of the same stuff as a beer cooler.
 
Jan 17, 2013
439
Catalina 310 St. Simons Island, GA
One of my issues is that I HATE inflating the dinghy and have only done it at a dock. If I had to do it at anchor it would be a huge PITA just because of the width of the dinghy (7 ft long but pretty wide) in a 31 foot boat using a manual pump... I'm sure it could be done but I prefer to depart the dock with an inflated dinghy and keep it that way.
bob