Why is it the way it is? Dinghys

[sailaway78]

Also depends on your usage

I think you have to use your intended usage as a guide. For example, if you do a lot of offshore work, you need to put the dink up on deck. You can hang it on davits, but that has it's drawbacks also. Such as getting pooped, filling the dink with water and losing it. Also the hard dinks are usually quite a bit heavier, and a lot more work to get on deck. The best solution I have found is the inflatable floor models. They can be deflated, and rolled up on deck when needed, and are reasonably stable when inflated. Not as stable as a hard dink, but much more stable than a wood floor or slat floor model. A kayak also makes a good dink for some. Again, it depends on your primary usage.

 

[zeehag]

i am fortunate to have the space to place a walker bay 8 ' dink on bow, roll up inflatable under the boom. my kayak fits on the coach house roof and my inflatable kayak is in a bag i can stash anywhere--paddles fit on coachhouse roof, tied to grab rails, and away i will go..i have 2 small engines--outboards -for the dinks-so i can do whatever i want to do ......
my deflatable is more stable than is my walker bay dink....i used to use kayak 100 percent of time--but now i am using it and my walker bay interchangeably for provisioning

 

[Darwin19229]

I have owned a 'Logic 12' for over ten years. Looks like an inflatable but roto-molded of the same plastic that they make kayaks out of. Takes up to a 25hp outboard (I have a 15 on mine), unsinkable and extremely stable. I believe they are now called 'Triumph'.

 

[dscribner]

I owned the inflatable from Hell, my first dink. It had a tear in the fabric, so I glued a patch over it, sewed the pacth on and I was good . . . One step in, and several rips appeared out of nowhere. And they grew and grew. Their size was proportionate to our distance from the boat. Their number, equal to the depth of the water . . . tide was coming in fast. We had life vests and were only a 100 yards from land so a swim would have been inconvenient, not life threatening. But, I found it heavy when towing. The broad bow dragged badly. So, I took care of her with a marlin spike and sent her to Davey Jone's recycling bin and bought a used fiberglass dink. It is exciting to board, I'll give you that. But it tows MUCH better.

Now, I'm a thinker (unless you ask my wife). Didn't the eskimos hunt down some of the largest creatures on the planet in boats made of wooden frames with greasy skin stretched over them? So, suppose a collapsible aluminum frames was created with nylon stretched over the sides and neoprene or kevlar on the bottom? Or 3/4" thick foam sheet (like swimming noodles) in a nylong sandwich? Get to the destination, pull the dink out of the 1/4 birth (or where ever), pop it into shape and dump it over the side. It weighs 50 lbs.

 

[druid]

Druid: How long do you expect an inflatable to last? If you purchase a Hypalon unit then you may expect 12-20 years. If you purchase a PVC unit you may expect 6 mos to 6 years (if you keep them out of the sun).

...and if it's made of aluminum or fibreglass...? I have a couple of PVC units, and they're 2-5 years old with no signs of imminent failure. In fact, "Vinyl Valerie" is still seaworthy and she's over 10 years old, and CHEAP PVC.

(BTW: does ANYONE have the same dinghy for 20 years? Is it really a Big Deal to have a dinghy that will last that long?)

BTW2: What the HELL do you guys to do your PVC boats that make them only last 6 months?? The only PVC boats I've ever owned that have "failed" (ie lost air enough to be thrown away) were:
1. A REALLY small and cheap ($50) "pool-toy" that I bought for fishing because I wanted something that packed up REALLY small. First time out, I put a fishhook through it. To its credit, I did manage to get to shore before it lost too much air., and
2. Another "pool-toy" PVC that the rats got to - for some reason they like chewing on PVC.

The others I have are still good as new.

druid

 

[txtowman]

A friend of mine has a john boat with 12 inch diameter pvc pipe tubes bolted to the side. he's 400 pounds and sits on one side all the time

 

[dscribner]

My inflatable failed decause of the fabric covering. The PO left it in the weather for a year and that brand is known for little or no UV inhibitors in the fabric. The pontoons were mint when I hacked it up.