Hard dinghy choice

[motion30]

I am looking at to fiberglass boats to use as a dinghy. One is a 12-foot Carolina Skiff, the other is a 12-foot Livingston cat. Either would be powered by a 15 horse 2-stroke merc
Looking for anybody with experience with either one of these boats I would like an opinion

 

[menzies]

I am looking at to fiberglass boats to use as a dinghy. One is a 12-foot Carolina Skiff, the other is a 12-foot Livingston cat. Either would be powered by a 15 horse 2-stroke merc
Looking for anybody with experience with either one of these boats I would like an opinion

Are you planning on putting it on your boat deck using a davit - or just towing it?

 

[motion30]

Plan on puting it on davits during passages . Both boats have advertised weight about the same approximately 230 lb

 

[HopCar]

I owned a 12 ft Carolina Skiff many years ago. It was very stable which my wife enjoyed. It wasn't fancy so I didn't worry too much about beating it up. It would carry a big load. If you can handle the weight, I think it would be an excellent dinghy. Can't comment on the Livingston.

 

[Scottbwheeler]

The livingston will give you a much drier and smoother ride, but not as fast as the Carolina skiff. The Carolina will pound in a chop and give a wetter ride, but faster than the livingston. More likely to be able to plane off a heavier load with 15hp in the Carolina. I have owned both a Carolina Skiff and a Twin Vee (1st cousin to the Livingston).

 

[Gabe n Em]

We have a 12' livingston with a 20hp on it. Top speed with just me is about 20 kts. With 4 people, it's about 17. It won't get on plane with 4 big people. It can be wet if the weight is distributed poorly. I would say they are much more rough water capable than a12'Carolina skiff. Stability seems about the same. We're really happy with ours. Overall it seems to be a lot more boat than 12'. I'm surprised the weights are advertised as the same.

 

[boathealer]

Have 9ft Livingtston with an 8hp two-stroke. Planes easily with two aboard. Tops out at ~18 with me alone. Can be wet in certain conditions. TONS of room!

 

[angus99]

FWIW, we bought an 11-foot Bluewater Baby for our 44 Defever from the previous owner of the company. A bit heavier at 300+ pounds and not cheap, but we like to fish and need the room.

If the 12-foot Carolina Skiff is the older flat bottomed CS hull, prepare for a pounding in anything but flat calm. We had a larger version that rattled my teeth. The newer DLV cathedral hull (we have a 19) is a much smoother ride.

 

[ctbarbarian]

What kind of davits are you thinking of ?
Kinda of in the same situation.

 

[Nomad Willy]

Have 9ft Livingtston with an 8hp two-stroke. Planes easily with two aboard. Tops out at ~18 with me alone. Can be wet in certain conditions. TONS of room!

Healer,
You actually would have tons of room if it was a flat bottomed boat w/o that cat tunnel stick'in up in the ctr of the boat. Tons more capacity too.

 

[Rebel112r]

Be sure to get the beefier Livingston, designed for Davits, gunnels are built stronger.. I never did like the center tunnel in mine, but it was a decent boat. Wife always liked the overhang on the bow, could hook it over the dock, and it made a very stable boat for getting on and off.

 

[C lectric]

I have the 9ft Livingston with an 8hp Yamaha. I carry it like shown by Boathealer in post #7.

A friend has the 12ft Livingston with either a 20HP or 25HP and it is the go to boat if there is more than a 2' chop. or if we are going any great distance which has been done. It can reasonably carry 6 people and 8 in a squeeze.

Have not seen the Carolina but I have seen the others in the 8-9ft range that were flatter bottomed. They were faster than mine but rougher if any chop.

Yes, the tunnel reduces interior room but it is also what smooths the ride out.
Not perfect but a good compromise, at least to me.
And I suspect almost all these small boats are going to be wet if the chop is enough.

 

[Heron]

I would like to find a 9' Livingston if anyone has a lead. NC sun is hard on inflatables and we like to haul a dink since we anchor out a lot.....

 

[motion30]

What kind of davits are you thinking of ?
Kinda of in the same situation.

I have Weaver davits on the swim platform

 

[motion30]

I have a really nice 10 foot Achilles then I am probably going to sell when I buy the Livingston

 

[Conrad]

30+ years ago we had a 9' livingston that was well built and suitable for our young family.

Fast forward to 2013 when we bought Blue Sky and needed a new dinghy. Because of our previous success with the 9' we decided to again go with a Livingston but the 10' model which has a much higher capacity rating.

We also went with their recommended combo of the Yamaha 9.9 4 stroke and 7' oars.

First off, the 7' oars were way too short; 9' oars worked perfectly after two 80 km trips to get the right ones.

We also installed a Seawise davit system, again recommended by Livingston. The Seawise system did not fit, and we had to significantly modify the dinghy transom.

After everything was finally setup, the dinghy only planes with two light people on board; anything more and the prop cavitates.

Oh, and the dinghy arrived damaged because the shipping crate from the manufacturer wasn't properly designed.

All of the above to say that current Livingstons are not built or marketed like they used to be. I was told by a Livingston rep in 2013 that the company has been through 5 ownership changes since we first bought our 9'.

 

[motion30]

The livingston is not being built anymore by world cat. There does seem to used bosts available

 

[Panacea123]

FWIW, we bought an 11-foot Bluewater Baby for our 44 Defever from the previous owner of the company. A bit heavier at 300+ pounds and not cheap, but we like to fish and need the room.

If the 12-foot Carolina Skiff is the older flat bottomed CS hull, prepare for a pounding in anything but flat calm. We had a larger version that rattled my teeth. The newer DLV cathedral hull (we have a 19) is a much smoother ride.

How is the ride compared to a Boston Whaler?
Looks like it has more interior room? Nice clean layout

 

[angus99]

How is the ride compared to a Boston Whaler?
Looks like it has more interior room? Nice clean layout

Ours is sitting in my garage and has not been used yet. We need to reinforce the davit before it goes on the big boat. I hope to try it out in the river later this fall and will post my impressions. I've been told the ride is less jarring than a Whaler. We're very pleased with the roominess and layout.

 

[Simi 60]

Consider a tinny, lighter than solid glass.
Get a beamy one and they can be very stable.

 

[HopCar]

I was just looking at the Carolina Skiff web site. The lightest boat I could find weighed over 400 pounds. That's a lot more than the 230 pounds mentioned in post three. Did I miss something?

They have gotten a lot fancier than when I owned one.

 

[Conrad]

The livingston is not being built anymore by world cat. There does seem to used bosts available

So I see. I wonder if someone else will pick up the line, or have we seen the last of Livingston?

 

[angus99]

I was just looking at the Carolina Skiff web site. The lightest boat I could find weighed over 400 pounds. That's a lot more than the 230 pounds mentioned in post three. Did I miss something?

They have gotten a lot fancier than when I owned one.

They have indeed, Parks, including fully gel-coated hull liners. Prices have risen commensurately. They also still seem to be offering a series of kit boats, including a 12-footer (11'8"). The bare hull is 230 lbs, but the weight increases with seats, foredeck, console or whatever options you add.

http://www.carolinaskiff.com/kit-boats/j-series-kit-boats

 

[C lectric]

30+ years ago we had a 9' livingston that was well built and suitable for our young family.

Fast forward to 2013 when we bought Blue Sky and needed a new dinghy. Because of our previous success with the 9' we decided to again go with a Livingston but the 10' model which has a much higher capacity rating.

We also went with their recommended combo of the Yamaha 9.9 4 stroke and 7' oars.

First off, the 7' oars were way too short; 9' oars worked perfectly after two 80 km trips to get the right ones.

We also installed a Seawise davit system, again recommended by Livingston. The Seawise system did not fit, and we had to significantly modify the dinghy transom.

After everything was finally setup, the dinghy only planes with two light people on board; anything more and the prop cavitates.

Oh, and the dinghy arrived damaged because the shipping crate from the manufacturer wasn't properly designed.

All of the above to say that current Livingstons are not built or marketed like they used to be. I was told by a Livingston rep in 2013 that the company has been through 5 ownership changes since we first bought our 9'.

The engine needs to be lifted higher. You have too much leg in the water. I have an 8HP Yam. short shaft on a 9 ft and raised the engine about 3.5". I can check specifically if needed. I had the same problem. The tunnel actually means too much of the drive is immersed. Once I did that the package planed very well at about 15K by myself.

I built a riser of UHMW and aluminum sheet. Did it about 5 yrs ago and made a huge difference.

If you wish I will post some photos although will have to take them.

 

[Conrad]

The engine needs to be lifted higher. You have too much leg in the water. I have an 8HP Yam. short shaft on a 9 ft and raised the engine about 3.5". I can check specifically if needed. I had the same problem. The tunnel actually means too much of the drive is immersed. Once I did that the package planed very well at about 15K by myself.

I built a riser of UHMW and aluminum sheet. Did it about 5 yrs ago and made a huge difference.

If you wish I will post some photos although will have to take them.

Thanks - that would be much appreciated. No rush though as I'm currently in Calgary and won't be back on Blue Sky for a couple of weeks.

We're running a long shaft as per the Livingston recommendation. Perhaps I should have thought of that since most of their other recommendations were incorrect.