Replacing an inflatable with something bigger?

[mncruiser]

MNcruiser, You would know since you own it but are you sure your little boat is a Crestliner? It sure looks like an Alumacraft to me. I have the same boat except with a steering deck by the rear seat. Mine is about a 1959 and rated for 35 hp which is what I have on it in the form of a 1959 Evinrude. I'm also sure your rig weighs more than 650 pounds. My motor alone weighs over 200 (I think)

I love the boat and motor. maybe I will try towing again.

pete

It technically isn't mine yet. It was found clearing some land for a friend's house, it is grown in by 40 years of forest. There is an emotional attachment my buddy's dad has to it, but they all realize it's just been sitting for 40 years there. My buddy does not want it, and would rather have me do something with it. It's a cool boat.

Funny enough, I think it actually says "Crestliner Alumacraft" on the moldings on the side. The windshield is there, and the 3 "tanks" I'm assuming are filled with foam are there too. You are correct, 35 hp is what was on there, an old Evinrude that looks like it weighs about 300lbs is sitting in a blown down shed nearby.

My idea is to salvage the boat, put a newer 30-35 HP outboard and controls on it, and see how it runs. I might try throwing my 20HP tiller Merc on there just for fun, but I think it will need a little more than 20HP to run right.

I think full steering controls and a stalk throttle would be cool on it, but I've got to first get it....then sit in in and see what works. I like the simplicity of running a tiller, and the physics of the boat might force me that way. It's only 12 feet and narrow....I find I'm much more comfortable sitting aft and using a tiller. I can move my not small self around to balance the boat. If I did the wheel/controls thing I'm kind of stuck in one spot.

Do you have just a tiller steer on yours?

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

ASD TT, Little ASD

Setup with downriggers, I can also use a pot puller, VHF and MFD.

 

[Nomad Willy]

Aluminium wide body dory with electric start 30 (wish it was 40) 2 stroke ob for us
Solid bit of gear but easily lifted on davits with 3 speed manual trailer winches.

Very stable, can carry a big load and can punch on through some weather if needed.
We often do a 14nm each way run across open water for provisioning.
And after 5 years of use have not got wet from spray due to "Millennium hull" shape

Have happily towed it several hundred miles up and down the coast without issue.

Simi,
NA’s gave up on concave planing hard chine boats some time ago.

I remember lusting after many concave bottom planked boats … in the fifties. A major builder (Huckins) had most if not all (many were large) adorned w the CH (concave hull) had the salty I’m the real deal look.

The CH boats may have been considered better because they were harder to build and that USUALLY spoke of better higher class stuff.

Now-days spray rails and lift strakes do a better job of keeping slop and spray out and off the boat.
And there are other advantages like lower wetted surfaces, they float higher in the water and keep their bilge water lower in the hull. Chine tripping potential is probably lower too.

But my non-professional intuitive notions hold up to the fact that very few concave hulled boats being built. And some very fine boats have convex hulls too.

And a passing thought is that a concave forefoot is found on both old and newer boats .. but mostly on slower boats. The theory being, probably, that it takes less overall energy to move water aside by starting the movement slowly and then excellerating the mass as it gains speed. Interestingly this is the basic concept of the concave bottom, cupped propellers and concave wings.

Simi do you know of a concave bottomed being made today that is’nt a replica?

As I look at your post I wonder why they are (if they are) called Millhull?
And I do t the CH part (right) is better looking.

 

[RickyD]

I'm a two dinghy guy. Luckily I have two cranes. One on the hard top where I keep a 10' roll up Achilles with inflatable floor. Love it for rowing to the beach with the dogs. I've had it since 1998. Still great. I do have a small 4HP for it for lake use. Then I have a 12' Caribe console inflatable with 40hp. I can plane with 4 people. I always tow that one as I don't want to be out at the islands and try to swing it aboard with possible hazardous consequences. I love the stablibility of inflatables. Step in on the tube and there is no issue. Towing offshore has mostly been no problem. I did snap my 3/8" tow line and upgraded to 1/2". Of course if you just read my last post you'd know that it is currently confined to my foredeck until I can fix my crane. And what is the difference between a crane and a davit? I think of davits as manual things that help you to swing the dink onto the swim step or to lift the boat with block and tackle.

 

[smitty477]

I'm a two dinghy guy. Luckily I have two cranes. One on the hard top where I keep a 10' roll up Achilles with inflatable floor. Love it for rowing to the beach with the dogs. I've had it since 1998. Still great. I do have a small 4HP for it for lake use. Then I have a 12' Caribe console inflatable with 40hp. I can plane with 4 people. I always tow that one as I don't want to be out at the islands and try to swing it aboard with possible hazardous consequences. I love the stablibility of inflatables. Step in on the tube and there is no issue. Towing offshore has mostly been no problem. I did snap my 3/8" tow line and upgraded to 1/2". Of course if you just read my last post you'd know that it is currently confined to my foredeck until I can fix my crane. And what is the difference between a crane and a davit? I think of davits as manual things that help you to swing the dink onto the swim step or to lift the boat with block and tackle.

A great solution if you have the time and space to utilize this....we often traveled with an 8.5'/3hp inflatable floor tipped up on the swimstep, a 12.5' RIB/w40hp on the boat deck, and a larger RIB in tow. Always had more than one deployed wherever we went for over 15 seasons.

 

[Simi 60]

.

Now-days spray rails and lift strakes do a better job of keeping slop and spray out and off the boat.
And there are other advantages like lower wetted surfaces, they float higher in the water and keep their bilge water lower in the hull. Chine tripping potential is probably lower too.

We bought this second hand and were fortunate enough when buying that I was able to get a few sellers to launch their boats and come to us when we anchored off the boat harbour.

We were definately after that size and a wide body
One that came out was the normal style and then came the Busta with millenium hull

Big improvement in ride, was about 15 knots of wind so a bit of a chop and on the normal style at some angles running across waves the chine rail did grab
Harder ride punching into it and wet.

The buster was much smoother, finer entry I'm guessing and a dry ride.
Plus seemed more stable, 2 of us can stand on one side and we couldn't on the other, possibly due to 100lbs of thicker hull plating in bottom?

Downside to that is it didn't seem quite as lively under power but, the better ride and staying dry easily outweighs that.
It'd be perfect for us with a 40hp Yamaha 2stroke with the long tiller arm

 

[Nomad Willy]

Thank’s for the feedback Simi.

A big part of your skiff that I like is found on most Uniflies .. the very noticeable wide chine very far fwd.
A big and roomy boat, light but not twitchy.

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Don't know if this is a problem on the east coast, but in Puget Sound you need to put your dinghy on board or put a lock and cable on it. There are thieves in the night.

 

[RLKramer]

Nothing specific to contribute here except the irony is that at this moment I'm on the ferry crossing between Madeline Island and Bayfield reading your post. We have a high field 360 that we keep on top of our boat in Florida, had a larger boat here on Madeline that we towed a dingy but it was usually a mess and speed restrainer.

 

[Mr. Blu]

Maybe an AST tender? Very light weight and very expensive. But a beautiful little boat.

https://ast-yachts.com

 

[Mr. Blu]

We have a Whaly 270 with a Torqeedo 1103 CS. 99 % of the time an obstacle, but you can't do without it.

 

[Mark Laurnen]

Great commentaries! I don’t think there is a perfect solution to your need, which would not be unusual. I went through this myself and settled on a Takacat inflatable. Look at them carefully … great stability, great capacity, relatively light weight, plane with less hp, tow easily and don’t beat up your boat.

 

[AndrewAdams]

Garvey 11 - 27mph, 20HP, ~325lbs

I was also unsatisfied with the dinghy options. Never trusted a RIB in AK waters and there was so little room in it. A friend with stern davits on his Nordic 37 built a Garvey 11 from bateau.com and I've done the same. So much of what I thought was 'magic' about fiberglass is just patience and care. They plan the building process so that you start with the easy stuff.

Here's the launch and some more commentary:

https://community.boatbuildercentral.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=66268

Andrew

 

[Shaunc]

I can tell you what NOT to buy. There are a few options made and sold on Aliexpress.com There are some great ones made in China and some companies go out of the way to offer great customer service and then those that dont give a crap. Haohai talked a great game but they have not honored 1 of their warranty items and stopped communicating with me despite having done a few deals with them.



If you do your homework you can get a great deal and a honest manufacturer. The better ones will walk you through the options and weight choices between a RIB and Aluminum. Just stay away from Haohai.

 

[angus99]

We like to fish from our dinghy and didn’t want to give up space to air-filled tubes, so we opted for an 11-ft BlueWater Baby—basically a Whaler knockoff. Not sure if they’re made anymore. The real game-changer for us is the Dinghy Butler that allows us to launch in about 30 seconds and retrieve in about 60 (after the stays are removed). Very few things to complain about.

 

[C5F]

We run a 2001 Mainship 390 with the Zodiac that came with the boat. It's an older Hypalon model, and while in decent shape it will need replacement in a few years. I put a Mercury 20 on it in place of the 9.9, and it is quick and pretty efficient. We also have the sea-wise davits which are very nice. Here is a picture of my setup :

We are Lake Superior boaters, mainly boat around our home port of Bayfield, Wisconsin and the Apostle Islands. Normal load is myself, my wife and 2 kids 8 and 10. There are lots of islands and secret beaches to explore.

I have this idea that I would like a small "hard boat" that we would tow. Something like a Boston Whaler 13 or 15, with a 40 to 60HP outboard. We have decent legs with the existing dinghy, but I find myself wanting something a little larger to take some longer trips with more gear, and be a little more stout crossing parts of the cruising area.

My thought is either not replace the dinghy...or replace with a smaller cheaper dink with a 2hp or even electric motor for strictly ship to shore trips. Then when it makes sense, we tow along the bigger dinghy/boat.

What am I not thinking of? There will surely be more to think about...docking will require some handling of the dinghy alongside or off the stern, or one of the kids or my wife hops in the small boat and takes it in. Most of the places we go we can anchor or dock at park docks, so slip fees not really an issue.

I'd love to hear about your experiences. Thank you!

We went thru the chasing leaks thing and decided to go for a "hard body" that also gives me a seat with a center console. It is called a Rigid and I got a 12' model. Some will say expensive but I will also tell you that I will not need to buy another dinghy. I am very happy (rigid boats.com). I can take up to a 40 hp but elected on a 30 Tohatsu 4 stroke. I do keep it up on the boat mostly (Nick Jackson lift) but also tow it often. FYI

 

[Csellars]

I have a Monk 36 and went with the Bullfrog 10' tender using a weaver system. Love the fact that I don't have to inflate or deflate depending on temps. Unsinkable and sturdy. Draw backs, with 15 horse outboard a bit heavy for beaching.
https://www.bullfrogboats.com

 

[Spinner]

When I bought my 2003 42 Nordic Tug in 2018, I immediately saw I would need a tender. The PO put a 7.5 foot very used inflatable on it for the sale, complete with 4 hp motor. I went with an 11.5 ft Achilles RiB with center console, 25 hp Suzuki and electric start. It lives on a Freedom Lift. The Freedom Lift is a nice concept except getting the strapping dialed in. Up on the boat deck I have my Portland Pudgy, a fun little boat that rows and sails. I have a torqeedo for it, but usually just row. There is a crane up there, and the Pudgy launches and retrieves very easily. It’s the best dinghy for going to shore, and the RIB is best when I have guests on board. I’m pretty happy with the two.

 

[Palmbeachphil]

Towing

I have towed an 11 foot Boston whaler for thousands of miles with minimal problems. The key is to set up a good towing bridal. I also hang 10 feet of 3/16 inch chain off of the transom of the dink which keeps it towing straight and just drags across the bottom in shallow water.

 

[mncruiser]

Nothing specific to contribute here except the irony is that at this moment I'm on the ferry crossing between Madeline Island and Bayfield reading your post. We have a high field 360 that we keep on top of our boat in Florida, had a larger boat here on Madeline that we towed a dingy but it was usually a mess and speed restrainer.

I hope your ferry ride was good! Our boat is all wrapped up for the winter. I feel like I got a divorce from Bayfield and all my summer friends! Can’t wait for the remarriage in the spring.

Ahh the Summerfolk!

 

[mncruiser]

Thank you all for all the replies. As usual, your knowledge and experience is amazing.

I’ve got a lot to think about. Will let y’all know what I decide to do. Thanks!

 

[Group9]

I have towed an 11 foot Boston whaler for thousands of miles with minimal problems. The key is to set up a good towing bridal. I also hang 10 feet of 3/16 inch chain off of the transom of the dink which keeps it towing straight and just drags across the bottom in shallow water.

Same here. We towed an 11 foot Whaler from Mississippi to the Exumas and back twice, with little to no drama. We now have a a Dell Quay Dory 13 (Whaler knockoff).

 

[Pete Meisinger]

If your "found" Crestliner/Alumacraft has a flat bottom at the stern (which it probably does) Twenty five horsepower is plenty. Like I said I have a 1959 35 hp on mine. It is fast, but the flat bottom gives you an uncomfortable pounding in waves.

I have complete remote steering and controls on the motor even though i am sitting right next to it. I still have the tiller on the motor and use it occasionally.

If you go with an antique 35 like mine be certain to get one with electric start. I converted mine to electric start because pulling through an old 35 Evinrude is a job for a younger man.

I am halfway through restoring an old wooden Thompson runabout. When it is done I will put the 35 on it and mount a 1959 eighteen horse Evinrude on the Alumacraft. It will be plenty of horses. Yes, it is also electric start, it was hard to find.

pete

 

[mncruiser]

If your "found" Crestliner/Alumacraft has a flat bottom at the stern (which it probably does) Twenty five horsepower is plenty. Like I said I have a 1959 35 hp on mine. It is fast, but the flat bottom gives you an uncomfortable pounding in waves.

I have complete remote steering and controls on the motor even though i am sitting right next to it. I still have the tiller on the motor and use it occasionally.

If you go with an antique 35 like mine be certain to get one with electric start. I converted mine to electric start because pulling through an old 35 Evinrude is a job for a younger man.

I am halfway through restoring an old wooden Thompson runabout. When it is done I will put the 35 on it and mount a 1959 eighteen horse Evinrude on the Alumacraft. It will be plenty of horses. Yes, it is also electric start, it was hard to find.

pete

Thanks for the info. I have to go cut down several trees to get the boat out of where it has been sitting for 30 years, but barring anything I didn't see before where I'd find some crazy damage, should be mine soon.

Curious on the controls, do you find yourself sitting in the rear or front section? All the old pictures show people driving it from the front with the controls.

The hull shape will be something to pay attention to. My first thought was for it to be a towable dinghy, but maybe it's just a fun boat for local messing around? We do take our little Zodiac out in some snotty stuff, for a little thing it does quite well in the near shore areas near Bayfield.

I think I'll end of going with a non-traditional update on it.....gotta get it here and see what I have to work with. Have pics of the other boat you are working on?

Thanks

 

[Hippocampus]

Only solid dinghy I’ve had until now was a fatty knees. You could even row it and it was small enough to put on the foredeck by yourself but the downside of any small dinghy solid or rib is the lack of carrying capabilities and difficulties in any sort of seaway or surf.
So if you anchor out or even just use moorings bigger is definitely better regardless of style. Being able to load a complete food shopping trip and two adults is the minimum unless you go marina to marina. Ideally four adults and all their kit is better.
So hard means more usable space for LOA in most cases but there’s many conveniences with RIBs hence their dominance.
For the first time we have hard. It’s a Rigid (which looks like a RIB but the “tubes” are grp with storage inside). There’s a 40 hp on the back. It also has four rod holders. Having that speed, space and solid ride is a real pleasure after being bounced around on light RIBs where you really need your skills getting anywhere if it’s bumpy at all. Enjoy exploring and fishing. So now can anchor the boat and think little of going 10-15 m away or off fishing for the day. Would like to see a real “flats” boat done in Al in a small enough size as to be practical as a daily driver. When the Rigid dies will shop welded Al. For us and our boat we’re limited as I think anything over 12’ would cause problems. Don’t like towing anything ever. Just another thing to worry about.

If I had the boat bucks would get one of these and put a full delta on it.

https://octenders.co.nz/

Seen them on the back of several boats now and had opportunity to chat up one owner. Said it checked all the boxes.

 

[Pete Meisinger]

I always steer from the rear.

pete