Type of Dingy, Inflatable or NOT?

[Lou_tribal]

Female or male would make no difference except that if a male call me beautiful I would be just surprised, but flattered anyway
Now that clarifications have been made it is time to get back to the subject of the thread started by Richard (I would not dare to say "our friend Richard" not to start another controversy )

 

[BandB]

Female or male would make no difference except that if a male call me beautiful I would be just surprised, but flatted anyway
Now that clarifications have been made it is time to get back to the subject of the thread started by Richard (I would not dare to say "our friend Richard" not to start another controversy )

Wifey B: Good idea, handsome.

 

[kthoennes]

Yes, dinghy debates can go on for years, but for us, we don't have davits or those hinge thingies on our swim step and even if we did, carrying the dingy there would block the aft stairs. Having puttered around in our neighbor's very nice RIB, I agree with many of the other posters - rib's are nicer and drier and ride better. For us though for long runs we needed something light enough to lift over the front rail and carry on the bow upside down. We went with a Zodiac Aero 260 with a Yamaha 4 hp. It is wetter than I'd like in a chop or high wind, but it's light enough to wrestle around, goes fast enough, and easily handles three adults and a dog. (I once saw a Mainship like ours with davits on the aft deck roof and they stored the RIB on the roof. Maybe it works for them but (1) that's a lot of weight and strain on the roof struts, (2) it has to increase rolling in rough seas pretty badly and (3) our boat is tall and bill-boardy enough without making the windage even worse.)

So in other words, sometimes you have to compromise on the dingy depending on where and how you carry it.

 

[harvardrvr]

I am big fan of AB ribs, they are probably the best made tender ribs available with a size to suit anybody. I tried the "false economy" of buying cheap and often but in the end after seeing over half the boating community here using AB's I decided to invest. I am seriously impressed. Hypalon, Aluminum with a Tohatsu <15hp and your are solid. Weighs less than 200lbs at 12 ft.

 

[Simi 60]

The dinghy is my car.
It needs to carry several people and their gear
It needs to carry several weeks supplies
It needs to be able to travel at least 10nm at speed.

Currently I have a 3.5m vnose aluminium punt with a 15 that is very stable and fast but not big enough to carry more than 2 and some gear at speed and can be wet if punching into more than 15 knots of wind and slop.

Next dinghy will be a 4.2m wide body aluminium dory with a 40hp on back.
To get back stability I will fit Kapten collar effectively making it an inflatable that doesn't deflate or fall apart.
Kapten Boat Collars - Home

 

[Peter B]

......
Next dinghy will be a 4.2m wide body aluminium dory with a 40hp on back.
To get back stability I will fit Kapten collar effectively making it an inflatable that doesn't deflate or fall apart.
Kapten Boat Collars - Home

Isn't that what in effect a decent sized RIB is anyway, and all ready made..? Especially as it appears you'd still have to add padding of some sort round the gun'l to protect your mother boat's hull..?

 

[Simi 60]

Ribs don't have high sides
Ribs deflate
Ribs have transoms desperate and for all those failings they cost a small fortune.

A wide body dory with a 40 on the back in good nick costs $4k and a collar another $1k and no deflation issues.
It is made of bouyancy foam so is a fender.

 

[angus99]

An 11-to-12-foot RIB--the largest I could fit on our boat deck--just doesn't have the room we'd want. I'm interested in a small Whaler-type dinghy, with decent interior volume, a bimini and speed--but with less weight than a Whaler. I like these on paper. Anyone have any direct experience?

Bluewater Baby Specifications – Bluewater Baby

 

[Wxx3]

I am big fan of AB ribs, they are probably the best made tender ribs available with a size to suit anybody. I tried the "false economy" of buying cheap and often but in the end after seeing over half the boating community here using AB's I decided to invest. I am seriously impressed. Hypalon, Aluminum with a Tohatsu <15hp and your are solid. Weighs less than 200lbs at 12 ft.

Also I, and they are the premier RIB in Europe and here, however, they are expensive.

Not saying they are not worth it, but at a cost equivalent of the fuel cost to cross two oceans, the dingy is priority 3 and only the top two are being filled.

 

[Ski in NC]

A long list of compromises, indeed.

I'm going to soon be shopping, so it is a good exercise to list them out.

Size- I have to go small as my main boat is smallish and narrowish. It runs at planing speed offshore and towing the dink will destroy it out there. I tried that!!! Dink has to be light enough for me alone to lift it into the cockpit with engine removed.

Speed- I like dink to plane. But to plane means at least six hp and that motor gets heavy to lift off the dink and into the big boat manually. Something easily liftable will not make it plane so settled on 2hp, which I have. So far have never been in a situation where current or wind overwhelmed it propulsive power. But that could happen, and is a scary thought.

Inflatable- Pretty much only option to get bouyancy at light weight. And no fenders needed as it IS a fender.

Man that lifting into the cockpit gig really sucks. I need to go look and see if I can design some removable lifting brackets for the transom area. But don't really like that thought of that either.

Hmmm...

 

[Greatlaker221]

This is a dinghy I built from a kit from Chesapeake Light Craft | Boat Plans, Boat Kits, Boatbuilding Supplies, Boat Kit, Kayak Kit, Canoe Kit, Sailboat Kit
It is about 12' but comes apart in an 8' and 4' sections. It was fun to build, looks great and it rows, sails and motors with a 2 hp. The dinghy takes a lot of maintenance and is very tender. I would not use it for serious cruising. I have sailed it about 6 times, it takes a lot to rig it. I row it for exercise and it is great for that. It does not plane so top speed is 5 knots with a 2 hp, more is not helpful due to hull design. I wrote a blog below detailing the construction if anyone is interested.

Steady as she goes!: Starting Construction

When I finish the refit on Tortuga and go cruising, I am thinking about going with a Bull Frog 10" with a 20hp or a aluminum AB RIB with a 15hp Honda. Having the ability to Go Fast/cover distance, after a cruise and explore/provision seems attractive.

 

[FlyWright]

Richard, what are your storage needs? Davit to top deck? Swimstep? Folded into storage bag below deck? Do you want to be able to go 15 kts or greater? Big water capable or for use in protected bays getting to shore or other boats?

 

[Diesel Duck]

Richard:

If you're set on a rib (I still think the Bullfrog is the way to go) I recommend you take a look at the Highfield brand of inflatable boats. They are becoming more and more popular due to their growing reputation for building a quality product.

HIGHFIELD BOATS - Aluminium Rigid Inflatable Boats



.

 

[CPseudonym]

(I still think the Bullfrog is the way to go)

Every person I have talked to that has spent any time whatsoever in one says the same thing about them. As I am snooping around for something I'll try getting on one to sea trial and see what all the fuss is about.

http://www.bullfrogboats.com

 

[Nomad Willy]

Craig,
They look like a good boat and they actually are a boat. And there's room inside.
The downside is a big one though .... heavy.

 

[Simi 60]

Bluewater Baby Specifications – Bluewater Baby

[/URL]

Same size yet half the weight
This is what I have now and its very stable, I can stand on the edge without it tipping.

345 Jabiru Savage | Australian Boats

 

[AlaskaProf]

Wifey B: Good idea, handsome.

"G'day, Sheila."

 

[AlaskaProf]

Dinghies

Craig,
They look like a good boat and they actually are a boat. And there's room inside.
The downside is a big one though .... heavy.

True. My "new" trawler came with one, and I like it a great deal, aside from the fact that it is "butt-ugly", but it would be absolutely unmanageable without this rig.

 

[AlaskaProf]

Dinghies

But who says you have to choose?!

My 41' Rawson came with the Bullfrog, and I had an 8' Achilles (plywood floor) that's been residing in my garage since I sold my last sailboat-25 years ago. But I NEEDED a sail boat, so I acquired a 9' Minto. Or as a recent guest said, "Bill! You don't have a boat, you have four boats!" yeah, seems about right.

There's two Folboats and my daughter's sup-board still in the garage, but that may be a bit of overkill.

 

[Steve]

We have a 9' Livingston and are very happy with it. It is equipped with an older 6hp Mercury 4 stroke, it doesn't go very fast although it will plane with one person aboard. I haven't noticed a problem of water spraying in over the transom at our speeds, nor have we ever been out in any sort of rough water in it.

 

[AlaskaProf]

As I am snooping around for something I'll try getting on one to sea trial and see what all the fuss is about.

Yacht Tenders, Utility Boats, Dinghies - Rigid Aluminum Hull Boats

Where are you?

 

[Nomad Willy]

Yea Livingstons are OK.

Would be a much safer boat if the bottom was flush w the inbd chines of the amas. In other words not pretending to be a catamaran. Huge increase in payload and freeboard. Would ride rougher on plane though.

 

[BandB]

"G'day, Sheila."

Wifey B: You're not Australian are you? I don't think you can use that if you're not?

 

[AlaskaProf]

Wifey B: You're not Australian are you? I don't think you can use that if you're not?

No, but it seemed relevant to the off-topic discussion of potentially insulting forms of address.

 

[ranger58sb]

Every person I have talked to that has spent any time whatsoever in one says the same thing about them. As I am snooping around for something I'll try getting on one to sea trial and see what all the fuss is about.

Yacht Tenders, Utility Boats, Dinghies - Rigid Aluminum Hull Boats

Looks good on paper, but heavy.... likely partially due to the console. Ours, WB Genesis 310FTD, without console, comes in at about 242-lbs (boat + motor) and the console version would have been another 150-lbs or so IIRC. (Of that, our motor is electric-start 15-hp 4-stroke, 107-lbs.) The more current WB aluminum G2 RIB, same size, looks like it'd be 329-lb total.

I didn't actually know WB had a new aluminum version of the Genesis out 'til I just now searched. Might be worth a look for those who are shopping... although they also look pricey...

-Chris

 

[Diesel Duck]

Looks good on paper, but heavy.... likely partially due to the console. .......-Chris

Not all Bullfrogs have a center console. Their 10' Utility tender does not have a console and it weighs (without motor) 220 lbs. For comparison a Highfield RIB in a comparable size, their CL 310, weighs in (without motor) at 132 lbs. Yes, 88 lbs separates the two but is it a deal breaker when you consider all the benefits of the Bullfrog?


.

 

[BandB]

No, but it seemed relevant to the off-topic discussion of potentially insulting forms of address.

Wifey B: Definitely.

 

[klee wyck]

Libra is getting near to being cruise ready and acquiring the tender will be one of the last steps. There has been no question as to what that will be due the bias of what must be near a 1000 days of time aboard this brand (Lund). The deep V can handle some water for a small boat.
For better or worse, my lack of experience or bias in the big boat tender world makes this easy for me. Time will tell how whacked this idea is but this is not intended as a shore boat. I expect to use it as a platform for many sporting activities. I have dragged these things over the rocks for years and years with no adverse outcomes. I have a 12 ft aluminum Thornes that we bought in 1958 that still gets it done and has seen almost unbelievable abuse.
The 12 foot all aluminum Lund WC-12 weighs less than many 10 foot RIB at 202# and under 300 with the 9.9 2 stroke. I have a soft floor inflatable on Klee Wyck and despise the thing.

 

[Nomad Willy]

OK good ...
Hard to beat an aluminum skiff.
You should see what they do w those things in Alaska.
Huge space on board. Great performance fron small engines. No maintanance to low maintance. And the magic word .. light.
Way to go KW

 

[BruceK]

Wifey B: You're not Australian are you? I don't think you can use that{"G`day Sheila"} if you're not?

None too welcome here either. Response could be a full face whack with a handbag. Especially if addressed to a guy.