Inflatable Boat or Hard Dinghy

One problem causing leaks in a new inflatable may be excessive compaction when packing the dinghy into a box for export. That should come come back to the seller and maker as the product is defective.
I had a zipped cover for a Waeco car-fridge (otherwise an excellent product which may also sell as Dometic Coolfreeze), the cover was so pinched it had already torn at a fold when in the box.

Come back to the seller? I asked a freight to Miami and they delivered to NYC. I must paid a land freght and now I don't know where the boat got the damage.
The factory didn't answered my claims.
From now on, chineses just in the american or brazilian stores.

bfloyd4445 said:

dont you care what the neighbors r gonna think at the marina when they see that fancy yatch with a patched up ducktaped dinghy cover? U might try puting a tin cup next to it.......

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How'd you guess?

I played and lost, but tried

VikingBay said:

My brother just got one of Big Dog boats. I found it to be very high quality, and they offer a nice hard bottom version that you may like.

Big Dog Boats - Products

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Hi - I am close to buying one of these. Can you tell me if the boat is holding up and how does your brother still like it?

Thanks!

Anybody ever heard of a snug harbor 8' built in Fla. ?

Hard Dink is our choice

We had a West Marine PVC sport boat made by Zodiac on our sailboat. It was replaced 5 times under warranty for failed seams in 12 years of use. The Trawler we bought now had a walker bay with a tube kit. Very tippy and small. We traded around and bought a 11 Boston Whaler. It goes 18kts with a 20 hp 4 stoke. Some times I would like to have something I could row for the exercise. Sometimes I would like to fish on the reef with the big boys, Sometimes I would like to have a day sailor to play around with on the bay. It is all a compromise. We tow the Whaler and have had no problem so far. I know about 12 cruisers that have this size Whaler and they all tow or winch it aboard or cleats on swim platform. I would like to have a 13 ft Whaler when we have company. Three people is about max. for the 11. The Whaler goes right up on oysters and all with out a problem. Some pictures are here.

@ TheOffice: Heading South on the ICW and ......

Hard dinghy for fishing and longer distances. Soft dinghy for shorter distances and calm seas.

I have dealt with the unresolved conflict of dinghy type for many years. Now that I have a bigger boat I carry one of each and a double kayak just in case.

We have had a Brig 450 Falcon RIB with a 40 4stroke Yamaha for 4 years. When I bought my 490 pilothouse it had a like new 2011 Boston Whaler Sport 110 that came with it. The wife took it out once and said that she would prefer that we stuck with a RIB. She was afraid that she would damage a friends boat or ours. With that said the Whaler Sport 110 was a great boat but the RIB is easier to load and for sure easier on our 490 and our friends boats, it is like a giant fender!

Allan

Lots of comments about great dinks, but your original question was alternatives to towing. Your 300 lb limit on the davits will be the deciding issue. Don't know the Canadian law as to whether two stroke outboards are still sold, but if you must buy a four stroke then the dinghy will be limited to less than 200 lbs. So a question for you is whether there is a hard dinghy that is dry, handles well and weights less than 200 lbs. If not search for a rib that has a dry ride. Our AB does well until we have wave action or more than two people

N4712 said:

Hard dinghy for fishing and longer distances. Soft dinghy for shorter distances and calm seas.View attachment 30201

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Oliver, looks like you are passing up a good weed line. Probably dolphin hiding under there, you know.

Moonstruck said:

Oliver, looks like you are passing up a good weed line. Probably dolphin hiding under there, you know.

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We checked, there wasn't.

One option (that I don't necessarily recommend) is the Livingston 10' dinghy (210#) & Yamaha 9.9 hp 4 stroke (90 #). Purely from a weight perspective it might work, depending on the David system used.

Conrad said:

One option (that I don't necessarily recommend) is the Livingston 10' dinghy (210#)...

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That's what we're recently leaning towards because it's length is narrower than our beam (it'll be on Weaver Davits) and it has acres of space for its length (three of us, a 130 pound dog, and several packs full of camera gear) and has more freeboard than the 9' Livingston which we have and don't trust.

We'd prefer a hairy chested rigid hulled inflatable, but there's no way it would fit us, our hiking and camera gear, and still be under 11' in length.

We're also considering ordering up a set of Kapten Boat Collars for the 10' Livingston...that should almost give us inflatable performance in snotty conditions;

Videos - Kapten Boat Collars

MurrayM said:

That's what we're recently leaning towards because it's length is narrower than our beam (it'll be on Weaver Davits) and it has acres of space for its length (three of us, a 130 pound dog, and several packs full of camera gear) and has more freeboard than the 9' Livingston which we have and don't trust.

We'd prefer a hairy chested rigid hulled inflatable, but there's no way it would fit us, our hiking and camera gear, and still be under 11' in length.

We're also considering ordering up a set of Kapten Boat Collars for the 10' Livingston...that should almost give us inflatable performance in snotty conditions;

Videos - Kapten Boat Collars

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Just be careful. Today's Livingstons are not the same as those made in the past; we have a 9' that is over 25 years old and it is a much better build than our new (2013) 10' Livingston. (Apparently the company has changed ownership something like five times over the years.)

Although the 10' is marketed as having reinforced sides, we have reinforced the gunwhale due to scary flex when it is up on its side.

With the 9.9 Yamaha, if you have 400 pounds in the dinghy the motor will cavitate before you can get up to speed.

Look VERY carefully at how your davit system will accommodate the transom on the Livingston. They (Livingston) made a recent change that required us to butcher the transom before it would accept the Seawise Davit system. The Weaver Hoist system would have the same issues I believe. Perhaps their standard davit system would work, I'm not sure.

Thanks for the heads-up, Conrad.

Murray

If weight is an issue go w an aluminum skiff.

See the thread that Keith started re aluminum dinks.

I think I like it

What do you think? Who sell it?