Newbies Buying New Dinghy

Newbie here.

We are going to buy a dinghy for our ST 44 and need some help, please.

Here are some ideas and other motivations:

The electric boom on the fly can hoist, so the dealer states, about 264 lbs.

The total length of the fly space where the dinghy goes is about 10 1/2 feet.

A 2 occupant model will work for us.

We'll be more likely tying up at marinas but would like a dinghy for those occasions where we anchor out, and other usage like traversing areas of minimal depths.

We'd like to buy quality (Hypalon?) for longevity and service. Boat buddy has suggested an aluminum floor on the RIB.

Really like the propane engine to avoid carrying gasoline.

Will we need any customized rigging for attaching to the davit and lifting? If so, does the supplier usually handle this?

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

I'd go with either a hypalon RIB with a fiberglass hull on perhaps an aluminum skiff that you add a thick, soft rub rail to. I'd stick with a gas engine to get more HP.

170# isn't much of a davit. A ten foot RIB weighs around 150# with out an engine.

My 9 ft. Caribe with 9.9 HP 2 cycle Merc. is just under that weight. An alum. bottom would save a bit more, but the 4 stroke engines are heavier. Hopcar, right here on the Forum can help you with the weight and cost of the Lehr propane units. My guess is that most aluminum bottom inflatable dinghies with a 9.9 Lehr would still be under 200, with a 5 HP Lehr, close to your 170 lbs.

You'll need at least a three point sling, supplied by the manufacturer for a price I'm sure. Go with what they suggest or supply with the dinghy. A homemade sling is probably not worth the potential. Also a cradle to stow and secure the dinghy on, tie downs, cover, oars.....the price tag keeps growing. I've seen rod holders and a bimini top on some.

Correction which I just edited to original post: Davit can handle 264 lbs.
Sorry for the error.

Any recommendations on specific makes / models will help.

Larry, Thanks for the plug.

RC, I think you need to decide how fast you want to go. A 5 hp. engine might plane a 10 foot rib but it's marginal. If you want to go faster than displacement speeds, look at 10 hp. engines or bigger.

You'll find that the propane engines weigh about the same as four cycle gasoline engines.

The Lehr 5.0 weighs just under fifty pounds and the 9.9 just under 90 pounds.

I just had a customer trade in a 5.0 because it didn't plane his 12 ft. fabric bottom inflatable. He's very happy with the 9.9.

I have an 8 foot fabric bottom dinghy that I power with a Lehr 2.5 because I have to lift the engine on and off the dinghy each time I use it. Needless to say, I don't go very fast but it gets me back and forth to shore.

I don't think we'll need speed. The 5 HP will probably be fine. Who's in a hurry in a dinghy?
Where should I buy the engine?

How is propane a lot safer than gasoline?

I would think that one tank of gas in a small outboard would last quite a while between fillups. I have a 2.5 hp Honda that is still on its first tank. We have used it about a half dozen times.

rclarke246 said:

I don't think we'll need speed. The 5 HP will probably be fine. Who's in a hurry in a dinghy?

Where should I buy the engine?

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http://www.hopkins-carter.com/le50prou.html

RC, the forum rules prevent me from telling you where you should buy a Lehr engine.

Bligh is correct, propane needs to be stored and handled like gasoline. It is less messy to handle but you need to be just as careful with it.

Thanks Oliver! When are you coming down for a visit?

HopCar said:

Thanks Oliver! When are you coming down for a visit?

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Honestly don't know,
Hoping soon!

Thank you all. Which shaft length will work best, assuming a 8-9' RIB?
Also, we already have propane on board so I didn't want to introduce a 3rd fuel.
Those small grill bottles look pretty safe to me.
Any argument against the Lehr 5?

Capt.Bill11 said:

I'd go with either a hypalon RIB with a fiberglass hull on perhaps an aluminum skiff that you add a thick, soft rub rail to.

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Please pardon me for my possible misunderstanding, but did you mean "or an aluminum skiff"?

rclarke246 said:

Correction which I just edited to original post: Davit can handle 264 lbs.
Sorry for the error.

Any recommendations on specific makes / models will help.

Click to expand...

Our 10'2" RIB weighs 135-lbs dry, and the 15-hp electric-start outboard weighs 106-lbs. Consider additional weight of fuel, "stuff," and maybe a battery if you want electric-start.

Usually it's good to want considerable reserve capacity in your lift system; often 10% is the minimum recommendation (I've read).

You'll also want to take into account the effect of that much weight that high on the boat... in beam seas, for example.

Given your location, you may find the guys at Inflatable Experts/Maritime Solutions (something like that) in Eastport to be very helpful. Nic Stark helped me...

-Chris

I have a 10ft rib with a 6hp 4 stroke and it is even hard to plane with one person but we are usually in no hurry. You will definitely need a short shaft motor.

HopCar said:

RC, the forum rules prevent me from telling you where you should buy a Lehr engine.

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But it seems that you have friends.

Speed is always a nice option to have .

Maritime Solutions Inflatable Experts
306 Second Street
Annapolis, MD

888-230-7583
msi-1.com

Great people with whom to do business. Helpful and not pushy. Lots of inventory to choose from. Just bought aluminum hull RIB from them.

Speed is really nice, it opens up a lot of uses you may not have thought of. We use ours for exploring, sometimes 10 to 20 miles from the boat. Much faster to run at 20 mph than 7knts.

Lightness is probably the most important feature of a dinghy.

And the best boat for lightness is an aluminum skiff.

The best engine for lightness is an older 2 stroke OB.

Eventually I'll get an 11 or 12 foot al skiff w an 8 hp OB for my 30' boat. It will carry more, weigh less, go faster and probably cost less than most all other dinghys.

But if your'e too lazy to hang fenders then a rubber duckie may be for you. The duckie will be more stable simply because they are wider. But why would one need more stability than an al skiff?

Scary said:

Speed is really nice, it opens up a lot of uses you may not have thought of. We use ours for exploring, sometimes 10 to 20 miles from the boat. Much faster to run at 20 mph than 7knts.

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Ditto

Scary said:

Speed is really nice, it opens up a lot of uses you may not have thought of. We use ours for exploring, sometimes 10 to 20 miles from the boat. Much faster to run at 20 mph than 7knts.

Click to expand...

jleonard said:

Ditto

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Scary said:

Speed is really nice, it opens up a lot of uses you may not have thought of. We use ours for exploring, sometimes 10 to 20 miles from the boat. Much faster to run at 20 mph than 7knts.

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+123558827 when going place to place with the sink we usually do 26kts. Like when we were in boat harbour we it took 10 mins to hop over to hope town for lunch.

manyboats said:

The duckie will be more stable simply because they are wider. But why would one need more stability than an al skiff?

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Lubbers who didn't grow up on small boats often appreciate greater stability, at least in their learning years.

-Chris

ranger42c said:

Lubbers who didn't grow up on small boats often appreciate greater stability, at least in their learning years.

-Chris

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Quite true. Water vets like Eric probably have a built-in small-boat confidence from all those years of fishing and coping with wakes. For me, even sitting on the tube of my Caribe feels unsteady.

Inflatable stability isn't fool proof, of course. We know, for instance, that a 90-lb First Mutt leaping off one end could launch an Admiral off the other.



-Chris

With advice gathered here (and there) We are probably going for a 9' RIB made by AB, with aluminum bottom and Hypalon fabric. The AB brand weighs 79 lbs. Also, we like the Lehr propane fired 9.9 hp. Which weighs about 90 lbs. and has electric start. Don't want to clutter the swim platform so we'll keep it on the flybridge. Going with the advice of Nic at the local inflatable store. He seems to really know this business.
Thanks to all of you for your advice, it really has helped to sort this out.

Sounds like a good choice.

There are two versions of the Lehr 9.9 electric. One is a conventional electric start with a remote battery and the other has a lithium battery under the hood. If you're not going to try to run lights or electronics on the dinghy, the internal battery set up is very nice.

rclarke246 said:

....... We are probably going for a 9' RIB ......

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Is there anyway that you can get a test ride with the admiral in a 9' RIB with a 9HP 4 stroke? I urge you to do this because once you buy it, you are stuck with it.

That is what I presently have and it is really small even for 2 people. Neither myself nor the admiral are large people. The well under 90lb weight of my 9.8 Tohatsu still really keeps the stern down so balancing load is critical.
There is also the tiller handle space required to deal with.

I am looking for a 10' something or other in the way of a RIB or something like the Livingston 9' if only it had more freeboard.

Best of luck in whatever you buy.

Tony B