Whaly Boats

I am looking at a Whaly 370 with a 25 Hp as a Tender. Anyone with experience out there? They are a plastic boat designed to replace a RIB.

Very interested in this.

Not familiar with that brand but we have had 2 Triumph boats in the past. They were rotocast with HDPE. Almost indestructible. I have literally hit one of them in the side with an 8 pound sledge hammer as hard as I could and it just bounced off. The one caution with them is that they needed to be supported properly or the hull would deform. They had a diagram on how to support it on a lift. Overall we loved the boats.

Comodave said:

Not familiar with that brand but we have had 2 Triumph boats in the past. They were rotocast with HDPE. Almost indestructible. I have literally hit one of them in the side with an 8 pound sledge hammer as hard as I could and it just bounced off. The one caution with them is that they needed to be supported properly or the hull would deform. They had a diagram on how to support it on a lift. Overall we loved the boats.

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Thank you. Good to know. Any experience with a bull frog?

Nancy n Larry said:

Thank you. Good to know. Any experience with a bull frog?

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I know a number of folks that use Bull Frog for a tender. They tend to really like them. Study, ride well, almost indestructible. I would have bought one myself, but they were a bit heavier than my setup could support really well.

The Whaley’s seem to be a bit lighter. Will need to do some comparing. Thank you!

Nancy n Larry said:

Thank you. Good to know. Any experience with a bull frog?

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Yes, I have had one of those too. We liked it. Don’t really remember why we sold it though. It was about 20 years ago.

The Whaley has been on my short list for a dingy. I saw them today at the boat show in Newport RI

They had the lineup there, except for the 310 which has been a contender. But I saw enough. Yeah, they look indestructible. The only issue I could find: no built in lift points to lift with a davit crane. If you look at the pics you see there are ropes running down the sides, through built in eyes. You could eliminate carrying the ropes fully forward and aft and just leave them amidships, and use the eyes close the bow and stern as lift points. Close to the engine there are two holes one can use, but they strike me as being too close to the centerline of the boat. I was surprised they have not addressed the need more directly.

But all in all, the build quality seemed to be there. No other surprises that one can't see in their website.

Here you go.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplac...e=marketplace_search&referral_story_type=post

I was going to buy it last summer, but I ran out of time and interest. I think you can get it for $3,000. Boat, 2 seat boxes, stainless railing. No trailer.

Here's a link to a youtuber's channel I used to watch. In this episode he shows his new Whaley boat and talks about its features. In other videos you can see him out fishing on it. The channel is mainly about fishing, but he really likes the boat.

Whaly 270

Indestructible boat, but not a good choice for the tropics. Sold my 270 after a two month trip to the Bahamas. Couldn’t get on a plane with two men and a 9.8 hp, and the plastic flexes when in the sun. Might be OK for a kids boat or up north for short trips, but not a good choice if you want to run a couple miles and get there before you die of old age.

Spoff4 said:

Indestructible boat, but not a good choice for the tropics. Sold my 270 after a two month trip to the Bahamas. Couldn’t get on a plane with two men and a 9.8 hp, and the plastic flexes when in the sun. Might be OK for a kids boat or up north for short trips, but not a good choice if you want to run a couple miles and get there before you die of old age.

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Flex? How much are we talking about?

I am considering this as a tender with an ePropulsion. Planning isn't a goal.

Second, with a Portland Pugey as an alternate contender, the Whaley APPEARS to have more edge stability when boarding. Perhaps you could shed light? The Whaley is rated for more weight capacity for the 270 (784 lbs) vs the PP (557 lbs).

The Portland Pudgy looks pretty versatile with a sailing rig that stores in the hull and a canopy that turns it into a liferaft. That's a very clever design!

Benthic2 said:

The Portland Pudgy looks pretty versatile with a sailing rig that stores in the hull and a canopy that turns it into a liferaft. That's a very clever design!

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Yep. Pretty clever. But those extras come at an unreal price. The basic boat isn't cheap at $3000, and various fender options only adds up fast. Then that lifeboat canopy is $2700. Sail rig $1700. Crazy expensive when you load up with all of the neat stuff.

With the Whaley you can go down a foot in size from the Pugey for $2500 or up a foot for $3450.

No clue on Bullfrog pricing, and so far as I know there are no east coast dealers. Shipping would likely put that one over the top so I have not looked into it.

FTW-
The Whaly 270 will be fine with any propulsion where you’re not needing to get on a plane. I was concerned about the longevity of the transom on mine with the 9.8 hp. Once I gave up trying to get on a plane we just ran her at low sped and transom was fine.
As far as stability, she was incredibly stable.
Good little boat, just not for my application.

Spoff4 said:

FTW-
The Whaly 270 will be fine with any propulsion where you’re not needing to get on a plane. I was concerned about the longevity of the transom on mine with the 9.8 hp. Once I gave up trying to get on a plane we just ran her at low sped and transom was fine.
As far as stability, she was incredibly stable.
Good little boat, just not for my application.

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Ah. Thanks. That makes sense.

I really appreciate the response and insight.