Anyone own a West Marine Classic Dink?

OR a Walker Bay? NOT a Livingston.

Do you have it stored on the boat, swim platform or do you tow it?

Quite frankly, we're tired of the inflatable. I know... everyone has an inflatable. So I really want to know IF you have a rigid dinghy what do you think of it.

Dave

Although I just bought my first ever inflatable, I've always loved my sweet little rowing/sailing tender. It was sort of a generic 9-foot fiberglass thing with the molded lapstrake appearance and lovely lines. It had enough wood trim to be sweet looking without much maintenance. And those curves! *swoon*

Here's the thing: it rowed like a dream. You could row that thing straight and true all day long. We had a sailing kit for it and had tons of fun in it. She towed astern but lashed upside-down on the cabin top when offshore (this was on a sailboat...a Bristol Channel Cutter).

My late father-in-law had a similar dink which lived on his swim platform. His boat was made during WWII, and the dink was 30 or 40 years old. Pure workhorse, it had spent decades grinding up on rocky beaches here in the PNW. When it got battered he repaired it. No inflatable will ever have that sort of durability or longevity.

The only reason we're now using a RIB is because our lifestyle has changed considerably and we're planning on using it to ferry bicycles and guests. Stepping between the swim platform and a rigid monohull dinghy is a little more challenging and definitely intimidating for non-boating guests. It's why Livingstons are so popular, aesthetics be damned.

I recently bought a very nice 10 ft Achilles inflatable. It is great boat and does everything you wanted to do. Last week I bought a 12 ft Carolina Skiff. The skiff is fairly stable. And has lots of room. I'm not sure which one I will keep yet. The rib is a much more stable and friendly boat. But I too I'm tired of these boats being so fragile

I'd like to hear about any good rigids as well.


Might go up and look at the Gig Harbor boats, but I'm not sure they are really set up for an outboard.

I had a Walker Bay briefly. Came with the boat. I did not find it very stable. I priced out the inflatable collar for the boat. Over $1000. A bit more than I wanted to 'add on' to an old boat. Gave the boat away, bought an Apex RIB. Put a 6 hp Honda on it.
I could have bought 10 hp but, figure trying to remove the engine is a bit much for a 74 year old, slightly built, old man.
I am happy.
I have seen some very beautiful wooden dinks hanging on the davits.
My RIB may not be pretty but like me, serviceable and accomplishes its assigned task.

I have a walker bay generations 340 semi ridged inflatable. I know, not what you are looking fore. Worse, I stow it on the top deck.

We now have a Boss Boat 8’6” which is the same as today’s Rigid Boat. We gave away our old leaky rib. It’s only con is its heavy. Hard to plane with two adults and a 9.9. Our Olsson davits handle it no problem.

Boston Whaler 110 Sport here. Great boat.

High Wire said:

We now have a Boss Boat 8’6” which is the same as today’s Rigid Boat. We gave away our old leaky rib. It’s only con is its heavy. Hard to plane with two adults and a 9.9. Our Olsson davits handle it no problem.

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Is it this boat: 8.5 Tiller – Rigid Boats and if so, how do you like it? It looks pretty tough but no dealers out here on the west coast.

How much w/o the motor?

$6400 plus freight

Says 8.5 w/o motor is $6,400. A bit steep me thinks.

Beat me to it

I can spend that money on more important stuff.

I have a WalkerBay 10’ that we bought 15-20 years ago. I carried it on the Swimgrid of our 32’ and also towed it, we rowed and also used a small Evinrude start and go outboard. When we bought the 38’ shortly after we got a 17’ Logic Marine center console with a 50 hp Mercury 2 stroke. We’ve towed it several hundred miles on the rivers and through locks with no problem, it is comfortable, stable and fast. I like it much better than the WalkerBay 10.

Timeoff said:

Is it this boat: 8.5 Tiller – Rigid Boats and if so, how do you like it? It looks pretty tough but no dealers out here on the west coast.

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Yes. Boss Boats was bought up by Rigid.
Its just like a RIB but you can stand on the tubes with no fear of air leaks. You can stand on the tube while floating and not flip. This comes in handy with our davits.
Its really nice to be able to store stuff onboard.
Bought it used for $700.
9.9 hp is minimum if you want to plane 2 adults. Even with 9.9, it still takes a while at WOT to plane. No problem with one adult.
No better or worse ride than a 8.5' RIB
My only minor complaint is the transom drain plug is too high. There is always an inch of rainwater that needs to be pumped out.

High Wire said:

Yes.
My only minor complaint is the transom drain plug is too high. There is always an inch of rainwater that needs to be pumped out.

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I have adjusted my davits cables so the stern is about an inch lower than the bow. Seems to work pretty well for me.