How small is too small?

After looking at a lot of pros and cons about different types of tenders, I want a Boston Whaler. I had one as a kid and I am prepared to deal with the down sides of a heavy, hard side dinghy. It will ferry two of us from anchorages to beach or dinghy dock, and serve as exploration platform in calm conditions. It will hang from davits off the back of a 40ish foot trawler.

Is a 9 foot Whaler too small?

No and Yes. Just depends on how you use it.


I had an 8’ roll up with 2hp outboard. All I needed was to get two people from an-anchored boat to shore. It served me well.

Now I have a 12’ With a 60hp outboard. Now I need a dingy that can travel 20 mph with 4 people in more open water.

Headed, it would be for me. I have two 13' Whalers, one a 1981 the other 2010. If those would be too big for you, Whaler does/did make an 11' that looks just like that 9'ers big brother.


That 9' looks like it won't carry much in the way of coolers, groceries, friends, etc., so if that's what you plan to do with it, look for a bigger one.


What does the capacity plate say for that 9'?

HeadedToTexas said:

After looking at a lot of pros and cons about different types of tenders, I want a Boston Whaler. I had one as a kid and I am prepared to deal with the down sides of a heavy, hard side dinghy. It will ferry two of us from anchorages to beach or dinghy dock, and serve as exploration platform in calm conditions. It will hang from davits off the back of a 40ish foot trawler.

Is a 9 foot Whaler too small?

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Challenge may be finding a decent 9' Whaler since they don't build them anymore.

Whalers are great boats! I use a Blue Water Baby. 11’ but similar in hull design to Boston Whaler. I use a Merc 15hp.
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For a similar sized vessel that is lighter, softer alongside, carries more, has more versitile seating, and probably less money... a good RHIB would be my choice over the Whaler.

If I was going to have a hard tender for its virtues, I would go bigger and tow if I had to.

Plus .....Whalers are nice boats, but dont just ger sold on their name.... lots of nice boats out there.

A Whaler of the same length has much more interior volume than a RIB. Early on we briefly considered switching from our 13 and looked at every RIB at the Miami boat show.
Kept the Whaler, and eternally glad we did. We spent the majority of time at anchor or on a mooring when we were cruising full time. Frequently we served as water taxi for folks with smaller interior tenders to shuttle people, luggage and equipment.

As for the 9, that's completely up to the individual(s) who will be using it. We know plenty of people who get by with small dinghies.

We used our Whaler for much more than just getting to shore, and in fact used it extensively when the big boat was in a marina.

As the old saying goes, all boats are compromises but it seems the OP understands them.

My logic on the 9 instead the larger 11 is that the dinghy will spend a lot of time on the davits and real estate is limited back there on virtually every boat in our budget. Two feet makes a big difference not only when trying to stay out of way on davits, but also when standing on the scales. The 9 is significantly less heavy than the 11.

You keep heaping on limitations and seem sold on the Whaler.

That often happens with "petty" boats with a big name, tough to see just how limiting they may be.

Not the first time I've been a victim of my own rationalization! Us humans each being unique combinations of biology and experience, trial and error is often the only way to be sure. From what I read and watch, there are lots of cruiser types, especially on sailboats, that get by just fine with tiny dinghies. Guess I'm just trying to explore the consequences.

HeadedToTexas said:

After looking at a lot of pros and cons about different types of tenders, I want a Boston Whaler. I had one as a kid and I am prepared to deal with the down sides of a heavy, hard side dinghy. It will ferry two of us from anchorages to beach or dinghy dock, and serve as exploration platform in calm conditions. It will hang from davits off the back of a 40ish foot trawler.

Is a 9 foot Whaler too small?

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My boat came to me with a BW 9' with a 6hp Evinrude, all on the original davits, suspended over the swimgrid.

I had been using a soft bottom inflatable, Achilles SE11, with a Merc 15. Trying to keep an open mind, I tried both out on the davits and on the water.
The whaler outweighed the Achilles, the Merc outweighed the Evinrude, so about even for total weight on the davits.

The Whaler has such low freeboard, it was not capable of going for groceries with two on board, as everything would get in the way, wet, blown away, you get the picture. The Achilles with high freeboard had none of those issues.

To get more speed, I tried the 15 Merc on the whaler. Scary!
I sold the whaler and the Evinrude.

I eventually moved up to a RIB, first a Caribe 10 with a Yamaha 20, tiller steered. That was a good combination, not too long for my transom, but heavier, so I had to spend a little on strengthening the attachment of the davits to the Boat.
My next move up was to my present Caribe 12DL, centre console with a 40 Honda. This one solves all dinghy problems and still is happy on the davits.

We recently bought a new tender. For us we wanted as large as we could comfortably carry on the hydraulic swim platform. Decided on a 12ft.


Once again, for us we wanted a comfortable ride getting up on plane, ability to carry guests. Our usage of a tender is to often cruise 8-10 miles from where the boat is located. We explore a lot, go out to eat on the tender, etc.


Operative perspective is "For us".


I think the answer is what fits you usage of the tender?


Mark

Koliver...my thoughts exactly on a 9 foot Whaler.

A USCG friend of mine bought a 13 Whaler jet boat a few years back, neither of us were impressed, he sold it after the first season.

Searching for a Livingston 9 if anyone has leads or one for sale. PM me!

psneeld said:

Koliver...my thoughts exactly on a 9 foot Whaler.

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There's a reason Whaler discontinued the 9'.

koliver said:

The Whaler has such low freeboard, it was not capable of going for groceries with two on board, as everything would get in the way, wet, blown away, you get the picture. The Achilles with high freeboard had none of those issues.

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That's the feedback I am looking for. If the 9 is too small to be practical, and soaking everything inside with just two people aboard is not practical, then the 9 is too small.

I had a 12ft MFG skiff, only held 3 people but lots of interior room (collected 2-3X as much rainwater), was wet, etc.

the worst thing was it was so close to my beam measurement, it caught lots of dock items.

thats why I went with a 10 foot rib. Faster, lighter, carrys 4 people and luggage for 2 for a long weekend, more expensive than cheap skiffs if you go hypalon, doeznt catch dock items.... works for me.

some snowbird trip I might try towing a 16 to 24 foot center console, but the RHIB will still hang from the davits.

psneeld said:

the worst thing was it was so close to my beam measurement, it caught lots of dock items.

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Kind of suspected that could happen with a tender pushing the edges of one's stern. Thinking that's the up side of a 9 foot tender. The 11 weighs like twice as much. Everything is a compromise...

koliver said:

The Whaler has such low freeboard, it was not capable of going for groceries with two on board, as everything would get in the way, wet, blown away, you get the picture. The Achilles with high freeboard had none of those issues.

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My buddy had a 9' BW and the freeboard was minimal causing a wet ride for 2 adults in anything but calm water. The 11 is a much better dink with more real estate and freeboard.

I have a 9.5 Achilles that fits 2-3, is much drier, more practical, lighter and faster than the 9 BW. I'm hoping to upgrade to an 11' Whaler when practical, but in the meantime, I'll continue to enjoy my 9.5 Achilles.

Pay attention to the posted load and HP limits on the boat. While you really can cheat and carry more, you really should carry less.

As my flexibility and weight became more 'mature' (and one might possibly assume something similar about the admirable admiral), over 25 years, we moved up from 8' Achilles deflatable (oars), to 8' rigid FG pram (oars and 2 HP Suzuki w/no neutral and that you had to rotate 180 deg for reverse), to 9'4" rotomoulded 'Watertender' (oars and the Suzuki), to a 10'4 Walker Bay RIB w/console w/15 HP Honda 4-stroke and the oars are a painful joke).

While I regret the weight and clumsiness of the Walker Bay and its engine, I really like the capaciousness, the speed, and reverse.

DHeckrotte said:

As my flexibility and weight became more 'mature' (and one might possibly assume something similar about the admirable admiral), over 25 years, we moved up from 8' Achilles deflatable (oars), to 8' rigid FG pram (oars and 2 HP Suzuki w/no neutral and that you had to rotate 180 deg for reverse), to 9'4" rotomoulded 'Watertender' (oars and the Suzuki), to a 10'4 Walker Bay RIB w/console w/15 HP Honda 4-stroke and the oars are a painful joke).

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Love it!

Rather than endure my own education in the School of Hard Knocks, this is were I hope to benefit from the combined wisdom here. Financial wherewithal is certainly a variable, as is preference in the hard-soft thing, but I am looking at getting into the boat scene at a time when our flexibility and weight are both mature. That would seem to put a premium on things like stability, seat backs and flat bottoms.

If you go for the Best , a Whaler, be sure to install a balancing hoist bar.

This makes launch and recovery a rapid easy one person job if you have a hoist.

PM if you can use a SS used unit .

Thanks FF, but I'm still years out from that point. And not proud of it, but I had to look up the balancing hoist bar. I can see how that would simplify the lifting operation, though I anticipate the dinghy hanging from the davits and secured at the corners. Would a balancing hoist bar still help in that approach?

A console also takes away from the carrying capacity of the tender. As nice as it is to have controls and a steering wheel it makes carrying coolers and such just that much harder...

AKDoug said:

A console also takes away from the carrying capacity of the tender. As nice as it is to have controls and a steering wheel it makes carrying coolers and such just that much harder...

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Which is why a dinghy with a console is 2' longer than one without.

2' taken from the middle of the tender still makes both ends shorter than a tender 2' shorter with no console if you want to put a large cooler in it Just a point to consider, not looking to argue with anyone about it, just a point to consider when selecting a tender!

marcail said:

Whalers are great boats! I use a Blue Water Baby. 11’ but similar in hull design to Boston Whaler. I use a Merc 15hp.
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I, too, have a Bluewater Baby. I visited the manufacturer in Seaford, Delaware. Contruction nearly identical to Whalers yet much lighter. My 11-foot center console with a 20hp Suzuki weighs 420 lbs. Hull design is nearly a Whaler clone. Cost much less. Planes easily and goes 21mph with two adults aboard. Happy customer!

420 pounds with the 20 hp outboard? That is light! I'm in the area regularly; guess I better stop in.

HeadedToTexas said:

420 pounds with the 20 hp outboard? That is light! I'm in the area regularly; guess I better stop in.

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I double-checked. Off a little. The boat is 325#. The 20hp Suzuki EFI that I opted for is 106#, so a total of 431#. The boat can handle up to 25hp motors. If you stop in the Bluewater Baby facility, kindly tell Roy and Grace that John Bickford recommended their product. Nothing in it for me but sellers always like to know that their products have been recommended by previous customers.

Wifey B: Our smallest is 11' rib, 100 hp Textron, 4 passengers, WOT 42 knots, 693 pounds. Williams does now make a mini-jet 9', seats 3, 60 hp Rotax, WOT 33 knots, 465 pounds.

It's freaking cold here.