Dinghy Purchase

[Ron Hill]

Joe : I use the spinnaker halyard and the small halyard winch.  Haul it out of the water every few days to keep the "nasties" from growing.  We put it on the deck to clean and wax the RIB bottom.  Lift it further and then flip it over on the deck.  I lift it up until it clears the stanchion and I flip it over.  My 8.5 ft hard bottom RIB weighs about 89lbs.
Let me see if I can shrink it enough to put it on this board ( and still have any kind of resolution!!)   

[Joe Kern]

Thanks Ron.  That was exactly how I was thinking we would do it.  Ours is 10'2" but with the HP floor and weighs about 75lbs so it should be fairly easy to manhandle.

[Randy and Mary Davison]

Joe,

We don't use the spinnaker halyard for a spinnaker so I keep a snatch block tied to the end of it.  We just pass the dinghy line through the snatch block, hoist the block up twenty feet or so and wrap the loose end around the windlass.  Works great.  When the kids used to do it, I also tied a small line to the attach point for the snatch block and let it dangle so I could recover the halyard when they forgot to pull it back down.  Bet you can guess what role experience had in that!

We use about 60 feet of Polypropylene for a dingy painter and I buy half inch to make it easier to grip.  Sometimes we do just haul the dinghy straight out with the halyard.  It depends on how my back feels and how hot it is under the dodger.

Randy

[Ron Hill]

Joe : I failed to mention that I also lift the dink up with a 5HP outboard attached.
With your longer dink I think you'll find the fordeck a bit more crowded.   

[Joe Kern]

Thanks Ron.  I used the spinnaker halyard this weekend and it was pretty easy (w/o an outboard) to get it up and outside of the stantions.  Just made my own version out of line of the fancy webbing type dinghy lifts they sell for dingys without internal lifting eyes.  After rowing the dogs back and forth from our anchorage for "restroom" facilities I have decided it is now time for the outboard purchase.

[Mike Denest]

We recently acquired a West Marine / Zodiac HP-310 that is 10'2' with high pressure floor and with only the two of us (and one small Jack Russel terrier) it seems small. We have used with 4 adults and I go along with the others, there seems to be a big difference in 2 feet. Also the HP-310 has a capacity of 881 pounds. Sounds like a lot but with people, gas tank, engine, coolers, folding chairs, junk; it fills up fast. I have a 6 hp Tahatsu 4-cycle (55 pounds) to push everything around. Big motor but I got a 2006 engine direct ship at a price I could not ignore and the weight was no greater than a lot of smaller hp 4-cycle engines.

And the Admiral is much more securer and comfortable in the larger dingy.

Wow, talk about timing.  Last Saturday we wandered into the local West Marine (New Castle, DE) and found that same dinghy for $1500.  It is a 2003 model that was used at the boat shows so it's never seen water.  Anybody interested in a nice 10' fiberglass dinghy?

[Terry Forshier]

A few years back I purchesed a Zodiak, (not Hypalon) it literally fell apart and came unglued in 2 years in the hot SW Fl, Sun) never again..No warranty Terry

[Ron Hill]

I've had the same luck with Zodiacs as Terry, all glue hits it's expiration date at the same time and they fall apart!!  However, I understand that they now have welded seams. After 2 PVC inflatables I bought a hypalon RIB and love it.  With a 5 hp we get it on plane - but both of us weigh under 300 lbs total. 
I made my lifting bridle out of 3/8" line and put splices on the ends so snap shackles easily attach to the dink.  You have to fiddle around to get the balance just right, but figure 8 knots can be taken in or let out.  That bridle was made in 1990 and has worked on 3 inflatable dinks!!