Dingy Considerations

[Jim Brener]

The used 5' inflatable that I purchased used 7 years ago is leaking air in more places than I care to count.  I read the posts on dinks that were posted in 2006.  Before making another purchase, I am asking the group for any thoughts.   I think I want an 8' or 10' with large tubes but unsure of the floor type. Will consider a hard dink and looking for pros and cons.  A trip down the ICW and I hope to the Bahamas is in the future.  I have a MKI which came with a Dingy Tow from the PO and like the security of using that to tow the dink. I have a 3.3hp motor that is like new.   Did not know squat when I purchased the used one, hope to be better informed this time. Thanks for your comments.

[tonywright]

A hard dinghy rows far better (when you want to pass quietly through an anchorage, and is not so prone to leaks. It will also steer better under power.

An inflatable does not bang into the hull unexpectedly, especially at 3 am. It does not capsize when you want to get back in after going for a swim (whether planned or not), and can be deflated and stowed when not required, or carried inverted on the foredeck without damaging gelcoat.

There are combinations that seem to work well. Inflatables with rigid fibreglass floors permit high stability with good rowing and power performance. But have the same problem as hard dinghies for storage.  A couple of boats in our club have Walker Bay hard dinghies with an inflatable tube all round the gunwales (deals with the 3 am surprise, and permits a swimmer to pull him/herself in).

For longevity under intense UV conditions, Hypalon is far preferred over PVC. Avon dinghies are the best known of these. PVC also seems to attract some critters to try a munch or two (at least on our river).

My personal choice was a Hypalon inflatable with rollup aluminum floor. Only problem is leaking of the small bag intended to give the floor underneath a V-shape. Leaks through the sewed seams. A professional repair lasted only a few weeks. So I have given up and am living with it. For extra protection I have a heavy duty cover that velcros on to give protection from the sun and keep the rain out. But I take it off when towing.

Tony

[karista]

Jim
I my opinion a 9 ft size is the ideal size for our size boat. I had a Seaworthy 9.4 ft for many years, the wood floors however warped and need several replacements, also was always difficult to install. I subsequently bought a 9.4 ft Zodiac Fast Roller, it has a roll-up rigid air floor with large 17" tubes. Was easy to handle, but is made out of PVC, not as good as Hypalon. I use Kato Davits to keep boat out of our heavy barnacle waters in Florida. Davit system works great. The Dinghy that I will get next will be a 9ft hypalon rigid bouttom. It is the most stable and durable.
Bernd

[Stu Jackson]

Jim

1.  Bigger IS better.  Our 10-2 Zodiac Fast Roller air floor hypalon fits on the bow to the mast, inverted, with room to walk around.  Surveys say you will REGRET having anything smaller once you've been out for any period of time.  The speed you want to go is proportional to the size, but only partly, because even if you keep your smaller engine, you'll appreciate the larger dinghy.

2.  Air floor vs rigid floor:  really depends on where you are and what YOU plan to do with it.  If you fish, you should consider a rigid floor, with its inherent assembly issues.  You'll put it together and rarely take it apart.  If you have a dog you'll need a rigid floor.  If it's only two people, the air floor is great, and will allow you to disassemble and lift much more easily.

Those issues are sometimes ones of safety -- if it's a pain to disassemble, and you don't when you should have...

The inflatable vs hard or "cross-over" Walker Bay is your choice, and well presented by Tony.  Materials are the other consideration.  West Marine Advisors cover the choices quite well.

My input: bigger IS better, no matter what you buy, assuming the weight is reasonable and you can stow or disassemble.  If hard, you WILL be limited by weight.

Only YOU can determine what your plans are, how you plan to use it, how long you'll be out, whether or not you want to spring for a larger motor, etc.

Anyway, all of us want to go with you!!!

[David Arnold]

I just purchased a hard bottom infatable tube hypalon on the used market.  Does a dink like this tow well and what should be used for anti-fouling paint as I will be unable to take it out of the water until the end of the season.

[Ron Hill]

Jim : I've put this on the net before so here it goes again.  
I've had 4 dinks with my C34 - a hard dink, an 9.6' inflatable with a plywood floor, 2 inflatable dinks with inflatable floors one 8.6 & the other 9.6, and finally an 8.6 RIB.  I'd stick with a 8.6 RIB.  
The plywood floors are a heavy as a RIB and the inflatable floor dinks are too light if you get caught towing in a storm (they flip over)!!  
The 8.6 length leaves plenty of room stored on the deck and every inch longer takes more of the space that you have to walk around it LESS !!!!  Besides if you can carry 3 or 4 people why get a bigger dink - it's just more friction towing and less speed from the outboard motor's thrust!  
A few thoughts.    

[Ron Hill]

David : You could paint the bottom of your RIB, but I wouldn't do that!!  The type of paint that you should use on the hypolon is differant than the type paint for the fiberglass. 
Just take your dink and put it on the deck upside down with a cover over it when not in-use(to protect it from the suns' UV).  If you leave your dink in the water for an entire season, I afraid you have a piece of junk next year!   

[David Arnold]

Thanks Ron.  I'm just afraid the RIB is way to heavy to handle by myself.  I can hoist it up on deck with the spare halyard but what about flipping it?  Any hints?

[Ron Hill]

David : If you have a second haylard (beside the one attached to the dink bridal) lift it up and attach the second haylard to one tube and get it side way between the life line and the cabin top.  Then flip it upside down on the fordeck. 
My wife and I are able to maneuver ours on the fordeck by ourselves.  It is work and our RIB in 89lbs.   

[David Arnold]

I have only one spare that will be for the dink bridle but once I get it up on deck I'm not sure what to do.  Perhaps I will leave it with the bottom down (protecting the deck of the boat of course) and the drain plug open.  When I get back to the boat for the weekend I will just drop it back in the water.  Thoughts??  Do you tow yours while underway or leave it on the deck?  How does the RIB tow?

[tonywright]

Here's couple more thoughts for anyone towing an inflatable dink for the first time: If you tow, get two lines, both floating and bright colours.  This way they stay out of the way of the prop when you back up, and you can see where they are.

Make sure you attach to the eyes each side, and not to the hook at the front. This will tear off easily.

Keep one line a little slack: this is your spare in case line no 1 gives way or comes loose.

Never leave your outboard on while towing. Dinghies have been known to flip while being towed. An outboard motor doesn't like that.

Floating lines perish in UV more quickly, so replace regularly

Tony

[waterdog]

We went the Walker Bay option with the tubes.   Absolutely love it.  Manageable.  Tows great.  Rows great.  Sails great.  Motors great.   Fits nicely on the foredeck and you can still access the anchor locker.   You can stand on the gunnel.  Fits two adults, two kids and a dog.  Just recently installed dual mini swim grids either side of the swim ladder and now we can flip the dingy on edge and it stows like having davits (though I don't think I would attempt to sail close hauled like this).   

Only drawback - if you like a big outboard and going places in a hurry on a plane - there are better choices.   

[Jim Brener]

Thanks to all who sent in a reply.  We looked at Avon, Apex, Achilles,Zodiac, Walker Bay and AB about all that Annapolis had to offer.  In the end, we purchased an Avon R260 Lite 8'6" RIB that weighs 83 lbs.  Because of our intended journey down the ICW we narrowed the choices to a RIB and Hypalon fabric.  We went with the 8'6" because of the weight difference and because we use a Dingytow  http://dinghytow.com/ to tow the dink and to store it against the back stay.  If necessary, it is light enough to raise to the deck using a halyard and move it around.  While I appreciate the 'bigger is better" comments and may well regret it, the smaller one seemed the logical choice to go with our existing 3.3hp motor. We used it this weekend and with 4 people and flat water the 3.3hp moved it nicely at 20% throttle.