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dinghy decision time - get a hard or keep inflatable

3K views 12 replies 12 participants last post by  copacabana 
#1 ·
I have a Pearson 26 that is kept on a mooring on the intracoastal in Florida, I live about 50 miles away. I currently have a fairly cheap but new chino made inflatable - it has a removable floor to be able to fold up - but it is an absoulute bear to do so I keep it put together in the garage - it just fits into the back of my SUV when it is deflated - I have a newer 3hp Tohasu that works well for it.


Thinking of getting rid of it and buying a small 9 foot sailing dinghy( with trailer) that can be rowed, I just don't like screwing around with an outboard - both would need to be towed by the boat , the inflatable is too big to put on deck.

I have had a Walker Bay in the past but would prefer a a little heavier fiberglass type.

I could keep the inflatable and buy a small trailer to make my life a bit easier - but still have motor issue, I like to try to keep things simple and a motor always has issues if not used a lot.
Just wondering on thoughts using a small sailing dinghy.
 
#2 ·
Sailing/rowing hard dinghies are great because they provide that extra 'entertainment' when you're on the hook or moored somewhere. If you have kids it's a great way to get them interested in learning how to sail.

If you're doing weekending, overnighting and some cruising they can be problematic in preventing them from keeping you awake at night, whereas it's fairly easy to tie an inflatable alongside. Stowing a sailing dinghy's rig and appendages may be an issue too on a smaller boat.

As far as the motor goes, this year alone we had two occasions where having a dinghy with a motor avoided having to call a towing company. We had two unrelated engine issues a few months apart, in the first instance we were able to get back into our slip with the dinghy in a hip tow arrangement, and in the second we were able push ourselves out of a basin to where the breeze was in order to sail back to a more practical place to do the repairs.

We have the same engine, 3.5 Nissan/tohatsu and I have to say it's been the most reliable engine I've ever owned.

We currently have a nice little 8 ft aluminum RIB.. rows quite well and provides all we need, except the sailing aspect. We also routinely carry 2 9ft plastic kayaks. Perhaps a kayak will fill your need to get to a mooring if you can dock to load the boat.
 
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#3 ·
You might want to look into 'nesting' dinghies. They come in a variety of sizes and configurations (sailing, rowing, powered) and the nice thing is you could carry it on deck and possibly even in or on your car.
 
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#4 ·
Ill second capta's suggestion for a nesting dinghy.

I've got a 10ft nesting dinghy and its really ideal. Each half floats independently, its quite light and the two pieces are easy to handle. it rows beautifully, I've never even bothered with a motor for it. Nested, I store it on the foredeck, but it will also fit aft of the mast. When the weather is calm and distances short I tow it.
 
#10 ·
Ill second capta's suggestion for a nesting dinghy.

I've got a 10ft nesting dinghy and its really ideal. Each half floats independently, its quite light and the two pieces are easy to handle. it rows beautifully, I've never even bothered with a motor for it. Nested, I store it on the foredeck, but it will also fit aft of the mast. When the weather is calm and distances short I tow it.
Which nesting dinghy do you have? Also do you know where used nesting dinghies are likely to be found for sale?

Currently I'm planning on building a Spindrift N11 from B&B yachts but would prefer to find a used one if possible.

thanks,
Hugh
 
#5 ·
I traded my inflatable for a hard shell rowing/sailing dinghy for the reasons Faster stated. When I'm on the hook I take it sailing, alone or with the little guy.

Its light enough I can throw it up in the roof of the car and keep sailing late into the season when the big boat is out of the water, which I guess isn't a consideration for Florida.

I don't use an outboard, oars and sail only.

I'm thinking about getting a soft floor inflatable to keep partially inflated on deck off shore to give me more options in an abandon ship situation, but keep using the hardshell as the work horse.
 
#6 ·
I have a Pearson 26 that is kept on a mooring on the intracoastal in Florida, I live about 50 miles away. I currently have a fairly cheap but new chino made inflatable - it has a removable floor to be able to fold up - but it is an absoulute bear to do so I keep it put together in the garage - it just fits into the back of my SUV when it is deflated - I have a newer 3hp Tohasu that works well for it.

Thinking of getting rid of it and buying a small 9 foot sailing dinghy( with trailer) that can be rowed, I just don't like screwing around with an outboard - both would need to be towed by the boat , the inflatable is too big to put on deck.

I have had a Walker Bay in the past but would prefer a a little heavier fiberglass type.

I could keep the inflatable and buy a small trailer to make my life a bit easier - but still have motor issue, I like to try to keep things simple and a motor always has issues if not used a lot.
Just wondering on thoughts using a small sailing dinghy.
If you're like us, you'll love a hard rowing/sailing dinghy. We're coastal sailors and have towed hard dinks (2 prams) for 30 years. Pick a hard dink that was designed to tow, pick your weather, and just tow it. We've towed the whole east coast including 4 trips across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas. We've never had a problem we couldn't deal with.

There was no choice for us, we wanted to row and our dinghies - with a family of four - have always been too big to fit/haul on deck. Rowing is a great addition to sailing for us and we would miss that part of being on the water.

You mention one of the best things about it; There's no outboard and no gas to deal with. Just get in and row.
 
#7 ·
We have a 40+ yr old 9' Dyer Dhow, which we picked up used about 30 yrs ago. It was a sailing model and included a mast that broke down and could be stowed inside the dinghy, along with the rudder, boom, and oars. We used it for a local charter (out of Mystic) in 1983 instead of the Avon Redcrest the owner had. We didn't have a kick-up rudder at the time, but have since fixed that.

We had 2 teenage boys at the time and sailed the Dyer Dhow with the 4 of us in Block Island and Newport. I remember a couple in Block Island that tried to catch us with their dinghy powered by a 2 hp motor and failed. Made my day.

That said, we now tow--in our old age--a RIB with a 9.9 Honda.
 
#8 ·
We had a cheap inflatable for our first season, but after discovering holes in the seams the following spring (likely caused by chipmunks in the garage) we decided to switch to a hard dinghy and haven't looked back (we just finished our fourth season).

We have an 8' Fatty Knees (Pegu-teeny) and absolutely love her. She rows like a dream, tows behind great, and after picking up the sailing kit at the Newport Boat Show last month, we've had a lot of fun sailing her.

I agree about hassling with an outboard (and we definitely like to keep things simple), but I will admit that after going for a season and a half without one we broke down and bought a small 2.3 hp Honda in August. We were finding that in several cases we were simply anchored too far away from a dinghy dock to reasonably row, especially when the wind was honking. This was before we bought the sailing kit, however. Had we done that first, we may have continued to hold off on the outboard. As soon as we put the Honda on the back of Pegu-teeny I hated the way it ruined her lines, so the outboard stays on the stern rail and we still row (or for next season, sail) unless it's simply not practical. Frankly, we've only used it once so far, but it's nice to know we have it as a back up when we really want it.
 
#9 ·
Not completely clear how you want to use this. If it just getting back and forth to the mooring, then a hard dinghy that can be rowed makes sense. However if you are going to take it cruising, then towing is the only alternative with your Pearson 26. Towing a hard dinghy is a pain compared to towing an inflatable. And with an inflatable if things get rough, at least you can deflate it and stow on the boat.
 
#11 ·
> Which nesting dinghy do you have?

Mine was home built (not by me), I found it on craigslist. It was adapted from a 12ft design, and the guy that made it scaled it down to 10ft. Nested ~6ft, its the perfect size for storing on deck of my boat. Mine is similar to the Catspaw by B&B Yachts:

 
#12 ·
I have a West Marine 9 foot inflatable with a wood floor (built by Zodiac). Assembling the floor is a pain. Fortunately, it fits while assembled, snugly, in the back of my Toyota Tacoma pickup truck. During the season I keep it assembled in the truck under the tonneau cover. When I want to use it, I remove it from the truck, put it on a dock cart, and inflate it with a 12VDC air pump. When I'm done, I lift it out of the water, back onto a dock cart where I deflate it, and wheel it back, and push it into the truck bed.

I keep a Mercury 3.3 (2-stroke) either on the back of the dinghy, or in the dinghy when it is deflated in the truck.

The inflatable rows OK, and motors well.
 
#13 ·
You might want to look at the Chameleon nesting dinghy by Danny Greene. He sells the patterns to build it. I built one and have nothing but praise for it- tough, stable, quite light (40kg), tows like a dream and rows like a rocket! I have no outboard and frankly don't need one, as the dinghy rows so well. You can also build the sailing version. Remember, if you get an inflatable, you will often need an outboard. It's pretty hard to row against the wind for any distance with an inflatable.
 
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