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Towing vs carrying a Rib on board

5K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  mondofromredondo 
#1 ·
I am becoming envious of the people I see with larger dinghy's.

In particular the ribs with the nice big 15-20 hp engines.
I want one. Just not sure about towing something that big.

Not sure if storing a rib on deck of a 34 PSC cutter is the ideal solution either.
The tow option gives me concerns regarding drag as well as an un-occupied dinghy being toppled over and finding my nice new motor submerged.

Davits would be a consideration. Of course I have to consider my Monitor windvane.
Some form of lift would need to be considered as of course a 15-20 hp motor is no lightweight to be handled by a 55 year old man.
I know this is not a PSC specific question, however other PSC 34 owners may have had to consider the deck storage options as well.
 
#4 ·
Interesting... we've never seen such a setup in use around here..
 
#5 ·
An 11 foot or more RIB is to large and heavy to carry on the foredeck of a 34 footer.

Unless you are going offshore, tow it. If oyu are going offshore, get davits or a different dingy. Coastal cruising for 10 years I towed my 11foot RIB without a problem. 9HP is plenty of power, always put the outboard on the stern rail when heading out.

Rig a three part towing bridle so the side towing rings dont take the jerking load in a seaway (or they'll separate off...).
 
#6 ·
You could try something like these for getting the engine on/off:

http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|294|299766&id=99370

http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|294|299766&id=811962

http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|294|299766&id=85264

I've seen other solutions similar to the Davron ones mentioned above, and I think they let the dinghy sit sideways and then pivot up. Put another way, I thought I saw that the port/starboard side of the dinghy would be grabbed/attached to the "hinge" next to the boat's transom, then the opposite side of the dinghy is lifted (via a line and block) up and out of the water. This let it sit lower and have less windage than the Davron solution. Of course, off the top of my head now, I can't remember where I saw that.
 
#7 ·
The Davron Dinhy Tow is a cool looking product.
Unfortunately they do not have brackets to attatch to the lower aft hull surface as it has a compound contour. Towing still is not my favorite idea. As I have a windvane I'd be interested in any "On Deck" stowage ideas. Ideally I'd like to lift and stow a 10-15 HP motor. Then lift and stow the dinghy. I may be forced into deflating and stowing as opposed to on deck stowage.
 
#8 ·
I had an 8 foot inflatable that I could partially deflate and lash to the foredeck of my cutter rig. Had it flip while towing when the winds piped up to 35 -40 kt. Not good for the outboard! I use an 11 1/2 foot hard dink now for coastal and will use a deflated inflatable when I go offshore. Tired of patching the inflatable.:)
 
#9 ·
My requirements for a dinghy was something that could plane with 2 scuba divers on board including tanks.

Started with a small Avon Rib 2.80 with 8 hp motor. The Rib was small enough to fit between the mast and the inner forestay (staysail) on a Crealock 37 but heavy so frequently got towed between the mainland and Catalina Island. It could not plane with 2 divers and tanks. Lost it when towing it around the West End of Catalina with large seas and around 20 knots of wind. The dinghy flipped and the bow was digging into the water. Before I could slow the boat down the painter broke. I tried to get a line around the dinghy without any luck and abandon it at the start of Thanksgiving weekend. Reported it to Coast Guard Long Beach a couple of hours after we lost it. Was found by the US Navy on the backside of San Clemente Island and I got it back - but the Coast Guard San Diego put quite a bit of effort in locating me over the weekend.

Next I purchased a 15 HP motor that was larger then rated for the Avon Rib. It did not meet my goal.

Then purchased an Avon 3.40 (3.4 meters long) roll-up dinghy. It did the job for a number of years. Used with the 15 HP 2 stroke Mercury. Got up on plane was lighter then the Rib and I could inflate it on deck with the boat balanced on the life-lines.

After about 15 years the Avon Roll-Up seem to generate holes on a regular basis and I was tired of repairing it.

After searching the market for a similiar boat I went with an Achilles Hypalon Roll up with a hypalon inflatable floor. Its a foot longer then the Avon Roll-Up but is a few pounds lighter so is even easier to deploy and to bring back on the boat. Deflated it is sometimes tied down forward of the cabin and behind the inner forestay. For longer trips offshore it will likely go below either in the quarterberth or under the table in the salon, folded small enough so that the settee could be converted to a double berth.

If you are planning on running the dinghy up on the beach, be sure to purchase the large inflatable wheels that are mounted to the stern and can be lowered when you choose to land the boat.

Marc Hall
Crazy Fish - Maintaining, Upgrading and Sailing a Crealock 37
 
#10 ·
Thanks Marc,
Coincidentally I am looking at the Achilles Hypalon Roll up with the inflatable bottom.
I looked at your website and enjoyed seeing your improvements.
I too am looking into replacing my 1988 standing rigging. The Dyneema looks like an interesting product worth investigating. The change over to a tiller is also something I am hoping to accomplish. I am often out at Catalina and know the West end well. I feel your pain in losing your dink.
I was suprised to see the few parts that came from PSC to go to tiller mode. How long would you say it took to do the conversion start to finish ?

Thanks Keith
 
#11 · (Edited)
Keith

The boat was in the yard for a week to complete the conversion but other issues kept the boat in the yard.

Prior to the trip to yard I installed the new engine controls. I believe it took a couple of days but I am not the fastest worker.

Pacific Seacraft provided the major components including an extension to be welded onto the rudder post. Thumper at Pacific Seacraft was a big help in putting together the components and also spent some time on the phone talking with the guys at the yard so they knew what was needed without my translations. Rudder was dropped and spent a couple of days at the welder, before being installed. Once the rudder was ready, the new bearing was glassed in.

While at the yard I ended up pulling the pedestal off the boat and installed the actual tiller.

After the boat was back in the slip, I glassed in the end the holes cut into the cockpit support for the oringinal pedestal install. Its functional but ugly and I need to decide what I am going to do with it. Offshore racing rules seem to require 4 cockpit drains and Thumper suggested converting the back half of the cockpit sole into a second access hatch.

Also still need to connect the WH autopilot to rudder post. Prior to doing this I wanted to get some experience with the feel of the tiller without the WH attached.

Marc
Crazy Fish - Maintaining, Upgrading and Sailing a Crealock 37
 
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