[christian.hess]

dont do it, especially going down the west coast of north america...not even a question...

possible scenarios:

submarining dinghy, flipping, wildly skidding side to side, plowing into waves...

not being able to pull it in since you are solo, when wind picks up it will affect steerage, since you are a small boat it will really affect your boat speed.

solo in any sea it will be near impossible for you to haul it into your boat. Especially if you lose your autopilot or have no means of safely steering hands off...

cheers

ps. In protected waters, flat and with crew yeah...solo maybe again only in protected calm waters.

 

[christian.hess]

youre going to have to at some point...it cant always be in the water...

thats a big inflatable for such a small boat

 

[christian.hess]

chick magnet?
cool

I meant in emergencies and stuff if the wind really picks up or you need to stow it etc...

 

[christian.hess]

good grief

I guess its a sign of the times

I have a small 7 or so footer, an old zodiac I got for a song...its the color an inflatable should be ORANGE as it serves as a liferaft before the days when you had to have an ice chest on deck...

in any case its like 30lbs deflated...and its on my 36 footer...seems reasonable to me

about the chick thing I never knew big ribs were chic magnets...thats news to me
if they are then cool...

good luck

my point stands...I have no idea what you would do if all of a sudden you are towing your 116pounder sans engine(with engine add another 20-30lbs plus gear) and you get into some high winds chop etc...then you say ok Ill reef or get the sails down...but then you want to save your dinghy from flipping or get it on deck

what system do you have for that?

I guess you could side tie it to the boat in emergencies but your just asking to damage it...

I was about to rewrite a post I made(page went blank!) about my personal bonehead award moment when I actually lost a towed dingy in roiugh seas, I was solo without an autopilot or working windvane and I was tied to the helm or else risk a bad broach and more damage

eventually my dinghy flipped, submarined and snapped...I was flying boat speed wise and as soon as the dingy submarined I almost broached the braking effect was so big...

cause dinghies that are towed like to skid side to side...

on a small boat you are taking big risk towing a big dinghy like that even in protected waters cause you never know...

oh btw davits on a boat your size is a no no too

anyways

be careful

 

[christian.hess]

north ocean Im not trying to stop you...I have towed many a time including kayaks...and done fine in many different places...however it was not the standard operating way for us...

on small boats you also have handling scenarios that dont happen on bigger boats...

for example on the 37 foot steel cruiser I sailed for a long time it had an rib a really nice one...no davits but it was always stored on deck ready to be deployed...likewewise it had a dedicated hauling winch as well as straps etc...

my point was that if the crap hits the fan what is your plan?

it sounds like you are going to start your cruise with the dink in the water...ok so that means it will always be in the water...no problem

until............

you HAVE to put it on deck...have you tried muscling a 120pounder up on the foredeck? what system do you have?

if you cant youll have to let it go in an emergency and retrieve it at a later date...

anywhoo

I agree with all thats being said with ribs, versus wood slat or soft floor dinghies its true...but its also true that those smaller dinghies are more practical for the small boat sailor...

even storing in a lazarette makes you less susceptible to windage not to mention having it fly off or get sun damaged etc...

on my old wooden boat we kept a zodiac at the forward mast covered..it took 10 minutes to deploy...not good in an emergency but better than nothing...a ready to use dinghy would of been great I can do that now on this boat...just keep it 90 percent inflated so it doesnt get too bloated in the sun...

anywhoo....

have fun...

 

[christian.hess]

Well rowing my AB 9 ft RIB sucks donkey breath.

In light wind conditions, say 7 kts, it is possible to make some slow progress. In typical east Caribbean trade wind conditions the best I can do is control the direction of my down wind drift.

Incidentally I do take the point that better oars and rowlocks might help. I had to row my RIB for real when my 2 year old Tohatsu 18 hp failed catastrophically in Falmouth harbor Antigua. The supplied telescopic oars bent alarmingly and after 50 yards one of the rowlocks peeled of the tube as the glue joint failed.

That is why I ALWAYS carry a dinghy anchor and a 100 ft of line.

Waited for a tow.

Full story on the OB failure and the runaround I got from the supplier here ELEPHANTS CHILD: BUDGET MARINE TOHATSU WARRANTY

funny and sad when I remembered my old cruising frugally days

I had a very old and donated zodiac...no motor just those oars...

down here sometimes when the bus came late and I missed the tides to get to the boat I would have to row in 4-5 up to 6 knot currents...of it was the rainy season...sometimes I didnt make it and had to wait for the next tide in...

I got really good skirting the shores where there is less current go way past the boat up stream if you will, then hammer it rowing like a mad man with the current hopefully not pushing me past the boat which was 300 yards or so from the shore.

jaajaja sometimes I missed and I had to wait at somebody elses boat or anchor chain or whatever...

somtimes I would get a ride, but at night most were asleep so I just waited

patience they say...jajajaja

 

[christian.hess]

well this just got out of control huh??????????????????????????

 

[christian.hess]

Ill play devils advocate here, yes I do beleive a lot if us are bored and or ARE not sailing due to whatever circumstances so sometimes we get cranky and post non stop on the nets...

having said that I do agree with many of your thoughts, but also understand that there is no point in making someone else feel dumb.

a lot of us get carried away and sometimes people get offended, we just had this happen on another thread where the op felt unwelcomed. I too have felt that sometimes so lets just be nicer.

now back to the RIB question...

I agree, too big, unsafe in bad weather, not smart to have it towed 100% of the time, BUT its the ops want and desire to do so with what he has so let him have at it and learn along the way.

cheers

 

[christian.hess]

Having slept on my previous post, rather than offer an apology, I would now like to propose a new sub-forum for folks just fooling on the net around along the lines of:

Dudes, I'm sitting at work bored as **** so here's a coupla goofy ideas I've had. I don't really care whacha think cuz I'm just fooling around so like don't take this seriously.

With that kind of truth-in-advertising, genuinely helpful and knowledgeable people wouldn't bother to respond. And attention-getters could have their little 5 minutes in the sunshine.

Win-win.

there are many threads with that title, you just have to read between the lines...

 

[christian.hess]

and bingo was his name oh...

guys while the advice is awesome and true.

the OP doesnt have a prop shaft...but still a rudder...some are easy to unwrap some are hellish!

so thats 1 point in northoceans favour...jejeje(playing devils advocate here for both sides now! jajaja)

sometimes its important to pay attention to the particulars of ones request or thread title...

while I wholhearteadly agree that if me I would not tow such a big dinghy, on a small 26 footer I also give importance to the details here....

ocean clearly stated(midway through the thread) he would only tow in island hopping situations...that took 95% of my worries from his situation

however like mentioed earlier by many of us its that 5% possibilty that makes it still unwise...

at least for me...

however peeps PAY ATTENTION to the particulars of what the OPS of threads are asking.