[TSOJOURNER]

We will be cruising the caribbean in about 2-3 years. I am buying the boat now but am uncertain about buying a RIB or a Rollaway. The questions of stowage and performance have already been debated. My question concerns coral reefs and whether a rollaway inflatable bottom is going to shred the first time I mistakenly bump into a reef going ashore.

 

[TSOJOURNER]

I bought an inflatable this time around, but in the future I''m going to skip inflatables all together and just get a hard dinghy.

The only advantage to an inflatable is that it can be collapsed and stored away on longer voyages....but they also need maintenance....UV protection and all that. The RIBs are not so easy to stow for obvious reasons...and they all seem to cheat you out of room in them.

My son has a solid dinghy and says he is much happier...and in general they can be had for less $$ and less upkeep as well.

 

[svdragonseeker]

I now have a soft bottom inflatable that I bought in Bequia I purchased it becouse I wanted something that I could deflate and store inside the boat for long passages. Previous to that I always had hard dingys. I do not like the inflatable very much It keeps leaking, both air and water. It is much easier to climb into from the water after swimming.
I have now built another hard dingy, now that I am not down island. I also have acquired davits. I do not plan to ever get another inflatable. I would purchase a RIB. My recommendation is to get davits and then a rib. That way you can lift the dingy up and keep it safer from theft and help prevent barnicles etc. from acquiring on the bottom. Also much less worries re. coral.
SV