Show me your little Dinghy / Tender / what have you....

[Jeremy]

I've recently bought the plans for Wooden Widget's Fliptail.  Construction looks straightfoward, and it looks like a good fit for the type of coastal gunkholing I'm doing.  Small, collapsible, but easily assembled when you need it.  That said, even though it's collapsible, I still have some lingering concerns about stowage aboard my Meridian.  Perhaps it could be stored in a sunbrella pouch along a lifeline as a sort of thick lee cloth.

[Zen]

I decided on a Porta Bote. For my CAT it made sense,

[Chattcatdaddy]

I decided on a Porta Bote. For my CAT it made sense,

I reall y like the porta-bote, but the asking price is a little steep for me this year. In about six months I will be coming into a little more more money and will be taking a hard look at buying one.  Start with a Kaboat or one of the kayaks to start and then switch next year and still have the kayak for recreational use.

[Rick Westlake]

I can speak more of the KaBoat, after a couple of seasons of using it.  Reasonably light and workable, but in all honesty I wish I'd gotten a better-optimized inflatable kayak instead.

My first big gripe about it is that it was awfully long to inflate on the foredeck of a MacGregor 26X.  It's a jam fit, there, between the bow-pulpit and the mast. I got a Rule electric inflator-pump for the job, and it did well for the main tubes; but I still needed a high-pressure pump for the floor.

It works better on Halcyon, the Bristol 29.9 - which has a longer foredeck. But I have had to use a foot-pump to inflate it there, because the Rule pump needs to be clipped directly to the battery and the cord isn't long enough to reach from the lazarette to the foredeck.  Oh, well.

A former colleague of mine has a Portabote that I might be able to buy - his wife was anxious to have him sell it, after his retirement luncheon. But I haven't heard anything from him about it.

[Sunset]

I build my brother a B&B 10N. He uses it for a dink at Marathon key. Said he wishes it had a little more free-board. Kind of wet when motoring in a chop.
I would have built the 11N, only 6 inchs longer when nested.

[CharlieJ]

A thread on free board on the Spindrift you might find of interest, taken from the B and B Yachts forum-

http://messing-about.com/forums/topic/7905-freeboard-on-the-spindrift/

[k chiswell]

Your Spindrift 10N looks great.  I've had my plans for a while, but hope to build mine this summer.

[Chattcatdaddy]

I decided to go the Porta-bote route. Ordered the 8ft model and will be here soon. I just couldn`t bring myself to order an inflatable tender. Will be looking into inflatable kayaks for recreation purposes in the future.

[svbreakaway]

A thread on free board on the Spindrift you might find of interest, taken from the B and B Yachts forum-

http://messing-about.com/forums/topic/7905-freeboard-on-the-spindrift/

Just to note that I added 2" to the freeboard of my Spindrift 10N using the suggestion,

Simplest method to avoid mistakes is to draw the plans out full size, then continue the lines up: thus, extending the existing stem lines and the transom corners up along the existing lines

It seems to look and nest OK.  Hopefully, someday I'll meet up with someone with a stock 10N and we can compare them under similar conditions.  Here's my build page:
   http://svbreakaway.info/dinghy-project2.php

[s/v Faith]

Saw a great idea on Craig's list....

http://pensacola.craigslist.org/bod/3939485484.html

Only $140!

[s/v Faith]

I love the 4x4 seat supports...

... Gotta make it strong if you are going to sea!

[CharlieJ]

That is hilarious. And he drilled no holes I bet ;D

Wonder why the tire pics?

[marujo_sortudo]

For those of you saving up for Portabotes, watch craigslist.  I've seen some come up wicked cheap from time-to-time.  We were hoping to build a nester this winter, but I think our $$ may have other plans  :-\