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

[Pixie Dust]

Ok, my porta-bote finally came last Tuesday.  I had ordered the 8' one, really about 9'.  I took it to PD this weekend so I could experience the adventure of setting it up while on the deck of PD, just like I will need to do when on my trip. ;)
I had 2 buddies who came along for the entertainment.  They also decided picts were in order so they would have something to look back on and laugh further.  I took the dorade vents off to allow more deck space, pushed the boom way out and struggled to get the 50# 9'4" banana onto the deck.  This done, I proceeded to open.  I pushed the first side up, landed a bare foot firmly in it and started to push the back side out.  The boat started skiing over the side of the cabin, with me squealing like a little girl.  Nothing to grab onto, we were sliding over the edge.  The edge of the porta-bote caught on the handrail,  my buddy grabbed the boat and I managed to get my balance back.  6 more inches and the boat and I would have skated right into the drink.   :o Ok, I had to stop laughing...  ;D
Got it open enough to put the wedge in, cursed a few times and got the seats in, then the transom screwed in.  Ok, I had to also ask for a little help on one occassion.  The wind was blowing about 17 knots so the boat was sliding back and forth on the cabin top.   Whew!  It is now ready to be launched into the water, *opened*.   I give it a good push over the lifelines... it floats!! This is good.  Then I get in and begin to row.  GOOD GOSH!!  It rowed like a barge.   I had bicep burn within 10 minutes :P it did not want to tack to windward at all and I got out in the bayou where the wind and current had its way with me.  I thought I was never going to get it back in.  Bow sits really low in the water.  Would probably be great with an outboard, which I will have, but I also really enjoy rowing.  Great experience  ::) ;D carried it up, took it apart and contacted Porta-Bote this morning to beg them to take it back.   Plan is for me to get it to the rep in Sarasota, hopefully,otherwise, he said shipping to CA for return will run me $400.   Cost of boat was 1149.  I am waiting on the Sarasota rep to return my message.
Anyone want to make a good trade?  CJ- nesting dinghy for a porta-bote?   ;D
I will try to post a couple of pics in the Gallery.    Back to the drawing board for my dinghy plans.  My old blue Achilles with wooden boards was looking pretty good Sat. 

OK- it can be done on the deck of a boat,  would have been much easier with 2 people handling and probably does much better with an outboard rather than rowing.  Also would be great to just pull up onto shore without worrying about puncture.  In all fairness, I had to also include the positives.   :)

[Zen]

I want to see the video  ;D ;D

[Oldguy52]

Mr. Fixit,

     Okay, I'll bite.  What's a "nesting dinghy"?

     BTW, I like your name "Mr. Fixit".

Sarah, Check out this link for a wonderful example of a 9 ft homebuilt nesting dinghy.

http://seaweed.thebilge.com/spindrift.htm

Rik

[Pixie Dust]

I am so glad you posted the website for the nesting dinghy.  I have been wondering  what they were and was having trouble getting  a visual.  I have never seen them around here.  Awesome looking little boat!  Perfect timing!  :)

[Zen]

I Agree, that is a nice looking lil dinghy. With some modification it would make a great lil life boat!

Because remember as a wise sailor once said (many times really) "U'r never more than 5 miles ( more or less ) from the bottom ;)

;D ;D

[Pixie Dust]

Porta bote- well they do not just take them back. YOU are responsible for shipping it back to them and that is not cheap.  They told me I could ship it to one of their reps in Venice Florida.  That was going to cost 230.   Driving it in my sons truck would have been close to 200.  I placed it on Ebay and it went for 970.  I paid 1149 for it.  Sad to say, but I am thrilled to have lessened the amt of money loss.  Expensive lesson learned.  I just hope that Pay Pal comes through in 5 days and I do not have to start this process over again.
Now I am back to the drawing table trying to decide what I want to do dinghy wise.   ;D  I am back to using the old blue Achilles for now.   
I had replaced my Raritan Head with a Jabsco,  I sold the Raritan head on Ebay for a whopping $31.00   :D

[s/v Faith]

Connie,

  Thanks for saving us (me at least) the tome and trouble.  My dingy fleet is quite large enough.

  Karma pop for your trouble. ;D   <==== pricy karma pop  :o

[Pixie Dust]

Thanks Craig- I need a good Karma Pop after that last hit.  Another valuable lesson learned.   :D ::)
(it still hurts a little)  :'(

[AdriftAtSea]

First, I was on a 'ball' for about 4 months, and the daily grind of borrowing the marina's paddle boat was less then no fun.....
especially when the wind kicked up or you had cargo to haul.

But you look so cute in the paddle boat... the dog does look like he wants to push you in though...

I'm using a porta-bote as a dinghy... It solves the storage problem, as it can fold flat and store on the ama deck when it isn't in use.  It is unsinkable, very durable and both rows and motors well. It can hold about 650 lbs. or so as well. 

[Zen]

 ;D ;D Whenever I see someone write they are using porta-bote as a dinghy. My mind first reads: "porta-pottie"   ;D ;D ;D

[Pixie Dust]

I bought a new porta bote and immed sold it on Ebay.  It shipped out yesterday to a guy in IN.   I did not like the way it rowed.   It was very, very difficult for me to row and I am a pretty good row girl.  I think it would have been fine with an engine on it.  I decided it was not going to work for me... so now I am back to figuring out my next dinghy purchase.  Old blue will just have to do for now.  :)

[Zen]

  ;D just an eye trick, nothing against yours  ;D

[AdriftAtSea]

Connie-

Just curious as to which Porta-bote you had?  I have the big 12' 6" one, and it seems to track and row just fine. Even it didn't work, I'd still use it, since Gee bought it for me to use for fishing. :D

[Zen]

We will not be hearing from Connie for a while she and s/v Pixie Dust, I believe are out doing the wind in the sail thing.

[dvdcnl]

Hi,
At a marina someone thru away an old 12' rigid bottom inflatable.   I brought it home and pumped the 3 chambers up and only one held.  As it is real heavy and won't fold, what would be the best way to put foam or something in the chambers to make it permanently rigid?

On my columbia 29, I carry my 7' rollup inflatable inflated upside down on the deck below the mast and tie it to the handrails when sailing a long distance.   It's my tender and liferaft in one. 

David

[Pixie Dust]

Connie-
Just curious as to which Porta-bote you had?  I have the big 12' 6" one, and it seems to track and row just fine. Even it didn't work, I'd still use it, since Gee bought it for me to use for fishing. :D

Sorry so long to respond.  I am still trying to catch up on reads and getting used to being out of the hammock and making my own coffee.   :D  ;D
I had an 8' porta bote, the baby one.  That is probably the reason it did not row so well.  It was short and beamy.  Since yours has a longer water line, I am sure that makes a huge difference.  Yours also has specialness attached to it.  :) Glad you like yours.  The day I put mine in the water, it was blowing pretty good and a good chop worked up, which of course was a good day to try it out. 

[AdriftAtSea]

Yes, it does have special significance to me... and I was able to get it to go fairly straight in even choppy/windy conditions.  Gee usually got it to go in big circles... lol... She didn't have much experience rowing a rowboat...but was more than happy to try.

[jmeister]

We towed a 13 ft Boston Whaler, pretty bare, reinforced bow eye, for about ten years. 40 ft ketch rigged m/s. Couldnt do without it. Completely self-bailing even with an 80lb outboard.

[Fortis]

We have two dinghies that we use at different times and based on what else is going on.

The first is a big 13foot all inflatable monster. It has a tiny little transom plate I made that fits various loops on the back and allows us to use the electric trolling motor. It has two advantages. It has a huge internal capacity and it folds away into one of the rear lockers perfectly. It can be carried in the car for weeks at a time taking up little space and with the trolling motor producing not one whiff of outboard smell.

generally speaking it handles like an utter pig and we probably would not buy it again if we were searching for a dinghy nowadays...but it has its advantages.

Our other dinghy is a soft floored, rigid transom bombard. Though smaller, it is a far better unit in all ways other then storage. So when we go cruising it tends to ride with us in this configuration:



In this way only the tips of the pontoons actually drag in the water, the thing cannot flip over or get ripped to bits by contrary wave action. It is a matter of seconds to deploy and thus is a damned good liferaft (it is the only one we have or want) and it works really well at sheltering us in the cockpit form spray flying forwards.
It is towed with the drain plug in the transom OPEN, so even if a wave manages to break into the dinghy, he twenty litres or so that get in there while it is tilted like that quickly drain out.
It MUST be attached at two points on either side and the attachments need to be hard rings on the underside of the dinghy.

We have used this system in Bass Straight on moderate yuk days and found it remarkably sturdy and good...This kind of made me rethink adding a davit system, which I had been really clever in designing to incorporate a solar panel arch, bimini, davits and rear gate for the pushpit all in the one unit. Sigh....I guess I outsmarted myself.

:)

Cheers

Alex.

P.S...oh yeah, the same trolling motor gets the Bombard up to a near plane when matched with the hard floor pannels I made for it. Really really love the silent trolling motor...and it even pushes the big boat around handily on a quiet day.
We also have a small 2stroke outboard that came with the bombard...but it hasn't been used in the last two years. I must fire it up in the barrel just to keep it alive this weekend.

As a design feature, I suggest hard gluing a 25litre capacity bag with waterproof zipper onto the bow of the dinghy. Being able to keep things dry no matter what is great, and having it permanently in place means never having to worry about forgetting it or having it wash overboard.  It takes up virtually no space or weight when empty and the dink can still be rolled up around it (as long as it is empty, of course!)

[CapnK]

More grist for the dinghy mill... :)

Ran across a link to a website for a guy who is refitting/outfitting a Westerly Nomad for his circumnavigation*, starting sometime between Mar-Nov of '07. He'd built a stitch-n-glue pram for a dinghy, one piece, and later determined it was too large/heavy for his intentions. He is rebuilding, altering the design to make it a nester which he can store on deck. Details start here, scroll down to the August 6th entry: "BeBop Around the World".

I find this of particular interest because it is something I have been thinking about for a down-the-road project. Ideally, I'll build something very similar, using foam and glass. It's nice to be ab le to see someone else do it first, so I can know what pitfalls to look out for from their experience. :D






*Of course, I sent an email invite for him to come visit/join us here. :)