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

[CharlieJ]

Domestic, not so good for boat building ( like fir) plywood has dropped.

GOOD (such as Okume BS 1088) boat building ply has actually gone up slightly. Bought 6 sheets of 4 MM Okume last week for $312.

I wouldn't even attempt to build one of Graham's designs using less that  top grade boat building plywood. PARTICULARLY a design with a lot of curve to it.

Just not worth spending your time to build a nice boat, with second rate materials. And sadly almost ALL US made plywood these days is second, if not third rate. My personal opinion and I'm a professional boat builder.

And here's the forum for building B and B designs-

http://www.messing-about.com/forums/index.php?board=2.0

[WF]

CharlieJ -  Thanks for the link.  At first glance I LOVE the nesting ones.  I'm still at the point of potentially trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, but you're right, if it doesn't fit, it doesn't fit.  I think I'll be able to find a hard dinghy that works, I'll just have to find the RIGHT one.

VinegarJ - I'd have to agree in principle with CharlieJ that if I'm going to build one, I'd want it done 'right', whatever that may mean.  I know I'm being unrealistic trying to find the PERFECT dinghy(for me and my boat) right off the bat, but as they say, "Aim high..."

The Fatty Knees 7' was sold, so I'm SOL on that one.  Haven't seen many of the 7' for sale.  I'd still be interested in hearing what people think of the El Toros though. 
Thanks all.

[vinegarj]

again fwiw, i built my nester with marine plywood.  but i've "heard" that luan five-layer plywood is now showing up at home depot sporadically.  the marine plywood i used was good stuff, but not great.  however, it was very expensive, especially for the quality.
i wouldn't be too worried about using good luan that's going to be covered with epoxy resin and paint.  either way, the catspaws only take a couple of sheets of plywood so the expense issue is kind of moot.

[WF]

Good points vinegarJ.  I'm sure I could find suitable plywood to work with.  I have to say the option of building my own is tempting as I could modify it within reason to fit my needs, besides, it would be lots of fun.

[Shipscarver]

Hey CharlieJ
  That Minipaw looks like it would hold . . . maybe 3 or 4 serving of oatmeal.   :D
How does it handle, and how much can it handle?

[s/v Faith]

I think that a plywood dink might be a good answer (especially for trips on coastal waters or inland waters)

I really like the B&B designs, but stopped short of paying for the plans.

  I just got 'Ultrasimple boatbuilding; 17 plywood boats anyone can build with Gavin Atkin's designs.  From Edward R. Hammilton.

  Planning the next trip for the fall... now I just gotta carve out some time to build the thing.   ;D


(OBTW, I went ahead and merged this thread with the other dingy thread.  It does kind of wander, but has a bunch of info on folks experiences.... might be worth going back to the beginning and re-reading it.)

[CharlieJ]

How's this for a load? Note the remaining freeboard? 

That's me up front, weighing in at 165. Mike in the rear CLAIMS 250 give or take ;D

[LauraG]

The Minipaw has been a great dinghy. It will carry a load. It tows well and Charlie says it rows well. I can't really tell if it rows well since my rowing skills are almost nonexistant. The boat does have one annoying quirk. It never shuts up. Never. Even in the calmest anchorages I feel like I have a big thirsty Labrador retriever tied to a leash off the stern. The darn dog is always lappin' up water out of the water bowl. Lap, lap, lap. Did I mention that it never stops? Lap, lap, lap, lap, lap........... There were times when I wished  I had brought a soccer ball instead. It would have been a more gracious friend. Other times I wished I had brought a gun so I could shoot a hole in the bottom of it and sink it.

[Tim]

There were times when I wished  I had brought a soccer ball instead. It would have been a more gracious friend. Other times I wished I had brought a gun so I could shoot a hole in the bottom of it and sink it.

LOL  ;D Laura, I love how you are soo clear in your feelings about something. Although they perhaps don't row as easy as a hardshell, the great thing about inflatables is that they are very very quiet ;)
Plus the fact you can store them 'out of sight out of mind" makes them win-win in my book.

Tim

[Manannan]

Yes... store them out of sight.. Well tell me where you store yours, because so far on smaller boats, those things are stored on the best bed in the boat.. the double bunk V-berth.... OK, you may not use the V-birth at sea, but still, as much as you dry it  before you store it,(if you have time, or put it in a bag) it brings humidity and sometimes smell when the bottom is not quite clean and the stuff dries....I am partial to hard dinghies, yes they row better take more abuse and are not as likely to be stolen. They are an essential part of equipment, that requires a lot of thoughts considering what kind of cruising you do. Laura, may be by putting some weight in it at anchor will stop the lap, lap, lap, or may be give it some more leash and you won't hear it that much  :)

[Tim]

Here's where the inflatable is stored on the Potter 19 while cruising in British Columbia.



It fit snugly on the bow, it is a two person inflatable kayak.

I am assuming it will fit equally well on the bow of the Ariel

[AdriftAtSea]

I store my inflatable in a storage area in the cabin, under the cockpit area.  The area is basically dead space for the most part, so storing the dinghy there kind of makes sense.  The Porta-Bote will be stored on the starboard ama, folded up.  If either dinghy is ready to use, they will sit on the starboard ama until they're needed in the water.   Of course, having an 18' beam gives me some options that you might not have. :)

[CharlieJ]

lol- yeah I understand. USED to have that capability

[Tim]

lol- yeah I understand. USED to have that capability

;) (with a note of longing)  ;D

[s/v Faith]

CJ.

  Do you happen to have anything 8ish ' or so for sale?  I would love to make one, but I am afraid I am being overtaken by projects.... not to mention that I am sure that you would do a better job....

[CharlieJ]

sent you a PM

[LauraG]

Hi Tim!
I've been really busy lately and don't have time to contribute much to the message boards, although I do try to drop in and see what's going on. There are times, however, when I feel like I wouldn't be a good citizen if I didn't say something.   ;)

Laura
~In search of a quiet dinghy~

[Toucantook]

My last dink is kaput, so- my next dink will be a nester or one with a removable transom.  Make it to fit from the mast to the back of the cabin, then, with the transom out, it would act as a dodger.

[newt]

I'm a little late to this thread, so forgive me if I cover things that have been already hashed out. Just finished my dingy out of two sheets of plywood. Will hold three adults. Took Hannu's boatyard design and enlarged it slightly. Fits perfectly on my Compac 23 (but haven't sailed it yet this way)

Its raining kinda hard in this picture but you get the idea. Fits snug, no movement of the dingy between the front pulpit and the mast step, but yet you can work your way around it on deck. Note also the oars- from an old stairway railing and some 1by6's.
Total cost- about 250 USD.
I will let you know how it sails and how easy it is to get it down once you reach anchorage.
YeeeHaw!! :D

[s/v Faith]

Back on the third post in this thread I talked about the 6 or 7 tenders we had tried out....

  Well, I just bought and promptly ruled out another one.  :-[

I saw an add for a 10' canoe.  It looked fairly beamy, and I thought it might be just the ticket for a low drag tender for local gunkholing.... well I took it down tot he marina and borrowed a paddle.  It probably worked ok for the prior owners... but with my ~235# in it I did not have much freeboard.  Would not try to add my 75# lab to it even as salty as he is about small boats.

  Anyone looking for a 10' fiberglass canoe?