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

[s/v Faith]

I would really like to see a picture of this set up. 



   I wonder if Mr. Smiles could get any more ugly.....  ;D

 

[CapnK]

...and here she is, the new dink. I spent an hour or so cleaning her up, then slapped out the outboard and went for a spin. She'll plane. :D I forgot to grab the GPS, but would guess that I was making 10 kts or so. Now all I have to do is watch out for oysters...

[Solace]

Great lookin Zodiac CapnK - Congrats on finding a deal on one.

I have the identical one to 8' Walker Bay in the background. 'Row vs Wade' tows great, but doesn't inspire confidence in rough seas. The lightweight tupperware construction makes it practically bulletproof. I to came across this in a deal too good to say no to. I will likely be in the market for a great inflatable.

John

[Slrman]

Dinghy Doings

Note:  This has been published in Sail last year.  The pictures are available if anyone wants them.  Just drop me a note and I'll e-mail them to you.

I had purchased an 8' hard dinghy with a 3.5 hp outboard for my O'Day 32.  The dink was rugged, unsinkable, and fit neatly between the davits on Picasso's stern.  The only problem was it lacked the stability of an inflatable.  An unexpected trip into the waters of the marina one day convinced me to do something about this.  I thought about the inflatable tubes available from the manufacturer, but they cost almost as much as I paid for the dink, motor, and sail kit. 

Instead, I got the idea of attaching foam flotation to the sides.  I called around to several local places looking for high-density closed cell foam.  In the quantities I needed, that was more than I wanted to spend on an uncertain project.  Finally, it was suggested to me to use the "noodles" made for kids and swimming pools.  At least the price was right.  I bought six noodles and some waterproof spray cement all for under $12. 



The noodles didn't fit very well as they were, so I sliced them lengthwise with a large razor knife and the assistance of Tom, who gave me the noodle idea.  That's the danger of making suggestions, you can get caught up in the work. 
In photo 1, you can see how the "noodles" were stacked up along the side until I had five pieces on each side.  It was so easy I decided to carve some of the extra foam into a tapered shape to give the front sections a more streamlined shape.  See photo 2.



When the dinghy is empty, the foam is out of the water a bit.  When heavily loaded, they are slightly immersed. 

So how does it work?  Not as well as the inflatable tubes, I'm sure.  But, for ten bucks, they do very well.  At least I don't feel like a candidate for the swim team when getting in or out of the dink.

[CapnK]

Slrman -

If you'd like to email the pictures to me ( sailorkurt at gmail dot com), I'll post them in the Gallery so they can be linked into the story. Good story, by the way. :) The "unexpected trip into the marina waters" - yep, been there done that, but not off of the dinghy (yet!).

I've also seen people rig a row of small fenders around the edge of their dinghy to make it more stable. Noodles would be a cheaper solution, though. How have they held up to UV?

[Slrman]

Because I sold the boat, I am not sure how well it's held up.  Even though the Noodles are supposedly stabilized for UV exposure, I painted them afterwards anyway.  I took the pictures first so they would show up better.

I supposed painting them a contrasting color would have been a good idea.  But I had the white spray paint already.  Also, I had hopes it would provide better UV protection and not fade.

Speaking of UV protection, I have used SPF 40 sunscreen on bungees, Bimini straps, and even the Bimini itself with very good results.  After all, it works on our skin, so why not?  I'd apply it with a cloth and let it soak in.  I have no idea how long it would last but I would redo the straps and bungees every couple of months.  The Bimini, I never did again as the fabric itself was supposed to be good.  The sunscreen did improve the color, though.

[mariner3302]

Hey Jim...
Just spray on glue? How long do you think that would last? It isn't soluble, so probably some time. Be interesting to hear about it later on when it has aged.

[Slrman]

Good question about the glue.  I really don't know.  It was advertised as being waterproof and suitable for immersion.  But that's the advertising, and you know how that is.   ;D 

I was in contact with the new owners for about a year and all they ever said about it was they liked the arrangement a lot better than the last hard dinghy they'd had.  In fact, they said they originally had planned to sell it and buy an inflatable but, after trying it, decided to spend the boat bucks elsewhere. 

[starcrest]

I wonder why there isn't a product, sort of like a car's airbag, that is compact but will self inflate under given conditions inside the cabin. The idea is to keep the boat afloat and give you time to jury rig repairs.

oded kishony

I have seen first hand what it takes to keep a severly damaged boat afloat.the aftermath of hurricane jean left most of the boats at the marina I was at on the bottom.it was only about  6 feet deep ,but it took several people and a work barge equipped with a heavy duty compressor to fill  several air  bags roughly the size and shape of a small water bed to re-float these vessels. some of the larger vessels needed continuosly more and more airbags.the hoses to fill these float bags were more like the fire hoses you see on a fire truck.some of the heavier displacement boats were dragged to the shoreline while still somewhat submerged.hulls that remained intact were pumped out on site once afloat. and that was in the still and calmness of a marina that was protected by a sea wall.now add to it the surging of a moving seaway.if your boat has tons of lead ballast....the thought of an air bag.... well there was once a plan to re-float the titanic by filling it with oil.

[s/v Faith]

There is a big difference in the pressure required to inflate salvage bags and what would be needed to inflate a bag before the boat went down.

  If you think about the weight of the water you are displaceing when you are trying to 'float' a submerged boat it makes sense that it would take a lot to bring it up.  Just like in SCUBA you use much more air the deeper you go, so will it require much more pressure to inflate the bag under water.

  You should not need an awful lot of presusre (think of a life raft inflation device) if the boat is not yet full of water.

  That said, I think it makes much more sense to just isolate whatever spaces you can to trap as much air as you can.  Maybe not as effective as the airbags, but more practical.  IMHO

[starcrest]

if I remember correclty my ariel had 2500 pounds of lead ballast.how much of an air bag would be needed to keep it afloat...even while still at the surface.also the islander I have now even tho its 4 feet longer has less draft....and the same ballast.in no way shape or form do I expect any kind of airbag to keep it afloat.

[starcrest]

heres my idea of a really unsinkable boat and this would be real fun to do...you know those sparkletts bottles....the plastic ones....well how about getting several thousand of those seriously ....and constructing something like the kon-tiki....or the Thor Heyerdahl type Ra-expidition raft type vessels....now fill those bottles with that expanding type insulating foam....got any ideas???????????????????????????DONT PUT IT PAST ME.I WOULD DO IT

[s/v Faith]

Eric,

  Give you lot's of opportunities to place messages in bottles should your craft start sinking  ;D

  To get nutral bouyancy it seems to me that you would have to fill bags large enough to displace water equal to it's submerged weight.

  At at the surface, on average weighs 1027 kg/m3, or just over 64.1 lbs per cubic foot.  So, just to float your keel I believe you would need something like 40 cubic feet of bladder space. 


  Of course if you had that much space filled in advance (water tight compartments) you might keep enought water out to keep from having to re-float it in the first place.....

  I do like your idea though. Kinda wonder how a plastic 'sparklet bottle' would go to wind.  ;D

[s/v Faith]

Here you go Eric,



  Just gotta get a waiver from the race comitte.  ;D

Here is a link, the 'frugal' among us might get some ideas for a new tender there...  :D

http://www.milkcartonboat.com

[starcrest]

I hoida dat too.I jus thoughta buildin a raft and doinz like da kewooobin raftaz an' goin bakta joizee onda gulf stweem

[starcrest]

look this idea of the unsinkable boat went down with the titanic.its like an un-crashable aircraft.and sky divers want anti-gravity jumpsuits too.this air bag thing may be possible but its not practical.atleast not for heavily ballasted boats.some unballasted  vessels like multihulls may stand a chance.but  I dont see this idea being mass-produced or advertised  as such.any small boat getting run down by a freighter is like a bowling ball rolling over a mosquito.

[s/v Faith]

Kurt,

  Nice inflatable you got there....

(note, green with envy....)

  Have you tried to fit it into your cockpit locker yet?  Or inflate/deflate it from the boat? 

  I wish you better luck then I have.  ::)



OBTW, not only do we have the same boat, I have the same outboard for my dingy!

[Joe Pyrat]

I've tried hard dinks and inflatables.  The hard dinghies have the advantage of being easier to row but can be a bit tipsy and storage is an issue on a small boat. 

The inflatables are very stable, but hard to row, storage is not much of an issue, although it can be.  If you use an outboard on your inflatable, the rowing issue isn't a problem though.  Inflatables also seem to have superior load carrying ability when compared to hard dinghies.

IMHO, my tender solution incorporates the best of both worlds.  The Porta-Bote has the stability of and load carrying of an inflatable, and is easy to row.  Storage-wise the folded up Porta-Bote can be attached to your stanchions and not clutter the deck.  The seats can be easily stored in the bottom of a locker.  There is a sailing kit available, but IMHO, it is not worth the extra storage it requires.

Here's the link to Porta-Bote...

http://www.porta-bote.com/

[CapnK]

Good point, Joe - I've seen a few cruisers come through here using them, and they universally like their Porta Botes as a best-of-both-worlds solution.

[Zen]

I met this guy who sailed from the Neatherlands to Japan with his wife ( 40 plus ftr). They have been in Japan for some 15 yrs after a lengthy stay in New Zealand and other places downunder. He gave me this old mag from Z-land, which dealt mostly with the big Spenders and thier $ailboat$. However there was one articule which I though was interesting on this guy's homemade lifeboat.
I have scanned it into a PDF file. so not to unset any copyright laws, If someone wants to read it send me  PM I will forward you a copy. It is a small article only 2 pages.