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Old 09-09-2007, 04:24 AM   #1
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Greetings,



In many ways the dinghy will be one on the most important acquisitions the cruiser will ever make.

And choosing one that will suit all planned and unplanned needs, will doubtless be a headache

1) How big ? Too small, will limit number of people, limit the load , limit the size of motor.

Too big, cost - difficult to lift and bring up high on the beach; will need large motor;

paddles not much use.

2) Ideal length ?

3) Ideal Beam ?

4) Tube Size ? Separate compartments

5) Fabric ? Loose cover ?

6) Colour ?

7) Rigid ?

8) Inflatable bottom and keel ?

9) Transom ? Automatic drain ? Engine bolt through holes in reinforced plate ?

10) Lifting point rings and brackets ?

11) Seats ?

12) Foldup Beaching wheels ?

13) Max O/B Engine ?

14) Fuel Tank ?

15) Painter - ground tackle ?

16) Anti theft security ?

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Question - what would be your criteria for choosing a dinghy (or tinnie) for your present or future cruising yacht ??????
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Old 09-09-2007, 08:02 AM   #2
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I recently met live aboard, voyaging, cruising people who boasted they had not used their dinghy in over 12 months. The proliferation of marinas, the need for mains power, internet facilities etc. means they can comfortably motor/sail between marinas as they travel and they simply have no regular need for a tender.

Consequently, they bought a roll up, easily stowable, small inflatable with slatted floor and a 3.5hp motor.

When I am living aboard, I like to be at anchor rather than be in a the water borne equivalent of a trailer/caravan park. Therefore different criteria affect my choice.

I HAVE NEVER BEEN HAPPY WITH ANY DINGHY I HAVE OWNED!!

I have had 3 inflatables, one with a rigid floor, one with a solid, three section floor, and one with a slatted aluminium floor. I have had 2 tinnies; one clinker built from timber, a small solid fibreglass sailing dinghy, a 'fibreduck' (which looks like an inflatable but is in fact made from fibreglass) and a 'suicide' pram dinghy.

In all of this over many years, I have always had complaints. Currently I have a 3.2m Avon RIB and a 2.4m roll-up. Having two tenders, reasonably addresses the problems which are individual to the other dinghy; and I have lifting tackle and a huge foredeck.

Soon, I will move on to my boat in preparation for next year's departure. I will only carry one dinghy and I have not the faintest idea which one to take. Probably the Avon with the 5hp Yammy......but I like the Caribe tiddler with the 3hp and integral fuel tank.

This gives rise to one immutable law which is universal to the cruiser. Everyone else has a better dinghy than you...and yours is just w-r-o-n-g.

David.
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Old 09-09-2007, 08:25 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Auzzee View Post
I recently met live aboard, voyaging, cruising people who boasted they had not used their dinghy in over 12 months. The proliferation of marinas, the need for mains power, internet facilities etc. means they can comfortably motor/sail between marinas as they travel and they simply have no regular need for a tender.

David.
Wow, imagine never getting off a cruising yacht except to step onto a marina pontoon
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Old 09-09-2007, 10:27 AM   #4
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In my mind a good all round tender is just as important as the fridge that keeps your beer cold. It can make the difference between a nice day and excellent one.

I have often given the whole tender debate a lot of thought, usually when sitting in the cockpit at the end of an excellent day with a cold beer.

During a recent 2 week jaunt between Green Is and Fitzroy Is, the tender debate was once again at fore of our conversation, for few different reasons. First of all we have a rigid floor Zodiac inflatable with a 15hp Yamaha. It is near new, along with the motor and it came with the boat we purchased in Feb. It is a good all round tender in my mind. The rigid hull allows us to feel a little less worried when dragging it up the beach (or coral depository in the case of Fitzroy), planes easily and gives a nice smooth ride when there. It also allows the tender to sit snuggly on duck board when hoisted aboard.

The inflatable sides allow for a nice soft ride when it is a little bumpy on the ride in and it also allow us to deflate it and bring into the cockpit when needed. And it also makes for comfortable seat when cooking on the BBQ when it is onboard.

Now the 15hp is something that I would have insisted on if we didn’t already have one when we purchased a boat. I think you need that amount of power (and speed) if you are going to cruise in areas that have a fairly large tidal stream. One day soon we plan on cruising through the Kimberlies in NW Aust, and I think it would be a lot to ask anything smaller to push you through some of those narrower channels when the tide is racing past at 7kts. (Plus it makes for a lot of fun on flat water with a surfboard)

I like my tender, I love my tender and during that 2 weeks when we lost the 12v fridge system, couldn't get the diesel start batteries to charge and suffered some water damage from hatches that just seemed to leak from places that hatches have no reason to leak from, I wanted to marry my tender. I remember saying to the Commanding Officer one day when we were scooting along a stretch of flat water "the best thing about our boat is this tender". To my astonishment, and outright disgust, "Murphy" had come along for the ride. For not an hour after being back onboard and settling down in the cockpit for a refreshing ale, when the tender looked a little....... FLAT.

This brings me back to the point of having a tender that is easily deflated and maneuvered.

To date our tender has served us well. It is comfortable, carries 4 adults, planes easily, has enough grunt to get you where you need to go (quickly) and is easily fixed.

I don't think if we were to replace it we would go for anything other than an inflatable

JMHO

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Old 09-09-2007, 11:09 AM   #5
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Footprints !

Great spoor you have left on the sandy beach

Small questions :- do you have covers for the Tubes ? if so what colour ?

How do you lift the engine on to the mother ship ? (a single engine davit ? )

Richard
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Old 09-09-2007, 01:02 PM   #6
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Richard,

We dont have covers for the tubes yet. We have been looking at them, but we are still in two minds as to whether to get tube covers or go with a full cover.

Our tender sits on the duck board between the two hulls (catamaran). The idea of having a cover that fits over the entire tender gives us a little more of a warm fuzzy feeling in the event of taking a wave over the back. Just thingking about the weight and stress that the duck board would have to deal with when the tender is full of water makes me shiver, not to mention the time it would take to drain out through the bung hole. I am sure it could handle it fine, but why put it through it if it doesn't need to! Well, that is my thinking anyway.

Colour wise...... if we were to get tube covers they would have to be white.... any other colour would just get too hot after sitting out in the sun for while, and the last thing I would want to do is peel melted lycra from the already sensitive places of my body...... i would also like to think that white would reduce the amount that the tubes expand when they heat up... again reducing un-wanted stresses.

Our davit system consists of a Targa bar which sits above and slightly aft of the duck board. We have a single line comming down from a central lift point in the middle of Targa led back to a winch. There are 3 lift points on the tender, 1 on the floor at the bow and 2 on the transom (each side of the motor), which all connect to the single line lift point. The tender, with motor still attached, is winched up and swung gently onto the duck board where it is secured/lashed to the transom.

We have recently purchased a cowling cover and a full leg and cowling cover for the outboard. The next thing will be to get a cover for the tender/tubes as soon as we make up our minds.

I hope this helps.....as with everything in life.... we are still learning.... hopefully from the mistakes of others
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Old 09-09-2007, 10:14 PM   #7
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Footprints,

Good looking boat ! Where is South Port ?

Guess for a rough sea passage - Dinghy on tramp and engine lashed to duckboard ?

Tube covers in heavyweight white canvas (shrunk in hot water before making) is recommended way to go.

Richard
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Old 09-10-2007, 11:21 AM   #8
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Richard

We have considered placing the tender on the tramps during long/rough passages and possibly installing a purpose made bracket for the outboard on the base of the targa bar, or maybe even lashing it down in one of the hulls.

Southport is south of Brisbane in Queensland, but since aquiring the boat, we have relocated her to Cairns where she is better cared for by family whilst we await our dicharge from the Defence Force on the West Coast of Aust. It is absolute torchure being so close to a dream and yet 4000 miles away!!!!

Mel & Damien
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Old 09-13-2007, 10:59 AM   #9
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Well I haven't got a tender yet but soon I will and I would like to have kept it on a nice set of aluminium davits on the stern of my ketch ( I'm thinking aluminium tender). But I came across a statement in a past posting about davits, that indicated they have potential to be dangerous on a cruising boat.

I am interested in comments, Should I send these davits to the scrap yard.

Who Roo

Kevin
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Old 09-13-2007, 12:07 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by seaescape View Post
But I came across a statement in a past posting about davits, that indicated they have potential to be dangerous on a cruising boat.

I am interested in comments, Should I send these davits to the scrap yard.

Who Roo

Kevin
Hi Kevin,

Davits have been on Sailing boats for hundreds of years.

There are so many things on a cruising boat that have the potential to be dangerous on a cruising boat - I guess its all a question of design , quality of materials and manufacture and in the final analysis how and where they are installed and utilized by the skipper and crew. Not to mention where the cruising takes place on our planet.

In short, davits are fairly inanimate objects - what is hung on them may cause a problem, who knows ?
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Old 09-17-2007, 12:15 AM   #11
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Hi Richard,

Size depends on what your boat can carry, and your interests like SCUBA but in general a rigid bottom inflatable as Footprint describes is I think the most practical and what I use.

I have an Avon. 8 years in the tropics and still going strong, mostly because she came with Sunbrella covers on the pontoons right down to the rubbing strip, fastened with heavy duty velcro. Cruising boat's tenders are work boats, so these dark blue covers take a lot of abuse, but still clean up well. (Easy to replace from the original template)

I have a full cover, which goes on during yard work and marina times, but mostly the pontoon covers do a great job.

About the 2 davits, I have a 3 point lifting tackle so that I can do it quickly by hand. I have just modified the davit that lifts the stern/OB so that when lifted and secure, a lifting harness on the OB now takes the weight off the tender's transom. This way, even in rough weather, the tender is ready to use

Edit: Can anyone tell me how to set up proper spacings when I post? I draft in Word then copy to "Reply" but it always adds extra spaces when I post, taking up too much space (sorry about that!)

Tnx!
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Old 09-17-2007, 01:26 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pelagic View Post
Hi Richard,

Edit: Can anyone tell me how to set up proper spacings when I post? I draft in Word then copy to "Reply" but it always adds extra spaces when I post, taking up too much space (sorry about that!)

Tnx!
Hello there , First the content is great !!

I do the same sometimes, ie draft in word .. copy and paste here; or draft in Thunderbird and paste here. Normally just directly into Cruiser Log - preview and post.

However, maybe Bob has more input into the issue of spacing.

regards - keep the posts coming.

Richard
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Old 09-17-2007, 07:22 AM   #13
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Quote:
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However, maybe Bob has more input into the issue of spacing.
I find the best is to copy/paste into "Notepad" - remove formatting (and/or set the formatting in Notepad) and then copy/paste to the forum. Better still is to type the item directly in "Notepad" and copy/paste from there.

OR

When you post in the forums "editor" it has full editing capability built in - set to 'Verdana' or 'Arial', size, colour, etc.

Hope that helps.
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Old 09-26-2007, 06:06 PM   #14
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Like FOOTPRINTS I keep the dinghy on a stern platform. When I bought the boat it had a 9ft Caribe with a 15 hp Mercury. I sold it, and got a 12 ft. Caribe with a chain locker, and a floor. It still scoots with the same 15 hp Merc. The 9 ft. was great for the wife, and I. To small for guest though. The 12 foot is a bit more to handle getting it on board, but that is the only complaint I have about it.
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Old 09-27-2007, 07:22 AM   #15
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I got a 12 ft. Caribe with a chain locker, and a floor. with the same 15 hp Merc. The 12 foot is a bit more to handle getting it on board.
Hi Frolic,

Good looking Cat - welcome to the Multihull fraternity.

Do you have beach wheels to hinge up on the Dinghy ? How are they fixed ?

What make ? What does the caribe weigh without engine ?

Richard
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Old 09-27-2007, 03:00 PM   #16
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MMNETSEA, I haven't wheels on the dink, but when on the west coast, and going through Mexico I saw lots of dinks with said wheels. I would guess it weighs about 200lbs, but that is just a guess. I have a small crane on the stern, and use the main halyard, and winch to crank it up, My wife is 100lbs, 4" 9" she manages the 12footer. I ac tually place the dink on, and off of the stern. The couple at the stern of the boat I have known for 37 years. He is the one that actually got me into sailing, and yet we still remain friends...LOLOLOLOLOL
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Old 09-28-2007, 02:44 AM   #17
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Hi Frolic,

I am glad you have got a strong wife ! In tropical waters - one of the greatest joys is going to the beach; sometimes just to explore; hang out the laundry ; have a barbie or a braai.

However, in some places the range between high tide and low tide can be as much as 20ft - surprise ! half an hour after leaving the dinghy close to the shore, now the nearest sea is a hundred yards away ! The wind is getting up - need to get back to the mother boat.

The Caribe 200 lb; the Merc 15-100 lb; the gas tank 50 lb; the anchor & rode 15lb; the picnic basket; etc.

Richard
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Old 10-01-2007, 12:37 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pelagic View Post
Hi Richard,

Edit: Can anyone tell me how to set up proper spacings when I post? I draft in Word then copy to "Reply" but it always adds extra spaces when I post, taking up too much space (sorry about that!)

Tnx!
Your spaces are fine.

It is your little font that is hard to read.

It is because of the font difference.

Try a reply to your own post and look at the quote.

There is a lot of "font" and "/font" inside of these []
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Old 11-13-2011, 06:36 AM   #19
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Having cruised the East Coast of Australia happily for a year or so, I have been generally pleased with our Zodiac inflatable and 5hp Suzuki - having said that I'm always looking at RIBs with a degree of longing. What I would really like, though isa tender that I could sail - keepingthe Zodiac packed away as a reserve. Has anybody had any success with a sailing dinghy as a tender?
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Old 11-13-2011, 06:51 PM   #20
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Quote:
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Having cruised the East Coast of Australia happily for a year or so, I have been generally pleased with our Zodiac inflatable and 5hp Suzuki - having said that I'm always looking at RIBs with a degree of longing. What I would really like, though isa tender that I could sail - keepingthe Zodiac packed away as a reserve. Has anybody had any success with a sailing dinghy as a tender?
We use a Tinker Traveller for tender--it is a 12' fold up inflatable that was designed for rowing and sailing first, you can use it with a motor (3 to 5 hp) but we don't. The load capacity is great so it makes a wonderful tender--and it sails great, too. Added bonus for us is that it only weighs 65 lbs (without a motor), can be launched by either one of us without the use of davits, and folds up so it can be stowed below very easily so it doesn't have to be on deck during a passage. The downside for you is that Henshaw stopped making them a little over a year ago (scuttlebutt was that they were too costly to make in the UK and Henshaw wasn't willing to send the production offshore, but I don't know if that's true)--so at this moment they're not available new. There are used ones that show up on the market in great shape all over the UK and less so in the US. I don't know about other locations. I suspect that now that they're out of production, another company will start copying the design of the Tinker line of sailing dinghies by Henshaw.

The other sailing dinghy that we'd seriously consider if we didn't already have a Tinker is something called the Portland Pudgy. We have a friend with one and he loves it. My husband and he were supposed to have a "sail-off" competition with the two but we never managed to link up for them to do it--and now we've moved on to a different place.

Here are websites for both--

http://www.tinkerowners.org.uk/p03.htm

http://www.portlandpudgy.com/details.html

Here's a blog link to a cruiser using the Pudgy Pudgy

Here's a link to a video of a Tinker Traveller sailing in a regatta Tinker

Many people have made sailing kits for other dinghies. Not many people would use a canoe as a tender--but our back-up to the Tinker Traveller is a Prospector canoe and as a matter of fact, we love to canoe and many years ago we made a sailing kit for our canoe (there's a American Canoe Association set of directions for doing this) which involved lee boards and a lateen sail. A friend of ours has just found a way to put a similar set of lee boards and lateen sail on her 10' aluminum dinghy.

If you google it, you'll find places that sell sailing kits for all kinds of dinghies. You may find one that is useful for your existing tender.

Here's a video by someone who made their own rig for an inflatable video link

In my estimation, what makes for a good tender is capacity (both the Tinker Traveller and the Prospector canoe have over 1000 lb load capacity), ability to be rowed (rather than just motored), ability to use a small motor and a sail kit. Suggest you start with a similar set of "tender criteria" that meets your own needs.
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