Need advice on suitable dinghy

[K9Kampers]

.... For a tender I could try Big Mable with the two people paddling ( just a couple of times here in Oceanside Harbor or slightly offshore Carlsbad as a test ) on a windy day to see if substantial progress paddling could be made. If it didn't paddle well enough...

Big Mabel in action

One person paddling Big Mabel will get dizzy from going in circles, two paddling...post a video of it!!

[Nautek]

As a tow toy I am sure Big Mabel would be great but as a means of transporting people to and from the vessel in a bit of breeze I think would be a disaster

Allan

[Kelly Hanson East]

If you are not on a schedule (the biggest enemy of safety at sea) then I would get a good hard bottom tender and tow it. All the advice against towing a dink is coming from the blue water crowds, who must contend with the heavy seas phenomenon and have to have a way to get the dink on deck/davits or lose it.

With a Mac, you can choose not to deal with such seas, but this is a command decision you must adhere to or risk having to cut your dink away and lose it.

[Boblee]

Crikey I couldn't see the big Mable being used for anything but a tow toy and agree with KHE as it has always been a theoretical option to cut the dinghy free but in practice I just can't see it being neccessary even with some of the really rough waters we have been in and like he says if you are not in a hurry the Mac should not be in that position but if you are the Mac is not the right boat for the job either.

[Boblee]

Curtis
The fish my wife is holding was a 41" Black Jewfish caught on a handline and she refused help, they really are a powerful, dirty and deep fighter ( amazing) and the Barramundi the mate was holding was about 33" a very nice fish but just after, I hooked and landed a 50" Barra on a rod and lure which is a fish in a lifetime, it towed the dinghy well over one hundred metres and we had to use the outboard to get it away from snags.
Unfortunately the camera battery went flat so I only have the piece of anchor rope which we measured her with as a momento, fantastically she did revive and swim away so hopefully a croc or shark never got her, I was almost hoping she wouldn't though so we could get back to the Mac for the spare battery.
Still in awe that a fish like that can lift their body out to dance so many times it was an unbelievable experience and only possible due to the Mac and dinghy combo making it possible to be there at the right time.

[James V]

The Dinghy is quite useful. There is many dinghy docks and other docks charge for you to put your boat there. You anchor your boat WELL and then dinghy wherever you need to.

Yes. towing a dinghy takes a little of practice. When on open sea's, As far back as possible, 50 to 150 feet. Very nice if you fall off.

Inshore, as close a possible, 10 to 20 feet.

A few days a dinghy is not really needed but for much longer than 1 week you should have one. It makes life much easier.

On the Pudgy, I never found the extra drag to be a problem and it never fliped in ANY seas for over 5000 miles.

I do recommend a hard dinghy as your first.

[cmeperform]

The ones with the dinghy catch the biggest fish

[Rick Westlake]

I hava Portland Pudgy. Towed it over 5000 miles.... This boat will last you a lifetime if you take care of it. I have put it throu so much, Rocks, Shells, Nails, what ever that will kill an inflatable.

Did you take it along on your Bahamas cruise? (Dumb question. Of course.)

Your example, and Boblee's fish-pix, show me very clearly why you'd go to the trouble of handling and towing a hard dinghy. I am giving it serious thought - and even more, when I read your mention of "very nice if you fall off."

KHE, your "blue water crowds" note is on the mark. The "hard dinghy as lifeboat" consideration is Chapter 8 of Pardeys' Cost Conscious Cruiser, and it makes the best of hard good sense if you're going far enough offshore to warrant a lifeboat. I don't foresee myself doing that in Bossa Nova, but I do see myself trailering her all over the USA. For me, with that goal in mind, the extra trouble of a hard-shell dinghy appears to outweigh the benefits - especially as I'm going solo. (Even a motor for the inflatable seems like more than I need or want, in my circumstances ... though I am mulling-over the notion.)

Curtis, "Big Mabel" looks great as a tow-toy or a "back porch" for your boat; but "ain't no way" I'd try to paddle that thing. As for the "Zodiac style dink," Duane Dunn wrote (in an earlier thread) of rolling up a Zodiac-type inflatable and securing it on the foredeck of Allegro; I know it would work for my KaBoat (a Zodiac-style boat, but long and skinny), because I roll it up on the foredeck before I bag it for storage belowdecks. You'd do the same thing with a kayak - and two or three good "sea kayak" grade inflatables would cost less than one Zodiac-style plus its motor.

As for inflating a boat or toy on the foredeck, I've added an extra-long hose to my pump to inflate my KaBoat. Works just fine. (I have a Rule ID20 pump, which clips straight to the battery - the cord will reach only from the battery to the mast, and the KaBoat's main tube valves are in the bows of the boat. Geometry and safety both require me to put the dink's bow into the Mac's pulpit when I inflate it; a 10-foot hose makes this practical.)

If "lifeboat" were my great concern, I'd be on my way to Maine today, with cash to buy that Portland Pudgy!

[Russ]

Kids rowing and getting into a mable

Great Big Mable That thing is huge. I just can't see inflating it on deck. It's hard enough for me to inflate our 8.5' zodiac style dink.
Looks like fun but I can't see rowing that thing.

Eeh, I have a feeling you are going to try it. It's a pricey device. Let us know how it works out for ya.

--Russ

[curtiss]

Curtis

Nice name but you are missing one "s". I've quite a bit of cruising in larger sailboats for extended times. I will pass on some of my experiences. I started out with a wood rowing/sailing dinghy that I carried on chocks on deck. It was a beautiful thing that rowed and sailed well. Turned out that it was much too fragile for heavy use on beaches, docks etc. The next dinghy was an 8ft fatty knees made out of fiberglass. It was tough, rowed well and the kids loved to sail it when in an anchorage. It was not capable for motoring very fast. I used a 2hp Suzuki and it was a pretty good set up. Also we liked to snorkel and you couldn't get in and out of it to go swimming etc. The next dinghy was an 8ft Avon with a 10hp motor with wood floorboards. We used this set-up for a year in Mexico and a year in the South Sea. It was a very tough boat that never gave us any problems. The Avon is made out of hypalon which is somewhat heavy but very durable and sun resistant. Avon's also are expensive.

The next dinghy was also an Avon but bigger at 11 ft with a 15 hp motor. We went to the bigger rig because the family was growing up and we could plane with the whole family in the last rig. Now that I got the Mac this year after no boat for 10 years I had to get a new dinghy. I decided on an AquaMax 2010 HDR 8500. Their site is at-- http://inflatableboat.net/. My reasons for getting this dinghy may not agree with other opinions but maybe they will at least give you food for thought.

1. I prefer inflatables over hard dinghys. They typically are stable carrying large loads. They fold more compactly and take up less room on deck. They tow faster and more stably in my experience. However they do not row as well.

2. The AquaMax for the size and equipment is about half the price of West Marine's comparable model and less than half the price of a new Avon. I am not a salesman for AquMax and there may be better choices out there. This is just the one I found.

3. It has three inflatable compartments. This is important to me because I found on my earlier boats that with this type of configuration you could deflate the bow section which significantly reduced the length of the dinghy and made it easier to stow on deck simi-inflated. In this configuration it will fit on the foredeck of the Mac.

4. It has an inflatable floor and keel. The new inflatable floors are far easier than either the plywood floorboards or roll up slats. I have had both and I love the new style rigid inflatable floor. The inflatable keel makes it possible to tow the dinghy at higher speeds.

I have towed dinghys for years and I will pass on a few of the things I have learned the hard way. Never tow a dinghy when the seas and wind pick up; especially downwind. They will start surfing and flip when they start going faster than you. After the first year of cruising I never towed any dinghy with a motor on it. I see people doing it all of the time but I would never do it again. Tow with a bridle preferable located low on the front sides of the dinghy. I would not tow a hard dinghy; my experience only as I have not tried to tow all types of hard dinghys only the ones I owned.

In the two week shake down cruise with my Mac in the San Juan Islands I was happy with my choice. The dinghy towed nicely up to 20 mph. I only did that in flat calm water. Otherwise we did tow it for the two weeks we were there. I have installed lash down points on the foredeck to carry it for longer passages. I hope this helps some in your search. I will try to post a picture of the folded dinghy on the foredeck.

Good luck Curtiss-- with 2 "s"

[Kelly Hanson East]

Has anyone ever considered mounting their dinghy in front of the Mac for trailering?? You would have to be careful not to 'crunch' it when turning sharply, but it would be a lot easier than car topping.

[curtiss]

Sorry about the photo disappearing. I still learning. Here is the photo with the inflatable lashed to the foredeck in its bag.



Curtiss

[Kelly Hanson East]

You should think about your crew too, before making the blowup vs hard dink decision. For me, with 10 year-olds at the time, the hard dink with rocks, shells, etc on shore was a no-brainer. After watching all the skippers yell at their kids not to beach their inflatable on the rusty iron spikes every morning, I knew I was on to a good thing.

I do NO high speed motoring with the hard dink - all hull speed or less. I have sailed with it in following seas and have found it easy enough to pay out enough tow line to stop it from passing by....I keep a couple of spools of 300' polyprop for fun and games like this on board.

[Boblee]

Due to Macs being so versatile the use of dinghies and type will vary so much in each situation and what is a no brainer for one would be ridiculous in another but there are some great options presented here.
After towing our large hard dinghy for thousands of miles in all conditions I do find it hard to understand why some have an aversion for them but as a lifeboat some of the inflatables would probaly be superior but would not tow as well.

[curtiss]

My aversion to towing hard dinghys is strictly based on my experience in Mexico and the South Pacific with the specific type of dink that I had. It was a small 8ft sailing dinghy and did not tow well at all. I tried all manner of bridles and towing positions including letting out a lot of line. Obviously there are better towing hard dinghys as proved by your experience and I suspect others. Any anchorage you get to will have all manner and brands of dinghys with just as many opinions as to the best one by each captain/crew. Listen to all advise, think about how you will use the dinghy, what kind of storage issues you may have, how much you want to spend and then place your bet. Then yours will be the best in the anchorage.

Fair winds

Curtiss