Inflatable Picks

[ted_reshetiloff]

Kids are growing and my current dinghy may not last through another season. I am trying to pick and inflatable and wonder what you guys think? I know a few things that are important to me. I want hypalon and not PVC. I think I want an inflatable floor and not wood slats to deal with. But maybe aluminum is not so bad? Whats important in order from highest to lowest:

1. Holds my wife, two kids, me and maybe some beer or groceries.
2. Stows well on deck or maybe even in the cockpit locker.
3. Is dry when motoring into some chop. (Within reason it is a dinghy)
4. Has at least a 5 year warranty
5. Tows well
6. Will plane with a 6 hp motor. I dont think I want to be wrestling with anything heavier.

So how big do I need to go here? Thinking 9' 6" -10'2" Any thoughts on brands to avoid? I hear avon is good with a 10 year warranty but you pay for that up front in price... Defender seems to have a pretty good selection and the achilles seem reasonably priced.

 

[rwthomas1]

I have only ever owned one inflatable, the one I got used last year. Its an Achilles I think about 10ft long with an older 8hp Mariner. Has wooded floor with an air keel. It tows fine, I don't like to muscle it onto the foredeck. The 8hp is a bit much to muscle but I manage. It will plane out in about one dinghy length with the 8hp and will plane with 3 people with a bit of a run. Goes like a scalded dog. You will get wet in chop though. I've been in plenty of inflatables and they all seem prone to spray in chop. The RIB's are much better in this respect but you lose the foldability which is very nice if I ever want to roll it up and stow it for extended cruises. Also good at season end, easy to store. Tight fit in the cockpit locker but maybe coud squeeze it in. Would be better lashed to the foredeck rolled or stowed in the aft quarterberth. Bottom line, I am very impressed with the Achilles. Mine is a 1986. Twenty years old and although tired looking it holds air just fine and looks like it could go another 10yrs with proper care. I would buy another Achilles in a heartbeat. I expected it to be fragile and its tough as nails. I'm on a mooring and it has served as a water taxi, cargo ferry and runabout. RT

 

[MarkA]

I'm in the same boat, heh.

I'm desperately needing a new dinghy, and I am also looking at inflatables. Currently, I have a worthless Boston Whaler with no freeboard, very tippy, and gunnels so low that rowing is a real bitch (no outboard). And I need this swampmaster to haul a crew of 6 family.

I would love a 10-12 foot RIB, but I can't stow that on my 34-footer's deck. Nor do I think I could lift a 9-footer on deck. My IOR hull is too pinched to install davits (nor do I consider them safe in the rough stuff).

I was eyeballing the West Marine Zodiacs with inflatable keels, but they're PVC and Nigel Calder has convinced me to avoid PVC. At least they'd be easily stowable on deck.

Anyway, I'll be watching this thread with interest.

 

[Frank Langer]

Hey Mark, given your experience with ordering clocks and barometers from West Marine, are you really willing to order an inflatable from them as well?
Frank.

 

[MarkA]

Hell no!

Heh, Frank. Those inflatable thoughts were from a few weeks ago. I doubt I'll be stepping in any WM stores or websites from now on. I'm going straight to their legal department now.

 

[Loren Beach]

More Dinghy thoughts

One possibility I have not yet seen mentioned is a hard dinghy that can stow out-of-the-way on deck, because it is stored in two parts that nest.
One of our YC members has a home made one that fits on the cabin top (!) of his Cascade 29, for instance.

For a really nice ready-made one, look at this:
http://www.niccollslite.net/page1.html
Or make your own from plans or a kit...
http://www.clcboats.com/

Attractive , too!
http://www.clcboats.com/boats/passagemakerdinghy.php


Well, it was just a thought, and, YMMV...

Loren

 

[Chris Miller]

Be wary of the RIB attraction. They weigh a TON and are bulky and hard to deal with out of the water. In the water, they are super... but not worth it for the light use we give it. It's an Avon, and the quality stands up to it's reputation in my opinion.
Just my experience with ours,
Chris

 

[John Butler]

The dingy we have is a Zodiac Cadet FR. I can't attest to it's durability as I'm not sure how old it is. The PO had a very minor leak repaired before we purchased our E38 last winter (dingy w/ outboard came as part of the deal). Sorry I don't know the length, but it is just big enough for 2 adults, 2 kids (before they grow too big), some beer and groceries. We store it in our shower stall. It's a bit of a hassle to wrestle it on deck when we want to use it, but maybe no more difficult than wrestling out of a cockpit locker. We inflate on the foredeck and use a halyard to launch and hoist back aboard. Have to go slow when motoring into chop to stay dry. We haven't towed it with our E38, but about a year before purchasing the E38, borrowed it from the PO and towed it behind a Hunter 30 with no problem (problem was with the H30!). I don't know what size the engine is (will check this weekend). Our E38 came with a Forespar Nova Lift which makes the task of moving the outboard between dingy and stern rail a manageable task (I think the engine may be bigger than your 6 hp max).

John

 

[vbenn]

Achilles vs Avon

Previously had a 90lb Achilles SPD-4 with a 53lb 8 hp Mariner (Yamaha) O/B. Planed easily, towed well, kept its air pressure for 30 days, and was easily stored. Didn't care for the wood floor and transom which took a beating over the years and needed refinishing with epoxy. Inflatable keel was glued to the hull. 2-piece aluminum oars bolted to fittings glued to tubes.

2 yrs ago, I acquired an 80lb Avon R-280 with 60lb 8 hp Yamaha O/B (identical to the Mariner). Planes easily, tows well, has inflatable floor that I love, and stores well. BUT . . . inflatable keel is not glued in and is frequently off centerline resulting in excessive oversteer to keep on course; 2-piece wood oars not bolted to the tubes and easily slide out if you tow without removing them first; maintains air pressure for only a few days; wood transom.

Both boats made of Hypalon and are of similar high quality. Achilles had 3 chambers, Avon 2. I don't feel Avon's premium pricing is justified.

You may also want to check out Apex. When I acquired my E-380 last year, the PO included a 10' Apex and 8 hp Honda 4-stroke O/B. I sold both because I already had the Avon and Yamaha, but was very impressed with the quality and robustness of the Apex.

Vince Benn
Wild Blue

 

[Dan Hayes]

Hypalon Inflatables

.

Practical Sailor did a review of inflatables this year - both Hypalon and PVC models. They gave a high rating to the Mercury brand inflatables, for design and build quality. They're priced quite reasonably, especially compared to the Achilles and Avon models, which are getting mixed reviews right now with friends of mine.

I found the best price on my Mercury PVC rollup dinghy online at a place called Buster's Marine, which had some awesome deals, along with a rebate last winter. They may run another rebate campaign in January - check.

I found the best price on 4 stroke outboards at OnlineOutboards.com, who carries the Nissan and Tohatsu (only difference is the sticker on the outboard - by the way, Tohatsu also manufactures the small Mercury motors, who charge a lot for that black paint job).

Online retailers won't give you the customer service you may be used to at West Marine, but they sure are cheaper...

While I bought a roll-up dinghy because portability was paramount on my E28, you might want to consider an inflatable floor model, as they plane well, and are still light enough to horse around on deck. They also assemble quickly, and store in a smaller bundle, unlike the hard floor models which also can take a half hour to put together.

Hope this was helpful.

 

[Richard Elliott]

Inflatables

Look hard at the New Zealand Aquapro 8'6 RIB with aluminum bottom. I have the 8' and wish I had 8'6. Large tubes easily carries four adults, planes fast with two adults and 8hp. They are much lighter than FG bottom RIBs. My wife and I can lift it over the lifelines onto the foredeck without assistance. Stay away from 4cycle OBs and you can lift an 8hp. I've been very happy with Yamaha.

 

[ted_reshetiloff]

Wow thanks a lot guys. I have a lot go on here and will be doing a lot more looking. I guess a big question I still have is size? On the one hand I want to get the biggest I can but I also need to be able to store the thing. I'm thinking I need something over 9'. Current is I think 8.5 calypso. I am not considering a RIB because of storage. Were I living aboard or doing extended cruising thats the only way I would go. APEX has their shop within walking distance of my house in Annapolis so I will definately check them out. Thought about a used model too if it was in good shape. John tell me more about the Nova Lift. 2 stokes are definately lighter but aren't they being phased out for emission reasons? Maybe that will help on the price...

 

[lbertran]

Outboard Crane

Ted-
You should also check out the crane from Garhauer. We got one a few years back and love it. It's about $200 and the entire thing is made of stainless steel. Super easy to install and it makes easy work out of lowering or lifting the outboard.
Laura Bertran
Footloose, 1985 E35-3
Annapolis

 

[Lew Decker]

I went around and around with the dinghy issue and still wound up with the wrong choice . I bought a closeout special Achilles 11-footer, hypalon with inflatable floor, from Defender. I can't complain about the price or service, and I actually really love the dinghy, but...Unfortunately, I listened to a buddy of mine who kept insisting I should by the biggest Achilles I could afford. Dang. Now I have a 95-pounder that won't fit in the cockpit locker. I don't want to store it on deck, so down the ladder it goes into a big locker in the aft cabin. It won't fit anywhere else. The stupid part of this is that, at age 62, everytime I drag that thing out of its cave I feel like I'm ripping muscles and tearing tendons and ligaments right and left. My son usually does it for me - he's a 6'5" 230 pounder who throws the Achilles around like a down pillow - but he isn't around a lot, so...

The 10-footer might have fit in the cockpit locker, but I'm sure the 9-footer would have, and it was all we needed. Oh, well...

On another note, when I went cruising years ago we used a sabot all the time even though I had a good Zodiac inflatable. After a while it was just so much simpler to throw the sabot overboard and hop in - no muss, no fuss, and no pumping your brains out. On top of that, I had the sailing rig and it was great fun to ghost around the anchorages and sip a few cool ones. There is a lot to be said for hard dinghies---- if you have room for one .

 

[John Butler]

Nova Lift

Here is a link to the forespar web site with info on the Nova Lift:
http://www.forespar.com/onlineCatalog/30-novaDavitNovaLift2006.shtml
I can't imagine getting our outboard on/off the dinghy without it. We had a heavy outboard when we chartered in the Grenadines last winter and it was quite a task moving it to/from the dinghy (not sure how we would have managed without the swim platform which we don't have on the E38). The Nova Lift makes it very easy (for 2 people although maybe it is possible to single-hand it). The web site mentions using the winch. I don't recall us needing that, but it does help to pull the line around the winch. The lifting arm pulls up out of the mount tube (which is just barely higher than the stern pulpit railing) and stows easily along the side of the V-Berth. Here is a photo of the dinghy (I see that it is an 8 hp motor). I don’t have one that shows the lift, but the second picture shows the mount tube (sticking up above the pulpit rail between the motor and the gps antennae).

John

 

[vbenn]

O/B lifts

I have a Kato. It's not the least expensive, but it is high quality and has a 4:1 block & tackle for making easy work of lifting the O/B (which I can do single-handed). I'm planning on installing a Kato davit this winter.

Vince Benn
Wild Blue

 

[kevin81]

Ted:
I have an Achilles LSI 88. It has an air floor and holds 925 lbs. I bought so I could store it on the foredeck of an E34. You probably could fit a longer model with a higher weight capacity. I'm very satisfied with the Achilles and would recommend it.

I purchased the Achilles from Defender - they have a very large selection (brands, models). Also I bought it a few years ago around this time of year. At that time they had "boat show specials" (for the NY boat show). Their prices with shipping were much better than any local source or West Marine.

For lifting the motor I have Garhauer "lifting davit".
Kevin
E34 Serenidad

 

[Loren Beach]

Our Good Ol' Zodiac

Here is a picture I unearthed of our first Zodiac, taken in about 1985. Yeah, I had more hair then...:nerd:
Since we never planned to put an OB on it and needed more seating, we decided that we needed the "round stern" version, and sold this one and bought a new round stern Zodiac. We still have it, and it still looks almost new. Lives in its storage bag except when used on vacation once a season for a few days.

The good news is it stores in the aft cabin, and while bulky, can be picked up and moved around by one person... it weighs about 50#.
These models were Hypalon, and, absent abuse or excessive exposure to UV, should last almost forever. It is a roll up model, and the factory oars are varnished take-apart wood.

As you might imagine, it rows well only with the right technique... and there had better not be too much wind!


When I get some more time and money, and "a round tuit", this will get replaced by an ultralight nesting two-piece hard dinghy -- something that fits on the foredeck and still allows access to the anchor well.

Loren
Olson 34 Fresh Air

 

[NateHanson]

If you find an inflatable that isn't wet in a chop let me know about it! I don't think such a thing exists.

I had a West Marine by Zodiac High-pressure floor 9-footer, that I absolutely loved, with the last boat. It handled very well for an inflatable, was a cinch to set up, and flew with an 8 horse motor and 2-3 people.

I'm not sure you'll find a boat that planes with your family of 4 and a 6hp motor though. That sounds fine for getting around, but I wouldn't expect to be skimming over the waves.

Has anyone tried the new plastic-hulled Walker Bay RIBs? They're supposed to be quite nice, and lighter than FG RIBs.

 

[rwthomas1]

Regarding the Mercury branded inflatables I know several people at my club that have had them and they have had problems. The PVC gets sticky and the tubes have been replaced under warranty. Mercury has made good on them but I wouldn't want to go through the trouble. I think my Achilles is actually PVC, not really sure how to tell, but if so it would appear that Achilles has figured out how to make it last. RT