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How big is your dinghy?

driftless

Member III
Blogs Author
I know it's a very personal question, but I've been assured that size does in fact matter.

I found on Craigslist a 10 foot WalkerBay high pressure floor inflatable dinghy and 6 hp motor, for about half of what it would be new. I'm wondering if it will fit nicely on the foredeck of an Ericson 38 while inflated (without motor, of course), and still leave room to get to the bow and anchor locker. Any insight will be appreciated.
I don't think I'll have time to get down and measure the 38 as things tend to disappear from CL pretty fast.
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supersailor

Contributing Partner
I stow a 9'6" inflatable on thhe foredeck of my E34 so a 10' should fit on the 38. It is raised with the spinnaker halyard and winch and flipped upside down on the foredeck when it is aboard. The 8hp outboard is kept on the pushpit. It is raised and lowered by a crane attached to the radar mast. The engine is easy to add to and remove from the dingy.

The anchor can be handled with the dingy on place but it is a bit of a pain to work around it. I have a windlass so I don;t have to grunt while raising and lowering it. I have found that I put the dingy on the foredeck on straights crossings (frequently very boisterous) and tow it in calmer areas (everywhere else). Without the outboard attached, the drag is not bad. You just have to remember to snub up the painter when in close quarters.

With 8hp the dink is a ridiculously high speed terror machine. Tied properly alongside the 34, it will push the 34 at almost 5 knots. In my first year of ownership the diesel failed three times. A total rewiring of the boat solved all the problems but that little cautious part of me likes having a little tug along on those long cruises just in case.

In the mean time BANZAI!!!
 
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CTOlsen

Member III
New Highfield

Bought a new Highfield dinghy, small, 8’6”. It only weighs 70#, so it can be managed easily by myself and my first mate (Admiral). Highfield makes great hard bottomed dinghys; Alum bottom, nice storage and oar storage that keeps them onboard but out of the way.
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Small, light and cheap: The WM RU-250 inflatable. It's 8'3", PVC, rolls up small, weighs 50 pounds. No skeg. Disposable item at current price of $600.

dinghy A.jpg

The Eastport pram, built from a kit or plans. Sails fun, rows well, decorates bow, carries at most two people and a dog. 7'6", 55 pounds.

dinghy b.JPG
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Bought a new Highfield dinghy, small, 8’6”. It only weighs 70#, so it can be managed easily by myself and my first mate (Admiral). Highfield makes great hard bottomed dinghys; Alum bottom, nice storage and oar storage that keeps them onboard but out of the way.

Looked this one up and the company has an impressive web presence. The specs are pretty good
Checking the local (Seattle) dealer site, I do not find a price referenced. Gotta wonder if it is north of $1500. ?

And, I hope that their method of coating the aluminum is sound. A club member bought a similar-design aluminum product about 15 years ago and within about 3 seasons the finish peeled off in pieces and powdery aluminum corrosion was a real issue -- and that was on the inside.

He had a paper fight with the maker and I dimly recall that he finally did got a replacement, but warranty was a real struggle.
(We all moor in fresh water here, but he was spending about two months each summer cruising in BC waters.)

Observing the problem, it was classic corrosion from poor priming and coating practices, and that's all "IMHO".

Anyhow, bulk and weight are the biggies. We have a Zodiac roll up that replaced a 20 year old Zodiac roll up that finally started leaking at the seams.
The Cascade 36 that moors next to us is leaving for a multi-year cruise in September, and they built a two-piece dinghy that nests on the front part of the cabin. Lots of solutions....
:rolleyes:
 

TimTimmeh

Member II
Nesting dinghy

This isn't really helpful to the OP, but I love talking about my nesting "Lord Chamberlain Dory". Pretty sure it's one-of-a-kind. It is 12'6" when deployed and nests down to 9'. I found some old 10' life boat oars and shortened them a bit; it rows and tracks like a whitehall. It can carry 3 adults, 2 kids, a 90lb Akita along with groceries and ice and fits neatly on deck of an Ericson 34-2 as well as my former Ericson 29.

I also have one of the nesting eastport prams like the one christian built that I found on CL, I had big plans for that one but it was a bit of a lemon. It was made with some sub-par materials and questionable workmanship and basically disintegrated when I brought it out for it's first sail (rudder broke, mast step separated from the boat, glued seam opened up - good thing for the nesting bulkheads or we would have sunk for sure.
 

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Geoff W.

Makes Up For It With Enthusiasm
Blogs Author
I got a West Marine PRU-650 inflatable but after rowing it around for a while, and contemplating the purchase of an outboard, I decided I'd much rather commit to rowing (and sailing) a dinghy around instead of skittering about like a waterbug on a skeg-less inflatable. Even though the WM is light, tows well, and compacts decently.

So, I drove to the coast this week to get a Ranger 11, as I've seen mentioned in other threads. It's pretty big for an E32 but I plan mostly to tow it, and theoretically it DOES fit on the bow... It's gonna be pretty cute when repainted. Came with full sailing rig which is in good condition, and oarlocks but no oars. Those will be acquired soon.

MVIMG_20190731_085157.jpg

This pic isn't mine but a neighbor's, but mine looks very similar (sans the fancy gunnels)

Image-1-6.jpg
 
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p.gazibara

Member III
We bought a 9’ Tinker Tramp off another forum member. Think has sailed halfway around the world with us. The glue is now starting to fail, but they stopped making them several years ago.

Tink sails well, rows well, is rated to carry 6, and folds down to fit on the cabintop of our Ericsson 35-2 just forward of the mast.

If if you can find a lightly used Tinker I think they are the ultimate dingy.

I’ll probably send Tink off to an inflatable shop and have her re-tubed and re-glued and ready for another decade when we get to NZ.
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Ranger 11

Copy (not too sharp...) of an original flyer.
I used to own a couple of these, and towed one behind my previous Niagara 26. Awesome rowing boat, but the whole entourage sometimes got kind of messy when maneuvering into another marina. :rolleyes:

Trivia: said to be the smallest (commissioned) boat designed by Raymond Richards, N.A.M.E.
I doubt that he every made much in royalties on such a small boat, but it was/is good looking!
 

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Filkee

Sustaining Member
Torqueedo Recall

Christian -
How do you like the electric motor? How much time or range do you really get from it?
Thx

Just got word of a recall on my battery. One of the remedies is 75% credit toward an upgrade of almost twice the capacity which was the one thing about it that was bugging me. Always felt like a dying iPhone.
 

Geoff W.

Makes Up For It With Enthusiasm
Blogs Author
Copy (not too sharp...) of an original flyer.
I used to own a couple of these, and towed one behind my previous Niagara 26. Awesome rowing boat, but the whole entourage sometimes got kind of messy when maneuvering into another marina. :rolleyes:

Trivia: said to be the smallest (commissioned) boat designed by Raymond Richards, N.A.M.E.
I doubt that he every made much in royalties on such a small boat, but it was/is good looking!

Wow thanks so much, you may have literally posted the only copy of this flyer available online. Any other info you have on it (rigging info? Etc) would be awesome.. I'll send a DM :)
 

paul culver

Member III
I recently bought a 55 lb thrust trolling motor from Newport Vessels for my WM inflatable and I am really pleased with it. Light weight and extremely quiet. You supply your own 12 V battery. It has 5 speeds forward and 3 in reverse. With two adults on board I find the #2 and #3 speed settings to be plenty for messing around in the harbor. Operating for an hour at this speed range with a fully charged light-weight 35 Ah AGM drops the battery by a bit less than 1 V which should be easy to recover with my 75 W PV panel. At $200 and free shipping I call it a bargain.
 

driftless

Member III
Blogs Author
This isn't really helpful to the OP, but I love talking about my nesting "Lord Chamberlain Dory". Pretty sure it's one-of-a-kind. It is 12'6" when deployed and nests down to 9'.
Actually, seeing a photo of a 9 foot boat on the foredeck of an E34 is tremendously helpful in visualizing a 10' dinghy on the front of an E38.
Thank you!
 
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