Dinghy/Tender Thread ?

JC3

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Oct 6, 2006
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Kentucky
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I want to thank Pete for his tips on dinghy's. Lets discuss dinghy's,
pro's & con's of some models that people are using. Iam leaning per Pete's rec to a 11 to 12ft jet dinghy. I have about a month then we have blast off and i will need to make a buy. Thanks for any and all help!! JC
 
My wife won't let my talk about my dinghy on the Internet anymore....

Ahh...

The big question is do you have a hydraulic platform? If you don't, you are not going to be able to rotate up a semi-rigid inflatable (like a jet) on the platform. They need to stay flat.

I have a Zodiac ProJet which has a real steering wheel and such. It is about 11' long. Mine has an 83 HP Yamaha jet drive but it is a 2 stroke. DO NOT GET A 2 STROKE JET!!! I have never had any trouble with this thing but it smokes way too much at low speeds. It loves to be run like a jet ski (fast) and not idle around the marinas in no-wake zones. I do believe, they have recently updated this model though and it now has a 110 HP 4 stroke which would be perfect IMO. The thing weighs about 650 pounds so it is fine on my platform.

I'm not real crazy about having an outboard hanging around with a propeller on it when I have 4 kids... and the older ones go out on the thing alone and tube/ski and pick up chicks and such.

I also have a permanent VHF radio on it with a 4 foot antenna. The kids kept losing the handhelds in the drink.
 
Gary, Iam having a lift put on during haul out on the 20th of March.
I totally agree about props. I donot want to be sitting at Conception Island trying to put a dressing or stich up my 12yr old daughter or her friends in the middle of no where. But, i do need a functional dinghy. JC
 
The Four strokes are really nice, however, they weight 850#'s DRY. Yhat's going to be a problem for the lifts. Mine weighs 700# dry (Nautica 12 RIB Jet). That was about the max for me by the time you put in 12 gal.of gas and a Gallon of Oil in the resevoiur. And life jackets, horn, flares etc. Watch that 12 year old on this thing 'cause it's not a toy-It can really fly! Gary, I'm in the same situation as you - what would you buy next?? We ran over 85 hours on our Nautica so some think I'm crazy even looking at others, it's just that smoking thing at low idle i guess. Every thing seems to have it's trade-offs.
 
Oh, By the way the price at Miami "Boat-Show Pricing" for an 11' nautica RIB w/ 4 stroke- $ 33K + OPTIONS. buy a used 2-stroke and use it until these come down....IMHO
 
Guys, How much diff does it fell like and fuel economy with that 7-8 hundred lbs behind you? JC
 
As far as performance, I can't even tell it is back there. However, the 480 DB weighs over 40,000 pounds.. 50,000 with my wife's stuff on it. The thing that is bad about it is being in rough seas. Make sure the drains are open on it. Also make sure you carry spare parts... There are pros and cons with a hydraulic platform but I'm not real crazy about the crane setup either.

33K?! Wow... I think mine was around 17K new... that was back in 03 though but that is a big jump.

I agree with you on feeling guilty about looking at new ones... that smoking thing is bad though.... Not sure I could go with an outboard setup with the kids and I really do like the speed on the thing. To get that kind of speed on an outboard would require a very large engine hanging on the back and would really mess up the balance. The big engine and weight needs to be in the middle of the boat like the jet setup... I have found we take our Yamaha Waverunner with us more and it is 4-stroke. The darn dog can't ride it though and so that doesn't work anchoring.
 

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I also noticed that Nautica now has a diesel jet tendor but it is 14' long and 2200 pounds. Geez.... light weight.... tendors need to be light weight....

Here is the info on the new 4 stroke projet (110 sweeeeeeet smokeless HP) from zodiac:

http://www.zodiacmarine.com/uk/the-zodiac-range/?projet

The specs show about 660 pounds... I assume the Nautica jet just weighs more (built beefier maybe?). I also know that the 83HP projet goes faster than 45 mph... much faster....
 
The 450DA tends to be load sensitive as well as sensitive to carp growing on the bottom. If it were me, I'd stick with a hard air floor inflatable and as small an outboard that would do what I need.

I just use the dinghy to get from the boat to shore or to a restaurant occasionally, so we have a 9.5 ' Zodiac (56 lbs) and a 2 hp, 4 stroke air colled Honda (27 lbs). The boat is small enmough to lay flat on the platform so I also avoid the marine growth farm, maintenance and weight of a hydraulic platform.
 
I looked longingly at the jet ribs, but decided on a standard RIB with outboard. I didn't like the 2 stroke engines and the 4 strokes were out of sight on price.

I just ordered a 11' 5" Amanzi with a 30 HP Mercury 4 stroke. (Amanzi is made by Mercury). I also liked the Novurania and Nautica boats, but the Amanzi seemed to have a better layout. The Mercury engine would not have been my first choice, but it came as a package. I take delivery in March, but won't get to use it until the big boat is splashed in April. I'll Let you know how it turns out.
 
JC, I have a mercury 310 inflatable floor. its 11 ft long I keep the 9.9 hp merc in the boats trunk, fits just right and the dinghy fits perfectly on its bottom on the swimdeck, I use 4 ratchet tiedowns, quick and simple without a the great expense of a new hydraulic lift. you really dont need it and I like toys and options but this is not the boat for all this. 46 and up yes.
 
I guess another option is the "hard" boats like a small Walker Bay or the like with a small outboard. I don't have any experience with those however.

On my 380, I had an 11' Zodiac and a Mercury 4 HP 4-stroke. The 11' had a one of those hard high-pressure inflatable floors. I actually still have both of these but they are in my workshop and have not been used for a few years. The engine was not lightweight like the Honda and was a real pain to get out and put on the boat. I almost dropped it in the water several times... would have been history.

We did not use it much and I thing it was because it was too inconvenient to get out, blow up, put the motor on, etc... It was easier to go find dockage instead of anchoring. Having something that is "ready to go" is nicer and if weight is an issue, I would still get something that can be launched right away like a light molded hard boat or such. They weigh in less than 100 pounds and hold a 4 HP engine or a sail, etc. (http://walkerbay.com)

This brings up some memories for me on how I first got into boating when I was 12 years old. My father had a 26 foot Owens cabin cruiser on Lake Huron and we had one of those molded orange plastic "unsinkable" dinghies on it. He bought a sail kit for it and as soon as we got anywhere, I would hop on that thing with my dog and sail off and explore the area. I used to sail that thing 5 miles across Tawas Bay. Geez... it was an ugly setup though. When I was 14, I got a used 13 foot fiberglass day sailer and when I was 16 I traded that in for a Hobie Cat (I bused tables in a restaurant to pay for my boating addiction back then... most kids were into cars). Now 30 years later I'm into STINK boats... oh well... Point is, I think your kids would love any dinghy you put on the back and having a sail kit and/or a motor would give you something light weight and be fun.

My 2 cents.
 
We have a 8' Achilles and since we store our boat in a dry-stack, we have to take the dink off the boat and store it separately. I bought Weaver davits last year but haven't installed them yet. With them I hope to be able to leave the dink on the transom when we store the boat. I'm also lobbying the Admiral for a wet slip but so far no luck....

My question is....how do you folks with inflatable dinks store them? Do you let a little air out of them? Do you deflate them entirely? I'd like to avoid the latter just for ease of use. We let a little air out last year but even that made bringing it along a hassle. I'd like to store it fully inflated but don't want to damage it.

Thanks!
Jeff
 
The 410DA I just bought came with a pair of Weaver davits already mounted on the Platform. I purchased a set of Weaver Yokes at the boat show that I will mount on my dink and I plan to "try- it -out".

Two Q's for you more experienced guys.....

Has anyone used the Weaver Cleaver? (godd, bad and ugly)
What are your thoughts on stand-offs? (necessary or not)

Dink is a small Mercury 270 airdeck and motor is a mercury 5hp 2 stroke.

Hope I'm not hijacking.....and thanks for any feedback..... :thumbsup:
 
Good morning Dom, I had the 270 airdeck and the 5 hp as you may recall. That set up will do the job getting you to shore, however I could not get the boat to come on plane. Too many pancakes on Sunday :smt043
 
Dave:

I can get the 270 air deck to plane with one on board if I shift the "pancakes" foward..... :grin:

If I had to do it over, I would buy a 2 or 3hp smaller engine....just enough to get to shore or to putt around the harbors....the 5hp is a great motor, but on my 380, it wouldnd't fit under the rear seat, and my trunk had to much other "stuff" in it....

I'm going to try out the weaver davits for now.....it's what to do with the motor that is the real issue.... :smt017
 
I like the seaweed configuration. Anybody got any exper with that system or one like it? JC
 
JC3 said:
I like the seaweed configuration. Anybody got any exper with that system or one like it? JC

No experience with it, but I'd worry about stubbed toes and barked shins while using the platform for swimming. Is it removable?

Jeff
 
I have ordered it and will be installing it this spring. A few guys have it in my marina. All of them are extremely happy with it. It is removeable. Just pull one pin on each of the 2 brackets and they both twist off. They do leave 3 pads on each side of your swim platform however.

The biggest advantages are that it easily rolls heavier RIBs on the platform with very little effort and engines, gas tanks and gear can stay on the dinghy while underway.
 

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