More Dinghy Angst: Acti-V?

[bport]

I'm interested in opinions on Acti-V high pressure floor dinghies. I want to use the dinghy to zip around the marina area and will take it cruising only 2-3 times per year. I back into my slip with a partial dock finger on one side only (and the neighbor's go fast on the other) with wind and current so anything that obstructs the transom (or the first mate trying to tie us off) is infeasible. Bottom line is that I cannot make sense out of any kind of storage on the swim platform so it will get stored at the dinghy dock in the marina. My thought is to buy a 9' dink with an HP floor and deflate and store aboard for those few occasions where we want to bring it on a cruise. Looks like I can get an 8hp on one so speed should be reasonable. I have read the warnings about dropping the outboard :smt021 but I can't find a better solution (I guess I will have to be damn careful). Any thoughts on this plan?

 

[shamrock]

I am thinking along the same lines and am trying to figure out the lightest air floor that will fold up small and take up the least space while on board. I have a 2 HP Honda 4 stroke and a 6 HP 2 stroke Yamaha that I will use for power. I just need to find the correct air floor inflatable?

 

[larrytbull]

where were you planning to store motor? I was thinking about the motor davit, but it looks sooooo ugly

 

[Alex F]

IMO, dinghies are like the motherships. First we try, then we like them and come up with different ways on using them. Of course this applies for folks who goes out often enough and not being glued to their home port marina. Having said that it's very possible that you'll invest in to something very small, but later will find the need to upgrade. There's nothing wrong with it accept that this might cost more vs. getting the right one the first time. To do that you'll have to kind of foresee how would you use the dinghy and pick the most efficient size. On boats like 320/330/340 I'd say 8.6' with 4/5/6hp is a good match.

If I understood the original post correctly, the main issue is docking having the dink sitting on the platform, regadless of the mounting system. I do agree that as soon as you put that dinghy on the platform the docking is much different as you no longer can touch anything with your swim platform. The boat becomes longer and you have less room for error. However, instead of being affraid of it, make it a learning curve and get good at it. Practice, practice, practice and this battle will be over. Most people are usually upgrading with years and the bigger the next boat is the need for dinghy kind of grows along with the mathership. So, if you plan on cruising win this battle before you eventually end up on a bigger boat with limited visibility and more expensive dinghy on the lift.

BTW, if you need an ideas for davits, this thread will help: Dinghy Davits – Dom’s Ramps and Alex’s Mounts

Hope this helps.