New Tender -- I Am Hooked

Got me some nav lights, so all good there.

Now for the next problem .....

Just me, calm seas and the wind going the right way, I can hit 15mph with just me in the middle.

But I took the old man out for a sunrise cruise and we could barely hit 7mph at WOT :eek:

Do I need more HP or just keep going solo? o_O
 
I have a 15 Merc. 2 stroke on my 9' inflatable for reference.

Thanks Mitch .......... did it come with any warnings on motor size? Mine says 3hp MAX so naturally I went with 6hp :D Would love to jump up to a 9.9 with electric start and maybe even remote controls
 
Phil. Keep adding stuff you gonna need a dinghy for the dinghy.

YES ... this is following the classic pattern :eek:

Seats are going in next week

I got an Android tablet mounted up, only $25 to get a chart sub from Navionics and download them onto the device. Now I have a 10" chart plotter for $100

At this point I'm trying to resist the urge to put in a battery and a bunch of 12v stuff

The red line I'm trying not to cross is putting in a console o_O
 
YES ... this is following the classic pattern :eek:

Seats are going in next week

I got an Android tablet mounted up, only $25 to get a chart sub from Navionics and download them onto the device. Now I have a 10" chart plotter for $100

At this point I'm trying to resist the urge to put in a battery and a bunch of 12v stuff

The red line I'm trying not to cross is putting in a console o_O

Get a battery and a motor with electric start...
 
A chart plotter for a boat that goes maybe 5 miles.
View attachment 131764

Haha .... I wouldn't say I'm really plotting anything -- more like seeing where I am and where the channel is when the markers are far apart

There's a few spots near the marina where, at low tide, it might be 25 feet deep in the channel but you go a few feet outside the line and now the depth is only a foot
 
Suzuki EFI 9.9, 15 and 20hp are the same motor... just different ECU and restrictor plates installed...
Wow ... 20 hp at only 97 lbs :eek:

The 9.9 is about 85 lbs and I could use my existing tank. Best feature is the shift integrated into the tiller

Current 6hp is almost 60 lbs
 
Here is a little story which happened local here years ago - This fellow repowered his older pontoon boat with an engine much larger than what the boat was rated for. Rated for 70 horse and he put a 150 on it. He ran it into another boat hurting some children and didn't have any insurance. As it ends up he has lost his home, money, and other possessions in the lawsuit then to top it off his wife left him. Lack of insurance was one thing but the vessel powered beyond it's rating I understand sealed the prosecution's case; he intentionally operated an unsafe vessel putting others at risk.
Now I think back years ago having an 18 foot jet boat with over 800 horsepower and the potential consequences.....

Just some food for thought on powering over the rating....
 
Here is a little story which happened local here years ago - This fellow repowered his older pontoon boat with an engine much larger than what the boat was rated for. Rated for 70 horse and he put a 150 on it. He ran it into another boat hurting some children and didn't have any insurance. As it ends up he has lost his home, money, and other possessions in the lawsuit then to top it off his wife left him. Lack of insurance was one thing but the vessel powered beyond it's rating I understand sealed the prosecution's case; he intentionally operated an unsafe vessel putting others at risk.
Now I think back years ago having an 18 foot jet boat with over 800 horsepower and the potential consequences.....

Just some food for thought on powering over the rating....

Point taken but I'm only looking to solve a couple issues (plane with 2 people if possible and also not have to run WOT). The boat will stay on plane at 10mph and I can't see going over 20
 
Point taken but I'm only looking to solve a couple issues (plane with 2 people if possible and also not have to run WOT). The boat will stay on plane at 10mph and I can't see going over 20


This is still the hard tri-hull dinghy from the first post? I don't think you're going to solve the planning issue with horsepower, that was not designed to ever plane. I had a friend with one we put a 15 two stroke on it for fun one day, it didn't work well and started hair line cracks on the transom.
 
This is still the hard tri-hull dinghy from the first post? I don't think you're going to solve the planning issue with horsepower, that was not designed to ever plane. I had a friend with one we put a 15 two stroke on it for fun one day, it didn't work well and started hair line cracks on the transom.

It's definitely not your typical "planing hull" but currently it planes just fine at 10mph with me and the 6hp if I sit in the middle

I'm not trying to set any speed records :D

Primarily I want more hp so I can go the same cruising speed as I do now (13 mph) w/o being at WOT

One thing I like about the boat and the small OB is how portable it is. We can take it anywhere.
 
It's definitely not your typical "planing hull" but currently it planes just fine at 10mph with me and the 6hp if I sit in the middle

I'm not trying to set any speed records :D

Primarily I want more hp so I can go the same cruising speed as I do now (13 mph) w/o being at WOT

One thing I like about the boat and the small OB is how portable it is. We can take it anywhere.

I put 100+ hours a year on 4-15 hp engines as a kid, two speeds idle and WOT.
 
Lol I love you guys posts. Dinghy life is the best and I spend a ton of money on this as it is my transportation around hundreds of miles of canals here in Ft Lauderdale. Boat may get 100 hours a year, dinghy gets 500…. I even installed a security cam to keep an eye on her sitting on her lift.
60916612-BE9F-4820-9926-F7A693253A35.jpeg
 

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