newport dingy reviews

Xplicitlnck

Xplicitlnck

Well-Known Member
Jan 2, 2012
4,030
Long island ny
Boat Info
330ec
Engines
Twin 7.4 straight drive
Ive been searching around for a dingy and I was wondering if anybody has any personal experience with newports. I did a couple searches and so far all I found were positive reviews. But they were from 2010 and older. There half the price so it is attractive but is the quality up to par? Thanks
 
Don't know about Newport, but last year I bought a brand new 2012 Baltik 8.5 inflatible with a wooden floor on sale for about $500 and free shipping. It held up great after a ton of use this summer. It was mainly intended to be a potty wagon for our dogs but the wife loves to drive it almost as much as I love to drive the 340. When I took it out of the water this fall and scrubbed it down to put in the basement it cleaned up like it is brand new. All the seams are firmly intact with no signs of coming apart anywhere. We have a 1984 4.5 mercury outboard on it and it is good enough for the wife (with some gear and the dogs) to plane and go 17 mph; but if I get in alone (im about 200-210 lbs) with anything more than a tiny cooler it will not get on plane. Overall, I'm very happy with it except I wish I had a motor with a couple extra horses.

BTW I dont have davits so we tow it if the wife is not "dinghy ridin".
 
Thats awsome. Im guna look into building one for my next project. See if I can find any specs on it.

As for the dingy baltik was my second choice. Very comparable prices. Were did you buy yours from and what time of year did they have the sale?
 
I bought my Baltik from http://www.affordableinflatable.com/estore/index.php?cPath=4 I originally found it on their ebay site and made an offer they didn't accept through ebay. I called them the next day, spoke to them a couple times on the phone and finally got them down to a good price $500 (actually $499.99) and bought it. They were very nice on the phone every time I called. I bought it in May 2012. It was shipped to my house in about a week if I remember correctly.

The same one is on their ebay site right now for $695.99 "or best offer" and free shipping. http://www.ebay.com/itm/W-8-5-BALTI...818?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2eb15dd752


Forget my post about the Baltik.....buy the one John suggests. :thumbsup:
 
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Jon,
Not sure of details, but my buddy just sold his boat and has a roll up Dingy with a 6 hp Suzuki motor for sale
If interested, i can get you the details.
You may remember.. We rafted with them last year in Zachs. Boat name was Summer Camp - Docked in the Anchorage
 
I will give affordale inflatables a call and see if I can chew them down. Thanks a bunch

Ron
Yes please I already bought a 6 suzuki tho so only interested in the dink. Find out for me please and call text me when you do.ill go pic it up asap also. Thanks
 
If you get the Baltik be sure to get a cover.
I have had one for several years and use it alot.
Keep it out of the sun when it's not in use and you'll like it.

Cheers,
 
Oh yea, the cover came with mine as well. It goes on the dink every time we leave the boat for the week.
 
I just purchased a Newport vessels 10' inflatable. I'll let you know how it works out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Very cool but I'm not sure I would want to get that high in my dinghy!
 
I owned a 10' Newport for 1 summer. I used a 6hp Mariner on it, 9.9 was max hp. I bought it used 2-3 yrs old from someone who stored it indoors and used it infrequently. I felt the quality of it was "just ok". The seat belt strap material that holds up the bench seats became weak and ripped at approx. 4 years of age. The tubes held air ok but needed pumped up a bit once a week or before each use. The drain plug system could have been better quality but worked "just ok". the floor was a challenge to uninstall so I always left it together. For the cheap price I can't complain. there are better boats out there if out have more money to drop. Newport is fine if you understand it wont last you a lifetime. Here is my video of it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvpWgC_gfhU
 
I ordered the 10' 6" Newport from them yesterday. With what they call the "Sale Price", it seems like a lot of boat for the money. I'm going to pair it with a brand new Mercury 9.9 I picked up last weekend. Should make for a nice combination.
 
Hi saw your post,and wanted to give you my 10 cents.Ive owned several over the years.My most recent is a Mercury that I got from Defender.The several I had prior were powered by a merc 15 2 stroke which got me and my better half on plane with no effort.That boat being a Zodiac self desructed in 3 years.It was tough lifting that 15 on and off @84lbs.I started shopping for a new boat and found out that Mercury designs their boats to plane off easier with less HP.I wound up buying a left over 310 sport from Defender and I acquired 8HP 63 lbs Yamaha which Will plane off with me @250 and my wife @ 130.I have a 330 dancer which i have a davit.A member on CS (masterfab) can fix you right up if you need a davit.Check out Busters marine 9 reasons to buy a merc here.http://www.bustersmarine.com/inflatables/inflatables.html

https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|215570|1794282|1794293&id=2599724
It should perform well with a 6.The merc has composite (no rot) floors, Welded seams not glued and more interior space along with a 5 year warranty .I have vid of my inflatable on plane but don't know how to post. I originally tried to send my comments to the original poster ,however his box is full. I didn't mean in any way to sound like a sales guy for Merc,or make negative comments about Newport as I have never seen one. After owning 5 inflatables before ,I just wanted to pass my experience on.
 
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JVM225 said:
I ordered the 10' 6" Newport from them yesterday. With what they call the "Sale Price", it seems like a lot of boat for the money. I'm going to pair it with a brand new Mercury 9.9 I picked up last weekend. Should make for a nice combination.
Click to expand...

JVM225,

I've owned that exact same boat 10' 6" Newport for two seasons now. I like it alot and found it to be a great inflatable, especially for the money. I forget the exact amount I paid but I think it was under 1K shipped. Bought it on special as well...

I've paired it with a 2 stoke 9.9hp Johnson. With 2 adults onboard and some gear I can get on plane. I also have a 15hp Johnson 2 stroke as well. I put that motor on if we are going to have 2 couples + gear in the boat.

My only complaint is assembly of the boat. Kind of a pain, but once you get the hang of it, it's not too bad. I am also not really comparing this experience to any other inflatable, as this is the only one I've had.

Good luck! You'll have fun with it!
 
The Newport came late last week and compares very well to Mercury's, West Marine and other PVC models at this price point I was able to see in person at the NY Boat show in January.
It is made in China like most in this price range. It cost me 949 and 80 for shipping. Overall a good value for the money.
So far I'm glad I made this choice. It seems to be well constructed for what it is.
It will be another month or so before I get the chance to test it on the water with my 9.9 Mercury.
There was a big problem with shipping though. The boat arrived in a flimsy box that had severe damage to it. It looked like it had been dropped, split open, the contents poured back in, and taped together. The carrier clearly screwed up and then made a poor attempt to put the box back together.
I called Newport before I opened it, emailed them pictures and waited for direction from them.
They asked me to open it, inventory, assemble if possible, inspect, and get back to them.
The boat, oars, pump, and seat were all there. We determined that the paperwork, manual, zipper storage bag, and repair kit were missing.
I have to say that their response was fantastic. The damage to the box was through no fault of their own, but they were courteous, and very responsive. They shipped the missing items out to me right away. I'm still waiting for delivery, but because Newport was so good about it when I called them up I don't anticipate any problems.
Overall, so far, I would strongly recommend taking a hard look at them if you are looking for a PVC at this price point.
It took me a long time to put it together the first time because the floor sections were a very tight fit. It was made harder because I didn't have the manual and it took a while to dawn on me to look at their video online.
I did suggest that they may want to split the weight of the boat for shipping by putting the boat itself and the wood floor in separate boxes. That would reduce the chance of damage caused by putting 132 lbs in a Chinese cardboard box.
 
Update to my review of the 10' 6" Newport:
Well after owning it for a while I'm a little less impressed. It's still an okay boat for the money, but you get what you pay for.
The rear seat placement is useless. If you put a seat in that location and sit on it you can't swing the tiller handle so I just leave it off.
The drain plug was held on by a flimsy piece of plastic and it came off the first time Imused the boat.
It's some kind of weird size and I haven't been able to replace it. Several calls to Newport all met with the same "out of stock" response. No idea when they are getting them in.
I suspect that these things are drop shipped from China and the company in the US doesn't stock or carry parts.
starting to think I may have been better getting a comparable boat at West Marine. They would have been about the same price when on sale and it would have probably been easier to get a replacement part.
 
JVM225 said:
Update to my review of the 10' 6" Newport:
Well after owning it for a while I'm a little less impressed. It's still an okay boat for the money, but you get what you pay for.
The rear seat placement is useless. If you put a seat in that location and sit on it you can't swing the tiller handle so I just leave it off.
The drain plug was held on by a flimsy piece of plastic and it came off the first time Imused the boat.
It's some kind of weird size and I haven't been able to replace it. Several calls to Newport all met with the same "out of stock" response. No idea when they are getting them in.
I suspect that these things are drop shipped from China and the company in the US doesn't stock or carry parts.
starting to think I may have been better getting a comparable boat at West Marine. They would have been about the same price when on sale and it would have probably been easier to get a replacement part.
Click to expand...

Could you retro fit this to solve your issue?
mercury-drain-valve-assembly-899764a03-.jpg
 
Not the one in the image you posted because of clearance with the floor on the inside of the boat.
Unfortunately, I'll probably have to retrofit something though because Newport has been very unresponsive to this problem.
I get aggravated just looking at the boat now.
I had a tone of shipping problems because they sent it in very flimsy cardboard boxes but stuck with them because after sending them pictures of what arrived they made good on it. But they have basically ignored my requests for what should be a routine warranty item.
For this reason alone I highly recommend that someone looking for a new inflatable look elsewhere.
Shame because other than this issue (which is a big one) and the dumb location for the rear seat which isn't useable with a tiller, it's not a bad boat for the money.
 
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