Who says you can't get a new dink?

[Carpedmman]

After a year of looking for a dinghy suitable for our 460 DA, I came upon this sweet little Zodiac Yachtline 340 with a 30hp Honda. She is a 1997 with 200 hours, boathouse kept on a rack when not in use. She has a small stain on the seat from some hydraulic fluid, otherwise near perfect. Now I just guess my average speed has dropped since I'll be towing a dink! (Mainly boat on the Columbia River so we don't have much big water around here.)

 

[Alex F]

Nice find! How are the tubes holding up from 97'? She looks great. Let us know how she runs. Will you be able to pull a tube or skier?

 

[HUMPH]

You are not pulling a skier with a light dink and a 30HP Honda. I have not tried on mine yet but I may be able to with my 50HP Honda. I am able to run on plane with 4 adults, 2 kids, 40lbs of ice and a few bags of provisions so I think it has the power. Being 14' long gives it a great ride too!

 

[aquadancer]

Ken, how do you manage a dink this size and weight on a 410DA? I have a 10' RIB w/ 15HP 2-stroke and it is a handful.

 

[Carpedmman]

Nice find! How are the tubes holding up from 97'? She looks great. Let us know how she runs. Will you be able to pull a tube or skier?

Alex- It was a steal! The tubes and bottom look new. I think it only saw the sun on Sundays! The guy had it in a boathouse covered so there was very little damage from the sun. I have pulled my girls-6 and 8 and another 6 year boy on a floatie without any problem (2 adults in the dink). The boat is extremely stable, dry in the rough (3-4ft waves), and can get up and GO! Our family has 4 so my wife does have to sit in front during take off but afterwards can come back next to me. I think it cruises around 25mph.

A friend of mine has an AVON with console and his feels like it bounces side to side. I wonder if it is the tube size that makes the difference?

Ken is right, I don't think it will pull a skier, unless very small. It will be a good dink for a few years and then we'll step up into a 50hp 15' or so, who knows.

One item to note is that it doesn't have trim on the motor so that is a bit of an inconvenience. Oh well, couldn't go wrong with the price of it!

 

[Russ Calasant]

How is it to tow? I was thinking of towing until I can have a lift installed.

 

[Alex F]

Russ, I think if you use towdster bars it should tow much better than a jetski.

 

[Turtlesboat]

The Caribe is a great dinghy. That looks like a nice combo with the Honda. great find.

ooops wrong dink pic I was looking at.

 

[Gofirstclass]

Nice find and it will look good behind the 'Dancer. I'll be towing mine until I get the rest of the davits mounted on the swim platform.

 

[Carver370]

I have the same model (Actually have had two of them) and love it. I have the 1997 380 DL with a 40 Evinrude on it.

These hold up very nicely if maintained correctly and kept clean, the only thing that my Inflatable dealer sees go wrong with them is the way the motor attaches to the transom. The motor is on a small "box like" attachment and they are known to start pulling the screws through the transom.

The way to check for it is to have the dinghy on the trailer with the motor up, if you see the gap move a little between the "box" and the transom then the screws are starting to work their way through. This winter I am going to have a stainless backing plate made to spread the load out across the whole transom and the inside of the box and smear a bunch of 5200 in the center to keep the thing attached correctly.

Some mods you need are underwater lights, stereo, and I changed out the interior lights for blue LED. Let me know if youre interested and I can send you where I got them.

 

[Carpedmman]

Russ-As you and I have discussed, without the TNT lift we are limited in our dinghy options. This was such a fantastic deal I couldn't pass it up! The dinghy tows very easily and the admiral loves running around in it. in the slip I always stern in so she takes off as I prepare lines and fenders. Once onthe slip she bows in under the big dancer bow. Pretty simple.
We have a towing bridle and keep it about 75-100' behind us. One item to note is that there aren't any previously installed lift pads or bars that will mar the side of the dancer when we tie her closely during mooring. This was a must since my hull is in great shape!

GFC-The mooring hassles during "bluesfest" definitely gave me " buying power" so I had to strike while the memories were fresh!