[Public-List] Dinghy

[Bill Wallace]

I'm about half way through building a fliptail, 7' version.  So far it has cost me about $250 and I'm nearly done (just painting and final covering left).  The idea is that I can fold it up and lash it somewhere, or even store it inside in the forepeak to keep things clear for passages.  A bit hard to build the curved hoops, but I wanted a dinghy I could reasonably row and was already familiar with skin on frame designs - they are pretty robust.  Even if I need to reskin it every 5 years, or even every other year, the cost to reskin isn't very high - and one can always use duck tape to patch holes as it doesn't rely on internal air pressure.  Size is about 7" high when packed, and 7' long by 2' or so wide.

The only significant change I plan for this boat is to add an inflatable collar so that I can swim from the boat and reboard it in case I tip it (very hard to reboard many dinghy's - so if you sail it, and ever tip it can be a real pain getting back on board.)  The collar will be designed to just be out of the water with 2 people on board.  Yes, that part will have to hold air, but given it is replaceable separately, having a spare around wouldn't be a big deal.

I don't know yet if it is a good idea or not, but I've found managing a hard dinghy on board is fairly difficult and inflatables are such a pain to row you really end up needing an engine.  Email me in September and I will let you know how my first cruise with it went.

Bill



On Monday, March 10, 2014 2:14:53 PM, John Irving <jirving104 at aol.com> wrote:
 

What do people use for a dinghy to store aboard during long offshore trips?

John Irving
Scotch Bonnet
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