Dinghy advice please.

J

johnr

New member
I'm looking to buy an inflatable dinghy for my 22' c-dory. I'm not really interested in putting an outboard on it. My primary concerns are that it be lightweight, storable and row-able. I currently have a Polaris, with a wooden floor and transom (it came with the boat when I bought it), and it's just too much (mostly way too heavy). It's a beast. If you want it, I'll make you a deal!

I've looked at a couple of dingus with inflatable floors, but I don't know if that's a good idea. Any suggestions?
 
I have used dinghy's with wood or just flat floors and never will again. Adding a inflatable floor AND keel turns a inflatable in to a row-able , useful dinghy.

When we had a flat floor dinghy having a motor was almost a must if you where rowing more then 10 ft. they just dont row well for more then a short distance. Once we got a dinghy with a inflatable floor I just quit using the motor and rowed in to shore. A row of a mile is just not a problem anymore. If fact i like it a lot. Its just the two of you and you don't have to take a dog ashore, think about kayaks instead. We have been using two old town loon kayaks this last year ( picked them up on craigslist for 2oo each) even with the dog and I like that even more then the dinghy. Easier to explore and look around a area.
 
I've rowed a small Achilles extensively. I'm a bit of a rowing snob and I thought it was not half bad. Good enough that I rarely chose to mount the 2hp Honda that was available, and often went out for a pleasure row around the anchorage or harbor.

It had their high-pressure inflatable floor. This is a flat "cushion" that fills the whole floor area plus a separate long, inflatable "sausage" that goes in underneath said inflatable floor to make a bit of a keel shape (there is a single rubber floor beneath the lot).

The one change I made was to get rid of the ridiculously short oars that came with it from Achilles. Instead I adapted 7' wooden oars to fit the Achilles oarlocks (they are simply rotating posts with threaded ball caps to hold the oars on them; I drilled a hole through the wooden oars, inserted a stainless sleeve that would fit over the Achilles post, and then put the caps on over them).

I did accidentally puncture the high-pressure floor once with a rockfish spine (fin). Based on that I would fit some sort of liner (rubber, those puzzle piece floor sections, yoga or camping mat) for any heavy duty work, but it was perfectly fine for just feet or everyday things.
 
We use a Bombard Max-2 with a high pressure air floor and an inflatable keel. It weighs in at about 55 pounds. I use a little 2.5 hp Yamaha four stroke which we call junior and it fine for the two of us. We also carry an adjustable 12 vdc air pump as the different chambers require different pounds of air pressure. It helps inflate the boat or deflate it and I think it is also a good accessory to have. I carry the dink rolled up on end in the rear corner of the cockpit. I made a motor mount for the dinks motor which sits on the splash well's wall.
D.D.
 
While we have yet to make a dinghy purchase, I think we're still leaning towards the Sea Eagle FastTrack inflatable tandem kayak. It is roughly 12' long, but weighs in at just 32 pounds. That makes it relatively easy for 1 person to lift. Plus, the seats can still be configured for solo use and it holds a large amount of cargo weight, if necessary.

Rob
 
Go to 'Google Custom Search' (top left hand corner) and enter Bombard AX1
I have had this dinghy (exposed to the weather) for 12 years. Transferred it from my sail boat to my C-Dory. It is 6' 7" long, 3' 9" wide, weighs 33 lbs. It is still as good a shape as when I bought it new. It fits perfectly on a C-Dory roof and I can haul it from the water on to the roof with one hand. I am a bit restricted on the roof due to a low radar arch and a spotlight forward. It rows fine with one person. If two people, I put "David" on (our 2.5 Suzuki). If I was buying new now I would look at the Bombard AX2, same width but 18" longer, assuming I never had a spotlight in the way. We also carry two inflatable kayaks (23 lbs each) which store in the inflatable while under way. We have just about every option covered.

Martin.
 
For occasional use I have an Intex Mariner 3 dinghy. Some may scoff, but for what I use it for it works fine and only cost $150.
 
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