TomCat Dinghy Question

J

jaber

New member
Hello all! I have been lingering around for quite some time now, but getting close (in 2008!) to finally getting a TomCat so wanted to engage a bit more personally now.

What dinghy do most of you TomCat owners have, and more importantly where the heck do you stow it? I was thinking something like a 9'4" to 10' inflatable should work fine (without engine) but stumped as to where I can put it. Front (upside down on bow covering berthing hatch) - seems like it may be a bit too long for this, not to mention probably not an ideal spot. Top - I think it will just be way too heavy and a pain to get up and down. Tow - I do not like the idea of towing.

Any help will be greatly appreciated! I have lots of questions lined up.

Thanks!

Chris
 
I have not yet taken delivery of my Tomcat, but I will be using my 6' Mercury inflatable with a 3.5hp engine. My dinghy will easily stow on the roof of the cabin and I specifically purchased this one so I could carry it by myself. It's rated to carry two people, but it's really a 1 person mover. It's surprisingly stable even with some gear though. This small inflatable works great for me to get from ship to shore but it takes multiple trips to move a party to shore of course.
 
Thanks Matt. I have been debating on a smaller dinghy but leaning away from this as I will most likely always have four people on board; the darn 'what if' factor keeps coming up. If I am unable to find a suitable place, it may just be a 6 footer.

Speaking of, will you keep the motor on this or put on once in the water? Are you planning putting it on top upside down and somewhat slid under the radar platform?

Thanks!

Chris
 
Hi Chris, Welcome to the site and the TC-255 fold. Here's one solution. It's an Achilles LT-4. We put the arch forward just to accommodate a dinghy loaded from the cockpit. The 2 hp Honda mounts on a shop made rail mount in the cockpit. Roger
P1000918.jpg
 
If all you are going to be using it for is getting back and forth to shore then keep it small, they are very heavy and cumbersome to get up on the boat.
 
jaber":3prxa3zg said:
Thanks Matt. I have been debating on a smaller dinghy but leaning away from this as I will most likely always have four people on board; the darn 'what if' factor keeps coming up. If I am unable to find a suitable place, it may just be a 6 footer.

Speaking of, will you keep the motor on this or put on once in the water? Are you planning putting it on top upside down and somewhat slid under the radar platform?

Thanks!

Chris
Click to expand...

You could put a larger dinghy up top, but it may overhang. The extra carrying capacity would be nice, but I primarily use my dinghy to get back and forth from shore to my mooring. I pick up/drop off guests at the dock. For a weekend at an island with friends for example I would need to shuttle them back and forth if there was no dock. The convenience of being able to carry the dinghy myself is really nice. I remove the engine before lifting the dinghy and store it on a mount. For the Tomcat I would explore a rail mount system for the outboard.

I plan to pedastal mount radar and other accessories at the front of the roof. My dinghy would easily fit on the remaining roof space. Unless it was raining I would place the dinghy right side up on the roof. If raining and/or to stow it upside down I would place some sort of pad on the roof. I would be concerned with my transom board scratching the roof.
 
his was our solution on the trip to BC last year. The bracket finally gave out while in Florida last winter. I will make a new and improved, stronger version, in the future.

Dianns_BC_pix_120.sized.jpg

Also put the dingy motor in the cockpit.

03_2006_081.sized.jpg
 
Thanks all for the info! (Sorry for the delay, was out of town) Maybe I will get a smaller one afterall. Was worried about not having a craft large enough to carry all people, but that may be a unnecessary worry.

Dreamer - what size and weight is your dinghy? A 6 footer also?

And to top it off, lots of great pics of the 255! What a beautiful boat on the water. :) Thanks again!

Chris
 
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