Chinook's dingy

[Inquisitor]

I’m 71. I spent over forty years in furniture delivery. I am in excellent shape; still lift weights, and I won’t attempt to lift a 55 lb motor to a floating dinghy unless it is secured to a dock.

My 9’ Achilles weighs 75lbs. Inflating it on deck would not be hard, I believe. Launching it over the side should not be too difficult. Deflating it at the stern, pulling it along side and hoisting it back aboard will take dexterity. I would rather tow the inflatable. With towing a dinghy, there is always a chance of it being swamped. With an inflatable, it stays afloat.

Well, I'm not quite 60, but had a desk job. I won't be challenging you to any arm wrestling.
Maybe, I need to find me a strong wench... or is it winch?

If you can wait to purchase, going to a large boat show can offer the best price. Especially if you wait until the last day of the show, and do some haggling

One other thing. Try and find an inflatable with an inflatable keel.

Around here... bass boats are king. Don't think Fontana has seen a sailboat... well... ever. Have to find some within a day's drive.

Her shirt states “Every captain want’s a nauti girl” We are married over 46 years

Congratulations!... on both counts. Not many couples will ever get to that these days. The Amazon free returns attitude has reached mainstream!

[Chinook]

Just caught this thread. I still have the same inflatable and 2.5hp Suzuki 4 stroke kicker which we took to the Bahamas, new, in 2011. We've given both a lot of use since then, including major trips up the BC coast, our year long Great Loop cruise, and cruise around Vancouver Island. Most of those miles have been with dinghy trailing. I've yet to experience an air leak or problem of any kind with the dinghy. I try to take good care of it, and always fully inflate it in the yard after each trip, so I can thoroughly clean and dry it, before storage. I've painted the high pressure floor twice, with a special paint I got at West Marine. The seams all still look good, and I've managed to avoid scarring the bottom up pretty much. Regarding the storage bag, it has suffered from UV exposure, during times when the dinghy was stowed on deck, but it still serves. It's designed well, and stows as compactly as when I first got it. Regarding the kicker, my 2.8 hp weighs 28 lbs, and I carry it on a tractable stern motor mount. I'm 73, and I wouldn't want a heavier motor, since I can readily lift it off its mount and hang it on the dinghy transom, and return it to the motor mount. Heck, I was 64 when I bought it, and even then I didn't want to lift anything heavier. It gives me adequate speed and range for my needs. Also, very fuel efficient. I also wouldn't want to hang any more pounds on my stern than I already do. The Suzuki has been reliable, without problems, since 2011. When the time comes to replace either, I'll certainly be looking at current reviews, but I would definitely not want to change the basic configuration: inflatable in the 9.5 foot range, 60 lbs or so, high pressure inflatable floor, and kicker under 30 lbs in weight. Also, I opted against hypalon and went with pvc, since we spend most of our time in northern latitudes. I'm not second guessing that decision, but if I lived in Florida, I'd definitely spend the extra bucks for hypalon.