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As with most things, it depends on your needs and wants. I think that a walker bay 10 with the tubes is the best option, if you have a crew of one or two. I have wife plus 3 kids, so we got a 10’ inflatable with wood insert floor. It does not row as well as a rigid hull (even thought it has an inflatable keel) and it is heavy, but with my growing family it was the most practical/affordable decision.

Greetings,

I used an Intex Seahawk identical to Herschel's for about three years when I kept my boat moored on the St. John's. It towed great, was easy to set up and break down from the cockpit or foredeck and it stored easily below decks. Like Herschel's mine had a valve failure that make the boat useless. I can definitely say that I got my moneys worth but will also say that you do get what you pay for. The construction material seemed sturdy enough and even though I did get several pinholes (repaired easily enough with the supplied kit) through out its service life it was the poor quality inflation valves that caused me to retire the dinghy.

I am now looking at getting a hardsided dinghy and am leaning toward a boat similar to Windchimes. The ICW and quick moving back waters of NE Florida are perfect for our Macs but the oyster bar, unseen dead heads and underwater obstacles are not so forgiving of inflatable's. Also, I like the idea of having something that can be rowed, motored or sailed.

Windchime, do you have any pictures of your dinghy stored on deck? Do you use you main or jib halyards to assist in the loading or unloading? Also, I have always entertained the idea of a decent davit system for my X and was wondering of anyone had opinions on hanging an 80lb dink from the stern of a Mac?

Thanks,

John
Atlantic Beach, Fl
2000 , Honda 30hp

jcasale wrote:Greetings,

I used an Intex Seahawk identical to Herschel's for about three years when I kept my boat moored on the St. John's. It towed great, was easy to set up and break down from the cockpit or foredeck and it stored easily below decks. Like Herschel's mine had a valve failure that make the boat useless. I can definitely say that I got my moneys worth but will also say that you do get what you pay for. The construction material seemed sturdy enough and even though I did get several pinholes (repaired easily enough with the supplied kit) through out its service life it was the poor quality inflation valves that caused me to retire the dinghy.

I am now looking at getting a hardsided dinghy and am leaning toward a boat similar to Windchimes. The ICW and quick moving back waters of NE Florida are perfect for our Macs but the oyster bar, unseen dead heads and underwater obstacles are not so forgiving of inflatable's. Also, I like the idea of having something that can be rowed, motored or sailed.

Windchime, do you have any pictures of your dinghy stored on deck? Do you use you main or jib halyards to assist in the loading or unloading? Also, I have always entertained the idea of a decent davit system for my X and was wondering of anyone had opinions on hanging an 80lb dink from the stern of a Mac?

Hey John,

One other reason I like the Walker Bay is to have as an emergency life raft on open water trips across the Georgia Straight. About 20 nautical miles at narrowist point, and major container and lumber shipping lane, I know the Mac is unsinkable, but so was the Titanic . I am confident in our Mac as a life raft, but having another "unsinkable" boat like the Walker Bay (always ready to go) that has positive flotation seats, is just a little extra comfort (especially with my wife on board) knowing we can throw our ditch bag into something else that floats, and if we ever did have a catastrophe I'd sooner jump into an 8' plastic boat rather than the 8* temp Pacific Ocean.

I'll try and find a photo of our WB lashed on deck. the Mac "J" length is 10', so there is still a few feet left on the fore deck. I like to snug the WB transom up against the mast so that I can have a little easier access to the anchor locker and bow gear in case of an emergency or tow..

Because the 8' WB only weighs 71 pounds, it's really easy to just lift onto the fore deck by hand. Up and over the rub-rail. I made a 3-point lifting bridle that attaches to the 3 factory holes (one in bow and one in both corners of the stern transom), and then clip the light duty block and tackle (we have for this purpose) on the end of the staysail halyard to hoist, but have never had to use it yet. To put on the car for travel, I just lift it and carry it upside down with the middle seat balanced on my head. Although we do have a car-topper lifter that attaches to the trailer hitch, we use this to put our heavier 12' aluminum crab/fishing boat on the tow-Jeep roof, someday I may need to use this for the WB as well

I'd love to see a davit system design that could be able to get around the rudder postions.

PVC Fabric Vs. Hypalon.

PVC
Pro: significantly less expensive then Hypalon.
Con: won't last as long in the direct sunlight as Hypalon. (if left unprotected).

Hypalon
Pro: will last significantly longer than PVC when exposed to prolonged periods of direct sunlight.
Con: significantly more expensive then PVC.
Con: looses air over time due to its structure.

Has to do with the weave. A higher number means a tighter weave. A 1200 denier cordura fabric is what you'll usually get as knee wear patches on a good set of sailing or ski bibs (I think seatbelts are around 2000) Whereas a 500 denier nylon would be a really cheap kids tent.

Extremely helpful, guys. Thanks. Visualize eating a free pizza with your most desired toppings and digesting it with your most desired brew! Drop by Monroe Harbor Marina, Sanford, Florida, and we'll enjoy the real thing!

I went the Porta-bote route.

While a pain in some ways - when I need a dink this is it. I had all sizes & would recommend the 10' & buying one used.

I also like Seapup & Ixniegh use a paddle board & keep a large inflatable one onboard. & while I can stay dry, it's only good when you don't mind the potential of getting wet.

http://www.orukayak.com

A couple of these would not take up any room. Would be fun also.

Being a warm water sailor I have a pretty cavalier attitude towards dinghies. That would change in cold water though. I'd probably choose a small inflatable if that was the case.
Ix

Of course the Mac can be beached easily if you want to go ashore. Getting back onboard can be the challenge though.

Thanks all for the info -- I keep forgetting about the fact you can beach it at acceptable locations. I am so used to on/off trailier every day , I forget there is other options.

I think I am goign to wait for a deal on criagslist/kijiji. in my land-locked area I am sure they are rare, .. but well, hopefully that means few buyers as well.

I really appreciate all the discussion!

kevinnem wrote:Thanks all for the info -- I keep forgetting about the fact you can beach it at acceptable locations. I am so used to on/off trailier every day , I forget there is other options.

I think I am goign to wait for a deal on criagslist/kijiji. in my land-locked area I am sure they are rare, .. but well, hopefully that means few buyers as well.

I really appreciate all the discussion!

Remember

The key word above is “acceptable” You don' t want to be scratching, gouging your gel coat.

Ray

NiceAft mentioned PVC gets sticky!
Yes it does over the years, my old one did, but i managed to remedy that for a few extra years before it finally died. The surface tends to get gooey/sticky in places and will collect all manner of dirt and crud if not attended to. You can't clean the gooey off but you can cover it with Inflatable boat paint from Jamestown distributors like i did. worked like a charm and the paint really adheres to the sticky gooey PVC. I got light grey and painted all the topside tubes that were deteriorating and made it look nice again, held up for a few more years until the seams delaminated on me. You have to be diligent in caring for PVC to make it last, a cover helps along with the use of that UV spray stuff.
I noticed some pics of PVC dinghies with no transom board, those are the cheapies, get the zodiac style with a wooden transom motor mount between the two pointy end aft tubes, they are better quality but still PVC. Good care will get you a good ten years from your dinghy and even though a hypalon will get you double that they also cost double more. Also a used one is risky cause you don't know how long they were left out in the sun or how old they are. As with all things you get what you pay for. it will be a few more years before I discover the quality of my Stryker zodiac, but it does appear well made, you should check it out at StrykerBoats.ca it is in the Vancouver area and it is made of a combination of PVC and Hypalon from France, lots of attention to detail, good website. Oh BTW exchange rates on US $ is pretty good right now! 25% off

Terry wrote:....I noticed some pics of PVC dinghies with no transom board, those are the cheapies, get the zodiac style with a wooden transom motor mount between the two pointy end aft tubes, they are better quality but still PVC. Good care will get you a good ten years from your dinghy ....

Like everything PVC inflatables are not all created equal. We picked up a well cared for Zodiac some years back for $600 and it has held up but we did...





...make a cover for it to extend the life....

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... as-11.html

I'm hoping it lasts about as long as I do . The Bahama trip was the first trip with the cover and it worked well. I don't think you can beat an inflatable if you end up having to depend on it in a worst case scenario. A good one with larger tubes will get you through wind and waves that I wouldn't want to be in a hard sided dinghy in. They are about impossible to row in that situation though and if you watch the conditions you go out in and do like to row then a hard sided dinghy might be right for you.

If I was younger I'd spend the money on a hypalon one and get one with a blow-up floor if possible. I like the solid floor in mine but you can't assembly it or break it down on the water. You need to be on a flat surface for that.

So far though...



.... I've towed it everywhere without any major problems. In the picture above you can see that the two bow lines are slack. I actually tow it with a tow strap that goes back to the stern. I was in some seas where I think if I had been towing from only the bow lines the D-rings would of pulled out of the bow due to the stress. I also have a second tow line going to the dinghy that is slack but is there just in case the main line parted. I'd hate to look back there on a long passage and see the dinghy gone,

Sumner

============================
1300 miles to the Bahamas and back -- 2015

The MacGregor 26-S

The Endeavour 37

Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

Another reason I love our hard shell Walker Bay ....

... you don't need to worry about these bad boys pinching a hole



... even when they are this big !



... or this weird baby sea monster ? (yikes, what the hull is this thing in my boat? . A bull-head fish or bull-headed fisherman )

Inland lakes a hard dinghy is a better choice

Cheaper
Can be rowed
Cut loose in storm..easy to find. Plenty of unsinkable ones.

We have had Chunk for 10 years now, on Cape Cod

I have three different tenders depending on what we are doing or where we are going!

For towing the boat away somewhere, nothing beats an inflatable, with an inflatable floor, that can be stowed in the stern berth on the road, and inflated easily. We also take the inflatable if we are going to be going through a coastal bar (don't want to be towing hard dingies out in the Paciifc). The good thing with an inflatable floor model is that they can pretty easily be pulled out and inflated on deck when you get to your destination. Fast forward to 8.34 in this vid to see me getting it ready after arriving in port
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-h-KQu0XmM

However I confess to not thinking much of blow up boats. Our last one with a Merc 4hp on the back was fun when we were at least half a mile from the boat and the seam decided to pop They are supposed to have three chambers but I guess the internal wall had given out as the whole thing starting going down and I had my wife and two kids onboard. THe wife managed to grab the seam and pull it over holding it closed with her hands and we just got back to the boat and I reefed the 4hp Merc off the back as the transom collapsed. I had to pull the deflated mess up with a boathook...

I also have a good old fibreglass dinghy which I like best. In this video at from about 8.40 I explain why
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKJ0BWwpVMc

However, we actually had a bit of a medical emergency that night and had to leave that remote location at 01:30. It took me more than 5 hours to get home at about 6.5knots. If I had had an inflatable, I would have been able to deflate it and stow it and we would have been able to get home considerably quicker...

The other kind of tender we use is these:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dwi4d9N8Y8

But its a bit hard to transport them like that with the mast on the boat. Mind you we just bought another smaller one which may work, but is not as good to paddle. Kayaks are the winner as far as enjoyment is concerned, but not always a practical option and you can't just leave them while you go shopping or whatever like you can with an old dinghy.

Having said all that, if just for occasional use, something to just roll up and keep in the boat, the inflatable is of course the most practical (no matter how much I distrust them - did I mention they are pigs to row too). Definitely get one with an inflatable floor. I'v had both types and the inflatable floor is awesome, so much less hassle and they are rock hard once inflated.