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Tenders

  • 24 Apr 2011 16:26
    Quote
    Reply # 576723 on 576137
    Deleted user
    Jeff McFadden wrote:Many of these look good, but I have seen a Porta-Bote in action and would recommend it. Quick, easy... heck, you could rig it with a junk if you wanted, too. 'Course, it's easy for me to spend your money. ;-)

    I like them too.  They row (and otherwise perform) much, much, much better than inflatables, and I've seen one that looked like it was dragged for miles across gravel or oystershell beaches, but still appeared to be going strong.

    Barry
  • 23 Apr 2011 23:52
    Quote
    Reply # 576331 on 575843
    Anonymous member
    Annie Hill wrote: Now that I've cleared away half a ton of miscellaneous ironmongery, Fantail has beautifully clear, uncluttered decks and I can sit in the cockpit and see where I am going.  This is As It Should Be, but alas, I have a large and lumpen dinghy that needs to go whither I go.  Once that's on deck I'll only be able to see clearly by standing on the cockpit seat.  Now per se that isn't so bad, but as I was standing in my companionway the other day, I realised that a pram hood is a feasible option ...

    No good unless I can see, however.  So will all you clever and knowledgeable people please put on your thinking caps and see if you can remember seeing a design for a good folding (not nesting) dinghy.  Or even design one?  It doesn't have to carry a junk rig :-), but it does have to row well and be capable of carrying a second anchor. I'm neither very tall (5ft 2ins with my hair fluffed up) nor heavy (120 lbs +/-) so it doesn't have to be terribly strong or capacious.  Friends will just have to row their own dinghies over to visit!  It would be better if it would carry 2, just in case I take someone off to impress them with the glories of junk rig, but I would live with one that just took me.

    I think there might be quite a lot of interest in a really good, folding dinghy and with so many clever materials about, they may have come of age.

    This looks interesting as well:
    http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/07/projects/barquito/index.htm
  • 23 Apr 2011 16:46
    Quote
    Reply # 576137 on 576071
    Deleted user
    Alan MacBride wrote:
    Annie Hill wrote: Now that I've cleared away half a ton of miscellaneous ironmongery, Fantail has beautifully clear, uncluttered decks and I can sit in the cockpit and see where I am going.  This is As It Should Be, but alas, I have a large and lumpen dinghy that needs to go whither I go.  Once that's on deck I'll only be able to see clearly by standing on the cockpit seat.  Now per se that isn't so bad, but as I was standing in my companionway the other day, I realised that a pram hood is a feasible option ...

    No good unless I can see, however.  So will all you clever and knowledgeable people please put on your thinking caps and see if you can remember seeing a design for a good folding (not nesting) dinghy.  Or even design one?  It doesn't have to carry a junk rig :-), but it does have to row well and be capable of carrying a second anchor. I'm neither very tall (5ft 2ins with my hair fluffed up) nor heavy (120 lbs +/-) so it doesn't have to be terribly strong or capacious.  Friends will just have to row their own dinghies over to visit!  It would be better if it would carry 2, just in case I take someone off to impress them with the glories of junk rig, but I would live with one that just took me.

    I think there might be quite a lot of interest in a really good, folding dinghy and with so many clever materials about, they may have come of age.

    Check out the folding dinghies on the Commercial websites page.

    Many of these look good, but I have seen a Porta-Bote in action and would recommend it. Quick, easy... heck, you could rig it with a junk if you wanted, too. 'Course, it's easy for me to spend your money. ;-)
  • 23 Apr 2011 13:32
    Quote
    Reply # 576071 on 575843
    Deleted user
    Annie Hill wrote: Now that I've cleared away half a ton of miscellaneous ironmongery, Fantail has beautifully clear, uncluttered decks and I can sit in the cockpit and see where I am going.  This is As It Should Be, but alas, I have a large and lumpen dinghy that needs to go whither I go.  Once that's on deck I'll only be able to see clearly by standing on the cockpit seat.  Now per se that isn't so bad, but as I was standing in my companionway the other day, I realised that a pram hood is a feasible option ...

    No good unless I can see, however.  So will all you clever and knowledgeable people please put on your thinking caps and see if you can remember seeing a design for a good folding (not nesting) dinghy.  Or even design one?  It doesn't have to carry a junk rig :-), but it does have to row well and be capable of carrying a second anchor. I'm neither very tall (5ft 2ins with my hair fluffed up) nor heavy (120 lbs +/-) so it doesn't have to be terribly strong or capacious.  Friends will just have to row their own dinghies over to visit!  It would be better if it would carry 2, just in case I take someone off to impress them with the glories of junk rig, but I would live with one that just took me.

    I think there might be quite a lot of interest in a really good, folding dinghy and with so many clever materials about, they may have come of age.

    Check out the folding dinghies on the Commercial websites page.
  • 23 Apr 2011 08:15
    Quote
    Reply # 575843 on 489103
    Anonymous member
    Now that I've cleared away half a ton of miscellaneous ironmongery, Fantail has beautifully clear, uncluttered decks and I can sit in the cockpit and see where I am going.  This is As It Should Be, but alas, I have a large and lumpen dinghy that needs to go whither I go.  Once that's on deck I'll only be able to see clearly by standing on the cockpit seat.  Now per se that isn't so bad, but as I was standing in my companionway the other day, I realised that a pram hood is a feasible option ...

    No good unless I can see, however.  So will all you clever and knowledgeable people please put on your thinking caps and see if you can remember seeing a design for a good folding (not nesting) dinghy.  Or even design one?  It doesn't have to carry a junk rig :-), but it does have to row well and be capable of carrying a second anchor. I'm neither very tall (5ft 2ins with my hair fluffed up) nor heavy (120 lbs +/-) so it doesn't have to be terribly strong or capacious.  Friends will just have to row their own dinghies over to visit!  It would be better if it would carry 2, just in case I take someone off to impress them with the glories of junk rig, but I would live with one that just took me.

    I think there might be quite a lot of interest in a really good, folding dinghy and with so many clever materials about, they may have come of age.
  • 06 Feb 2011 09:45
    Quote
    Reply # 516722 on 515609
    Anonymous member
    Neil Tanner wrote:
    Anthony Cook wrote:
    Neil Tanner wrote:
    Anthony Cook wrote:
    ...
    The reason for this long ramble is to enquire whether anyone has experience of building this dinghy?  If so, any tips or advice would be much appreciated.
    The pram I built for Sea Elf is plywood, flat-bottom and measures 7'6''.  She rows and tows beautifully and looks great too.  I recently rigged her with a sail.  The design is by Sam Rabl.  Stows well on the foredeck or wherever you can and can be launched by this old man.  Everyone has their own druthers, but I'm all for anything but rubber.  All the best.
    Hi Neil
    Many thanks for replying.  I saw your pictures of Wee Elf and coveted her immediately! She looked absolutely ideal, but, alas, 7ft is the maximum length tender I can stow athwartships.
    Anthony  
    Hi Anthony-
    Thanks for the nice comments about Wee Elf.  You could if you wanted to, shorten her up to 7ft. without much difficulty.  I don't know how well stocked your local library is, but the book by Sam Rabl, "Boatbuilding in your Backyard" has the drawings for her (or I could copy and mail them just as well).  Anyway, good luck.
    Neil
    Hi Neil
    Very kind of you to offer, but I am pretty-well committed to the Welsford design now.  The plans are here and the the timber is on its way, so the time has come to get my hands dirty (or sticky, anyway...).  If the result looks nearly as good as Wee Elf I shall be delighted.
    Best regards
    Anthony
  • 04 Feb 2011 12:33
    Quote
    Reply # 515609 on 515568
    Deleted user
    Anthony Cook wrote:
    Neil Tanner wrote:
    Anthony Cook wrote:
    ...
    The reason for this long ramble is to enquire whether anyone has experience of building this dinghy?  If so, any tips or advice would be much appreciated.
    The pram I built for Sea Elf is plywood, flat-bottom and measures 7'6''.  She rows and tows beautifully and looks great too.  I recently rigged her with a sail.  The design is by Sam Rabl.  Stows well on the foredeck or wherever you can and can be launched by this old man.  Everyone has their own druthers, but I'm all for anything but rubber.  All the best.
    Hi Neil
    Many thanks for replying.  I saw your pictures of Wee Elf and coveted her immediately! She looked absolutely ideal, but, alas, 7ft is the maximum length tender I can stow athwartships.
    Anthony  
    Hi Anthony-
    Thanks for the nice comments about Wee Elf.  You could if you wanted to, shorten her up to 7ft. without much difficulty.  I don't know how well stocked your local library is, but the book by Sam Rabl, "Boatbuilding in your Backyard" has the drawings for her (or I could copy and mail them just as well).  Anyway, good luck.
    Neil
  • 04 Feb 2011 10:11
    Quote
    Reply # 515568 on 515440
    Anonymous member
    Neil Tanner wrote:
    Anthony Cook wrote:
    ...
    The reason for this long ramble is to enquire whether anyone has experience of building this dinghy?  If so, any tips or advice would be much appreciated.
    The pram I built for Sea Elf is plywood, flat-bottom and measures 7'6''.  She rows and tows beautifully and looks great too.  I recently rigged her with a sail.  The design is by Sam Rabl.  Stows well on the foredeck or wherever you can and can be launched by this old man.  Everyone has their own druthers, but I'm all for anything but rubber.  All the best.
    Hi Neil
    Many thanks for replying.  I saw your pictures of Wee Elf and coveted her immediately! She looked absolutely ideal, but, alas, 7ft is the maximum length tender I can stow athwartships.
    Anthony  
  • 04 Feb 2011 02:57
    Quote
    Reply # 515440 on 489103
    Deleted user
    Anthony Cook wrote: I recently had the sacrificial drive-coupling link shear in a strong tide and no wind in Yarmouth river.  Before I could rouse out the anchor Zuleika Louise was on the putty, and before I could get-out and inflate the Zodiac (a 30-minute operation) and salvage myself, I was towed off in ignominy by the smiling Harbourmaster.  

    Two things occurred to me.  Firstly, it would be sensible when inshore to have some sort of anchor instantly available.  I now have my 35lb Bruce stowed on the bow roller, with 30m of chain in a deck box and 50m of braidline hanked to the block rail, while the best bower continues to slumber in its secure stowage, with chain leading below.

    Secondly, with a hard tender stowed on deck, I could have been on the water and laying out a kedge in a fraction of the time it takes to get the inflatable into commission.  As a result, I have decided to get busy with the plywood and epoxy and build myself a tender.  It needs to be small enough to fit upside-down athwartships, light enough for one elderly gent to manhandle aboard, and tough enough to mix it with all and sundry at the dinghy pontoon, and the leading candidate at the moment is John Welsford's 'Roof Rack'.

    The reason for this long ramble is to enquire whether anyone has experience of building this dinghy?  If so, any tips or advice would be much appreciated.
    The pram I built for Sea Elf is plywood, flat-bottom and measures 7'6''.  She rows and tows beautifully and looks great too.  I recently rigged her with a sail.  The design is by Sam Rabl.  Stows well on the foredeck or wherever you can and can be launched by this old man.  Everyone has their own druthers, but I'm all for anything but rubber.  All the best.
  • 03 Feb 2011 05:00
    Quote
    Reply # 514754 on 489103
    Anonymous member
    Thanks to everyone for sharing your good insights.

    I'll add a confirmation that Bolger's Nymph is a very practical and pleasant tender that's as easy or as hard as you want to make it, to build. Lighter ply and muscular sheathing, as David suggests, will make the rather intense rocker less of a problem in the building.

    Also, Bolger's bigger Cartopper has gone places it was never meant to go and served well. It's roughly comparable to the Shellback. We built his Gypsy, and then rudely cut off the spoon bow and made her an overgrown pram so she fits between our masts. Sails well, rows well. Since she's long, she's stable and a good load carrier. I know, too big...

    Most stable and versatile dinghy we've cruised with was a Tinker Traveler. Favourite for indestructibility and fun is our 9' Otter kayak, of moulded polythene.

    Cheers,
    Kurt
       " ...there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in junk-rigged boats" 
                                                               - the Chinese Water Rat

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