Darren Bos wrote:If I could have only one dinghy, then something like the Shellback might be workable, although at 100lbs I think it is heavy enough to put it into the category where it is no longer easy to move around (for comparison, our RIB with engine is 152lbs). I'd also want to try the Shellback with four aboard rowing through waves. Many of the dinghies that are described as a joy to row are only that way when you have one or two aboard. By the time you add four, and the bottom of the transom has sunk below the waterline, and you start to take the occasional wave over the bow, then joy doesn't really fit the bill any more.
I'm on the BC coast, and I work here as an aquatic ecologist, so I understand what you are saying about getting boats on and off the shore in difficult locations and conditions. We have fold-down, large-diameter wheels that cover surprisingly rough terrain to move our light RIB ashore quickly. For steep barnacle laden rocks, I'd prefer to land with my paddle-board, tuck it under an arm, and run up the rocks. If we really needed the RIB on such a shore we'd use an anchor and a very long piece of webbing with a bungee inside. The bungee pulls the dinghy back out to the anchor where it happily rises and falls with the tides. When you return, you pull the boat back in with the second line you have tied to the shore. This also saves you carrying the boat through the muck when you come back at low tide.
I agree with the simplicity and durability of a hard tender that is rowed, but my experience with similar boats makes me suspect that for a family of four it would have larger than the Shellback. Having one person row such a big boat isn't tenable and coordinating rowing with two folks side by side in rough conditions isn't always enjoyable. Vancouver and his men did it on this coast, but they were tougher, and I doubt even they would have attempted it as a unit of father, mother and children! However, individual kayaks are brilliant for paddling as a family.
I would guess 100lbs is the design weight: Joel designed it for New England sailors who generally tow their boats. I bought ours from a bloke in Nova Scotia, who had built one for himself and one to sell; he didn't intend to tow the dinghy so had pared the weight right down. I doubt she weighed much over 70lbs, certainly two of us could easily carry her up a long beach.
If you want a dinghy you can row with four adults in a F5 without slopping any water into it, you will need something like Gary Underwood's sailing lifeboat, "Little Chap". Unfortunately I don't have a photo of it.
You misunderstood me about two rowing. I meant rowing 4 oars - one rowing in the bow, one towards midships and two in the stern. Hence 4 rowing positions and shorter oars for the bowman. You develop an astonishing amount of power like this - it's so efficient and so easy that it feels as though there is some sort of synergy: from going from 2 oars and hard work, you go to 4 and fly. It's a joy. Obviously, with a mixed bag of adults, you try moving them around until the trim is just right.
Yes, 3m is a bit short for four adults in a chop. But if you wanted four adults in a solid dinghy with an outboard, you'd need something a lot bigger, too. Maybe you need a three piece nester where you can add something in the middle for four up in windy weather!!