Inflatable Dinghy Tips?

[rat_catcher]

Anybody got any tips or experience with buying, storing and using an inflatable dinghy on their trailerboat? My sons and I spent a few days at Keppel Island last week and they got tired of having to swim into the beach! My eldest (13) suggested I buy them an inflatable dinghy and small outboard.

I really have no idea where to start.

Before I spend hours on research, anybody got any tips?

[joeT]

My first boat was a 2.6m inflatable with 4hp yamaha I used to fish the mouth of the Manawatu river in NZ. Inflatables are incredibly stable and I used to stand 2 people and fish from it. Inflating and deflating can be a biatch and take a long time, I would invest in an electric pump or a really good hand pump.

Material its made from is really important, the cheap ones are just glorified pool toys and will become useless after a few years. The good ones like the zodiacs are quite pricy and can still be quite bulky when deflated.

If its only a short distance they need to swim, perhaps an inflatable kayak of some kind would be more suitable?

[freefish]

Agree with above. Had one as a tender for the yacht. Best left inflated if possible but be careful if using high capacity compressor as they do not take kindly to high pressure. Definitely use motor as they are hell to row. Very stable but can be a wet ride. Better stowed not towed as they can flip in moderate winds. If towing tie off as short as possible even to having bow against stern of mother boat. Great fun for kids. Mine couldn't care less about sailing but sent hours amusing themselves with the tender: 2 mtr with 2.5 hp Mercury. Of course if used for fishing watch the knife & the hooks Bill

[Homer_Jay]

I got a 2.4 mt one. I use it for just that... getting over to the beach. I keep mine inflated all the time as they are a pain to inflate. Just a few pumps to top up the pressure each time i take it out. I stow it on the hard top as i havent had too much success towing it, although i havent tried it much. But it is still fairly heavy to get on and off the roof, more to do with the bulkiness of it then the outright weight. I only row mine as I dont want the hassel of carrying an outboard and i dont find it hard to row, but wouldnt want to row it for miles either! You can get them with and without inflatable keels, the ones with will row alot better.


Aaron

[SnapHead101]

I recently bought an Aer Marine 2.7m air deck from this mob www.waves.com.au. Set me back about $2000, however it's ok for four people (still waiting for compliance plate though !) has an airdeck so rows nicely even against a 2 knot current, and can take up to 10 hp outboard. I keep it inflated and on the hard top, weighing 26 kg I can get it down single handed no probs. They also have a zodiac airdeck although its slightly bigger. Would certainly go the airdeck, your back will remember it long after your wallet has forgotten it.

[Brumby]

I'm in much the same position - need a tender to get around swimming to the beach. One problem that I've come up against is where to carry the thing when it's inflated. On my boat the nose can rest on the targa, but I don't think the bimini is going to appreciate carrying the rest of the weight. Might have to arrange some sort of roll bar over the back end as well. I've carried one of those glorified kids toys before and even that is a royal pain to inflate on a regular basis.

I'd be interested to see what you come up with.

Cheers

[Fish Guts]

could be a bit of a hassle trying to store an inflated one on your 702 rat catcher. probably suggest going for one without a ridgid hull mainyl due to storage. we found quicksilver inflatables to be the best value at around 2200 for a 2.8 m one (ridgid fiberglass hull). you can pump them up via the 12volt pumps. and when your looking at outboards try and get one with the built in fuel tank in the cowl.

[rat_catcher]

Material its made from is really important, the cheap ones are just glorified pool toys and will become useless after a few years. The good ones like the zodiacs are quite pricy and can still be quite bulky when deflated.

Talking about the material it is made from, I have seen different names listed, but they don't mean a whole lot to me. What should I be looking for?

[rat_catcher]

Great fun for kids. Mine couldn't care less about sailing but sent hours amusing themselves with the tender: 2 mtr with 2.5 hp Mercury.

Yes this is definitely part of it too. They can only spend so much time swimming and playing on the beach and think that getting them to learn how to use the inflatable and outboard will not only give them something else to amuse them, but also be part of their boating education. I know they can use up to a 6hp outboard without a license.

[rat_catcher]

I keep mine inflated all the time as they are a pain to inflate.

What is the pain with inflation? I would have thought with a 12V pump it wouldn't be too bad. I was thinking of keeping mine deflated and stowed when travelling, but then when anchroing up inflating it for use. Then deflating it again when travelling home. Of course if I was just moving around a bit out wherever we were staying I would leave it inflated.

I only row mine as I dont want the hassel of carrying an outboard and i dont find it hard to row, but wouldnt want to row it for miles either!

This has been a thought too, as I would still have to find a place to stow the outboard.

[rat_catcher]

I recently bought an Aer Marine 2.7m air deck from this mob..........

Thanks for the link. Will give me another site to use for research.

has an airdeck so rows nicely even against a 2 knot current........

What is the advantage of the airdeck? From reading I am thinking the airdeck is an inflatable floor, is this correct? What are the alternatives?

[rat_catcher]

I'd be interested to see what you come up with.

No problem. I haven't made any final decisions yet on what to get or even whether to do it at all! Will post to this thread if I go ahead and let you know how it turns out.

[rat_catcher]

could be a bit of a hassle trying to store an inflated one on your 702 rat catcher.

Was thinking of storing it across the rear duckboard on its side when inflated. Behind the stainless rails and ahead of the engine. See in the attached pic. I know I probably would not be able to raise the engine fully with the inflatable stored there, but would deflate it and store it away for launching and retreiving and if I did have to raise the engine I could always drop the board over the side or put it on the foredeck for a bit. Thoughts?

we found quicksilver inflatables to be the best value at around 2200 for a 2.8 m one (ridgid fiberglass hull). you can pump them up via the 12volt pumps. and when your looking at outboards try and get one with the built in fuel tank in the cowl.

Thanks for this. Good feedback. As for the outboard I am looking at a 4hp Suzuki 4-stroke simply because I have a good local Suzuki dealer and am extremely happy with the engine on the 702L. Haven't done any research into weight etc. so not sure this will work, but that is the idea at a high level anyway. This way I don't have to carry oil and mix it with the fuel and can also get it serviced at the same place I get the main engine serviced.

[joeT]

Talking about the material it is made from, I have seen different names listed, but they don't mean a whole lot to me. What should I be looking for?

The materials vary a lot, and you might need to do some research, this provides some basic info:
http://www.allinflatables.com/support/fabrics.html

I'd stick to name brands like zodiac and quicksilver.

The pain with inflation and deflation is that it takes longer than you might think. Inflation is ok because the pump does it for you, but deflation requires you to slowly squeeze out all the air which can take ages. The first 80 percent of air is easy, but the last 20 percent requires all sorts of squashing and rolling.

The airdeck is like a solid floor made of air when you pump it up. The alternatives are having a solid wooden/fibreglass/aluminium floor, or a foldable floor with the same materials. Of course, the more hard materials you have in the inflatable the less compact it will be for storage and heavier, so its a tradeoff. The theory with an airdeck is to provide a solid floor without introducing any hard materials. I had a 3 piece ply folding floor in my old boat.

[FrankFWM]

I own and use a Zodiac...

It is my second one and am very happy with it... I have heard that they are no longer as good in terms of quality as they are no longer made in france - not sure if that is true though.

What I can say si that some friends of mine in the boat club I am part of have over the last 6 months began using a brand called calypso which is imported by a guy who is on the main road in Stiglietz on the way to Horizon Shores Marina.

They are around half the price with an airdeck and appear to be quite good quality for the money. I would consider one next time with the view that even if they only last half as long, you still can't lose.

I believe Grand is an excellent brand in terms of quality but like Zodiac - they are fairly pricey.

My friends with "grand" inflatables are very happy also.