Inflatable dingy-gctid366269

[Guest]

Can anyone recommend a good inflatable dingy. Im looking for something that I can keep deflated but when im in an area for awhile can inflate and attach a small outboard.

Thanks

Steve

[boatworkfl]

Sams club in FL has an inflatable about 8-9 ft or a reasonable price, these can be assembled with or with-out the floor boards.

[tonyiiiafl]

I owned (past tense) a Baltik 8.5 with the wood floor. Whoile it was a great price, it was a BIT*#H to set up! Also, very narrow beam. I sold it and now have a West Marine HP 340 that I got for NEW at a close out for $499.00. The floorboards on the Baltik were a nightmare to set up. I guess what I am saying is I would take the high pressure floor as it sets up easier and is also pretty stable.

[dmcb]

As Tony says, the wood floor is very hard to set up. About impossible on a boat deck.

While more expensive the best is an air floor for what you want to do. It has a floor that is also inflated. Its harder than the tube but is quite stable. You can put a larger outboard on one and it will plane and be quite stable. An inflatable keel is also a must if you want to plane.

There also is one with slats for a floor that will roll up but isn't as stable and you can't plane with it.

It depends what you want to do with it, now and later if you want to have a small go fast to explore.

Here is a brief discription of the different types. http://www.myboatsgear.com/newsletter/2009926.asp

Doug

[Guest]

Check out www.Bigdogboats.com and let me know if any of them are to your liking. These are high quality boats. Pick one and I can give you a quote.

[Guest]

my dinghy has an aluminum floor, but I cant really imagine anyone trying to set it up on a boat, it would be a nightmare. I agree with the inflatabkle floor.

[2850Bounty]

You will enjoy having a tender so much that you will end up not wanting to inflate/deflate each time you want to use it.

Consider an inflatable with a Weaver Davit system installed.

[Guest]

When i first bought my boat 12 years ago I got a free dingy with the boat. I didnt use it for the first year as it didnt really fit very well on the boat so i sold it. We are starting to tow the boat down to the gulf for vacations, and think a dingy would be nice to have for those occasions. The idea being we set it up at the dock and then use it for the week and then dismantle it. That would also give us the option of leaving it in the slip if we dont need it that day.

Steve

[dmcb]

Steve, a wood floor would work for that but keep in mind you have to store the floors and they are bulky.

Doug

[MidnightSun]

I had one I got from ebay several years back called "Maax" however they seem to be gone. This one is a carbon copy by looking at the build details. My dock neighbour has it now after I decided to go the PWC route. Here is a link to the 10' but they have smaller or bigger depending on what you want. http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Inflatab...#ht_868wt_1413

[Guest]

We went with a West Marine 275 HP http://www.westmarine.com/buy/produc...ort-boats.html.

It will roll up into a carry bag that is 3'X2'x18". Takes about 10 minutes to inflate with the foot pump that comes with.

They will deal with you. We walked out of there with ours for $900 and tax.

[boatworkfl]

Look up the nearest BJ's wholesale club and look or call about a Coleman inflatable, 8.8' long, up to 5 hp, in Jacksonville FL it was about $489.00, alum floor.

[captharv]

I have a 9'3" BOATUS with a 8 hp 2 stroke. It will plane and run 20 MPH with 425# of people.

The question in answetr to your question is what is teh anticipated usage of it?

Bringing the family and dog ashore? Running at 15-20 MPH?

If you are only using as a shuttle between shore and the boat, and have no interest in planing speed, the slatted floor models are the easiest to inflate. This can easily be done in your boats cockpit. A 4 hP 4 stroke will be sufficient.

Next in performance (and price) are the "floored" models. Can be wood, aluminum or composit. Real P.I.T.A. to set up. However an 8-10 on a 10' boat will plane it.

Next, is the high pressure inflatable floor. They can be set up in the boats cockpit, but they cost.

Materials: Hypalon is more rugged and slightly heavier than PVC. Mine is a 1996 model hypalon and looks very new.

With the info I gave, you makes your choise and pays your money.

Pumps: Buy the biggest, meanest looking electric one. Money buys faster inflation times.

[Jeffw]

biohazard wrote:
my dinghy has an aluminum floor, but I cant really imagine anyone trying to set it up on a boat, it would be a nightmare. I agree with the inflatabkle floor.

Didn't you get the Aquamarine, wood floor? Did they swap for aluminum? If you did it over, you'd get HP inflatable floor? (Guess what I'm shopping for...)

[Guest]

jeffw wrote:
Didn't you get the Aquamarine, wood floor? Did they swap for aluminum? If you did it over, you'd get HP inflatable floor? (Guess what I'm shopping for...)

We got the Aquamarine with aluminum floor and wood transom. You can get them with fiberglass transom for 100 more, worry free kinda setup. I got the aluminum floor because of the wieght raiting (1100lbs). It also has inflatable keel of course and all the other goodies. I had only suggested the inflatable floor to the PO because he wanted to be able to assemble/disassemble on his boat, the inflatable floor would be alot easier that dealing with the aluminum.

The only downside is there is no real way to assemble on the boat, its not bad but a little tempermental to get the floor in, but once its in boy is it nice!

Couple downsides with Aquamarine.

1. French Canadians, fairly poor customer service, once you do finally get ahold of them they do as you ask promptly. Difficult to understand on the phone at times, dont seem to start work before 11:00 Central standard time. Takes 3-4 days to respond to emails.

2. Registering vessel, its from canada, so you need Manufacture Statement of Origin and bill of sale in USD, depending on arizona laws, mn is trying to force me to pay tax on a boat that i bought on the inet.

3. Shipping, my boat arrived in a box that looked as if it was thrown down a hill, it took a hard hit and all the rivets on 1 side of the aluminum floor were busted out. Not a big deal I can fix it but aquamarines response was to "give me money to buy a rivet gun". LOL..... This is likely not their fault, though packaging could be better. UPS has damaged 3 of my pacakges in the last 6 months, I am not very pleased with their shipping methods.



The plus side about this dingy though is its solid as hell, the floor is absolutely amazing and its beefy with lots of hold on straps. If you can deal with the BS I posted above I would go for it.