Dingy musings

[brackish]

When I acquired my 23, the intention was to not get any kind of tender.  Hey 27" draft, should be able to just anchor shallow and walk in.  That, as it turns out, is not always practical, so considering alternatives.

Don't want a hard boat, so have researched the gambit on inflatables, from those that are just above the beach toy status, all PVC with no reinforcing usually 16-24 ga. generally $50-75, those that are a step above, maybe with a 500 denier fabric reinforce, in the $300 plus or minus range, and the low end of the true tenders that run $5-600. 

In my mind the priorities are:

Light weight and compact for on board storage.
Short enough to be on the foredeck inflated if I don't want to tow.  That would limit the length to about 8'6"
Easy to inflate, deflate.
reasonable durability.
reasonably good rowing unit, tracks reasonably well with out crab walking too much
ability to take a small trolling motor, but I don't see ever putting a gas motor on it.

Any experiences you might want to share, either good or bad.

[brackish]

So went by to see the dingy that West Marine had on sale for $299.  It was a good deal, fabric reinforced, included oars, motor mount and seat.  But it was too HEAVY and Big.  To big collapsed to fit in any of the storage places I had in mind, to long inflated to fit on the bow if I didn't want to tow it. 

Hey, what I really need is just something to get me a hundred yards or less to the beach in the event it is too cold to jump off and wade in.  Also wanted something my grandson can play in at the beach and be able to drag it around.  So inexpensive Sevylor fish hunter 260.  Boat, Oars, and three ways to inflate it for less than a hundred bucks.

Didn't come with a mount and I have a little 14lb trolling motor I would like to use.  Sevylor mount is fifty bucks and looks kind of cheesy.  Sooo I pulled out all those fittings and pipe I had left over from the bathroom remodel and commenced to soldering. 

Now I know that the joints will hold water under pressure, but how strong is this stuff structurally?  Will this work.  Imagine a wooden mount strapped to the frame:

[Greene]

I don't see any reason it wouldn't support the weight/thrust of a 14# trolling motor.  I would attach a lanyard from the top of the bracket to the handhold so it is supported in 3 places for stability.  My concern would be the big ol' heavy battery you need to haul along. 

Gotta love Com-Pac'ers and their ideas.

[Shawn]

I think you are going to need some kind of support going forward that is anchored to the boat. The weight is only part of the issue, you also need to consider the thrust that is at the end of a long lever which is now attached to two sections of a balloon. You don't want the motor pivoting forward/up into the underside of the dinghy under power.

Maybe even something simple like a loop going around that hand hold in front of the mount would be enough. I think the Sevlor mount runs quite a bit forward to help keep the engine upright.

Shawn

[rwdsr]

Brack,
I believe you are on to something there, but the ones I've see similar to that had 2 long supports that ran horizontal across the back of the boat and fastened into the black rubber fittings just forward there.  That will give you some forward and backward stability.

Bob D

 

[brackish]

Yep, the plan is to guy it either to the handle or to the aft oar storage clips from the top of the mount, and a single guy to a clip you cant see under the boat from the bottom.  This to handle the thrust without the mount rotating whether it is in forward or reverse.  This particular boat has no mounting lugs across the main tube like most do, so I'm not sure how the factory mount would work anyway.  With regard to the battery, I'll use a booster pack which is fairly light and is the backup 12v on the boat anyway.  We'll see.  Test to come fairly soon.