"boatgeek" wrote in
oups.com:

You know, that's not a bad idea. I had a 12' portaboat once which
plane really well. I'd be able to carry a 210 lb friend and get up on
a decent plane with a 8 HP motor. I wasn't very experienced with
boating and didn't have a big enough arch for the portaboat, so I sold
the PB and kept my rib. I think to get this RIB to the point where I
could plane easily, I would need a 15 HP engine, and suddenly I'm
looking at around 250 lbs hanging off the back. By going to a
portaboat, I might save 80 to 100lbs.



Lionheart has a 12' PortaBote with a 4-stroke 5hp Nissan on it. When we
first got it, Cap'n Geoffrey bought a set of davits and stern mounted them.
But, I found a better way to get it aboard before trying to disassemble
it....Simply winch it up the mainmast on a halyard, bow up, over the
handrail. This drains the boat as it comes aboard, then we stow her bottom
up to clean off the wigglers for next time if we're not going to sea.
Portabote makes a MUCH better hatch rain cover, upside down, than the
Zodiac used to. It covers both forward hatches so it can't rain in. If
we're going to sea, we disassemble it and stow it along the port handrail
out of the way of sailing. The pieces parts stow in the forward lockers
under the extra sails.

5hp planes it with two 250# guys no problems. I wish he HADN'T bought the
4-stroke engine, though. Oil doesn't run out of a 2-stroke engine, no
matter how you lay it on the dock/deck. This Nissan, you're only supposed
to lay it down on one side to keep the oil in the sump from doing bad
things. You also don't have to change the oil in a 2-stroker....a pain.