I'll add another vote for the Porta-Bote. We've been using our 12'
non-stop for the last 15 months as we cruise Mexico & Central America's
west coast. While it's far from perfect, I can't see us ever going back
to an inflatable.

Good things:

Rugged. Drag it up on sharp rocks or let it rub against barnacles, and
you wind up with some cosmetic scratches, but nothing that affects it's
performance or lifetime.

Dry. Because you're sitting inside the boat and not on the tubes with
your rear hanging perilously close to the waves, we stay MUCH drier than
we ever did in our 10' inflatable.

Faster. About twice as fast as out soft floor inflatable with the same
outboard. We use a 6hp 4-stroke Mercury (right at the upper recommended
weight limit for the 12') and it flies at almost 12 kts with my 260 lbs
aboard. Somewhat slower with both of us aboard.

Lots of room for groceries. Since much of the volume is not taken up by
inflatable tubes, there's lots more room for groceries, trash, jerry
jugs or people.

The 12' stows flat on the cabin top or our Tayana 37, adding no real
windage and when reefing the main or something, it's tough enough that I
just step up on it.

You never wake up and have to pump up the dinghy.

Bad things:

The plastic seats don't stand up to the tropical sun. After about a
year, we (and everybody else we've met with them down here) have had to
have wooden ones made.

Others (but not us) have had a problem with the black tube that runs
along the keel pulling away from the boat.

The oars that come with it also don't stand up to the tropical/salt
water environment. The fittings rust and the plastic parts become
brittle and break.

Some of the fittings on our wooden transom are not stainless steel (they
now make a plastic transom that I have never seen and would worry if
it's made out of the same stuff our seats were made from).

We will probably have to make a new transom for it eventually.

Not as much reserve bouancy in the stern. This translates to being a
bit more subject to being pooped when landing though the surf (a 12'
dinghy full of water being pounded by the surf while everything in it
washes out does not make for a fun afternoon - trust me on this one).

While we never have to pump up soft tubes, we do have to bail it out.
In a few of the torrential rains down here during the rainy season, it
threatened to swamp itself. On the other hand, when hurricane Adrian
threatened us in El Salvador, we pulled the engine off and intentionally
filled it with water to stabilize it and it was just fine.

The safety floatation plastic foam doesn't stand up to the tropical sun.
It sheds stuff when it gets rubbed.

Bottom line.

I get the impression that it was designed for higher latitude use by
hunters and fishermen, but even with it's weak points, it makes an
overall better dinghy for us than inflatables.

For what it's worth, we've run into several people using Porta-Botes as
dinghies and none are contemplating going back to an inflatable. On the
other hand, there are a few inflatable owners that are considering
switching to Portas when they get back to the states.


Larry wrote:
Me, too! The 5HP Nissan 4-stroke outboard PLANES Lionheart's 12' Port-a-
Bote with 2 aboard...(c; VERY DRY IN MODERATE CHOP, too! You don't HAVE
to arrive ashore lookin like a drowned rat.