jax said
It also takes upwards of an hour to
assemble from scratch on deck (including getting together the three seats and
transom from down below, the bag of hardware, twisting it up on deck,
assembling, rigging a hardness to attach to the main halyard, putting into
water, mounting the engine, getting fuel can and safety gear)
Parallax wrote:
The Porta-bote really takes an hour?
This is a question that has been debated before. Jax always says an
hour or so, most of us say significantly less. We've got a 12'
Porta-Bote that lives on the coach roof.
http://rangerbest.home.comcast.net/PortaCover.JPG
http://rangerbest.home.comcast.net/PortaBote.JPG
It's very rare for me to set it up or put it away alone, but when I
do it wouldn't surprise me if it took a 1/2 an hour or even more from
the time I start getting the bits and pieces out to when I'm in the boat
and moving under power. Usually though, my wife and I are working
together and the most time consuming part, getting the bits & pieces out
on deck or storing them away, goes at least twice as fast as when
working alone since the one down below is just handing things up to the
one on deck instead of making many trips carrying them.
I've never actually timed it, but I think our typical unhurried time is
more like 15-20 minutes working together and may be a little less. The
actual assembly time for the boat is only a few minutes. Really no time
at all. It's getting the seats, transom, oars, miracle assembly stick
and bailer out of the bottomless pit locker, then getting the little
tupperware thing with the pins in it out of the nav. station,
remembering where the plastic bow piece got stashed (though in truth, we
usually don't bother with it), oh yeah, don't forget the rubber mallet.
Are we going to need the dinghy anchor? "Honey, I can't find the plastic
'key' for the outboard. Have you seen it anywhere?" You get the picture.
We also have an older 10' Avon that hasn't been out of the garage since
we got the Porta-Bote 2 1/2 years ago.
If you're interested in why we love our Porta-Bote so much after having
used the inflatable for years, I'll be happy to wax eloquently off line,
but most of the people who hang out here have heard me sing its' praises
before.
Take care - Dan
--
Dan Best - (707) 431-1662, Healdsburg, CA 95448
B-2/75 1977-1979
Tayana 37 #192, "Tricia Jean"
http://rangerbest.home.comcast.net/TriciaJean.JPG