I am in the dreaming/planning stage for a multi year cruise starting
in the Carribean and then heading to the South Pacific. The boat will
be a 45 to 50 ft sloop.
I am thinking about the tender/ dinghy.
Right now I think about an inflatable 10 to 12 ft with Hypalon tubes
and a fiberglass hard bottom.
As and outboard I am considering a small 3-4 HP 2 stroke lightweight
that is easy to lug around and a 15 to 20 HP 4 stroke for the times I
want to go serious distances and carry serious loads (Jugs of water or
fuel). Yamaha seems to be the favorite for off shore
Money is an issue, but I want to do the right thing.
I would like to hear comments/ exchange ideas.

On 17 Aug 2004 22:59:12 -0700, (Rolf) wrote:

I am in the dreaming/planning stage for a multi year cruise starting
in the Carribean and then heading to the South Pacific. The boat will
be a 45 to 50 ft sloop.
I am thinking about the tender/ dinghy.
Right now I think about an inflatable 10 to 12 ft with Hypalon tubes
and a fiberglass hard bottom.

That's a good choice, but be aware that it's the favourite type of
tender to steal. Also consider davits at that size, and consider a
small, even foldable/nesting hard tender with oars for exercise and
light duty. In certain places, you might find rowing 1/2 mile to shore
in something unglamourous is better than ever unlocking the RIB from
the davits.

Here's a potential cost-saver for you: Find a worn out PVC Zodiac RIB,
like the Yachtline 1 310. Offer bottom dollar for the patched, sticky
and blackened horror, especially if it comes with oars and that $200
blue cover. Take it to someone who will "retube" the fibreglass hull
bottom with large size (17") Hypalon tubes in something like yellow,
red or orange...and have your boat's name and number professionally
stencilled on in eight-inch characters.

This way, you've got an easily identifiable, clearly marked, extra
buoyant, UV resistant RIB for probably under $2000, whereas something
completely new would be around $6000. Add a "rub rail" on the
centerline of the hull (for grounding on rough beaches) and you're
set.

As and outboard I am considering a small 3-4 HP 2 stroke lightweight
that is easy to lug around and a 15 to 20 HP 4 stroke for the times I
want to go serious distances and carry serious loads (Jugs of water or
fuel). Yamaha seems to be the favorite for off shore

Yamaha and Honda are both good, but Suzuki is another option. If you
want to go planing at 22 knots, get a 15 HP, but 20 HP is too heavy
and too much for a 10 foot RIB in my opinion, although it's not
unreasonable for a 12 footer.

Now, if you are thinking that a 20 hp O/B on a tender lashed to the
main boat's side or hung on a motor mount aft will make an emergency
engine, that's a different argument. I was able to lash my RIB to the
starboard side of my 33 footer when the inboard engine died and used
my 9.9 Honda 4-stroke (1985!) long shaft to push us 15 NM in dead calm
at about 4.2 knots. I used more gas than usual, but it beat floating
in the middle of Lake Ontario or calling for a tow in dead air.

If it's strictly a cargo/passenger tender, a 9.9 four stroke with a
properly pitch prop is perfect fine and weighs these days under 100
lbs. Very economical to run, too. Expect to carry about 1,000 lbs. at
five or six knots or so, tops. Empty the ten foot RIB, add "Doel" fins
to the shaft, and sit forward with a throttle extender and you will
easily plane a RIB to 18 knots or so in calm seas with a 9.9.

Money is an issue, but I want to do the right thing.
I would like to hear comments/ exchange ideas.

You are on the right track, I think, but the most important
consideration will probably be the engine lock G

R.

I have a 9 foot RIB with 15 HP Honda 4 stroke (BH15B) rigged with a console
and permanent seat that I use for my tender when in harbor, sort of like a
private launch, it planes 2-3 people at 15 kts and carries a big load at 5
kts through the wind and 3 kt eddies and can push Lioness (40ft yawl, 20,000
lbs) up river when strapped along side at better than 3 kts in a 10 kt
headwind. I have the Power prop, a 3 blade 8 in pitch. Newer Models mount a
4 blade.

The whole rig with the console, wheel, controls and outboard weighs about
350 lbs, and can be brought aboard and placed on the foredeck with the
spinnaker halyard, taking the extra long tail to a snatch block and the
anchor windlass. I have carried it aboard for overnight open water passages
but would not want to be caught in breaking seas or heavy ( 30kt) winds
with it on the foredeck. Towing it costs me about a 1/2 to 1 knot under
power and moderate winds.

This is a great rig for running back and forth the 1/2 mile to my mooring
and exploring the Great Bay and Piscataqua river and is good for less
experienced crew as it is electric start and drives like a small powerboat
with the controls and wheel steering.

I also have an inflatable with wooden inserts and a 2hp Yamaha that came
with the boat. For my recent 29 day 1600 mile cruise that included two
passages 100 miles I left the RIB home and took the inflatable. Did not
need to launch it until the 10th day and then used it sparingly. I borrowed
an 8HP two stroke Yamaha that will plane one person, and move 3 at about 3-4
kts and weighed about 65 lbs. The whole thing rolls up into a bag about 1.5
m x 1m x .5 m thick and ties on the cabin top. Dink and outboard together
maybe 150 lbs.

I found it to be totally adequate for use on the cruise, could inflate and
launch in 15 mins and felt comfortable except with one person and the
power on full.. It was a bit too lively, Have not tried the 2hp so no
comparison there.



As and outboard I am considering a small 3-4 HP 2 stroke lightweight
that is easy to lug around and a 15 to 20 HP 4 stroke for the times I
want to go serious distances and carry serious loads (Jugs of water or
fuel). Yamaha seems to be the favorite for off shore


--
Sheldon Haynie
Texas Instruments
50 Phillipe Cote
Manchester, NH 03101
603 222 8652