Hi, Dan, and group,

Joining this discussion very late after being on the boat for the entire
duration of the thread, I have this to offer.

I've been assuming I'd buy a PB, mostly as a commuting vessel for when we're
on the hook and working in the high season. Our boat currently has a RIB
and 15HP which barely planes me but not both of us (combined about 375#).

Some of the problems you cite are common, as seen on the several PB mail
lists. I subscribe to many, mostly, originally, to try to find a Bote in my
area to see how they actually worked. Never succeeded at that, but learned
a lot from lurking...

The lists are predominantly the RV and fishing crowd, with a smattering of
international customers thrown in. Sandy, the president of PB, monitors one
of the lists, but I doubt seriously he sees this list, as it's a very minor
segment of his sales.

Most of the discussions are adamant that taking it in rough or open water is
not a good idea at all, and there was a very long-running thread which
started to get hostile about the 14' Bote, before I left. As I've just
returned, I have not seen any resolution on that subject - but that may be
just because I've not read any of my list mail since I returned last night
about this time, being entirely devoted, today, to moving out the majority
of my furniture and a variety of other stuff as we empty our houses in
preparation for moving aboard.

PB offers a 10-year warranty to original purchasers, and will replace any
defective item if you ship it to them for inspection, according to the
lists' chatter and Sandy's comments. I don't know if failure constitues
defect, but if it does, I have no question that they'll replace the
appropriate items.

Since we'll have no use for two of them for the first several months to
perhaps more than a year, we're still expecting to defer our second dinghy
purchase until we return to St. Thomas after cruising for a year or so.
We'd originally expected to use it for our diving activities (snorkeling and
free diving) but anticipated difficulty getting in and out. Your comments
and others have confirmed that - and shoreside works for some instances, but
isn't convenient for many others. Despite that, when it's time for a second
dink, we still expect to make the second one a PB.

Dan, with your permission, I'd like to post your message to the several
lists I'm on, unless you're already on and will do that for the many
PB-specific lists. Sandy does follow, at least, "californiaportaboter" or
similar name, the original list, but there are many other PB lists. He's
known as "porta" on the califirniaportaboter list,
. You can read the archives at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PortaBote/

L8R

Skip (and Lydia, still cleaning after the 14 people here today!)

--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig
http://tinyurl.com/384p2

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain