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.

On Thu, 12 Jan 2006 19:51:24 -0500, "TriciaJean192 at comcast dot net"
"TriciaJean192 at comcast dot net" wrote:



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.

Interesting comments. The overall impression I'm getting is that the
Porta-Bote wins in quite a few, but by no means all, situations. For
under 30' boats as a dinghy, if you like a small engine, hate davits,
etc.

But I've heard that it's not quite rugged enough before, not in the
sense that it falls apart, but that the auxiliary stuff and seats are
not up to the quality of the folding hull itself.

I'll stick with my RIB, which is for me the best of both worlds. But I
would consider a PortaBote as a second tender I could stow if I could
get decent oars and a rugged seat.

Rowing a RIB can be done, but it ain't pretty.

THanks,
R.

rhys wrote in news:efies190dsejg1kpj9sm9mkuji5lgblbmp@
4ax.com:

if you like a small engine

Speaking of engines. The 4-stroke dingy engine is a mistake. Damned
thing is just too much weight, too finicky having to lay it down in a
certain way to keep its oil from running out or to the wrong places, etc.
Not good on a motor you have to haul and unmount so much.

2-strokers don't have this malady. Try to buy one with a DIAPHRAM carb,
too that doesn't have a float bowl you have to empty before storage to
keep it from clogging the jets with shellac, another thing that screwed
our Nissan 4-stroke 5HP outboard. Gas in diaphram carbs doesn't spill
out, evaporate from air because there's no air in the diaphram and can be
used in any position, which is why your chain saw has one.

Ah, the simple pleasure of cranking an old Seagull you can fix yourself
in any cove on the planet.

Larry wrote:
Ah, the simple pleasure of cranking an old Seagull you can fix yourself
in any cove on the planet.


With only a hammer

DSK

DSK wrote:
Larry wrote:

Ah, the simple pleasure of cranking an old Seagull you can fix
yourself in any cove on the planet.


With only a hammer

DSK



As long as you're not choking on the 10:1 gas/oil ratio.
Can't get the conversion for my 1954 40 Plus Seagull.

Don White wrote in news:mZOxf.154628$Ph4.4714258
@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca:

As long as you're not choking on the 10:1 gas/oil ratio.
Can't get the conversion for my 1954 40 Plus Seagull.



What conversion? Why do you think it's been running since 1954?

According to my calculations, by the way, if 2-stroke motors are so
dangerous to the lakes and have been running in them for about 100
years....The lakes should be about 3" deep in lube oil, by now.

Wonder what happened to all that oil??

Larry wrote:
Don White wrote in news:mZOxf.154628$Ph4.4714258
@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca:


As long as you're not choking on the 10:1 gas/oil ratio.
Can't get the conversion for my 1954 40 Plus Seagull.




What conversion? Why do you think it's been running since 1954?

According to my calculations, by the way, if 2-stroke motors are so
dangerous to the lakes and have been running in them for about 100
years....The lakes should be about 3" deep in lube oil, by now.

Wonder what happened to all that oil??


The models that came after mine could be retrofitted with a new
carburator part (jet??)that allowed you to use a 25:1 ratio.

"TriciaJean192 at comcast dot net" "TriciaJean192 at comcast dot net"
wrote in :

While we never have to pump up soft tubes, we do have to bail it out.


Fed up with bailing it, we got it a cordless bilge pump....(c;

Attwood Waterbuster cordless pump
http://www.boatersland.com/att41404.html

$35. The hose stores right around the pump. Alkalines are better than
rechargeables because rechargeables self-discharge at the wrong time, but
it will run on either. 5 hours on alkaline D cells is years of use.

Drop it in the stern, and flip the switch.