Cap'n Geoffrey bought a 12' portabote to replace the blow up dingy on
Lionheart a few years back after they got drown trying to get to the
yacht anchored out in Key West, Len. The ride is amazingly dry, much
dryer for sure than a blowboat.

It planes with me (260) and him (240) aboard with a 5hp Nissan 4-stroker,
which is more than your power to weight ratio..(c; 8hp should plane it
quite rapidly, indeed!

As for riding around in it....it takes a little getting used to to trust
riding in a hull that bends so much underfoot. Walking around in it is
quite disconcerting as the hull bulges inward from the pressure on the
plastic on each side of the keel. When you step on the bulge, it drops
under your weight and is a little scary. After a while thrashing about
in the slop, your brain finally decides "we're going ok" and learns to
ignore its flapping about. The first time I climbed into it, I wished I
had my swimming shorts because we just weren't going to survive..(c;

I'm not sure you can abuse a portabote. Lord knows we've tried. It
bangs up against anything and scratches harmlessly, bouncing off even
concrete docks. No concern for IS IT GONNA RIP like the blowup boats.

To get her aboard, we gave up on davits and other expensive nuisances.
Its too easy to just take apart, stow the bits in the bow locker and fold
the boat up against the port hand rail forward of the mainmast so there's
nothing to trip over at sea. To get her aboard, after removing the
engine and your stuff, you simply connect the bow line yoke to the main
halyard (or an extra halyard up the mast) and haul the bow up the mast
while just pushing it way from the handrail. Any winch makes it real
easy. Once vertical, pay out the halyard until the stern is sitting on
deck by the mast and secure the halyard to a cleat. You're now STANDING
UP taking the seats apart, not stooping down to remove them. Haul it up
off the deck to do the stern. Once disassembled, just push it flat and
pay out the halyard while walking aft laying it flat against the
handrail. Secure it with a couple of lines and she's ready for sea.
Takes about 10 minutes. If you're going to use the portabote tomorrow,
just leave it assembled on the deck upside down with the halyard still
attached so you can push it back over the rail in the morning for more
trips. Out of the water, no cleaning marine slime off it that gathered
during the night and no waking up in the morning to find it wedged under
the yacht or gone floating off on its own. Oh, the halyard trick also is
the best way to BAIL IT..(c; Screw that pumping and can slinging over
the side. It bails as it comes out of the water vertically! Its slick
surface cleans easily on the halyard with a sponge and washdown hose....

Portabote is a real "speedboat" compared to something that blows up.
It's actually faster than a similarly-powered aluminum 12' fishing
boat....and no rivets to leak!

Now, if it just didn't feel as if I was gonna put my sneaker through it
when I boarded....hee hee.

Len wrote in
:

Hi,

I've returned the lightweight RIB to the yard. It wouldn't plane with
2 people, even with 8 hp. So...I'm back to square 1.
I am still looking for a dingy that allows me to get to the village to
get some food, a few miles from my anchorage.

- Would a 12' PortaBoat with a 8hp outboard plane with 2 persons and
some luggage (say 350 pounds altogether)? Or would this mean a
serious abuse of the boat? On the site they say a 12' can be equipped
by a 8hp.

- What would happen in a bit of sea? Would the flappering of the
hull-parts be too much to stand?


I know, what I want is a real speedboat..., but I want to be able to
store it on board. I guess that means either to fold or to deflate it.

TIA, Len