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"Skip Gundlach"
wrote:

About PortaBotes...

Have any of you owners done entry and exit for diving with these? That's
about the only concern I have about them. An inflatable sides are very easy
to grab in order to get in, and probably a great deal more comfortable to
slide over, as well.

I have tried water entry from both a portabote and an inflatable (we
have an old Nissan which came with the boat). I can't get into either
one of them from the water. Bob had to make a strap with foot holds
to put on one side of the inflatable, and he had to be in it to
counterbalance it for me to get in from the water and I had to take
all my gear off first.

I tried to get into the portabote with no one else in there, and I
totally swamped the boat. It didn't sink, it just floated at the
surface of the water full of water with me sitting in it.

Of course I am very large (5'6" and weight 230 lbs) and somewhat
unfit, so that has a bearing on the issue. I'm also very buoyant of
course. I tried to shake it out like you would a canoe, without much
success - Bob picked it up with the whisker pole as a crane and dumped
the water out (without me in it).

I think if someone else had been in the portabote I could have managed
a bit better (I tried to get in over the stern so if there had been
someone in the bow) - or if I'd had the little strap Bob made for the
inflatable I might have been able to do it.

Bob talks about just towing me back to the big boat g I can climb
the swim ladder to the big boat as long as I don't have fins on.

I am also unable to get into the big boat from either dinghy any other
way than up the swim ladder.

That said, their website shows some fire or police department or some such
diver being pulled into the boat by some couple of guys standing in the bow,
to demonstrate that it's stable. Same reservations, as I don't expect to
have a couple of boat gorillas to haul me in :{))

We love the Portabote, but we have the inflatable on davits for
quicker use and for Bob to use in scrubbing the stern and waterline.
It's a pain as it has no seats. I don't like it.

We now store the Portabote on one side of the cabin top under the
staysail boom, with the seats and hardware in a sunbrella bag on the
other side. We used to put it on the lifelines, with the components
in the forward hanging locker.

grandma Rosalie

S/V RosalieAnn, Leonardtown, MD
CSY 44 WO #156
http://home.mindspring.com/~gmbeasley/id2.html

About PortaBotes...

Have any of you owners done entry and exit for diving with these? That's
about the only concern I have about them. An inflatable sides are very easy
to grab in order to get in, and probably a great deal more comfortable to
slide over, as well.

That said, their website shows some fire or police department or some such
diver being pulled into the boat by some couple of guys standing in the bow,
to demonstrate that it's stable. Same reservations, as I don't expect to
have a couple of boat gorillas to haul me in :{))

L8R

Skip

--
"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

Bobsprit wrote:

We have an ancient long shaft Honda 7.5 with sailboat (slow speed)
gearing. With it, we planed at 11-12 knots with 1, 2 or 3 adults
onboard. We didn't get on plane with 5 passengers, about 1000#, but
still moved smartly.

According to Portaboat the maximum safe operating weight is 670 lbs. I can't
see how 5 200lb folks aboard would be a good idea.

http://www.porta-bote.com/dimensions.html

RB


True, that's above the placard, but we were only going a short distance
in calm water. The point is that we had plenty of freeboard left and no
one got wet.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

I could be wrong, but I think that max weight rating may be based on
it's bouancy when swamped. We also have a 12' and our experience is
pretty much identical to Jere Lull and Bobsprit's (except we use our
little 2.5hp outboard more than we row - just lazy, I guess).

Bobsprit wrote:

We have an ancient long shaft Honda 7.5 with sailboat (slow speed)
gearing. With it, we planed at 11-12 knots with 1, 2 or 3 adults
onboard. We didn't get on plane with 5 passengers, about 1000#, but
still moved smartly.

According to Portaboat the maximum safe operating weight is 670 lbs. I can't
see how 5 200lb folks aboard would be a good idea.

http://www.porta-bote.com/dimensions.html

RB



--
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

Bobsprit wrote:

We have an ancient long shaft Honda 7.5 with sailboat (slow speed)
gearing. With it, we planed at 11-12 knots with 1, 2 or 3 adults
onboard. We didn't get on plane with 5 passengers, about 1000#, but
still moved smartly.

According to Portaboat the maximum safe operating weight is 670 lbs. I can't
see how 5 200lb folks aboard would be a good idea.

http://www.porta-bote.com/dimensions.html

RB


True, that's above the placard, but we were only going a short distance
in calm water. The point is that we had plenty of freeboard left and no
one got wet.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

We have an ancient long shaft Honda 7.5 with sailboat (slow speed)
gearing. With it, we planed at 11-12 knots with 1, 2 or 3 adults
onboard. We didn't get on plane with 5 passengers, about 1000#, but
still moved smartly.

According to Portaboat the maximum safe operating weight is 670 lbs. I can't
see how 5 200lb folks aboard would be a good idea.

http://www.porta-bote.com/dimensions.html

RB

Ron Patterson wrote:

However I came across a rigid dinghy that folds and can be stowed on
deck. This is called the Porta-Bote. http://porta-bote.com/ Does
anyone know anything about this boat? I have sent for information and
pricing but I was would like an opinion from someone who actually has
one, or has seen one. I was wondering about the reliability of the
boat. Will the folding seams crack and leak?


We've had one for 4 seasons and love it. Ours is with us every time we
go out even though we only use it a few times a season. Whenever the
mood strikes, we have it. Personally, I think the website understates
the boat's capabilities. BTW, the Practical Sailor review sold me; it's
on the site under "experts talk" or some such.

Which isn't to say that it doesn't have some quirks. The first few times
you get up on plane (with a Honda 2 or 2.5 once), you'll be surprised by
the floor dropping down, one reason the boat is so quick. The black
tubes that define the folds will leave marks on the mothership. (that
can be fixed.) Stowing the seats and transom takes some room, about
5'x2.5'x2'. (The newest ones may take less room).

We have an ancient long shaft Honda 7.5 with sailboat (slow speed)
gearing. With it, we planed at 11-12 knots with 1, 2 or 3 adults
onboard. We didn't get on plane with 5 passengers, about 1000#, but
still moved smartly.

Curiously, though its performance under power is astounding, it seems
that most used in the Chesapeake as tenders are simply rowed. In our
case (and I suppose the others), mounting the outboard is more hassle
than rowing a half mile or so to the dinghy dock. Each stroke of the
standard oars pulls us more than a boat length; quite a bit further than
inflatables. Feels like a good rowing dink.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/