On Feb 23, 4:33 am, wrote:
... Umm... Having owned both, I can say that the Porta-Bote is every bit as
seaworthy, has more useful room for a given size boat, has a drier ride, can be
rowed easily in a straight line, sailed or motored while full of water without
capsizing, and planes with a very small lightweight motor. Mine eagerly jumps up
on top of the water with a 3.5 HP motor that weighs 29 pounds. I never have to
tow it, because I can hand launch and retrieve it without a hoist, and it folds
up flat in a few minutes to be lashed to the lifelines.

It costs half what a blow up boat costs, and of course the motor costs a
fraction of what is required for a RIB to perform as well. I don't need a patch
kit, either.

You certainly make them sound nice. What are their disadvantages?
How do they work as a dive boats? Can you run them ashore in the
surf? Can you self-recuse one that's full of water?

-- Tom.

On Feb 23, 2:34 pm, wrote:


Oh, yeah. The included, aluminum collapsible oars are fine for emergencies, but
if you are going to mostly row, rather than use a motor, you'll want to get a
set of real, full length oars and oarlocks. The oarlock sockets need a minor
modification to accept real oarlocks. I bring the collapsible oars only as
backup when using the motor.

I doubt anything could convince me to go back to an inflatable.

I strongly second the general wimpieess of the supplied oars. I
modified my Bote to accept standard feathering rowlocks, and kept one
of the sets of oars I used to use with my rowing shells.

I had to move the collars all the way to the inside to make it fit
with (still) more overlap than standard, and the sides are floppy, so
it takes a fine hand to make sure the pull is straight (don't push or
pull the collar, essentially, on the stroke).

I've never really tried, but I believe that if I were to work at it, I
could plane it :{)) I sorely miss the sliding seat part of my rowing
but that would complicate matters and storage severely. Someone more
serious than I could surely make that happen, though, as the Alden
shells are little more than canoes with clips into which you mount the
sliding seat and rigger package. There are several manufacturers of
drop-in sliding-seat rowing gear, but each setup likely would increase
the cost of the bote by a good half or more; the oars are another
significant portion if you don't already own them (I did - new,
they're $400 the pair).

From a standing start, on flat ground, I can take it out of a van,
assemble it, and be rowing, and in reverse, land, disassemble and stow
it in the van in 5 minutes each way including mounting the rowlock
assembly. Pix of the modification are in the gallery, if you would
like to see it, at:http://www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery/index.php?
mode=album&album=Morgan+461+Hull+Number+2+Refit+%2 B+Projects
%2FFinishing_Touches-Readying_To_Splash%2FPorta-
Bote_Maiden_Voyage_and_Sculling_Modifications, or http://tinyurl.com/2we3rp

There are pix of the sculling oars and of the standard oars in use as
well as my modifications...

L8R

Skip

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery !
Follow us at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog
and/or http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog

"You are never given a wish without also being given the power
to make it come true. You may have to work for it however."
(and)
"There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in
its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts."
(Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah)

Skip Gundlach wrote:

From a standing start, on flat ground, I can take it out of a van,
assemble it, and be rowing, and in reverse, land, disassemble and stow
it in the van in 5 minutes each way including mounting the rowlock
assembly. Pix of the modification are in the gallery, if you would
like to see it, at:http://www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery/index.php?
mode=album&album=Morgan+461+Hull+Number+2+Refit+%2 B+Projects
%2FFinishing_Touches-Readying_To_Splash%2FPorta-
Bote_Maiden_Voyage_and_Sculling_Modifications, or http://tinyurl.com/2we3rp

There are pix of the sculling oars and of the standard oars in use as
well as my modifications...

L8R

Skip


Interesting Mods, Skip.

Any others, or is that the sum of it?

On Feb 23, 6:17 pm, cavelamb himself wrote:
Skip Gundlach wrote:
From a standing start, on flat ground, I can take it out of a van,
assemble it, and be rowing, and in reverse, land, disassemble and stow
it in the van in 5 minutes each way including mounting the rowlock
assembly. Pix of the modification are in the gallery, if you would
like to see it, at:http://www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery/index.php?
mode=album&album=Morgan+461+Hull+Number+2+Refit+%2 B+Projects
%2FFinishing_Touches-Readying_To_Splash%2FPorta-
Bote_Maiden_Voyage_and_Sculling_Modifications, or http://tinyurl.com/2we3rp

There are pix of the sculling oars and of the standard oars in use as
well as my modifications...

L8R

Skip

Interesting Mods, Skip.

Any others, or is that the sum of it?

Those are the only mods I've done - but there are several mailing
lists and probably also several forums devoted to Porta-Bote owners
and their "stuff". If you peruse those lists, you'll see links to web
pages with incredible numbers of modifications.

The huge majority of PB ownership and use is fresh water, strap-it-on-
a-vehicle and use it when you're wherever you're going, so most of
what is written about doesn't apply to our type of usage. However,
there are mods which might be interesting to you, and the owner of the
company, Sandy Kaye, aka or something like that,
participates in at least one of them. He's a very engaged owner and
if the requests are reasonable, he's usually very willing to
accommodate you. The 10-year warrantee, only to the original
purchaser, unfortunately, says a lot about the level of confidence.
The very few available for purchase in the aftermarket also says a lot
about both how folks feel about them, and their longevity (don't have
to, nor want to, "upgrade").

Most, like Dan, have made accommodations to the various weak points of
the design...

HTH...

L8R

Skip

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery !
Follow us at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog
and/or http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog

"You are never given a wish without also being given the power
to make it come true. You may have to work for it however."
(and)
"There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in
its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts."
(Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah)

wrote:
I doubt anything could convince me to go back to an inflatable.

Here's another vote for the Porta-Bote. I can't see us ever going back
to an inflatable either. I've expounded at length here on their strong
and weak points so I'll refrain from doing so again, but feel free to
contact me offline if you have any questions.

I'm not sure about how easy it would be to recover it if swamped (never
had to), but I'm old (mid 50's) and fat and have no trouble getting back
aboard from in the water. My wife & I used it as a dive platform all
the time during our 2 year cruise of Mexico, Central America & the S.
Pacific.

On the beach at Bahia Santa Elena, Costa Rica.
http://home.comcast.net/~triciajean1...8-05-10-03.jpg

Stored on deck as we cross the Gulf of Tehuanapec
http://home.comcast.net/~triciajean1...1-05-04-07.JPG



--
Dan Best
B-2/75 1977-1979
Tayana 37 #192, "Tricia Jean" http://triciajean192.home.comcast.net