In article ,
(JAXAshby) wrote:

Well, anybody have knowledge of both for a dinghy?


I have both, and use the Porta-Bote almost exclusively. It rows easily, it
motors easily, it carries large loads.

Hey! We actually agree for once! except....

It also takes upwards of an hour to
assemble from scratch on deck (including getting together the three seats and
transom from down below, the bag of hardware, twisting it up on deck,
assembling, rigging a hardness to attach to the main halyard, putting into
water, mounting the engine, getting fuel can and safety gear)

It takes me about 20-30 minutes the first time of the season -- mostly
figuring things out again and working against the stiffness. After that,
it's 10-15 minutes to set up or down.

I guess it would take longer if I were doing it entirely alone -- part
of that would be resting and consuming a refreshing drink -- but my wife
helps hand things out. We have dedicated spaces for all the pieces, so
they're easy to find or stow. The motor's on Xan's transom when I bother
to bring it. Boat rows well enough that we only bring the motor when
we're going some place we haven't explored extensively.

Addressing another of Parallax's messages: For 5 at once, you will want
a large dink for all but the shortest trips. The 12 will definitely work
& be mostly dry; the 10 may. Stowing the seats and transom will be a
hassle. They take up about 5'x2'x1.5' or slightly more space than the
Sevylor. With a little sewing, though, you could make up bags to stow
them on deck.

And DO bring the Sevylor: Gives the kids something to do. A 12v inflator
makes the job a lot easier, though I have to use the foot pump to get
the pressure high enough; a few pounds makes a world of difference.

--
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/

It takes me about 20-30 minutes the first time of the season -- mostly
figuring things out again and working against the stiffness. After that,
it's 10-15 minutes to set up or down

all things in a pile on the shore, yup.

On the deck on my boat with seats, transom down below along with bolting
hardwar, plus engine on the rear pulpit of my boat, plus the gas tank for the
o/b engine, plus safety gear, plus rigging the harness to lift the Porta-Bote
off my boat, plus lowering the bote, plus all else, well the time is a mite
longer than on shore.

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(JAXAshby) wrote:

It takes me about 20-30 minutes the first time of the season -- mostly
figuring things out again and working against the stiffness. After that,
it's 10-15 minutes to set up or down

all things in a pile on the shore, yup.

On our deck the first time in a season it might take 20 minutes for
the two of us to do it because it's been folded up and resists being
unfolded. I don't think we've ever done it solo - usually the two of
us working together.

We don't pad the deck (never had any problem with black marks but
maybe that's because we got it used and they've all worn off). We
keep all the items needed to put it together in one bag which is also
on the deck so we don't have to go looking for them. The little bits
like bolts etc are in a smaller bag in the big bag.

One of us holds the boat open - the other one puts in the center seat.
That holds the boat open so that the rest of the stuff can be put
together. The rest goes very quickly given that we have all the stuff
there.

After we put it together we launch it using the whisker pole as a
crane. Does not take long to do that as the bridle attachments are
already there.

I don't know exactly how heavy it is, but it is difficult for me and
Bob together to carry it fully rigged for any distance, and I CAN
carry 50 lbs. If it is just the boat without the seats, we can carry
it easily and Bob can pick it up by himself.

The motors for both dinghys are on the aft rail unless we are using
the dinghy. So the time to get and rig the motor will be the same
regardless of which dinghy we are using. We also have a container of
stuff that we need to use the dinghy (lights, PFDs, fire extinguisher
etc).

On the deck on my boat with seats, transom down below along with bolting
hardwar, plus engine on the rear pulpit of my boat, plus the gas tank for the
o/b engine, plus safety gear, plus rigging the harness to lift the Porta-Bote
off my boat, plus lowering the bote, plus all else, well the time is a mite
longer than on shore.


grandma Rosalie

you know, one of the things I have begun to notice is that everyone who says
they put a bote together and get it in the water in a short time are doing it
with two people, not one.

Also, except for bb, everyone says they have all the
seats/transom/outboard/oarss/pins/pfd's/anchor/safety equipment right at hand.

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(JAXAshby) wrote:

you know, one of the things I have begun to notice is that everyone who says
they put a bote together and get it in the water in a short time are doing it
with two people, not one.

Well why not? If there are two people there, shouldn't both of them
help?

Also, except for bb, everyone says they have all the
seats/transom/outboard/oarss/pins/pfd's/anchor/safety equipment right at hand.

Seems like common sense to me. Why would you want to do it any other
way? Just to make things difficult for yourself?

I do not agree with just tossing the boat over the side however. We
could possibly do that, but I'd think the boat might land upside down.
It wouldn't sink but it would be a real pain to correct and of course
anything in it would fall out.

We have towed a portabote, and it tows well.


grandma Rosalie

If there are two people there, shouldn't both of them
help?

and if one person is doing it, it takes longer

Why would you want to do it any other
way?

because I don't want to store all that stuff in a pile on deck?

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(JAXAshby) wrote:

If there are two people there, shouldn't both of them
help?

and if one person is doing it, it takes longer
Probably true, but I doubt if it takes 3 times as long if one is
reasonably efficient.

Why would you want to do it any other
way?

because I don't want to store all that stuff in a pile on deck?

Having all the stuff gathered in one place does NOT equal to storing
it in a pile on the deck.

It's like anything else that you store. You put all the things that
go together into a storage place together. You put the things you use
a lot on the top of things you only use once in a blue moon.

We have all the oil and antifreeze and engine stuff in one locker. We
don't store tuna fish cans in there with it. We have all the dishes
and pots and pans in one place and we don't put misc. tools in there.
All the bread and paper products go in another locker (light stuff
together) and if we have heavier stuff it goes on the bottom. Bob has
made several canvas bags and they keep things together that need to
stay together.

Of course he's a big advocate of a place for everything and everything
in its place. He's got a pegboard in the garage with outlines on it
of the tools that go there.


grandma Rosalie

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(JAXAshby) wrote:

If there are two people there, shouldn't both of them
help?

and if one person is doing it, it takes longer
Probably true, but I doubt if it takes 3 times as long if one is
reasonably efficient.

Why would you want to do it any other
way?

because I don't want to store all that stuff in a pile on deck?

Having all the stuff gathered in one place does NOT equal to storing
it in a pile on the deck.

It's like anything else that you store. You put all the things that
go together into a storage place together. You put the things you use
a lot on the top of things you only use once in a blue moon.

We have all the oil and antifreeze and engine stuff in one locker. We
don't store tuna fish cans in there with it. We have all the dishes
and pots and pans in one place and we don't put misc. tools in there.
All the bread and paper products go in another locker (light stuff
together) and if we have heavier stuff it goes on the bottom. Bob has
made several canvas bags and they keep things together that need to
stay together.

Of course he's a big advocate of a place for everything and everything
in its place. He's got a pegboard in the garage with outlines on it
of the tools that go there.


grandma Rosalie

If there are two people there, shouldn't both of them
help?

and if one person is doing it, it takes longer

Why would you want to do it any other
way?

because I don't want to store all that stuff in a pile on deck?

"Rosalie B." wrote

Seems like common sense to me. Why would you want to do it any other
way?

Because no one will set foot on Jax' boat.

Scott