On Oct 4, 4:30*pm, Wayne.B wrote:
On Sun, 4 Oct 2009 12:50:39 -0700 (PDT), Frogwatch

wrote:
So........what to do, repair it or buy an inflatable with a motor. *I
could get an inflatable from West for $799 and prob get a used 4 hp
motor for $500. *I just do not know how much I will really use it. *If
I truly go cruising, I will use it a lot. *OTOH, I hate buying stuff
that causes me to have to spend money on repairs and I enjoy rowing
the nesting dinghy (you really cannot row an inflatable).
Thoughts?

For cruising on small sailboats there's really nothing better than an
inflatable with a small outboard although there are some avid
Porta-Bote *fans out there also.

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

I wish they made a 10' Porta-bote cuz the 12' one is just too long to
fit along my lifelines.
After cutting away most of the rot on the dinghy, it isn't too bad and
I decided to repair it.
Somebody mentioned keels and both large sailboats I have owned have
had encapsulated keels meaning the lead is poured into the finished
boat instead of being bolted on. For some odd reason, some people
think external bolted on-keels are better but they can literally fall
off, especially after a good grounding. With an encapsulated keel, I
can go aground with no damage to keel bolts.