"Larry" wrote in message
...
"Eisboch" wrote in
:

http://www.eisboch.com/inflat2.jpg

If you ever get a chance to ride in a 12' Fold-a-Bote, do it.

Soaked one time too many in Key West and getting a ride in one from
another
anchored out sailor, Cap'n Geoffrey took the plunge. The ride is MUCH
dryer, planing and speed is amazing, and it stores FLAT against the port
handrail after the simple disassembly.





I've seen one up in Scituate Harbor. Interesting concept.

Eisboch

"Eisboch" wrote in
:

I've seen one up in Scituate Harbor. Interesting concept.

Eisboch



Moving around on the flexible plastic hull is a bit disconcerting until you
finally realize your foot PROBABLY is not going to poke through it. You
can lose your balance quiet easily because of the flexing. But, having a
hull that's a v-hull, sort of, and that 6hp will plane it with two aboard
and some stuff....amazing.

We haul the bow of it up the mast on a halyard, then disassemble it in the
vertical position, stern ending up sitting on the deck. When the seat
supports are removed, she folds flat like an accordion bellows and we use
the winch to just pick her up and lay her along the rail...no heavy
lifting.

Assembly is just backwards. Once assembled we lift her with the winch and
push her stern over the side while slackening the line on the winch to
control her descent. Load the motor into her in its little strap cradle
and she's ready to go. We have a little ditch bag full of everything PFDs,
clamp on running lights, FM walkie, paddles for the oarlocks that
telescope, stuff like that.

She's very stable, amazingly so, and leaves almost no wake even with two
fatasses aboard. At the dock in the marina, we don't disassemble her, just
haul her aboard with the halyard and winch and lay her upside down over the
v-berth hatch, forming a neat rain cap so you can leave the hatch open all
the time in any weather....