boat tender/dinghy w inflatable tubes???

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jasonmcintosh
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boat tender/dinghy w inflatable tubes???

Post by jasonmcintosh »

Hi,

Dumb question here... I'm in the process of buying 44' sailboat and I'd like to build a dinghy for it. The biggest issue with a solid dinghy is their stability, especially when you're trying to get in and out of them from the water (say for snorkeling). However, if I could put some inflatable tubes on either side of it to sorta make it a soft sided dinghy hybrid, it could work out pretty well... they wouldn't have to be permanently glued to the sides of the dinghy. Maybe just having some heavy webbing attached to the sides and have the tubes to slide into the webbing to hold them in place. Probably some additional straps to secure them tightly.

Any idea where I might get such tubes???

By the way, I built the first GF18. Still have it, but haven't used it for the past 5 years as I've been busy with other boating adventures.

thanks, Jason
Hopefully fishing from my GF18

Fuzz
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Re: boat tender/dinghy w inflatable tubes???

Post by Fuzz »

No help with your question but just want to say how nice it is to have long time members like you chime back in :wink:

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VT_Jeff
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Re: boat tender/dinghy w inflatable tubes???

Post by VT_Jeff »

Search inflatable sponsons. There are some options out there for someone creative.
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glossieblack
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Re: boat tender/dinghy w inflatable tubes???

Post by glossieblack »

Goggle the Walker Bay hard dink with inflatable tubes.

For our 44' cruising sailboat, I seriously considered building a Mertens plywood dink tweaked to take a Walker Bay tube, but went with an aluminum bottomed RIB.

A couple of Walker Bay images:

9384

9385
Currently building Jacques Mertens ST21 "Skinnydip". Boating adventures: Splash testing and using 'Skinnydip, as a basis of further building refinement; Adams 44’ sailing sloop "Great Sandy" (cruising and maintaining); Iain Oughtred Feather Pram "Mini Dip" (building); Jacques Mertens R13 "Wood Duck" (built and due for maintenance).

jasonmcintosh
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Re: boat tender/dinghy w inflatable tubes???

Post by jasonmcintosh »

Thanks for the replies!

I found this video of a guy who used some big drainage hose for a buoyant ring around his dinghy. It's a bit of a "Red Green Show" solution. I don't care too much how the dinghy looks, but my standards are high than this. At least they are for now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9nCwHGRyuA

The search for "inflatable sponsons" came up with a good option at West Marine...

I'm now thinking that just adding 6" of foam on either sides of a rowing dinghy and enclosing it in fiberglass... Probably end up heavier that I'd like though.

At the end of the day, I'll probably just end up bying a RIB, but I want to run through my options.

Thanks again.

Jason
Hopefully fishing from my GF18

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Re: boat tender/dinghy w inflatable tubes???

Post by VT_Jeff »

The other thing I was thinking about was canoe/kayak flotation bags. You could make your own "tubes" out of nylon and put a few bags in it, inflate them. The Nylon tubes would protect and shape them, the float bags would manage holding in the air.

Stern bags would get you closest to the shape you need.

https://www.amazon.com/NRS-Kayak-Stern- ... B08L9LQJF6
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Re: boat tender/dinghy w inflatable tubes???

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jasonmcintosh
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Re: boat tender/dinghy w inflatable tubes???

Post by jasonmcintosh »

Thank you Johnston. If I'm going to go the sponson route, those from easytowfenders are excellent. I put a link to them in my dinghy notes.

Jason
Hopefully fishing from my GF18

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