Inflatable tubes for Hard Dinghy

[davidfox]

I need some 'stability tubes' for my PBO Pup so I can use it for a tender, I have found 'Dinghy dogs' a US product that is just the job and at about £260 stirling just about ok, I ordered them this morning, to be told 'sorry the postage was for US only if I wanted them here it would cost an additional $155 US' in postage! anyone know of a similar product available here? I would enclose the link to Dinghy Dogs website but i dont know how!

Thanks

 

[Kylora]

[ QUOTE ]
I would enclose the link to Dinghy Dogs website but i dont know how!

Thanks

[/ QUOTE ]

Dinghy Dogs

Ash

 

[davidfox]

Thanks

 

[nigelhudson]

You can get kits for Walker Bay 8 and 10 dinghies to add flotation tubes. Not likely to be cheap though.

 

[landlockedpirate]

This may be a bit PBO, but how about a couple of large fenders each side ?

30cmx90cm are only about £30 each and they wouldnt look that much different !

 

[roly_voya]

Yes string of fenders does work quite well, very durable and protects the top sides. I lashed 4 each side and put a piece of plasitc pipe on the cord accross each t form handles, useful both for lifting dingy and for anyone in the water to hang on to. I am looking at the posibility of using an old lifraft tube to make an inflatable coller but havent decided yet.

 

[davidfox]

Good idea, but I was looking for something a little more purpose made, there will be 2 adults and 3 small kids in it, with the tubes it will be fine, with fenders? I really would like to see if any one in europe makes these or alternatively any ideas on reducing the postage/carriage cost?

 

[VicS]

[ QUOTE ]
there will be 2 adults and 3 small kids in it

[/ QUOTE ] In a PBO Pup! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[RedAdmiral]

I have a pair of 10' tubes manufactured about twenty years ago by "Add-a-Buoy". They worked well on my two-part dinghy but dinghy wasn't much good so only used a few times. If you are interested PM me, please. I live near Colchester.

 

[Leighb]

Is Add a Buoy no longer in business? A close friend had this system added to his rigid dinghy some years ago after their tender rolled over and sank in the Stour.

It only lasted a few years though as they seemed to get a lot of air leaks, perhaps accounts for them going out of business if that is the case?

It did seem a good system when it was working though.

 

[pheonix]

sea hopper colapsable dinghy's use a form of bouyancy tube that may be outrigged i beleive.
so try a search for them and ask them to supply or forword youto supplier.
hope this may prove usefull

 

[davidfox]

Tried googling 'add a buoy' but nothing im afraid, looks like they have gone bust.

 

[davidfox]

Looked on there website, and they have sky blue buoyancy bags which are strapped inside, they say that they can be mounted outside, I have emailed them to ask the question
Thanks for that

 

[RedAdmiral]

Sadly, "Add-a-Buoy" stopped trading when the principal became ill, with cancer I believe, and shortly died.

 

[DownWest]

A while back I applied my PBO-ish mind to this. My take was to sew up some plastic coated canvas and fill with cheap small beach balls. Let a bit of air out of them so they fit closer and lace the result to eyes under the gunnel. Lots of redundancy and would make it less attractive to the light fingered. I didn´t get round to it as I changed to trailer/sailing
and needed an inflatable dinghy. Feel free to use the idea tho´
Andrew
Perhaps your local canvas man could do the sewing? Got to be heaper than a blow up one.-A

 

[imsodepressed]

How about buying some large diameter flexible pipe from your local builders yard,plug one end, fix in upright position and pour in two component foam?
That way you can tailor make the pipes to fit.

 

[davidfox]

Yes, the walker bay tubes cost £475, but I have got the Dinghy dogs bloke 'Harvey' to drop the postage a bit and not include the pump (as I have at least 2 dinghy pumps) It has made it just worthwhile, the reason i cant use these fantastic ideas is that with the dinghy dogs, they should sit just above the water line allowing me to still sail the PBO pup - not that it sails particularily well.

 

[David_Jersey]

Not sure if this is quite what you are after, but........

Cheap DIY Flotation
Ebay

 

[HarveyN]

Dinghy Dogs™

Good idea, but I was looking for something a little more purpose made, there will be 2 adults and 3 small kids in it, with the tubes it will be fine, with fenders? I really would like to see if any one in europe makes these or alternatively any ideas on reducing the postage/carriage cost?

Dinghy Dogs are still $425 US but I'd be happy to ship them to England for $50 since I'm eliminating the $30 US shipping for a limited time.

They do the job and I'm sure you'll appreciate the added security for your family.

Regards,

Harvey

 

[electrosys]

A while back I applied my PBO-ish mind to this. My take was to sew up some plastic coated canvas and fill with cheap small beach balls. Let a bit of air out of them so they fit closer and lace the result to eyes under the gunnel. Lots of redundancy and would make it less attractive to the light fingered. I didn´t get round to it as I changed to trailer/sailing
and needed an inflatable dinghy. Feel free to use the idea tho´
Andrew
Perhaps your local canvas man could do the sewing? Got to be heaper than a blow up one.-A

You don't need beach balls - try a few strips (say 5 or 6) cut from 2" polystyrene foam sheets well wrapped in polythene to keep the water out, then inserted into canvas bags. But - you need to get the flotation secured well below the level of the gunnel though - and securing the bags is where the challenge lies.

Forget those pool noodles BTW, a 6ft 2.5" noodle gives something like 12 lbs of buoyancy. Pointless. And securing 'em to the gunnel as in the photo in this thread won't work, as the buoyancy is only realised when the noodle is fully immersed - by which time water is lapping over the gunnel ...

Somewhere on the net is a page written by a guy who made a RBB (rigid buoyant boat), fashioning 2 x half-circular 'tubes' by carving polystyrene blocks with a hot-knife, then laying epoxy-glass over the top. Maybe 10 or 12" diameter ?
These were then clamped to the sides of a dinghy, a bit like the side-charges of the X-class submarines which took Tirpitz out.
The dinghy ended up looking a bit like a RIB, but with semi-circular 'tubes', rather than them being completely round. They didin't add much to the all-up weight of the dinghy, but added a couple of hundred pounds of buoyancy. I'll keep looking for the page, but nothing so far ....