Banana-Boot. Anyone ever used one?

[lyralicious]

We're looking at a folding boat to use as our tender... main reason is that we have no room on deck to store anything (cutter rigged ketch with the most amount of rigging it is possible to pack onto a 43 ft boat). We don't want to tow a tender or keep inflating and deflating a RIB, or install davits... oh what to do? This "Banana-Boot" comes highly recommended, but we've never seen one.

Click on the web page

Anyone ever used one of these things?

 

[Eeyore]

Oh dear......there was one very similar sold at the last MYM boat jumble!

If you hadn't been swanning off around Gocek, you could have had it!

 

[charles_reed]

Saw one up the Guadiana in 2001/2.

The chap had bought two and swore by them.

Only problem you HAVE to paddle them, OBs don't work for them.

 

[Bajansailor]

I rowed one once, about 25 years ago in Bequia - maybe the design has been improved since.
But it seemed to be very flexible, and wibbled & wobbled all over the place while I was heaving on the oars.

Is your deck area really so congested that you havent even got a free patch about 4' square to stow a nice wee 2 part nesting dinghy?

 

[mandlmaunder]

Our very tall friend had one on his 26ft boat and loved it.
Rowed well
came together without much fuss and no tools
stored completely flat.
Also nearly drowned a nasty police man in the congo who insisted on jumping into it so he could climb back into his own boat, he shoud have waited till it was assembled not just sitting in the water waiting for it's brace brds.
Our friend loved it enough to give it a name!

 

[jeremyshaw]

People I knew in the Caribbean had one and were very happy with it. I went out once to tow in a boat with problems from open water and they came out to help with the lines. I was concerned about them as we had 1.5m swells but they did fine. I see someone has commented they don't take motors but this one did, though I would expect the motor HP would be limited as you could not put a lot of thrust on the transom.

However unless you are willing to always wear life jackets then I'd suggest you consider the lack of buoyancy. I'd also look at a Tinker Traveller or Tramp. I used to blow up my Traveller in 5 minutes with an electric pump, probably about as long as it would take to assemble the banana boat...

 

[branko]

I had it 10 years ago and was not satisfied with it as it is not easy to mount it even it looks easy.When is on board you have 3 wooden plates for storage and at the and, stability was not OK. Inflatable is much better solution.

 

[2nd_apprentice]

According to Bobby Schenk it's the bee's knees:

Bit like Marmite a love or hate thing!
They're wobbly, hard if not impossible to board after you went for a swim and only accept a smallish outboard.
On the positive side they'll last forever, they're unsinkable and won't attract thieves.

 

[jeanne]

One went adrift from a yacht in a southerly gale in Porto Santo harbour (Madiera), and bounced about on the rocks for about two days in a five foot swell. The owner recovered it when things calmed down, he had to replace the wooden bits, but the rest of it was undamaged.

 

[ccscott49]

I sailed in one, Palm lines out of St Maarten, but it was full off green bananas bound for Liverpool!

But seriously!

Inflatable, inflatable floor and leccy pump!! Small one! Wiv wee outboard. Good as gold.

Leccy pump also deflates them as flat as a pancake!

 

[lyralicious]

Thanks, everyone, for answering my various posts about which tender to buy.

We have bought one! It's a Tinker Traveller, with full sailing kit and liferaft roof, which was on sale for 200 Euros at the Marmaris Yacht Marina boat jumble yesterday. What a bargain. And yes, we'll get an electric pump too.

Cheers!

 

[jeremyshaw]

Good call, and great buy. Congratulations.

 

[TNT]

Just sold one to the 2nd hand shop in Almerimar for £40 it was on the boat when we bought her in February. Not something we would use & quite heavy to lug on/off the boat & put together. We never actually used it so can't comment but if you're anywhere near they'll probably have put it outside the shop for sale adding on there bit of course. lol