Inflatable Tender sizing

wonkywinch said:
Interesting posts - here's my hand grenade being lobbed in ....

What anchor do you use with your tender? :ROFLMAO:
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A small 2kg lewmar claw / Bruce clone on a 7m(ish) painter. No sharp edges to burst a tube and holds in sand / on the beach adequately if the tide comes in leaving no sharp pokey uppy bits for other beach users to get injured on.
 
It’s not quite as simple as length. Tube diameter is important for load carry (and cost). I have a 2.3 with smaller tubes rated for 2adults 1child. With a small outboard minimum kit you can squeeze three on but it’s not a pleasure, and at least two will get wet unless wearing oilies! Rowing with three is a struggle for space - if we start off motoring then we are in the wrong place for rowing. My mental assessment based on the conditions is whether if the o/b packs in I’d be able to paddle it to safety Canadian canoe style with the two oars which is a function of the conditions plus who’s on board etc or if I’d prefer to make multiple trips and have the option to row. When it gets replaced it will be with something with bigger diameter tubes.
 
I spent some time last year looking for the right dinghy, in my case it had to be less than 2.4m and reasonably lightweight to fit on my snap davits. I ended up with a Seago lite 230 as the best compromise, I would have gone for the Crewsaver air deck 230 if it wasn't for the ridiculous raised logos on the tubes which impede fitting snap davits pads. The Seago seems fine to carry 3 people without hassle. I have a cover to protect it from UV damage.

You might find this dinghy review useful:
Best inflatable boat: 9 compact tenders put to the test
 
C08 said:
My old Plastimo Raid tender is coming apart and I need to replace it. My pronlem is that it is on the boat a distance away and I am not sure what size it is. I want the smallest tender ( on account of weight and fitting on my stern deck on davits) that will take 3 adults with a squeeze. I am unsure whether a 2.3m tender is big enough or if I need 2.5 or 2.6M. Any advice on this.
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There is no easy answer to this. We have one of these but its heavy and I can only just lift it because its bulky, quoted weight is 35kgs. Since it was second hand I have taken the large plastic rubbing strip off and will replace with a single layer of hypalon so it rolls up smaller, if it ever stops raining. However, it is substantially bigger than our Crewsaver 2.4m.

Bei Facebook anmelden

This has 37cm tubes (do check) and weighs 31kgs. Probably about as good as it gets for £400, though for £80 more I would take the crewsaver. Just be aware that the bag Crewsaver supply isn't fit for purpose. The cover buckles will rust in a month, the straps suffer from UV and will tear in a year, then after 18 months the bag self destruct if you leave it in the sunshine and weather, our mistake. Crewsaver weren't interested and refused to even reply to my e mails. They lost a customer for life and refuse to now buy their products.

Seago 260 SL Tender
 
C08 said:
My old Plastimo Raid tender is coming apart and I need to replace it. My pronlem is that it is on the boat a distance away and I am not sure what size it is. I want the smallest tender ( on account of weight and fitting on my stern deck on davits) that will take 3 adults with a squeeze. I am unsure whether a 2.3m tender is big enough or if I need 2.5 or 2.6M. Any advice on this.
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Might help if you said what type of boat the mother ship is - as that would help you determine what size might fit safely on the stern davits.
Personally for 3 adults I would want a 2.6m or above - and as others have said, ideally a decent tube diameter and a airdeck floor.

We have a Waveline 270 airdeck on davits and it has been great. We keep the (2 stroke) outboard on all season, and have wheels for pulling up the shore. But we have a modern beamy stern so doesnt stick out the sides.
 
The year I learned to sail I crewed for a couple of people with 2.4m inflatable tenders, and on two occasions I ended up as one of three adults in one. The third person must place themselves carefully in the dinghy and then no-one can move until arrival at shore and disembarking - you travel like sardines. I bought a 2.6m because of these experiences.
 
I ended up buying a Seago Air Floor 2.6 which at £390 seemed excellent value. I was pleased with my choice as Seago is a reputable brand and they make liferafts so their tech should be good until i noticed that an the MarineScene website the dimensioned drawing shows"space" for manufacturers logo. I did speak with a trader who sold these very cheap which he said he bought in unbranded (Waveco, Seago and Telemax) so I guess I have just bought a generic chinese dinghy with a Seago Logo on it!
 
Stemar said:
One of these
shopping
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Likewise on our Redcrest and Redstart. Perfect as a lunch-hook at Ventnor, Priory, Bembridge etc. I attached a fathom of light line with a white-painted pop bottle marked "ANCHOR BELOW" to warn swimmers of the knobbly hardware down there, but the buoy attracted more interest than it deterred.

Can't wait for summer. We've got floorboards, 3.5hp Tohatsu, oars and a clever converted kayak-trolley that lets me haul everything from car to beach with one hand...I've finally achieved no-cost boating. 😄
 
We are considering buying a right size tender for 2 people and 2 folding bikes. But honestly, would it be a stupid idea to transport folding bikes in a tender? They can’t swim and if they were in the drink, we would have no chance to pull them back. Security ropes won’t help, because our tender would stand vertically in the water if the bikes went down…

Any thoughts on transporting bikes in a tender?
 
HERMES_M said:
We are considering buying a right size tender for 2 people and 2 folding bikes. But honestly, would it be a stupid idea to transport folding bikes in a tender? They can’t swim and if they were in the drink, we would have no chance to pull them back. Security ropes won’t help, because our tender would stand vertically in the water if the bikes went down…

Any thoughts on transporting bikes in a tender?
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We carry folding bikes regularly in aluminium floored tender. In the past, found they punctured airdecks quite easily.
 
HERMES_M said:
Any thoughts on transporting bikes in a tender?
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Graham376 said:
found they punctured airdecks quite easily.
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Make some bags for the bikes, so the sharp edges can't attack the dinghy. They'll also protect the bikes on deck if things get a bit bumpy.

They don't have to be pretty, just strong and, preferably, waterproof
 
HERMES_M said:
They can’t swim and if they were in the drink, we would have no chance to pull them back. Security ropes won’t help, because our tender would stand vertically in the water if the bikes went down…
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I don’t think a sensibly attached rope would make your tender stand vertically.

1. The aim except for loading and unloading is presumably that they stay in the boat so a short strap would mean they never have the chance to be in the water.
2. A typical bike (unless we are talking ebike) probably weighs about 15 kg. It’s more dense than a human but it will take some time for the tubes etc to fill. Obviously overall Bouyancy depends on size of tyres, fanciness of bike, what else is attached to it etc - but I’d expect it to sink more slowly than say an outboard of similar weight because it has some initial buoyancy.
3. If you dropped a 15kg dead weight on a tether would it really flip your tender vertical? Perhaps if you picked the securing point badly.
4. If I was worried about a precious load I’d attach a lifejacket, fenders or old buoyancy aid to keep it at the surface.
5. Depending on awkwardness, fitness, age etc you may not be able to lift a 15kg dead weight with extra water in its tubes (which just as it took time to get in will take time to get out) - but you should be able to tow it to shore or boat where you can rig a purchase or enlist help.
 
@Graham376 @Stemar @ylop Thank you so much! I now understood transporting bikes in a tender is a viable option :-) Actually, we are German sailors and our boat is moored in Holland. Our main sailing area is IJsselmeer (a big lake in the Netherlands) where tenders/dinghies are only used for fun, but not for transporting bikes to get groceries done. We are planning to sail to the Baltic Sea next year, so we thought that it will be good to have a tender, because there are beautiful spots to explore or get groceries done by using tender

May I ask if you inflate your tender every time when you use it? We have a relatively small boat (9,6 m x 3,3 m) and we are not sure if it is good to attach inflated tender somewhere on the boat. If it doesn't take much time, we would inflate it only needed.
 
ylop said:
I don’t think a sensibly attached rope would make your tender stand vertically.

1. The aim except for loading and unloading is presumably that they stay in the boat so a short strap would mean they never have the chance to be in the water.
2. A typical bike (unless we are talking ebike) probably weighs about 15 kg. It’s more dense than a human but it will take some time for the tubes etc to fill. Obviously overall Bouyancy depends on size of tyres, fanciness of bike, what else is attached to it etc - but I’d expect it to sink more slowly than say an outboard of similar weight because it has some initial buoyancy.
3. If you dropped a 15kg dead weight on a tether would it really flip your tender vertical? Perhaps if you picked the securing point badly.
4. If I was worried about a precious load I’d attach a lifejacket, fenders or old buoyancy aid to keep it at the surface.
5. Depending on awkwardness, fitness, age etc you may not be able to lift a 15kg dead weight with extra water in its tubes (which just as it took time to get in will take time to get out) - but you should be able to tow it to shore or boat where you can rig a purchase or enlist help.
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I once witnessed a man fell backwards from a tender with his outboard engine into the water. He was ok, but it caused a kind of German angst in me in terms of tender handling… Thanks for your thoughts, they help me lot to get rid of the angst :-)
 
HERMES_M said:
May I ask if you inflate your tender every time when you use it? We have a relatively small boat (9,6 m x 3,3 m) and we are not sure if it is good to attach inflated tender somewhere on the boat. If it doesn't take much time, we would inflate it only needed.
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We have a solar gantry which also acts as davits so the tender is always inflated.

Although we have found aluminium and plywood floors to be far better than airdecks, the disadvantage is they take much longer to assemble and more bulky to store.
 
HERMES_M said:
I once witnessed a man fell backwards from a tender with his outboard engine into the water. He was ok, but it caused a kind of German angst in me in terms of tender handling… Thanks for your thoughts, they help me lot to get rid of the angst :)
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If it’s going to go wrong it will be during loading / unloading. For the outboard I clip it on to the pulpit before loosening the screws so it can never and up completely sinking. Should be possible to do the same with bikes?
 
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