Inflatable Tender

Anderson22

Anderson22

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Doesn't this place come alive in the new year! I've been skulking around this forum now for some months and have learned a lot from other peoples' posts. Time for one of my own: I need advice on a good inflatable tender that will take two, pack small and doesn't cost the same as my wee Anderson 22. Any advice?
 
Welcome.
Have a look at www.lodestardirect.co.uk
I've just bought an NSA220 Ultralight from the Show. Is very light, has an airdeck and inflatable keel, seems well built, albeit having less features than their Standard model. Company has had good reviews in the boating press this year.
Prices are about half way between the cheapos and the "big boys".
 
It does seem to me that if you want the inflatable to be light and to pack up small then you need to avoid a slatted or other rigid floor. We have an old Avon Redcrest [or Redstart?] which is very light and compact but you have to get used to having a very floppy feeling floor underfoot.
 
Finding an inflatable dinghy small enough to be conveniently stowable on a small boat is very difficult. It is problem I have not solved. I used to have a small Campari, made of Hypalon but only maginally better than child's beach toy really. It was easy to stow in the cockpit locker, light enough for anyone, adequate for a short row to the beach or the pub, big enough for two even if not really firm enough for an outboard and totally lacking in the yachty equivalent of "street cred". Sadly the quality of the faric was not too good and it is now past it but it did serve a useful purpose for about 20 years. If they were still available I would buy another.

The options now are a range of PVC tenders all of which are bulkier to stow, and much heavier. The Plastimo range has been mentioned. There are several others but they tend to come and go. You will just have to look at what is currently on offer at the Chandleries.

Floor boards and inflatable floors will both add to the weight and bulkiness. If you want to use an outboard one with a solid transom will be much better than one with a round stern and removable bracket but that is again something which you will have to trade off in terms of weight and bulkiness as well. The trouble with small light round stern dinghies with removable brackets is that while you are crouching in the very back trying to fit the engine they tip up, unless you have someone weighing the bow down, dumping you and the engine in the ocean especially if a little bit of breeze gets under the bow.

If you want one that will last forever then the smallest Hypalon Avons are about the only choice but they do COST. One will outlast a PVC one several times over, however.

I eventually bought an almost unused 5 year old PVC 2.4m Avon Typhoon with a round stern removable ob bracket and floor boards. It was a "bargain" I could not resist but it is too big to stow, rather too heavy and larger than I need anyway. In fact have not used it since I bought it but that is another story.

If and when you find the ideal dinghy for a small boat please let us know.
 
I picked up a new Campari on Ebay last year, stowable on my Caprice, easy to carry by hand or on the car, agreed no street cred. but that is not an issue with me but loss of pressure is.
 
IMHO, a lot depends on what you'll be using it for. Jissel lives the best part of 3/4 mile up Portsmouth harbour from the nearest launching point, so I need something that will take an outboard and punch a 2kt tide in a good blow.

I have a Zodiac with wood transom & a slatted floor, but I wish I'd paid more for the inflatable one. At slow speed, it steers like a hovercraft and after three seasons, all the slats but one are broken. Still, it does take the OB with no problems, though it won't quite plane with a 3.5, but I feel safe, if damp, in force 6 wind over tide in the harbour. It rolls up small enough to fit in the boot of a Peugeot 106 and I can still get the OB in, but it is quite heavy. (Can anyone tell me why it weighs twice as much putting it away at the end of the weekend as it does getting it out at the start?)

If all you need is to row 100 yards in good conditions, then I'd suggest a round tail as it'll pack up smaller and be lighter, but I don't think any inflatables row that well

BTW, A pet rant of mine is the need to carry safety gear in a dinghy. Otherwise, if you lose motive power, be it OB or oar in anything inflatable, you're away downwind and/or tide and there's nothing you can do about it. I've heard horror stories in the Pacific, but it can be just as dangerous in a dirty night in Portsmouth Harbour.

I carry a bailer, grapnel anchor +line, pump, plug & sheer pins plus tools to fit 'em for the OB, spare fuel, torch, and a couple of flares. I did have a shear pin go once, and was very glad to be able to drop the hook and replace it at leisure. I'd have needed help it I hadn't had the wherewithall, there was no one around and I didn't have my phone. It would have been a cold, cold night on the mud flats waiting for the tide to turn...

Apologies to all the Grandmas for the egg-sucking instructions, but it might save the cost of a helicopter rescue or even someone's life.
 
I would also recommend the Lodestar lightweight model: have had one for three years. They are more stable than the average, and the inflatable floor is easily removed for storage. Helpful people to deal with as well.

Many of the modern 32 to 36 foot boats at LIBS seemed to me to have such tiny cockpit lockers that I doubt they would hold even the smallest inflatable. Is this just my impression? And also most only have space for one gas bottle. Wierd.
 
The safety gear you carry is highly commendable especially for a longish trip in somewhere like Portsmouth but I bet precious few carry any of them. With the exception of the torch, if we remember it, we certainly haven't, BUT you forgot your life jacket! (No we don't wear those either)

I can't exlpain why it gets heavier in the course of a weekend up I can confirm that outboards and all the gear get a bit heavier as each year passes.
 
The life jacket is almost as automatic as the seat belt in the car, especially solo. Not quite, I probably wouldn't bother in perfect conditions, but definitely in a blow or at night.

I'd say the safety gear depends on when and where. It's all a matter of that rare beast, common sense. I have a private hatred of anything to do with Health & Safety (the capitalised version), but risk analysis is something anyone on a boat of any sort should be doing all the time. What can go wrong and what can I do about it?

I don't mean that I'm constantly worrying about what to do if the mast comes down pottering around the Solent, but it does mean being aware of the risks - rowing that 100 yards to my boat, is it possible to lose an oar, and what happens if I do? If it's possible, and what happens is I go off to sea on the tide, unseen, then I'd better have a practicable plan b, even if it's only the mobile in my pocket! The time to check you have a signal and some battery life is before you find yourself in that situation!

It's not paranoia (I hope /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif), it's just being reasonably safety conscious.
 
Counsels of perfection, but if you're hoping to stow an inflatable aboard a Seawych or a Caprice, there are certain limitations and if you need to get out to a mooring in a small harbour it is not like 2 mile slog along an estuary, yes by all means have lifejackets.
 
In the market for an inflatable, but where I live hypalon is necessary -- and about the only material that shops will work on if you have a mishap.

Looked at the Lodestar (five minutes ago I had never heard of the make), but the hypalon models are about the same price as Avon tenders. Heard good things about Caribe, but too far away. I'll stick with Avon and its 10-year material warranty.
 
Thanks for the suggestions, especially to Stemar - as this will be my first season as an owner safety reminders are welcome! I've been looking at the Waveline 230 round tail; it packs to a reasonable size but weighs 28kg! Anyone know anything about them?
 
I've never used my inflatable to go out to the mooring and its only a short distance, as I have a rigid dinghy for that. Even then it's been a bit exciting once or twice. I really ought to have a life jacket that I could use if necessary rather than keeping them on the boat. I used to reckon that I could swim for the shore if necessary but I probably could not now but at least the dinghy has some built in bouyancy.

With a two mile trip I'd carry a compass as well as I've had fun in fog and at night.

Four adults in a Redstart in Alderney on a windy night is exciting as well!

See most of the journey to my mooring in my picture on Brendan's Frappr ybwboats. Or directly at http://64.34.180.146/pics0/i/20051112/f/0/8/f081df3eb70111dcbd726127cbe918f70
 
IMHO I'd give the round tail type a miss. They are flat bottomed so skate about under power or when rowing, especially if it is breezy. The need for an outboard bracket is also a nuisance.
The Lodestar 220 UL takes 3 people and weighs in at just 19kg. - is easily lifted and carried by such a pathetic physical specimen as myself. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Sadly the quality of the faric was not too good and it is now past it but it did serve a useful purpose for about 20 years

[/ QUOTE ]

/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Sadly the quality of the faric was not too good and it is now past it but it did serve a useful purpose for about 20 years

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm sorry that should of course have read:

Sadly the quality of the fabric was not too good and it is now past it but it did serve a useful purpose for about 20 years.

Are you trying to make some other point or just picking on spelling mistakes.
 
VicS,
I don't think he was making fun of your spelling, but seeing humour in the irony of the statement.
 
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