maby
Well-Known Member
We inherited an old, traditional, heavy tender with our first boat and soon realised that we could not use it because it was so heavy that I was going to injure my back moving it around. At that point, we bought a 3D Tender - recognising that it was very light weight and was not going to last as long as the old one. It actually lasted about three years and we did not treat it particularly well - it spent more than 18 months inflated and floating in the water next to our boat, never covered. When we retired it, it was still intact and retaining pressure for long periods. The problems that were developing were the various fittings, not the fundamental structure. The material that was used to emboss the name and logo was beginning to break down and getting into the tender usually left you with a smear of sticky black rubber on your clothes. Also, the ropes that were attached to the sides for the hand holds were all weakening and breaking. It's somewhere in our garage now and, as far as I know, it could still be pumped up and used.
We subsequently bought a much more expensive and far heavier dinghy. I can't lift this one either, but we have a multi-power block and tackle which we hook to the end of the boom to use as a crane for lifting.
We subsequently bought a much more expensive and far heavier dinghy. I can't lift this one either, but we have a multi-power block and tackle which we hook to the end of the boom to use as a crane for lifting.