Pram tender - anyone use one?

[burgundyben]

I had one, barely 7ft, me and a chum both 17 stone, short passage well up river in very calm conditions. Named the dinghy 'Incapacious' on account of its limited capacity.

Chum attempted to lift his backside out of the dinghy onto the pontoon, corner of dinghy dipped under the surface, its remarkable how much water can come in such a small time.

Replacement was 'Capacious'

 

[ex-Gladys]

Gawd knows what you two were doing, to get a yak to do that!! I used to row my Dads tabur yak out to sea and fish from it. The current yak I have is a small very stable sportyak 213, but I only need to row on ullswater to my snappie with my outboard, before collecting my wife & supplies etc from the comfort of a jetty.
The sport yak has two small air filled hulls either side with a flat bottom. and as I said at only 19kg makes it ideal at least for lake moorings.

15 stone sat on the stern is more than enough to stern over bow a Bic Sportyak... Fortunately it was only in 2 foot of water and I sat on the bottom...

 

[fredrussell]

There's been a few comments re my aiming to get a tender on the foredeck of a 23ft boat. Probably is a bit optimistic but I had my 8ft Redstart on there fully inflated and I'm thinking a rigid pram tender will be no bigger. I'll get a photo of my Redcrest on the foredeck so people can have a look. Obviously the windage will be increased but I'm no racer.

 

[Tranona]

While it may physically fit, it can be really inconvenient. Not only is it a pain to actually lift it, but it means the foredeck is unusable, for example for anchoring. Look around and you will find very few people actually carry hard dinghies on deck, even on quite large boats. Of course dinghy use has fallen as more people marina hop, but on balance the disadvantages outweigh the possible advantage.

 

[FWB]

I have an Eastport Pram from Fyne Boat Kits.
http://www.fyneboatkits.co.uk/plans/rowing/eastport-pram/
It's very light, rows easily and goes very well with a Torqeedo outboard.

 

[C08]

The 7ft simulated clinker pram dinghy we used was dangerously unstable. Foam filled dory type of dinghys are are good but best for me is an inflatable with longer oars which enables it to row well.

 

[rogerthebodger]

A friend used to have an almost rectangular rigid dingy with inflated tubes all round the outside.

It was very stable and ran around nicely with a 3 hp outboard.

Don't know where he got it from, may have made it through.

 

[William_H]

A long time ago I had a 23ft catamaran. I built a plywood Sabot pram dinghy 8ft long which I found quite satisfactory for a tender. I made it out of 3/16 inch ply so a bit thin and delicate but light enough that I could reach down and lift it up onto the deck. Being a cat it lay athwartships. it was kind of fun to throw it into the water so it landed flat.
We could carry 4 people in calm water while rowing. Just have to be careful getting on and off as you can not stand on gunwhales.
Now days I have a smaller 21ft TS and use a 12ft ali dinghy but always leave it tied to the mooring. No real problems with getting in or out and it will take 5 people. olewill

 

[ghostlymoron]

I have a Minipram about 10' it has daggerboard and mast slots so could equipped for sailing. It's also got two buoyancy compartments so is unsinkable but very unstable when swamped. I find it fine for rowing out to my mooring or beetling around the lagoon with my Seagull. It is quite heavy if I have to drag it up the beach. Only one mishap in 10 yrs when Swmbo over reached when approaching the boat and capsized.

 

[AlistairT]

I have a Minipram about 10' it has daggerboard and mast slots so could equipped for sailing. It's also got two buoyancy compartments so is unsinkable but very unstable when swamped. I find it fine for rowing out to my mooring or beetling around the lagoon with my Seagull. It is quite heavy if I have to drag it up the beach. Only one mishap in 10 yrs when Swmbo over reached when approaching the boat and capsized.

Wouldn't an old Mirror be just as useful? Seems to be loads of old ones for sale that would be perfectly usable and probably fun too.

 

[ghostlymoron]

A Mirror wouldn't work for me - much too heavy to drag up the beach.

 

[Capt. Clueless]

A bic sportyak 213 exactly like the one I bought recently within minutes of it being newly listed as a buy it now for £120 only 25 miles from me, has just gone for £201 on the bay......No wonder I pressed the buy it now button like my arse was on fire!!!
They're good little stable boats. I can pull alongside my boat and stand on the side of the yak, whilst I transfer my outboard, and she obviously leans, but not worryingly. The person who has bought the one tonight should be pleased.