Small dinghy tender suggestions please..

[TrueBlue]

I'm looking for a small rowing dinghy to get me to my boat, and for pottering about on the river.

Probably some form of plastic, provision for a small outboard, seats for two, rot proof / resistant, "inexpensive".
Only to be used inland.

Tried searching here - nothing
Tried Google; lots of sailing dinghies, but nowt else.

Sooo, please kindly forum ladies and gents would you point me to:-
What make / brand would be suitable
Where to get it at a reasonable price
Ditto for small outboard 2HP+ (?)
Oh, yes and prices to expect pse?
New / used

Location Central Sussex - have trailer, can collect.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[ashanta]

Why not try placing a request in the wanted section?

Regards.

Peter.

 

[TrueBlue]

Thanks,
but you can see I don't yet know eactly what I want, so am seeking guidance...

 

[wstokes]

Last year, I purchased an AX2 inflatable. It is light, rolls up easy, can take an outboard. The only complaint I have about it is that it doesn't come with a foot pump, or an inflatable thwart(seat). It is inflated by two built in pumps, which work well. It is also built by Zodiac

 

[mainmarine]

Walker Bay do small dinghies 8ft & 10 ft Injection moulded also Terhi 2.3m 3.1m and 4.4m made from ABS send me a PM if you want more info and prices

 

[Talbot]

Cheap and cheerful is the smaller plastimo dinghy made from ABS. suitable for rivers and inland only as it has no flotation. Good for a crew of two and a 2hp outboard. I actually run a 3.5 on mine, but have strengthened the mounting point considerably. at £200 its not cheap, but seems pretty robust, and can be dragged up a slip way no problems cause it has a couple of wheels at the back.

 

[Thistle]

Quite a few makes now have built-in wheels - useful for getting them to/from the water. Those with single wheels are a wee bit unstable on dry land; small wheels may not cope well with sand / stones.

I've used a Walker Bay tender for a season or two and find it a little unstable when getting in or out. Other than this, it seems well-built and does the job fine. For flat water I tink I'd look for a Dory type in future.

 

[Evadne]

Try googling for "tender", there seem to be a few more visible.

Also, it's not long until the Beaulieu boat jumble, if you're not too far from the New Forest.

 

[silvertop]

Ebay? /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[LORDNELSON]

I use a 9 ft grp dinghy (ie a tender with a sharp end) for getting to my boat from the club. I purchased it from a chandler, second hand, and it has been excellent, nice looking dinghy with a sweet sheer and simulated planking. Goes well under outboard and carried three people. Suggest you think about a second hand dinghy which is a bit battered because it is less attractive to thieves. If you live near Shoreham it might be worthwhile asking the chandlers there (Muggeridges) if they know of one. Try to buy a tender with built-in buoyancy.

 

[Jacket]

Most the companies making plastic tenders seem to advertise in PBO - probably worth having a flick through a copy, if you haven't already.

 

[ex-Gladys]

There's a guy at Benfleet advertises fibreglass tenders from £195. IIRC that is for the 8'. We have a 10' that we bougth 2nd hand. Very stable, quite robust, needs a bit of "adding to" to make it truly useful (keel and bilge rubbing strips) but well worth a look.

 

[nwclegg]

I can recommend the Walker Bay 8. They seem tough, have a small wheel in the keel and we have added the inflatable tube around the gunwale which means it takes 3 adults or 2 adults and 2 children plus 3.3hp motor.

 

[Lakesailor]

For heaven's sake, get one that rows well. I use an old grp sailing dinghy, about 9ft long and it's great. I had to borrow a Bic cathedral hull polyethelene dinghy the other day whilst I was doing some repairs to my tender. It was horrendous. The wind took me all over, it had no directional stability, I had to crouch and paddle the thing and ended up with ridges in my knees.
I had once thought of getting one of those, but now I wouldn't consider anything that doesn't look like a row boat.

 

[kds]

What about the little tender for home-build by PBO plans. Was it called the PUP ?
Does anyone have experience, 'cos I am looking for a very light one which I can pull a long way up the sand to the club.
Thanks, Ken

 

[TrueBlue]

Thanks to all who took the trouble to reply to my initial post.

I was going to put specific thanks, but that does not deal with the slightly unhelpful ones.

I have begun to follow up on various suggestions and the whole exercise is proving very interesting (in an anoraky sort of way).

I am tempted to find a tatty old "banger" to do the basic job - to avoid the risk of it being pinched; getting details from the web for new boats has not being good, so looking for s/h ones may be less profitable.

Anyway, thanks again, Guys.

 

[ex-Gladys]

Best of luck.... Hard dinghies go like hot cakes. It took us over 6 months to find one, you need to check sites like boatsandoutboards on a more than daily basis in oreder not to be beaten to the punch. Also look in Loot.