Tender Carry/Storage Bag Options

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dje67

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I've got a 2.5m tender that has to live on the deck. My Bene 36cc barely has enough locker space to store the oars and pump, never mind a rolled-up dinghy... After use I deflate and roll up the dinghy, bag it, then it get on the deck behind the centre cockpit, open to the elements.

My problem is that the carry bags I've had simply disintegrate after a few months in the (Scottish) sun. The carry straps turn to dust and the fabric discolours then seams fail. The supplied bags with the Wetline and Aquafax dinghys I had are a complete waste of time.

For those that store their dinghy on-deck, what do you use. Builder's tarpaulin , custom bag, Sunbrella sheet, sailbag? Is it UV resistant? Does it have straps & carry handles and does it completely cover/protect the dinghy? Easy to pack the dinghy into? Cost?
 
I’ve made a simple bag out of acrylic canvas which has been in use in Greece for about 6 years now: it serves as an on deck stowage bag for the dinghy during the winter and as a launch bag for the cruising chute during the summer. Showing no signs of deterioration as yet. Acrylic canvas comes in at 1.57 m wide, so a couple of metres is all you need for most dinghies: just sew bottom and side together, hem top and put a few eyelets in to run a rope through. It took me about an hour to make.
I‘ve just made a similar bag for our UK dinghy which is made out of an old sail. No idea how long it’ll last but it was what I had to hand.
 
Sailmaker made a bag with rope attachments and straps to hold the dinghy in (rolled up).

Lives on deck, and has done for the last 10 years or more (brought it over from the last boat). Same stuff they make sail covers from.

Very cheap to have made.
 
I think this style is by far the best for general use, as supplied with the later Avons:

Z69340 Zodiac Navy Blue Dinghy Carry Bag suitable 2m to 3m Dinghy

Because it starts flat you don't have the distress of wrestling with the thing and putting your back out. Even if you roll the dinghy badly you can lash it into submission with the straps.

As Duncan suggested, making one with acrylic canvas would be an easy task.

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My dinghy came with a bag like the one Doug linked.

In your position I would get a local sailmaker / upholsterer to make me a bag to my specification out of sunbrella. I'd choose Comfort Afloat if I were in Gosport.
 
We had a plastic blue bag made by local chandler which lasts well but does leave blue marks on deck from plastic but otherwise fine. Normally lives in locker and just winch out with halyard when needed.
 
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