Tender tips

cardinal_mark

cardinal_mark

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Hello all.

Just returned from our first, rather wet and windy but thoroughly enjoyable, week on the new toy and realised we are not going to be able to hold out long on buying an inflatable. The question is, do I cough up for a Avon / Zodiac as some pontoon pundits have suggested or save my pennies and plump for a Waveline / Plastimo etc? Opinions on the pontoons of the Solent were divided (usually on the basis of apparent disposable income!) so I just wandered if anyone here had a view?

It wont be heavily used, more as a means of having an option to avoid marinas and water taxis... plus no doubt the sprogs will want to terrorise the marina every now and then as they get a bit older!

Any views would be much appreciated - if there's something I've learned to hate since buying the yacht its spending large (or small!) amounts of money unnecessarily!!

Cheers


Mark
 
I've had an Avon Redcrest from new for 5 years now. Generally very good but lacking the halfpennyworth of tar. Specifically the inflatable seat. Ours get rowed everywhere as we don't have an outboard. One seat leaked and the toggles keep ripping off the replacement. Avon have a wonderful long term gaurantee on their special fabric and seams that the main tubes are made off; but the seat for some perverse reason is made of a different fabric and not covered by the long term gaurantee.
With a cheaper dinghy maybe I would have been able to afford an outboard but that rowing is the only exercise I get. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
 
Avon / Zodiac are undoubtedly the better of all ..... and if you get a reasonable s/hand one will last you years ..... you can replace valves, have them serviced and re-glued etc. My old Redstart is still going strong though it sits in the sun folded on deck, is yonks old etc. The slats are long broken and useless .... previous guy cut and fitted solid ply floor that is halved and can be taken out etc.

Previous I had a smart Narwhal ... very nice looking but a little low on freeboard. Well it went the way of most of the cheaper ones ... seams started to go and repair did it no favours .... the Inflatable centre told me that they couldn't guarantee the cheaper ones as the seams, material and glues used by manufacturers were different to Avon etc. They honestly advised me to not bother and get a second-hand Avon etc. out of paper .... they turned out right.

BUT if I was to buy new - then I would go for a cheaper make .... Plastimo, even Narwhal, Bombard etc. etc and seeing them in marinas / folly etc. - they all do their job. It s just how long do you want to keep and what can you pay ....
 
I'd go for the Avon or Zodiac. I've used a reasonably cheap one, a Compass that came with the boat and we still have, and a Zodiac that I bought second hand.

The Compass was perfectly fine in light breezes, but sat rather low in the water and was a generally wet experience. The Zodiac is about the same size, but holds a lot more air. I have no regrets about buying the Zodiac.
 
I have just bought one of the wetline/honda deals from mailspeed which included a 2.3 metre dinghy and a 2.3 HP Honda engine. Not had much chance to use it in anger yet but it all seems to go work quite nicely.

When I checked out the prices this seemed to be the most cost effective way of getting me reliably mobile. I am working on the basis that the Honda should run for years and that I will wait and see what happens to the dinghy.
 
Hypalon lasts a lot longer than PVC under heavy wear. With occasional use that doesn't matter.

Big tube diameter is the biggest factor in comfort and dryness.

If doing a lot of manhandling, go for light weight.

A solid transom is essential if you want more than 2 hp on the back

A soft floor guarantees wet feet & shopping. A slatted floor is not much better. An inflatable keel or floor keeps things drier.

Avons with the big rubber rowlocks are easier to row than the ones with little sockets and short aluminium paddles.
 
I think it depends on how long you intend to keep it, and the amount of use it will get.

I've got a Bombard (same company as Zodiac, I think), which is a mid range compromise and which was rated best budget buy in a test of inflatables in PBO or YM a couple of years ago. It doesn't get a particularly hard life (though we're on a mooring, so we probably use it more than you would) and after 3 years, it's fine. From the usage you're proposing, I just don't think you need a premium product.

One tip: spend a further £70 on a low pressure, high volume inflator. Inflates my 2.3 metre dinghy in a couple of minutes and worth every penny!
 
I could have writen this! Fully agree. We got an EVA tender, made with same material as Zodiac, all the features you mention, except it does have plastic rowlocks. It is 2.7mtrs long and with just me and the 3.3 Johnson it wil plane. Does that make me a mobo'er?
 
Tender tips - mine doesn\'t.

Get a Suzumar.

Big tubes, good features, well made, designed to take large engines.

Priced to sell hp, not make big margins for Suzuki, they make that on the motors.

My 265 airdeck came top of the lot when PBO tested them yast year. mine is now 3 yrs old with no sign of degradation.
 
Re: Tender tips - mine doesn\'t.

I got the Zodiac Cadet with slatted floor. Next time I'll find the extra somehow to get the inflatable floor model.

Small detail: the rowlocks are CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You pull a bit hard when rowing and the pins distort. Now they don't fit in the sockets properly and you lose an oar next time you tow in a bit of sea.
 
Inflators ....

£70 ????? Blimey now I know I have a winner ! I paid a tenner down the local supermarket for a rechargeable job and about £6 for a 12v one ....

They do about 99% of the job with last couple of puffs with the foot one just to give it that last 'hardness'.

You often see them in Caravan and camping shops .... designed for camping beds and mattresses ........ don't worry that it sounds too light ... its not and anyway at that price even if they only last a couple of seasons use etc. its still better than 70 quid !!!!

Sorry to those who spent so much ...
 
Re: Tender tips - long

Mark, I am in a similar position having just started the season with a new marina based yacht but I might be a few weeks ahead in terms of pre-purchase research.

This is what I have discovered so far:

Most people with a recent non airdeck dinghy, wish they had one.

Local Portsmouth suppliers can beat big chain internet advertised prices on inflatables and engines during a personal visit on a rainy day mid week.

The jury is split 8/4 in favour of 2-stroke engines still.

Despite the favourable group-test reviews, Suzmars dropped off my list due to their new 2004 nancy-boy white colour scheme and poor construction with naff crease marks that continue right into the seams.

If you buy a Zodiac get a 2005 model with the fat ends aft of the transom. Apparently this new design trend is to support heavier 4-stroke outboards but maybe this is not so relevant to yachties not interested in lots of HPs to plane.

The airdecks of Zodiacs and Avons are the same.

2hp 2-stroke outboards are only direct drive these days but a neutral-forward 3.3hp does not weight much more and is still lighter than the 2.5 4-stroke Yam.

According to a dealer who was in a position to sell me either a Zodiac or Avon, I should discount concerns about UV damage to a non hypalon material in the case of a Uk based boat where the dinghy is used occasionally.

There is a significant £150 price saving on the non active-v Zodiac model just introduced and called something like the 2HP. It still has a keel but is just less likely to plane.

The Zodiacs look over developed to me with too many gadgets, the seat wobbles and the dealer admitted the clip-in seat mechanism did not look robust, the Avon grp seat is a different class of engineering.

I PMed you the name of local dealer who will sell an airdeck 2.6 XM & Tohatsu 3.3 for a shade under £800 which is about the price of a basic V airdecked Zodiac and £380 cheaper than the equivalent Avon.

The Avon and Zodiac weight about the same, the XM is 7kgs lighter (not sure of the tube dimension of the latter).

My last Avon was stolen during Cowes week 1990 so I am not sure that longevity is the only concern.
 
Or you could do what we did...having spent too much buying the boat and refitting just about everything (still an ongoing process 3 years down the line!).

We bought a second (probably third or fourth) hand Bombard AX3 dinghy from Messanger Marine in Southbourne. It cost less than 150 quid and regularly hauls two adults, two kids and a big hairy dog all over the place. Is stored rolled up on the coach roof, hauled up beaches and generally abused. It's accompanied by a 2hp Suuzuki purchased 2nd (or 3rd/4th) hand 8 years ago from Fairweather Marine in Fareham. This engine is amazing. It has spent a tide on the bottom, two seasons stuck in the shed and this season it is generally to be found towing our two friends around who are too lazy to go find their own outboards. So it's workload most weekends is to haul 3 dinghys, 6 adults, 7 children and one hairy dog all over the place. (If you're about in the Solent this summer you'll either see us....or most definately hear us. its amazing how quickly we can clear a place when we all arrive /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif.)

It also has the advantage of being rather unattractive parked next to all the shiny new Avons on the pontoon.

Definately the way to go.
 
[ QUOTE ]
It also has the advantage of being rather unattractive parked next to all the shiny new Avons on the pontoon.

[/ QUOTE ]

A very good point. there's a lot to be said for adding a few odd-coloured false patches, painting the outboard cowl with woolworth's gloss etc.

I bought a murky yellow one in an area where every other one was white or grey. No one ever tried to nick it.
 
Even with the truly - or falsely - tatty tenders, if you're anywhere that the local yoof can get access on their way back from the pub/club, you want to lock your dinghy up.

I use an old SS stay that cost me a fiver from Bursledon - it's long enough to attach engine to dinghy and dinghy to stanchion or cleat with a padlock. That way they'll take someone else's to go and try and drown themselves. (Unfortunately, the ones I've twice chased off my boat at 3am when on the club pontoon haven't succeeded yet)
 
Woolworths gloss ...

Friend of mine some years ago changed the engine on back of his mobo .. from 50 to 75HP. It was a decent s/hand buy and he immediately painted the cowl in the same Woolies paint he used on the older one .... same colour etc. etc.

He had fitted a stainless steel plate into the transom, steel bolts through, locks etc. to keep it on the boat and not get stolen .................

Lasted about a month before some one came along with chain saw and cut the whole caboodle out of the back of the boat and carted it away ... We helped him salvage the boat .... it was on a drying mooring. He then re-built the transom and put old engine back on .......... yes he got his insurance payout .... but what a mess.

If they want it - they'll take it.


Years ago in YBW .... was a picture .... reasonable looking guy with an outboard over his shoulder walking along a marina pontoon. Captionunder it said .... "Do you know this guy ?" Seems the mags identified a problem years ago ... as most do not know many in the marinas .....
 
Nothing's foolproof. I used to keep a dinghy on a concrete apron on the banks of the Thames. a right-of-way ran through the club's compound and we had to chain the boats after some drunks thought it would be funny to launch them and let them drift down to the weir.

In Martinique when I was out there we had a couple of sessions where inflatables at the dinghy dock in Fort de France were slashed with machetes.
 
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