The perfect tender

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nelly2

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Getting on abit in years I am struggling to load my Zodiac Cadet 260S on to the fore deck each time we return to the marina (The marina wants more dosh to leave the tender in the water.)
Can anyone recommend a lightweight solution, plastic wood it doesn’t mater as long as I can lift it out of the water!
Oh yes the boats a 22ft MS Ketch Rig so no chance of davits
Thanks
Neil
 
Can you not use a spare halyard with a purchase system? That way you can remove the heads of the marina staff until they realise that a tender in the water with the mothership does not warrant an extra charge!
 
Nelly,

I do exactly as Fireball suggests... I use the bridle on the bow, tie it to a line in the centre of the stern, and then adjust to get it balanced... takes 2 minutes, then lift the whole thing flat on the spinny halyard onto the foredeck..... now takes me no more than 5 minutes..... mines a 260 as well...
 
Neil,
Plastimo make a 240L - for lightweight - inflatable, that is about 2\3rds the weight of the normal 260S. Maybe that could be a solution for you.

If you look at this site, http://www.robincurnow.co.uk/inflatable-boats-plastimo.html, you will see the price difference with respect to the 240 and 270. I'm sure there should be a 260 there as well!

I know that Robin Curnow will do a trade-in (if you are close to be able to drop it off), and also get a dinghy delivered to your home if needs be.
 
G'day nelly2, and welcome to the YBW forums.

Like you I had a major problem lifting my rubber duck on board during some rough passages and not wanting it to flip over.

I looked at smaller lighter ducks but they looked pretty weak an flimsy to me and the thought of being in one on a rough night trying to get back to the boat was daunting to say the least.

After a lot of searching I decided the ideal craft had to have good space, lots of buoyancy and be at least as stable as a duck, meaning I could sit on one side and not worry about turning turtle.

I ended up building a small cat dingy, made entirely of closed cell foam and epoxy resin with bi-directional glass and a final layer of rovings. The result was a very light and strong dinghy that could be sailed, powered or rowed with ease, lift out was with a halyard that snapped onto a bridle, two points on the stern one on the bow, a short spinnaker pole held it off and was used to swing it to the foredeck.

The only bad thing about this dinghy was the bloke who bought my boat insisted the dinghy be part of the deal. Have never seen it or him since....(thinks, well I assume he is ok).

As a project it would be simple to build as foam can be cut and bent to any shape, is very easy to work and progress is rapid. just glue it together, sand it, glass it, fair it, paint, and launch it.

Bits like mast step, transom engine mount and rowlocks are added as you build, no special tools required, indeed 75% is done by hand.

Winter is on its way, so you have just enough time to get all the bits together (include a heater for the garage) and you have a nice little project to work on. I built mine in just 6 weeks using a bit of spare time, with no interruptions you could do one in a week to 10 days.

Tip: two small strips of Stainless Steel along the keels will make it almost indestructible.

Finally before you lot swamp me with requests for plans, I have none. The whole thing was based on comfort; we sat on boxes and worked out the most comfortable rowing position, then looked at what we loaded on a regular basis and made her wide enough to take it all and some.

The hulls were wide to provide maximum lift and stability under load, almost 2 thirds of the width at the waterline, each hull was split into 4 compartments with collision bulkheads fore and aft plus another midships. The underside of the deck was ribbed (by cluing more foam strips on) to provide a solid strong base.

The transom plate for the outboard (9.9 Mercury) was made of 1/2 inch marine ply soaked in epoxy resin with 30% methylated spirit added after mixing the harder, only small batches were mixed, then more added till it would take no more, then built up with fibreglass to be flush with the hull, a small s/steel plate was recessed into each side, the inner one had a 'D' lug made from 6 mm rod welded to it for the Jesus strop. (What, never seen an outboard fall off the back and hear the owner say "Jesus I wish I'd tied that on").

Rowlocks were made to slide into a 'V' plate and pin so they could be removed when not required and reduce the risk ripping out the seat of your pants. The 'V' plate had it's own backing plate glassed into the hull.

The mast step was mounted in front of the mid seat and dropped into a hole above the deck and a pull out ring that slid into the top of the seat when not in use, this was a simple plate with a hole in one end and a small rod welded along the other end to stop it coming out, the whole thing sat on another plate of stainless that had it's sides turned up and over the sliding ring plate. The mast was made from the top section of a small cats mast that had broken, a Hobie I thing; the rig was free standing and only had a main, no jib. I was working on a way to split the mast so I could half down each side when I sold the boat.

Towing and lifting eyes were distributes at both rear corners, one on the bow (inside the hull, and one on each bow section for the towing and mooring bridle.

With a seat/ anchor well at the front, another seat midships that was straight on top but had a slight 'V' at deck level at the front to guide any water to the under seat drain line, and a seat at the rear that extended a little up each side so you could face front or side in comfort when steering. all seats were hollow and sealed for buoyancy.

Other items in planning included a set of wheels I could snap onto the rear and a small dolly I could slide under the front to give a trailer I could load up and walk down the ramp instead of doing 6 trips to load her.

She was only 2.2 m long (about 7 foot) by 1.6 m wide. (about 5 feet), but you can make one any size you like.

Andavagoodweekend.....
 
Have seen others avoid marinas charging in this way by just dragging the tender halfway up the transom so just a bit of the boat is in the water. Seen others lash theirs to the side like a giant fender.
 
I think that he lightest tender would have to be a plywood dinghy. But you would have to build it light. Something like a Sabot has very nice lines for easy rowing but of course is not so stable on the sides for climbing into out of. Using thinner ply and light scantlings you may find you can easily lift one on to the deck. You could also scale the plans down to suit your stowage size. Given of course that you don't want a dinghy too small when the water gets rough on passage out to the boat at anchor.
good luck olewill
 
Have you looked at the Sportyak and it's variants. Foam filled PVC. Tough as old boots and quite light. Dory-type hull makes it very stable. New price around £230.
 
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