Trying to find the cheapest tender but struggling!

I know it sounds daft .... BUT

When I was ay Hill Head Sailing Club many years ... small harbour on the Solent for those don't know) .... most of us had an Avon / Narwhal .... 'proper' inflatables.
One guy though .. used to turn up ... took less time to pump up his inflatable .... rowed out to boat ... lifted singlehanded inflatable onboard .. pulled plug .. rolled it up and into locker.

What was it ?? A Supermarket 'Kiddies' large size inflatable. Large enough for two small - moderate adults or 3 kids ...

When I spoke to him about it ... my Narwhal had given up its seams ... he said the only matter - not to drag it up a beach or rough surface ...
He had that 'toy dinghy' for couple years I was there ...
 
Yeah I believe those are the 'rafts' I referred to earlier. I've been umming and arring about their suitability. Not daft, I'm just inexperienced and saw one too many kids and heck adults having a lifeboat getting sent to them after they got swept out a bit further than planned. :(

Maybe they are actually reasonable to use.
 
PlankWalker said:
Old Avon is the way to go. And for 2 people an old Avon Redstart.
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I have an old Redxxxx ... not sure which one it is ... but it has a veryyyyyyyyy slowwwwwww leak ... takes about an hour to feel a touch soft .... one day I will sort it. Its had 3 o/bd brackets during my time ... handles a 4.5HP 2str O/bd ok ..... using original oars - its a pain to row ... but get a pair of decent ordinary oars and its much better.
If the inflatable seat is missing ... a nice ply plank across suits well enough with tie downs to the seat toggle eyes.
Slatted floor is good ... full ply floor better - but makes it heavy.

If I was in market for a tender now - I would go for one of the 'Hunters / Fishmans' inflatables you see online which are a step up from the kiddies toy boats ...
I have one in my workshop that was left with me. Guy made a bad job of patching a leak and gave up. Its 2.4m long, has hard ply transom ready for up to 3hp O'bd ... has oars that lock into place ... inflatable floor ..... label says max 3 adults
If I remember right - he paid about 200 euros new.
 
Luminescent said:
Yeah I believe those are the 'rafts' I referred to earlier. I've been umming and arring about their suitability. Not daft, I'm just inexperienced and saw one too many kids and heck adults having a lifeboat getting sent to them after they got swept out a bit further than planned. :(

Maybe they are actually reasonable to use.
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Like everything - if its used outside of design limits - its a risk.

But think about it ... do you think an Avon would not need L/Boat assistance if Daddy and his kids ventured where they shouldn't ??

Your request did say River .... 500m distance to cover ... etc.
 
Luminescent said:
If I could transport/store a hard dinghy... I would. In my case an inflatable is my only realistic option. The only way I could get a hard dinghy would be if my boat yard suddenly decided one had been abandoned.
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There are designs around for folding tenders you could make yourself. Suspect you could get materials to do it for less than a second hand tender. A sheet of ply, some 2x1, fibreglass and epoxy and some waterproof fabric for the hinges.
 
ylop said:
There are designs around for folding tenders you could make yourself. Suspect you could get materials to do it for less than a second hand tender. A sheet of ply, some 2x1, fibreglass and epoxy and some waterproof fabric for the hinges.
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Frome experience of building a simple plywood stitch and glue dinghy, I think that unless you don't value your time, it is very expensive to build from scratch - as, no doubt, @Kelpie is well aware as he built the dingy that was damaged.
 
Intex Seahawk is cheap and kind of half way between toy and proper, have a look on Youtube there are people building floors and installing seating on them...
 
AntarcticPilot said:
Frome experience of building a simple plywood stitch and glue dinghy, I think that unless you don't value your time, it is very expensive to build from scratch - as, no doubt, @Kelpie is well aware as he built the dingy that was damaged.
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I was around £800 in basic materials, probably closer to £1k when you look at all the little costs- solvent proof rollers for the 2-pack paint etc etc- and I saved a wee bit by scavenging hardware from an old sailing dinghy, although that mostly relates to the rig.

I was fortunate to have an excellent workspace at zero cost, and an understanding wife and son able to help out when requested.

I did initially cost up an idea to build using shuttering ply etc... but you still need lots of epoxy, and then do you really want to be doing it all again a year or two down the line... so in the end I went with Robbins Elite. The ply and hardwood from them was about £550, so yes it's about half the build cost but I think it would be a false economy to spend £200-£300 on epoxy when the underlying wood is not good quality.
 
There are a couple of Avons on E Bay this week but not surprisingly expensive but I guess Avon Hypalon is very tough and long lasting.
 
Unfinished project GRP tender, that may suit what you are looking for,, still needs a bit of work, bung needs fitting, have bung ready to fit, transom board needs fitting, ready made but still in garage.Comes with launching trolley,
It’s a bit heavy so stopped working on it and went for something else.
Will try and get a couple of photo’s, sitting just outside Aberaeron, Just needs collecting. Will add measurements tomorrow.
 
When I needed a tender two years ago, I bid on two Avons in the same week, close to Chichester. I found I'd won both boats. Neither cost more than £75. Are such bargains no longer available?

One of mine is a Redcrest which carries my two-stroke quite happily. The other is the smaller Redstart. I made 9mm floorboards for it, in advance of our beach holiday last month. A great success.

I noticed that the number on the metal plate on the stern of the Redstart ends '76', which I'm prepared to believe was its year of manufacture. It pumps up in three minutes or less, doesn't leak, and rows really easily if it's only me aboard.

It would be a sad thing that these hypalon inflatables aren't still made the same way, if there weren't plenty of excellent old examples still around, and (I assume) remarkable value.

Actually I can't recommend one for Luminescent. I think you need to be ready to commit to a lifelong relationship with an Avon - they'e earned caring owners through long service. ;)
 
I lost my support for ’new Avons’ when they ceased production in Llanelli, before this sad moment I rated Avon inflatables as the tops, my redstart must now be coming on for 30 years old and is still perfectly serviceable.
 
I replaced my Avon ( story above) with an Avon / Zodiac with inflatable keel and floor an altogether better beast and very good. The only problem was with the rubbing strake beginning to detach after a few months, Avon sent someone out to repair it he removed it entirely and stuck another on which saw out the 5 years of my ownership with no problems, the other problem was with the "bag" wrap around cover which totally degraded after being left in the sun for a year, they sent me a second one and I had a sunbrella cover made for it so don't know if it was any better. It was certainly an improvement over wrestling with a deflated Redstart and trying to stuff it into its green canvas bag.
 
The answer, getting it into its bag, is to have a pump that can deflate as well as inflate. Really makes a lot of difference to its size.

Personally I didn't like bending a third of the Redstart's beam over before rolling it small enough to fit in the bag - which it then can - but presumably the makers believed it wouldn't harm the fabric, and mine doesn't seem to have suffered.
 
dancrane said:
When I needed a tender two years ago, I bid on two Avons in the same week, close to Chichester. I found I'd won both boats. Neither cost more than £75. Are such bargains no longer available?

One of mine is a Redcrest which carries my two-stroke quite happily. The other is the smaller Redstart. I made 9mm floorboards for it, in advance of our beach holiday last month. A great success.

I noticed that the number on the metal plate on the stern of the Redstart ends '76', which I'm prepared to believe was its year of manufacture. It pumps up in three minutes or less, doesn't leak, and rows really easily if it's only me aboard.

It would be a sad thing that these hypalon inflatables aren't still made the same way, if there weren't plenty of excellent old examples still around, and (I assume) remarkable value.

Actually I can't recommend one for Luminescent. I think you need to be ready to commit to a lifelong relationship with an Avon - they'e earned caring owners through long service. ;)
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These bargains technically do exist, though all the ones I've seen have a much larger reserve price. Perhaps the wrong time of year as was mentioned!

I've also discovered the potential to set up sailing rigs on them in one fashion or another. Inflatable Sailboat (much amusement had I).

I'm struggling with the concept of not rowing easily. Does it not go through the water to the destination? Could someone explain the mechanics of what is happening or not happening?

I think I might be able to get a roof rack fitted to the car, so I may be able to expand my reach into these sailing dinghies by being able to look at the GRP ones as well.

Re folding, as long as you're not creating a hard fold... see paper, you'll usually be fine, especially with more hard wearing materials. Fold it as tightly as you can. You will get problems from weathering and the seams before any creases start to be an issue. (I don't know this from sailing, I know this from Scouts...). As long as you're following the packaging instructions, very unlikely you'll cause damage.
 
I always found the flat floored inflatables, the ones without an inflatable keel to be skittish ie they were not the easiest things to row
 
Luminescent said:
I'm struggling with the concept of not rowing easily. Does it not go through the water to the destination? Could someone explain the mechanics of what is happening or not happening?
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Avons are not especially terrible to row. They have good strong rowlocks and if you have the seat properly inflated they're actually pretty good. You need decent length oars- 6ft is about right for a Redcrest.
In flat water with a light load, an Avon isn't really too bad. But in choppy weather or heavily loaded it quickly becomes very wet, slow, and no fun whatsoever.
 
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