Viability of a budget Kayak / inflatable dinghy instead of recognised brand ?

Refueler

Refueler

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Years ago - when I was a member of Hill Head Sailing Club near Southampton ... one of the members had literally a kiddies inflatable to get out to his boat on the trot mooring in the small harbour. It was noted as a two man ... bit of a squeeze for two reasonable sized men I think - but on his own - easily rowed and compact enough when deflated etc.

I see another thread where the subject of 'kayak' is subject ... when in local DIY shop - I noted they had a series of 'toy' dinghys and a Kayak on display. I'm not considering as cheap and thin as the Hill Head guy's ... but it appears there are now inflatables that sit between his and the more recognised boaters brands.

I note that some of these actually can rival in price budget recognised brands !

I only need something that packs away and occasional nip to shore if anchored ... nothing serious ...


????
 
My sailng has changed considerably the last couple of years from a bit of cruising to day sailing in a 20 footer down here in Portugal. I've dumped the heavy inflatable and bought a Vevor "toy dinghy"just to get me to the beach and back on nice sunny days. Much lighter and surprisingly easy to row in benign conditions. For the 20 metres i need to row usually, it works fine for me and much easier to store onboard. Quality is obviously lower than the usual inflatable but better than a kiddies toy. Works for me. And i can keep it inflated most of the time without it getting in the way too much. As a last resort I would use it to escape a sinking or burning boat in an emergency. All my sailing now is local and very coastal. €80. I thought about a canoe but theyre too long to be stored in the cabin inflated.
 
It’s not long ago that 3D tender were an unknown brand, made out of an “untested” material and lower cost and weight than normal dinghy brands.

They’re doing rather well in the market now
 
I have a 2.3m round tail with engine bracket, that lies between toy and proper tender. It’s adequate for occasional use in easy conditions. Fairly light to carry in its bag.
It came as a freebie with a small yacht, but I put it straight into storage as I already had a good very light tender. The brand is something like Naavigator or Navvigator, but definitely not to be confused with Navigator.
 
It all about what you consider is suitable for the job.

When computers started to be made in China an a very low cost a local university could buy several computers for the cost of one major brand.

If the low-cost computer failed there were spares available and it was found that the China computer would last an acceptable life and could b repaired by the students with spares also from China
 
There was a man who literally used a children's inflatable to get to his trot mooring at Pwhelli.
He used the simply carry it the the water side and inflate it in a few minutes. It only had one air tube.
He would then squeeze in and used what looked like two table tennis bat's to get the 50 feet to be boat.
No fuss no weight and a lot less time than a proper inflatable.
He probably did the whole thing in less time than to start a Seagull outboard.
 
We tried an inflatable canoe. It as fine for paddling, but got fed up quickly with having a wet bum every single trip. That was years ago. We now use a semi catamaran design, powered by an E~Propulsion. It does about 6kn at full chat, weighs 28kg on it’s own.
 
I've got a "3 man" beach inflatable from Lidl. £60 ish I think?
3 chamber. 2 + floor. Can't fit an outboard.

Bought because my small Honwave is too big and heavy to get into a locker easily, and too heavy/bulky to leave inflated on the foredeck. Some sticky oatmeal bits to damage topside as launched or heaved aboard.

Have this winter bought a new 3D lightweight, hopefully to replace both, yet allow use of my e motor too. Too cold/windh here for a wet test yet...
 
Bit more expensive than the Lidl aisle of wonder type stuff, but I'm fairly sure I could use my £300 inflatable as a tender. The only downside is it takes a while to dry once you've finished with it, as it has some neoprene panels over the tubes to protect them, but it's perfectly stable enough to step up from and paddles faster than a dinghy.

I'm slowly saving up for a boat and it's one way I'm happy to save costs for now, but critically I already own the kayak! Not sure I'd be planning the same compromise if I didn't.
 
I haven’t looked at the links on this thread but I wonder if construction material is easily fixed when a puncture occurs. PVC and hypalon easy enough to patch up, but some plastics trickier to glue.
 
refeuler - it’s all about your use case. If it’s 50yds, usually just you, little tide/current to contend with and you only need to do it (or do it in that boat), in benign conditions then a “toy” will do the job and have storage benefits on board as well as cost - but they aren’t usually very efficient for paddling. If you have further to go or want to explore remote anchorages an inflatable kayak or paddleboard might be more efficient. They aren’t very stable for stepping down into from a ladder. For not an awful lot more than that aquamarina you can get a boat from the same brand with a drop stitch floor which will be night and day in any chop, stepping into it, or rowing it but probably doesn’t pack away as neatly. My dinghy is just slightly too small for some of the things I’d like to do with it - but storing something bigger on board would be a PITA.
 
I've had an inflatable canoe for a long time, cheap end of line model from Decathlon. Good fun, after my additions, but I've never used it as a tender. I think you would find it fairly unstable getting aboard in any sort of chop or swell.
I made a sort of fixed rudder for my canoe as like many inflatables it does not track very well, particularly in any sort of stiff breeze. I cut up a plastic cutting board from the kitchen shelf of Asda. Made a world of difference to going in a straight line, even in a cross wind.
The elastic band is because the rudder trips if I run aground.



Problem when used as a tender is you have to get from a legs straight out sitting position to kneelng to standing and a Kayak is a wobbly platform, even if your boat has low freeboard.

The inflatable good fun in fine weather, although my particular brand Sevylor ( still sold) is looked down on by the sporty Kayak crowd, it's still going strong after 5 years of skylarking in the summer.
 
I have a Vevor portable fridge .. excellent .... I also have a Vevor Diesel Heater waiting to be installed ... I expect that to be good as well.

Question "greeny" ...... is there any provision to mount an electric outboard to the Vevor dinghy ?
 
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