Want a new tender. Advice please

Inachos486

Inachos486

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Ware HERTS
www.sailawayyachtholidays.com
Have a 2.5 Honda as tender for my 48ft yacht based in the Ionian. Only had it 5yrs and it is unusable now. The heat out there has melted the seams and she has to pumped daily. Wish I could find a none inflatable tender about 2.5m length. Any advice would be welcome.
Thank you.
Paul
 
I don't think there's much to choose between the PVC makes as far as life in the sun is concerned. We're on our second Waveline 2.9, first one lasted 5 years before UV degraded but, after 2 years with tube covers on, this one's still like new except for the floor boards which need painting.
 
Inachos486 said:
Have a 2.5 Honda as tender for my 48ft yacht based in the Ionian. Only had it 5yrs and it is unusable now. The heat out there has melted the seams and she has to pumped daily. Wish I could find a none inflatable tender about 2.5m length. Any advice would be welcome.
Thank you.
Paul
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Walker Bay 8ft would do----but you'd better have deep pockets!
 
I bought a new Waveline 2.3m with slatted floor recently for £300 which I am very pleased with.At that price you cannot lose even if it only lasts 5 years.
 
We have had a walker bay 8 for three years now and are very pleased with it. It works for us keeping it on the fore deck strapped down, but it also tows well. It is pricey but has the advantage of being quite a good little sailing dinghy.
 
We have had an AVON rib light in the med. for 10 years now, last six in Greece and Turkey. It sits in davits very infrequently get covered except during the winter when the whole boat is covered. Its got a few years left in it yet. Stick to Hyperlon.
 
Either go for cheap'n'cheerful PVC one (whatever's on Special this week) and accept that anything over 2-3 years is a bonus, or as stated earlier, bite the bullet and go for Hyperlon; we're also 'converts' to ribs rather than soft-floored dinks, we power our 2.6m one quite happily with a 3.3hp engine and love being able to run onto a beach and just drag rather than carry it above the tide-line.
 
mocruising said:
We have had an AVON rib light in the med. for 10 years now, last six in Greece and Turkey. It sits in davits very infrequently get covered except during the winter when the whole boat is covered. Its got a few years left in it yet. Stick to Hyperlon.
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One really has to bite the bullet - Hyperlon appears to cost double the price of the same inflatable in PVC and lasts about twice as long. In the Med the seams last OK but other adhesive bits part company. On the whole I'd go for cheaper PVC, put on an anti-UV cover and replace it regularly.
My current dinghy is in Hyperlon, but I'll replace in PVC.
 
mocruising said:
We have had an AVON rib light in the med. for 10 years now, last six in Greece and Turkey. It sits in davits very infrequently get covered except during the winter when the whole boat is covered. Its got a few years left in it yet. Stick to Hyperlon.
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We also have one of the above and can echo the praise, unfortunately they don't make them any more, we bought ours from http://www.ronhalemarine.co.uk/inflatable_ribs.html excellent service and advice..........no connection, just a happy punter.
 
Can anyone give exemplar prices for covers for their PVC dinghies so that like for like comparisons can be made: PVC dinghy+cover versus Hypalon dinghy?
 
bjl said:
Can anyone give exemplar prices for covers for their PVC dinghies so that like for like comparisons can be made: PVC dinghy+cover versus Hypalon dinghy?
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I was quoted around 350 euro for a tube cover so made my own. 3.5 meters of material split down the middle was sufficient for my 2.9 Waveline so it cost me around £60 with velcro and other bits.
 
I was in exactly the same situation last year and now have an as new Avon 280 Rover Air. As others have said, stick to hypalon and hand made if possible. I bought my Avon on eBay but it took six months to find one in sufficiently good "low use" condition and at the right price. If you cannot wait for what might be an indeterminate period or don't want to go to the trouble, then I wuld recommend the "Caribe" range since these fit the criteria of being hand made and of Hypalon.
 
Steve C Cronin said:
I was in exactly the same situation last year and now have an as new Avon 280 Rover Air. As others have said, stick to hypalon and hand made if possible. I bought my Avon on eBay but it took six months to find one in sufficiently good "low use" condition and at the right price. If you cannot wait for what might be an indeterminate period or don't want to go to the trouble, then I wuld recommend the "Caribe" range since these fit the criteria of being hand made and of Hypalon.
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+1 for Caribe. These are the tender of choice in the Caribbean, and for good reason.
 
Steve C Cronin said:
I was in exactly the same situation last year and now have an as new Avon 280 Rover Air. As others have said, stick to hypalon and hand made if possible. I bought my Avon on eBay but it took six months to find one in sufficiently good "low use" condition and at the right price. If you cannot wait for what might be an indeterminate period or don't want to go to the trouble, then I wuld recommend the "Caribe" range since these fit the criteria of being hand made and of Hypalon.
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Super boats - only one snag - no UK distributor and the ones in Europe don't seem to be interested in responding to e-mails.
 
Steve C Cronin said:
I was in exactly the same situation last year and now have an as new Avon 280 Rover Air. As others have said, stick to hypalon and hand made if possible. I bought my Avon on eBay but it took six months to find one in sufficiently good "low use" condition and at the right price. If you cannot wait for what might be an indeterminate period or don't want to go to the trouble, then I wuld recommend the "Caribe" range since these fit the criteria of being hand made and of Hypalon.
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We have a Caribe rib. Done 10 years with so far. Still going strong. Been dragged up so many beaches the bottom is in need of some TLC. Will be repairing this weekend. These ribs are very well made and will take lots of abuse
 
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