dylanwinter
Well-Known Member
that chimes with what I had heard - the hulls are pretty tough but the inflatable fender is not so long lasting.
would anyone like to sing the praises of Walker Bays?
- Thread starter dylanwinter
- Start date
that chimes with what I had heard - the hulls are pretty tough but the inflatable fender is not so long lasting.
TC Tuckton
Well-Known Member
Have you considered a Tinker Tramp? Folded, it can lay on a Centaur's side deck and the mast, boom and oars fit on the shelf in the forecabin.
dylanwinter
Well-Known Member
the tramps are no longer in production - the aim is to have something that does not need blowing up
but they do seem to sail pretty well
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qPt1RSUdKY
Greenheart
Well-Known Member
Good for you Dylan, for aiming to continue exploring under sail in the interesting shallows around each anchorage.
Quite coincidentally I found myself thinking of the Tinker this morning. Nice clean one on eBay, not cheap, but probably less than even an old Walker Bay. Complete apparently, though I couldn't see whereabouts in the UK it is.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TINKER-In...er-Liferaft-/171976295254?hash=item280a960356
I haven't worked out why such a versatile product, with such a good name for its abilities, isn't still in production either by its former manufacturers or someone else taking up the baton. If Walker Bay can sell tiny boats for Centaur money, I'd think Tinkers would sell too.
Quite coincidentally I found myself thinking of the Tinker this morning. Nice clean one on eBay, not cheap, but probably less than even an old Walker Bay. Complete apparently, though I couldn't see whereabouts in the UK it is.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TINKER-In...er-Liferaft-/171976295254?hash=item280a960356
I haven't worked out why such a versatile product, with such a good name for its abilities, isn't still in production either by its former manufacturers or someone else taking up the baton. If Walker Bay can sell tiny boats for Centaur money, I'd think Tinkers would sell too.
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FullCircle
Well-Known Member
We had a Tinker Tramp - top of the range Star Traveller with furling jib as well. They very heavy with solid plywood floors, and the red tubes turn a dusty pink which won't clean up well. It did not sail uphill well at all, and in restricted creeks, I found myself zig zagging from bank to bank getting nowhere fast. So we sold it.
If you do buy a Walker Bay 8, don't be tempted to buy one that hasn't got tubes if you intend to source them after. I got lucky after three months search as a dealer in Teddington was selling off his stock, and I got a discount. The tubes are £600 on their own.
I have had 2 small punctures easily fixed with the supplied kit. Mine sits upside down on my foredeck all year with inflated tubes. Been there 5 years, no UV degradation that I can observe;
If you do buy a Walker Bay 8, don't be tempted to buy one that hasn't got tubes if you intend to source them after. I got lucky after three months search as a dealer in Teddington was selling off his stock, and I got a discount. The tubes are £600 on their own.
I have had 2 small punctures easily fixed with the supplied kit. Mine sits upside down on my foredeck all year with inflated tubes. Been there 5 years, no UV degradation that I can observe;
TC Tuckton
Well-Known Member
I agree it is a hassle to pump up the Tramp but 20 minutes is not too long to gain the benefit of not having to tow it at sea.
There is a towing eye on the bow and this makes launching and recovery simple. I pump it up on the foredeck/ across the guardwires, haul it vertically with a halyard and then lower it into the water stern first. The tubes extend aft of the wooden transom so no water slips in.
One up it sails well (Super Tramp - has a jib) and rows beautifully. It is very stable
Ours is 25 years old, a little faded but no problems with the tubes. I had the valves replaced last year (?£400) and this year I will do the sacrificial rubbing strips.
There is a towing eye on the bow and this makes launching and recovery simple. I pump it up on the foredeck/ across the guardwires, haul it vertically with a halyard and then lower it into the water stern first. The tubes extend aft of the wooden transom so no water slips in.
One up it sails well (Super Tramp - has a jib) and rows beautifully. It is very stable
Ours is 25 years old, a little faded but no problems with the tubes. I had the valves replaced last year (?£400) and this year I will do the sacrificial rubbing strips.
dylanwinter
Well-Known Member
Last summer in the Centaur there were definately times when we would have gone ashore had it not been for pumping up the dinghy. It is a hard thing to pump up in a small Centaur cockpit - and towing it just ripped out the grommets - hence the search for something harder.
As one person said, you need an old dinghy - it has to be one you are willing top cut loose without too many regrets should things get out of hand.
Mark it up with a phone number and email address and it will eventually find its way back to you
D
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Tranona
Well-Known Member
Good for you Dylan, for aiming to continue exploring under sail in the interesting shallows around each anchorage.
Quite coincidentally I found myself thinking of the Tinker this morning. Nice clean one on eBay, not cheap, but probably less than even an old Walker Bay. Complete apparently, though I couldn't see whereabouts in the UK it is.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TINKER-In...er-Liferaft-/171976295254?hash=item280a960356
I haven't worked out why such a versatile product, with such a good name for its abilities, isn't still in production either by its former manufacturers or someone else taking up the baton. If Walker Bay can sell tiny boats for Centaur money, I'd think Tinkers would sell too.
Quite simply because of cost. Just the same as the nesting dinghies that are still on the market. Few people value the versatility, and in the case of the Tramp poor capacity for use as a tender and when the cost is 3 or 4 times as much as a basic tender not surprising demand is limited. I found this out the hard way when I was making sailing tenders in the early 1980s. Everybody loved them - but few bought them. The idea is much better than the reality. Tramps are good buys as used boats if you can find a good one though.
BTW Henshaws are still very much in business - they make most of the tubes for the higher spec RIBS. Much better to concentrate on producing these than fighting against the odds in the consumer market place. They also did a good job renovating the seats in a pre war car!
Skylark
Well-Known Member
I'm firmly in the "dislike" camp. I've frightened myself to death on more than one occasion when either a minor move of the ob tiller or a tiny weight shift causes the bloody thing to plough and pretend to be a submarine.
I've dumped mine in the marina park. I use it for about 1 hour per two years when the sea is absolutely flat calm and I can't be bothered to blow-up the floppy.
Care to make me an offer I can't refuse?
dylanwinter
Well-Known Member
FulmarJeddo
Well-Known Member
When I bought it, I picked it up on the roof of my Discovery. I had help getting it on, but I seem to recall lifting it above our heads and going on from the side without too much of a problem. Not sure why we didn't stand it up on it's stern at the back of the car and slide it on. It's not a lightweight, but at 57Kg http://walkerbay.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/WB-10-SPEC-SHEET-2014.pdf it should be within the roof loading of most cars. Upside down it is like most dinghies, aerodynamic. I have never tried carrying it up a beach, I always put it on a club launching trolley as it normally has an outboard, oars and a holdall containing various bits of kit that I don't like leaving on board. I'm sure 2 of you could manage it empty over a short distance and the plastic is pretty forgiving if you do drag it.
fireball
Well-Known Member
Having heard so many reports of instability - I do wonder if my experience of it is down to balance - being used to sailing racing dinghies I'm reasonably adept at keeping them upright - perhaps that translated into a more stable WB ...
that said - 2 of the crew were certainly not in that category - but I did usually ensure I was first in/last out or the side was tied up - or both!
Kelpie
Well-Known Member
It sounds like your mind is made up but might I suggest that your flubber inflation technique sounds a bit cumbersome.
I do mine like this: clip a halyard to the little rope that goes along the side of the dinghy. Hoist it up so that it is sitting on its side, on the side deck. Grab electric pump and inflate. Use halyard to hoist it up and over the guardwires and intot he water. Can be done by one person in about three or four minutes, depending on how fast your pump is.
The downside is that in high winds you may end up with a dinghy flying at masthead height like a kite. Tis has only happened to me once...
FullCircle
Well-Known Member
What a great vision that put in my head. Worthy of a Peyton cartoon
dylanwinter
Well-Known Member
I still aim to have the flubber with me in scotland - it will live in the car for times when I will not want to tow a dinghy. on those occasions the hard dinghy can live on the car.
Skylark
Well-Known Member
8, no, no
Skylark
Well-Known Member
I wonder if people are thinking about something other than the WB8 when they describe it as stable
Poxy things.
I started my sailing career in dinghies so, by no means a racer, I'm capable of keeping a small boat flat.
I've found the WB8 totally unforgiving. Micro movement of the tiller or weight shift and it's "dive, dive, dive"
seumask
Well-Known Member
Dylan
If you want a dingy that sails as well you cant go wrong with a MK3 gull. Usually available for around £500. Happily take outboards and oars and rig along with up to 4 adults. We used one as a tender in Chichester harbour for many years and I rue the day I sold it.
This is one in particularly good nick http://sailingdinghies.apolloduck.co.uk/display.phtml?aid=449252
Much more useful than a mirror in my opinion and the trick would be to get a gunter rig to go with it then all the bits can be easily stowed in the boat when you tow it.
If mirror is your option then get an old fiberglass one otherwise you will be spending inordinate amounts of time repairing sections of it. Here's a good example http://sailingdinghies.apolloduck.co.uk/advert.phtml?id=445993
If you want a dingy that sails as well you cant go wrong with a MK3 gull. Usually available for around £500. Happily take outboards and oars and rig along with up to 4 adults. We used one as a tender in Chichester harbour for many years and I rue the day I sold it.
This is one in particularly good nick http://sailingdinghies.apolloduck.co.uk/display.phtml?aid=449252
Much more useful than a mirror in my opinion and the trick would be to get a gunter rig to go with it then all the bits can be easily stowed in the boat when you tow it.
If mirror is your option then get an old fiberglass one otherwise you will be spending inordinate amounts of time repairing sections of it. Here's a good example http://sailingdinghies.apolloduck.co.uk/advert.phtml?id=445993
chrisedwards
Well-Known Member
Had a walker bay 8 for many years. Brilliant for my davits as so light. Easy to put on roofrack of small car (extension sticks pushed in ends to accommodate beam). All the stability you expect from such a small dinghy. Beautifully crafted rudder and centreboard - so satisfying to sail. Rigs in 2.3 minutes. Don't bother with tubes - I use four of my ship fenders lashed along the gunwales for longer sailing voyages. Nothing comes close to it.
gregcope
Well-Known Member
I have a 10 with tubes and sailing kit.
- Sails - "ok" but upwind a bit slow, and from experience you will not make much way up-tide if going upwind
- Stability - Find it very stable with tubes, and they do an excellent job of fendering when coming alongside the mothership
- Bringing up beach - I can do it up sand, but not my partner, quiet heavy and the little wheel is pointless. Up gravel it is fine
- Tows ok on a long line
Got ours on ebay.
Would love a larger clinker dingy, but this would be less stable, and harder to get up the beach so the walker bay is a good choice.
- Sails - "ok" but upwind a bit slow, and from experience you will not make much way up-tide if going upwind
- Stability - Find it very stable with tubes, and they do an excellent job of fendering when coming alongside the mothership
- Bringing up beach - I can do it up sand, but not my partner, quiet heavy and the little wheel is pointless. Up gravel it is fine
- Tows ok on a long line
Got ours on ebay.
Would love a larger clinker dingy, but this would be less stable, and harder to get up the beach so the walker bay is a good choice.
