If You Only Had One Tender, What Would It Be From Experience?

Thank you all for making this online community active, it helps to get feedback on questions like this. Here's the situation.

If you were to use a tender for Caribbean waters in conjunction with say the Selene Ocean explorer or North Pacific 59, I've heard the Dauntless 15 is probably the most robust. But why would you want to buy a 25 year old tender and how often/expensive is it to adjust a flybridge to fit a larger tender?

I'm initially set on the Supersport 130, because it seems like a plug and play option, however it's in the back of my mind that everyone usually suggests 15ft or larger for coastal waters/Caribbean.

Am I missing anything here on the best option for a tender? And is the 13ft supersport from your experience too small for an ocean going tender?

Have a nice weekend

Do you want a boat to dock tender or do you want a boat to shore tender?

I see what you're saying, more so boat to shore tender. Maximum guests of 4-5 is fine or less.

In that case I would go with an inflatable, something in the 11-12’ range with 5hp. This way you can drag it up the shore to avoid tide changes.

I wrestled with this same issue. Ultimately I realized one tender couldn’t do what I wanted-short trips to shore (90% of the time) and longer trips(rough water), including fishing, scuba diving, etc. My shore boat is a 10 foot inflatable with a epropulsion motor (no fuel needed and light weight) with retractable wheels for hauling above the tide lines). The bigger tender is a Stabicraft Fisher-My main requirement was something that didn’t need air and I could beat the hell out of it. Aluminum fit the bill for me.

This information is valuable. I never heard of the Stabicraft or the ability to use an electric motor on the inflatable dinghy until you mentioned it, that's brilliant.

Follow up question, based on if you both own the 10ft inflatable dingys. What electric motor are you using to get 5hp? I'm seeing most in the range of 3hp if that's powerful enough for that size with 350lbs of persons.

3 hp is fine for an inflatable dingy that is not a RIB.

The electric outboards are not getting you up on plane, or anything near that. I wouldn’t hesitate putting 3-4 people (which I do regularly) to go to shore. With 600 lbs of people onboard, Im probably going 3 knots-which you are forced to do anyway to keep people dry due to the lower draft. By myself, around 6 knots. I rarely go faster than that in any anchorage im in anyway.

Agreed with Mac2 on electric outboard speed.

Another option (which I'm likely to do soon) is to have one tender but two engines. We are getting a carbon fiber tender (so non inflatable) and gas outboard. But plan to add an electric outboard for redundancy and simplicity for shore trips.

If desired for beaching, could use the crane to remove gas outboard temporarily. Just my current thinking

I don't think one dinghy does it all. A lot of depends on where you boat. For us in central America theft target is a concern. A small, easily inflatable dinghy with a small 3hp outboard is a great second dinghy. Lightweight and easily inflated or stored. And easily beached. Our very fast and nice AB 310 with 20hp Tohatsu is a great dink, but rarely needed for us and difficult to drag up a beach. Easier to inflate the small one.

Peter

The largest one that will fit where it will be stowed with the biggest outboard and the biggest fuel tank!
Hollywood

I want through this very same thing.

First I had a Zodiac YL340 with a 30 HP engine.
No way I was moving that thing a inch up the beach. It was a non starter from the get go.

Then I bought a all Aluminum tender that was only 200 pounds and i put a yamaha 6 hp on the back and a good set of dingy wheels.
Another bad idea. First it was tippy. Second It was heavy in the front. I was lifting about 100 poubnds and trying to drag that up the beach.

Then I bought the perfect skiff. A Highfield UL 260 and I kept the 6hp yamaha.
This skiff weighs in at 79 pounds, plus the nice light motor. I can drag the whole thing up the beach, turn it around, and launch it myself.

The bigger, cooler skiff is wonderful!!! If you want to cruise the local docks. If you want to go to shore every pound counts.

Having cruised the eastern Caribbean for 9 1/2 yrs. Note the following.
Often there’s very significant surf near the beaches. Until you get to very large and expensive electrics they simply do not have the oomph to deal with it. Lowest hp I’ve seen on a dinghy is 10hp. Commonly see 15-20hp. This is on common sizes carried by small cruising sailboats.
Often you travel long distances to explore but also to do activities of daily life such as laundry or provisioning. Your dinghy is your daily driver. Living aboard is very different than a weeks charter. You need as much range, carrying space and weight carrying as you can get. The limitation is dinghy/engine storage.
There’s a fair amount of dinghy engine theft. Dinghies are hauled up at night and not left in the water by prudent cruisers. Yamahas seem to have the highest risk. Make sure you can easily store your engine and dinghy in such a manner as to it more difficult to steal than the surrounding boats. Use only chain when locking at a dinghy dock and have a dedicated independent locking system for the engine.
Get the biggest dinghy and engine you can fit and work with on your boat. Many suggest aluminum RIBs with hypalon tubes. Folks are back and forth on chaps. Some say don’t look fancy but rather old and work a day so less attractive to thieves. So a dinghy with every option and chaps (unless weathered) is more likely to disappear. If stolen don’t expect you will ever see it again. My understanding is often the thieves just want the engine. But will take the package (dinghy/engine) away to leave quickly and not get caught. Dinghy is abandoned and engine goes on rigid local skiff or used for parts.
You’re going to travel in significant winds, currents, surf, and long distances . Bigger is definitely better. But too big makes for troubles mooring at a dinghy dock. For most boats 10-12’ is about right, in Al with a 20 on the back. Sure a roll up with an electric 3-5hp on the back will do as a second in protected harbors but utility is limited. Won’t carry squat going to the food market. Nor a couple of visitors and their possessions .

Hippocampus said:

You’re going to travel in significant winds, currents, surf, and long distances . Bigger is definitely better. But too big makes for troubles mooring at a dinghy dock. For most boats 10-12’ is about right, in Al with a 20 on the back. Sure a roll up with an electric 3-5hp on the back will do as a second in protected harbors but utility is limited. Won’t carry squat going to the food market. Nor a couple of visitors and their possessions .

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That sounds right to me. Often your preferred place to anchor will be some distance from your beach or dockside destination ashore. The greater your dinghy's speed and mobility, the more tolerant you're going to be of dropping the hook further away from the maddening crowd. For one dinghy to do everything, a 10' to 12' aluminum RIB would be my choice. A 15 hp motor has enough "oomph" to get you up on plane with two or maybe three people aboard, but still light enough to wrangle aboard if you have to. Much bigger than 15 hp and the motor weight becomes an issue.

Chain the dinghy to the dock, and chain the motor to the dinghy's transom. It's a PITA to carry that much hardware around but it beats going shopping for a new dinghy and motor.

Blissboat said:

Chain the dinghy to the dock, and chain the motor to the dinghy's transom. It's a PITA to carry that much hardware around but it beats going shopping for a new dinghy and motor.

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What do you chain to when there is no dock because you're on a beach? Or you're at a crowded dinghy dock where dinghies are frequently shuffled to move boats?

So much depends on where and how you plan to use your boat. For us, 95% of use has been from Anchorage to beach. Our AB 310 AL (120 lbs) and 20hp is an albatross. So much so that I'll be bringing a TrueKit inflatable down to pair with a 3.3 Merc OB I already have. I used to have a small cheapo inflatable and it wasn't bad to inflate, launch, and stow.

Another important factor is your favor setup. When we cruised with Slowgoesit/Muirgen, I lusted over their transom mounted setup that could have their sink in the water in 2-3 mins (we stow/launch from the boat deck which is considerably more effort).

I've noticed that several larger boats have also gone to the two dinghy solution for the same reasons I have. Big dinghys are a hindrance in majority of cruising situations, at least in Pacific Mexico.

Peter

Yes area specific Peter but OP says he’s in PR. Although Culebra and Culebrita are truly lovely and well protected and 3.3 might do it. Many people anchor inside the reef along the south of the entrance to the bay for Culebra. With that longer and common transit a rollup with a 3.3 hp ain’t gonna cut the mustard. If he decides to go southeast down the chain even staying within the Leewards he’ll be very dissapointed with such a small dinghy unless he stays only in marinas and occasionally also pays for cabs to provision.
As regards beaches unfortunately sometimes your best option is to get the dinghy close and anchor. Then wade or if necessary swim in. We carry several waterproof bags/backpacks for that and other purposes. Also carry a spike or used the anchor to secure the dinghy on the beach. Never had issues with a 20hp tohatsu and heavy glass RIB. Two people pull on the rode and bob’s your uncle. Hardest part was turning it around to drag back into the water. Many 15s and 20s four strokes are on the same block. You can still occasionally find 2 strokes down there as well. We bought a Suzuki 20hp 4 stroke in St.Lucia. For a 4stroke light and bulletproof. Cheaper than a yamie too.

As regards thief from beaches it’s less common from what I understand. You’re commonly in sight of your dinghy. Most common is when your anchored and didn’t get the dinghy out of the water at night. Second is off a dinghy dock.
Our dinghy then had the gas tank inside a forward lockable compartment. If we were going off hiking or for a long snorkel would simply disconnect the tank inside the locked compartment before leaving.
On the trawler have the best dinghy I ever had. It’s a Brandname “Rigid Boats” with a 40hp Yamaha on the back. We have a “Freedom Lift” on the back so I push a button and up it goes. Weight isn’t a concern.
This allows solar panels and space on the boat deck. But it’s a coastal set up and I don’t think appropriate for a blue water boat. Still great for me. I anchor in my new cruising grounds and with two Scotties fish off the dinghy. Range or distance or payload is never a concern. It’s keyed and hard to steal. But I’m never going to able to pull it up on a beach. Only option is anchor and wade in.

Hippocampus knows more about the eastern Caribbean than anyone I know. If that's your cruising ground, his perspective carries a lot of weight.

As far as anchoring a dinghy and wading ashore, this worked well for us in the Bahamas where we rented a 17-foot bow rider for a week (which was an absolute blast). Mixed results in Mexico trying to do the same. The beach is steeper and there's decent surf so you end up anchoring in 4-5 feet of water which is well past wading depth. In concept, the bungee retriever cord doo-hickey thing should allow you to get close to shore then let the bungee pull the dink into deeper water while you set a shore anchor to retrieve when you return. Watching others try it a few times I have yet to see a successful set using one.

Peter

Agree. Have tried unsuccessfully several times. So just swim in pushing roll top bags. Much less stressful. Don’t trust so called waterproof zippers. Leave air in the bags (fill only half way or so) use a bunch of rolls. Seen some set up the bag(s) and leave them in the dinghy . Tie a long line to the bag(s) and swim in with just the line. Then pull the bag out and to the beach with the line. Never did that myself but saw it work just fine.

We've been pretty happy with our 12' aluminum skiff with a 6hp. If I were going for ideal, I'd build something similar out of foam cored fiberglass. It wouldn't be as durable but would be a little lighter allowing a 10hp with the same total weight (ours is 150 lbs empty, about 250 lbs with engine, fuel, oars, and anchor). And the shape could be optimized to get more payload capacity.

Realistically the weak points of our dinghy are limited payload capacity (about 500 lbs legally) and ride quality when lightly loaded. With 2 people running at WOT into a foot of chop at 9 kts or so isn't bad, just slightly wet. With 1 person running on plane at all in a chop like that is pretty much back breaking so you end up doing more like 5 kts instead of the 12-13 the dinghy will do when lightly loaded.

For good points, the aluminum skiff is more easily driven than an inflatable and will just barely plane a 450-ish lb load with only 6hp. Speed wise it'll do a bit over 12 kts with 1 person (and it's under propped for that load). 2 adults is down to 9.5 - 10.5 kts typically and once you add the dog it's just barely making it onto plane at 9 - 9.5 kts. For our purposes of rarely needing to dinghy a long distance it's fast enough.

Stability isn't really an issue with the aluminum skiff in my experience. It feels a bit tippy but realistically it's pretty hard to actually tip the thing. It doesn't have the stability of an inflatable, but still has enough that it's not a challenge getting in and out, etc. You can stand most of the way to one side when you step in the out with no issues, no need to step all the way to the center.

I use the dink from boat to shore. Have had the same (model) 9 foot RIB on last three boats. Started with a 9.9 HP which planed well with 2 POB, but not 4POB. Found that a waste of HP so stepped down to 5HP propane. This setup will take 4 POB to shore as easily as 2. Runs a fast walk speed, which is enough anyway to avoid water over bow.
If boat to shore is all you need then bigger is not always better.

Propane is very difficult to source in the Caribbean

6hp is grossly under powered in that cruising grounds as well

I've gone through several dinghies. Current one is a Highfield 340UL hypalon with a Tohatsu 20 hp, and it works well for me. The total weight of < 250 lbs makes hoisting and beaching feasible when solo, and the boat will plane with 3-4 people aboard, or allow me to travel long distances at ~25 knots in fair conditions when solo.

For me there is a big difference in capabilities between this boat and a smaller RIB with less power. I'd advise the biggest fastest boat you can easily handle and store.

mvweebles said:

What do you chain to when there is no dock because you're on a beach? Or you're at a crowded dinghy dock where dinghies are frequently shuffled to move boats?


Another important factor is your favor setup. When we cruised with Slowgoesit/Muirgen, I lusted over their transom mounted setup that could have their sink in the water in 2-3 mins (we stow/launch from the boat deck which is considerably more effort).

Peter

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Maybe I've led a sheltered existence - can't remember dinghying ashore in many places where the boat theft right off the beach worried me much. Most times beaching the dinghy has been when visiting a small island, where I felt like I could maintain situational awareness. Wherever I have gone ashore in a place that gave off a sketchy vibe, I cut the trip ashore short and stationed someone in sight of the dinghy.

That said, I take basic measures like disconnecting the fuel supply and carrying the dinghy anchor up the beach. If the dinghy will be unattended / unobserved for any length of time, a "sand anchor," (like a small mobile home anchor) augered in with the cable run through the eye would slow someone down. Honestly, though, it doesn't much matter what you use. If someone wants your rig and has enough time to work unobserved, and the right tool, like a beefy bolt cutter or battery powered cutter, then it's adios.

On the subject of launching and then wrangling the dinghy back aboard, I have towed aluminum and inflatable dinghies thousands of miles, inshore, near shore and offshore, with little trouble. (One time, surfing down big swells out in the Gulf Stream, the dinghy tried to overtake the big boat and pass)! When preparing to tow a dinghy in unprotected waters, the motor comes aboard the big boat, of course. Unfortunately it doesn't just climb aboard by itself, though, which is why I favor the biggest outboard whose weight will allow me to lift and lower it into a bobbing dinghy, then attach it to the transom without straining. In my experience, that's a 15. Hippocampus is right that 15 and 20 hp outboards are often built on the same block, so YMMV.

I agree that a good stern mounted davit system is best. Winching a dinghy out of the water and maneuvering it into chocks on the upper deck gets real old.

mvweebles said:

Hippocampus knows more about the eastern Caribbean than anyone I know. If that's your cruising ground, his perspective carries a lot of weight.

As far as anchoring a dinghy and wading ashore, this worked well for us in the Bahamas where we rented a 17-foot bow rider for a week (which was an absolute blast). Mixed results in Mexico trying to do the same. The beach is steeper and there's decent surf so you end up anchoring in 4-5 feet of water which is well past wading depth. In concept, the bungee retriever cord doo-hickey thing should allow you to get close to shore then let the bungee pull the dink into deeper water while you set a shore anchor to retrieve when you return. Watching others try it a few times I have yet to see a successful set using one.

Peter

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I was about to ask why all these people are dragging their dinghies up and down the beach when you can just use an anchor buddy to leave it in deeper water. We use ours all the time for our 14 foot, 50 HP, 800+ pound Nouverania and it’s the easiest thing in the world. Nose up to the beach, let passengers step off on to dry land, set a grapnel up the shore on a long line clipped to the bow ring, back out to deeper water, heave the anchor buddy on its bungee clipped to a ring on the transom, haul yourself back to the beach on the grapnel line, step off, and let the boat spring back out to deep water. Even simpler going the other way, not sure why anybody would have difficulty with it.

Blissboat said:

Maybe I've led a sheltered existence - can't remember dinghying ashore in many places where the boat theft right off the beach worried me much. Most times beaching the dinghy has been when visiting a small island, where I felt like I could maintain situational awareness.

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Spend some time in Central America where average daily wage is in the $12/day range.....and where replacement at any price is difficult. It's one thing to dinghy into a beach bar and hang out for an hour or two for lunch. Totally different thing to leave for the day while you go inland exploring.

Sababa said:

I was about to ask why all these people are dragging their dinghies up and down the beach when you can just use an anchor buddy to leave it in deeper water. We use ours all the time for our 14 foot, 50 HP, 800+ pound Nouverania and it’s the easiest thing in the world. Nose up to the beach, let passengers step off on to dry land, set a grapnel up the shore on a long line clipped to the bow ring, back out to deeper water, heave the anchor buddy on its bungee clipped to a ring on the transom, haul yourself back to the beach on the grapnel line, step off, and let the boat spring back out to deep water. Even simpler going the other way, not sure why anybody would have difficulty with it.

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Again, very location specific. The entire Pacific Coast has mostly open-roadstead anchorages. Beaches are usually fairly steep grade to the waterline, and there is frequently some choppy waves hitting the beach. Beaching a dinghy is not easy - I certainly have not perfected the art but thankfully there is no video evidence to embarass me.

And then there is the tidal range to worry about. Getting your dinghy far enough up the beach is obviously important. Or in the afternoon, not unusual for wind and waves to kick-up. As Hippocampus pointed out, the OP is in Puerto Rico so a different area (though I would think unattended dinghy theft would be a concern).

Peter.

We now always used a similar tactic to Sababa.
I set a grapnel over the side on the way to the beach that has a bungee line that gets stretched tight and is tied to the Bow ring. We have a second small grapnel if there is nothing to tie to on the beach attached to a light yellow floating line and tied off to the transom. We step off at the beach and then push the dinghy off, it turns bow to the swell and goes out to deeper water. We pull the rig in to reboard. I have a few different "shore" boats we take depending on what we're doing and how many we will be carrying. We cruised mexico years ago with a lighter zodiac with a 15hp yamaha and a soft bottom with floor boards, most times we ( 2 of us) ran onto the beach "panga" style then drug it up the beach a bit further. Relaunching was always a bitch, Our 12' RIB with a 15hp 2 stroke ( which I hope to keep the remainder of my boating days) is just too heavy, the lifting point is too tall for the admiral even though she could probably ( 4 time Iron-man) drag it it by herself if she had too.
We always leave them floating now, much more civilized.. it is Yachting after all!
Hollywood

How about an OC Tender with wheels to drag onto the beach. No tubes to puncture, but fendered sides

Maldwin said:

How about an OC Tender with wheels to drag onto the beach. No tubes to puncture, but fendered sides

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Yup.they have gotten popular. Nice rig. Can get them in CF to cut down weight. But expensive and I would think a target for theft.
But for an ocean boat having one or two dinghies on the boat deck may still be the best option. Much less worries taking a wave into the dinghy ruining trim at just the wrong moment. They take forever to drain. With a good powered crane not hard to launch or retrieve.
On sailboats see people draping a felted cloth over the side to protect gelcoat or paint and using a halyard to raise the dinghy a few feet. On big boats see the same with the hydraulic crane. Safe and readily available.
Just had lunch today with friends we buddy boated with back/forth to Antigua. He related a story where he flipped the dinghy while towing. Never a fan. People tangle their prop while docking, flip them, get hit by them, lose them, have them slow themselves up. So just take the extra effort to haul them is my motto. Have enough to worry me. Don’t need another variable. Thank you very much. Wife says I have trouble multitasking and will forget it’s there at the wrong time.

I agree, towing a dinghy is a pain and best avoided. The best way to carry and what the safe options are will depend both on what the mothership is and the intended use case.