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

Anything but an inflatable is going to gouge the side of your boat when it hits it. I'm not the only one that drives it, so that's a requirement for me. Also, 5 minutes of sitting sideways and facing forward to operate a tiller and my back hurts. For my solution a 12 ft inflatable with a center console that I can stand up behind and 25 hp. Planes easily with 4 people. About 400 lbs wet.

Hippocampus said:

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.

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Thank you for all of your detailed experience in the Caribbean, you nailed it, with Culebra/Culebrita being the neighboring island.

Great feedback so far, which is helping to sort this out. I agree, that the lifting of the dingy to the upper deck of the flybridge looked like a pain and then towing it, seemed like a risk of the lines being snagged. Freedom lift looks superb, but possibly too expensive for the first round. I'll get another post started if anyone wants to chime in for this next idea.

Never heard of the OC Tender, I'm going to research that vs Highfield. Thanks everyone

TBill36 said:

Anything but an inflatable is going to gouge the side of your boat when it hits it. I'm not the only one that drives it, so that's a requirement for me. Also, 5 minutes of sitting sideways and facing forward to operate a tiller and my back hurts. For my solution a 12 ft inflatable with a center console that I can stand up behind and 25 hp. Planes easily with 4 people. About 400 lbs wet.

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Don’t know about this. Currently have Rigid (tm) dinghy. It’s solid glass. Rub rail is rubber. Know from experience is doesn’t mar the mothership. I carry one fender o her but it’s to protect the dinghy when tied to concrete or other rough surfaces.
The OC dinghies aren’t RIBs. Nothing inflates. No air tubes. But they are surrounded by a collar of closed cell foam. They don’t mar the mothership.
Multiple brands such as “Life Proof Boats” have gone to all aluminum hulls and house. Again surrounded by a collar of closed cell foam enclosed in rubber with rubber rub rails glued on top. Multiple versions (patrol, fire, SAR and recreational). No fenders are used except when necessary to protect the vessel from abrasion but not other vessels.
Even an old school wooden dinghy with thick triple strand rope around its gunnels won’t gouge or mar glass.
RIBs are popular but not the only way to skin the cat and sometimes not the best way either.

For our hard dinghy I bolted some fenders to the sides and added some padding at the top of the gunwale. That took care of the "banging up the mothership" issue. Hard dinghies need a little thought to padding as it's not built in like an inflatable. But it's not a hard problem to solve.

Mac2 said:

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.

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There is an electric motor more for larger RIBs, pontoon boats etc... and much different than the standard small, electric outboards most people are familiar with. Pure watercraft (www.purewatercraft.com) has electric outboards that push our Highfield 380 with 3+ people on plane. Planes at 15-17 kt and with two batteries can do that for ~20nm. Using it for a shore tender at low low speeds the range is a lot more...150 nm. Not going to replace our 13' Ab with a 50 hp honda but depending on use case, it's an option especially on lakes or for specific functions where you get to plug it in to charge all night!

-tozz

Ahh, dinghies! Like anchors and boats themselves. Each one is a compromise. I have a 13 foot Avon RIB with console, 50HP Yamaha, 13 gallon gas tank, a chartplotter (which is GREAT to have), and the rig is 800+ pounds stored on the boat deck of my Selene. We use our dinghy from Bahamas to Maine like a Jeep Willy. We won't think twice about going through 2-3 foot waves in 15 kts of wind for 5 miles one way to get somewhere. We're beat up and wet when we get there, but dammit were there! We've had 6 ppl and groceries (don't tell the CG) and frequently use it for snorkeling and fishing. We love our sunset dinghy cruises with our beverage of choice. It's not just for getting provisions.

Benefits of a big dinghy:
1. Go anywhere, anytime (mostly).
2. Carries a lot.
3. Comfortable for longer distances.
4. Powers through big waves even with a payload.
5. The weight and hypalon tubes deaden and smoothes out the ride somewhat.
6. You'll be the first one there (wherever "there" is).

Cons to a big dinghy:
1. Needs to be stored on the boat deck with a crane which takes 2 ppl about 10 minutes, but can't be done when the boat is in a rolling anchorage.
2. Can't be beached when there's a tide or breaking waves.
3. You need to anchor out and wade or swim to shore (I may try an Anchor Buddy this year).
4. Uses a lot of gas which isn't always available.

10' AB RIB with a 15-20 HP Yamaha