Dinghy gas or electric

[Marlinmike]

Take a look at a 6hp Suzuki, light enough, tank internal or external and if you two are light can get you on plane.

Electric is great if you don't use raft much (no need to worry about fresh gas) and stay real locally.

 

[Seevee]

you already have lots of gas onboard...what's a little more?

If you don't like storing it, set it up so you can pump from your main tanks every time you need to top off or get the needed amount for your outboard.

Psneeld,

Lots of diesel on board so I'd need a diesel outboard. And would have to plumb some sort of tap off the supply line. PITA, but doable. What's the market like on diesel outboards?

As for gas, it's fine, but much harder to deal with than a battery, and the battery is a lot safer. And electric motors are more reliable. I just feel they may be a bit small. Really need to cruise at 5kts min., better yet, 10.

Still on the fence.

 

[Seevee]

As far as reliability goes, I have had my Torqeedo for 5-6 years with zero problems. The original battery is still going strong. My second battery is a couple of years newer and just fine. I have run into one issue. When I put the Torqeedo on my hard dinghy it is difficult to find a comfortable position to sit in with two people aboard. I have dealt with that issue by buying a new pair of 8 foot Shaw and Tenney spoon blade oars. I can row as fast as the motor will push the boat and find it much more pleasant.

TDunn,

"Row as fast as the motor will push"???? That's incredibly slow and just not in the cards... in the 2 to 3 knot range. Anything faster?

 

[Hamrow]

Great topic so I hope its okay to revive this thread.
We've had the same debate and wanting to maybe get the regular gas off the boat. For those that have Torqueedo; Can you tell me is there an easy way to setup solar panels on top of the dinghy with which to charge it, or how do you typically recharge the battery?

 

[dhays]

Great topic so I hope its okay to revive this thread.
We've had the same debate and wanting to maybe get the regular gas off the boat. For those that have Torqueedo; Can you tell me is there an easy way to setup solar panels on top of the dinghy with which to charge it, or how do you typically recharge the battery?

I bought the flexible solar panel from Torqeedo. On the sailboat I would just lash it to the top of the dodger, and set the battery on the cabin top behind the dodger. It always had the battery charged up during the summer days.

I haven't yet done that with my power boat but will this summer at some point. I have never felt the need to have a solar panel on the dinghy to charge the battery. I have lots of flat space that I can use. I may do the same as I did on the sailboat and just last the flexible panel to the top of the bimini over the flybridge and set the battery up there to charge.

So far, since I have an inverter, I have just been plugging the charger into one of the 120v outlets to charge the battery.

 

[FF]

"I sure like the simplicity of electric, and seems much easier to deal with, but would it be powerful enough and battery life long enough....?"

First question is who will be using the dink?

Most guys have no problem starting a reluctant gas engine by fiddeling and yanking 50 times.

Many ladies Are not up to this task.

Cruises have been ruined by companions that feel trapped on board.

For some folks teaching the companion to row works , but only with hard dinks , as the condoms are almost impossible to row in a breeze.

I would suggest electric , with an upgrade to big gasoline when the need for speed becomes evident.

 

[Moby Nick]

Why aren't oars an option? I much prefer rowing or sculling a hard dinghy. We tow a 65# CLC Eastport Pram behind our Albin-25.

 

[CDreamer]

William F Buckley has a good anecdote about pulling into an Bermuda anchorage in his big sailboat. Noticed a beautiful, large ketch nearby - it was Dr Benjamin Spock's ( the baby doctor's) boat.
Buckley sent a crew member in his powered dinghy over with an invite to dinner. He wrote, "At 5:00 pm, Dr Spock got in his dinghy and rowed - I knew he would row - over to us with a very nice bottle of wine, and his apologies that he had his own guests aboard and couldn't join us." [paraphrasing]

There's something to be said for rowing, beyond the exercise, although a good fast dinghy is often better for exploring, I think. Just covers more ground.

Back when my wife and I were sailing the Eastern Caribbean we typically towed our dinghy, which also worked really well.

 

[Bay Pelican]

"I sure like the simplicity of electric, and seems much easier to deal with, but would it be powerful enough and battery life long enough....?"

First question is who will be using the dink?

Most guys have no problem starting a reluctant gas engine by fiddeling and yanking 50 times.

Many ladies Are not up to this task.

Cruises have been ruined by companions that feel trapped on board.

In the Eastern Caribbean almost every woman is adept at using the dinghy. The dinks are the means of transportation between boats and between the boat and shore.

The major difference between the Caribbean and North American is that two-stroke engines are still sold in the Caribbean and are the overwhelming favorite. The four strokes are just harder to pull start. A few friends have purchased 9-15 hp four stokes only to sell them when they found resistance from their wives. The four stokes with electric starts are used by a number of the boats with larger dinghies usually with seating and a steering wheel.

 

[gaston]

Why aren't oars an option? I much prefer rowing or sculling a hard dinghy. We tow a 65# CLC Eastport Pram behind our Albin-25.

Not a option for me emptying out 2 dogs at 2am on a wet winter night I want to get ashore and back as fast as possible

 

[FF]

Somehow overlooked in these comments is sail.

We use a Grumman aluminum dink that roes well with one or two .

In a stiff wind or fast current both rowers are sometimes needed to make good speed over the bottom.

For a bit of distance , a few miles of exploring stepping the sail takes under a min and is very rewarding , silent travel.

As the dink is only 8 ft , for two occupants cushions are used sitting on the floor boards ,,still room for a cooler chest..

"In the Eastern Caribbean almost every woman is adapt at using the dinghy."

No question by time folks get to the Carib the dink is a work horse for all..

The hassle I have seen is the first few months where the learning curve is steep.

 

[Pack Mule]

As far as reliability goes, I have had my Torqeedo for 5-6 years with zero problems. The original battery is still going strong. My second battery is a couple of years newer and just fine. I have run into one issue. When I put the Torqeedo on my hard dinghy it is difficult to find a comfortable position to sit in with two people aboard. I have dealt with that issue by buying a new pair of 8 foot Shaw and Tenney spoon blade oars. I can row as fast as the motor will push the boat and find it much more pleasant.

When I bought my Trinka 10 it came with a 3hp Honda . I could never find a comfortable place to sit so I sold the motor . I'm using some oars that came with my Walker Bay and they are not long enough . Maybe I'll get some Shaw and Tenney oars for Christmas.

 

[dhays]

When I bought my Trinka 10 it came with a 3hp Honda . I could never find a comfortable place to sit so I sold the motor . I'm using some oars that came with my Walker Bay and they are not long enough . Maybe I'll get some Shaw and Tenney oars for Christmas.

When I bought my GH Navigator (10' dinghy), I was tempted to buy spoon blade oars but ended up deciding not to indulge. My rational was that beaching the dink around here could chew up the ends of the oars pretty quickly. The regular oars work well, and if I am honest, they work better than I do.

 

[Sunset]

Why aren't oars an option? I much prefer rowing or sculling a hard dinghy. We tow a 65# CLC Eastport Pram behind our Albin-25.

Moby Nick: how does towing the dinghy affect the speed and fuel consumption of the Albin?

 

[Bay Pelican]

Towing a dinghy is a personal choice. Do suggest however that you confirm beforehand whether your insurance covers the dinghy while it is being towed. Mine does not.

 

[Sunset]

My dinghy cost $200, so not overly concerned (see below). But I am trying to figure out for sure which Weaver kit applies. I need to measure the distance from the gunwale down to the swim platform. Also, it seems that the connections for a hard shall dinghy is the reverse of those for inflatables; i.e., the complex clip attaches to the dinghy and the loop to hook into attaches to the platform. Can anyone confirm this is universally the case? I guess I should send an email to Weaver for that question.

 

[dhays]

My dinghy cost $200, so not overly concerned (see below). But I am trying to figure out for sure which Weaver kit applies. I need to measure the distance from the gunwale down to the swim platform. Also, it seems that the connections for a hard shall dinghy is the reverse of those for inflatables; i.e., the complex clip attaches to the dinghy and the loop to hook into attaches to the platform. Can anyone confirm this is universally the case? I guess I should send an email to Weaver for that question.

I had Weaver clips put on my new hard shell dinghy. My SeaWise davits have the clips on the dinghy (RIB) and the bar that the clip attaches to on the swim step. When I got the hard shell dinghy, I just used the Weaver hard shell clips that work just great on the SeaWise bar.

So yes, the Weaver hard shell system uses the clips on the dinghy.

 

[Moby Nick]

Cannot quantify towing speed and efficiency, however, it's realistic. Our Albin still cruises at 8 knots, and we still burn about 1/2 gal/hour.

 

[CapRob]

I love the 4hp Torqueedo on a 10 foot highfield inflatable. 15 lbs in each half carry and store easily. Charging has never been a problem as I check it monthly and it really doesn't lose much charge. It will push the highfield 8 to 10 kts with the dog and I just fine for relief trips.

It's also great not to have to carry, gas or propane on top of the diesel already aboard!

 

[CDreamer]

What about something like this? Diesel would be pretty safe. Might need different davits though.

https://www.williamsjettenders.com/tenders/dieseljet/

 

[Nomad Willy]

Why aren't oars an option? I much prefer rowing or sculling a hard dinghy. We tow a 65# CLC Eastport Pram behind our Albin-25.

Simple Nick,
Only one out of 67 dinghies are suitable for rowing.
Or is that 167?

 

[Hamrow]

What about something like this? Diesel would be pretty safe. Might need different davits though.

https://www.williamsjettenders.com/tenders/dieseljet/

I like the look of that mini 280, but since YW and other sites seem to be afraid to quote a price (don't you hate those ads that say "call for price"?), then i suspect the cost is $$$$.

Also that mini at only about 8-ft indicates it is 440 lbs, which is pretty substantial for an 8-footer....

 

[Nomad Willy]

I just thought I could be interested in an electric like the Torqueedo if it would push my 12' boat like a 3hp for 10 or so hours. Do they?

 

[FlyWright]

How many batteries do you want to carry along for the trip?

 

[CapRob]

I only have one battery for my 4 HP Torqueedo. I charge from the ships system. I haven't found it necessary to get the solar charger. The battery and tiller attach to the shaft very much looking like the fly wheel and tiller section of an old gas Seagull engine. Each section shaft and battery weigh only about 15 pounds each and carry in separate bags. There is a display on the tiller that indicates your expected battery charge life based on the power you are putting into the throttle. If you slowly build speed up and not just kick it into high you get quite a bit of time out of it. The Torqueedo sight has length of charge expectations on it. For its size I have found it quite suitable.

 

[Nomad Willy]

CabRob,
Very good description. How many hours at medium power have you run the Torqueedo? Acceleration occupies such a small amount of running time I can't relate to your comment. I get the impression you've run it a lot but not for hours and hours at one outing. In my application the boat rows very well so I probably shouldn't be concerned about running time. Have you run enough hours to know if the power slowly goes down or does it quit suddenly like a gas OB? I like to go places not just dink around.

Al,
What a splendid new avatar. I really like it!
Many batts? Size of cell phone or size of suitcase?

 

[Hamrow]

CapRob;
sounds great. so to charge you simply plug into a 110VAC outlet? Also: if you cruise your dinghy say into a somewhat crowded marina next to some other dinghys... would you find yourself worrying about theft of the torqueedo or do you do something to secure it if you're parking the dinghy and walking to a store or restaurant?

 

[CDreamer]

CapRob's brief mention of the old British Seagull motors got me wondering if anyone still has one?

We had one in the early 70's on a Pearson Ensign sailboat, it hung on a bracket. Pretty light, actually. We stored it in the cuddy. I think ours actually had 'reverse' but the smaller ones simply turned all the way around on a collar, as I recall. There were a bunch of Seagull's in use at that time.

Once you learned the starting sequence and followed it to the letter, the thing was very dependable. A 5-blade prop, self-contained gas tank...it wasn't fast but this was a 3000 lb displacement boat. That motor would have pushed a barge. From a 'classic' perspective it would look nice with a style like NM's Willard, for example.

Their slogan was, "The Best Outboard Motor FOR the World." (not IN the world...)

 

[dhays]

I just thought I could be interested in an electric like the Torqueedo if it would push my 12' boat like a 3hp for 10 or so hours. Do they?

With the original Travel 1003 you won't get 3 knots for 10 hours. Well, you might, but I wouldn't count on it. They now have a Travel 1003C which has a higher amperage battery that could get you that range.

I did a bit of testing with the Torqeedo on my GH Navigator and found that just a small increase in throttle significantly reduced my range. If I kept it around 3 knots, it would give me over 10nm range.

 

[Sunset]

A slight digression from propulsion - I am measuring up my Skimmar dinghy for attaching the weaver davits. I have identified the centre of balance fore and aft but I notice that the dinghy lists to starboard for some reason. Given that, does anyone have a theory that would apply in terms of deciding to which side I should attach the davit heads? Note that the dinghy does not list to one side in the water. My own opinion is that it will make no practical difference but I still need to make a decision.