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Our introduction to the effects of tides on our recent first (shortened) trip got me thinking that a dinghy would be nice to have. Initially, I didn't think we'd need one (and I still don't think we NEED one), but it would just be safer for to anchor a little away from the shore, as opposed to putting us very near it (and getting stuck when the tide drops).

As luck would have it, a friend of mine just gave me a brand new, never inflated West Marine / Zodiac RU-260. She bought it about 3 or 4 years ago in anticipation of a big hurricane that looked like it might be headed our way, but never even took it out of the box. I inflated it in the living room last night, and it seems the ideal size for me, my wife, and our 2 girls.

Since I'm relatively new to sailing, and totally new to dinghies, I have a few questions.

1) Is a motor a must-have on these things, or can you get by with just using the oars? I really would rather not have to get a motor... because we can get relatively close to the shore with the 26x's shallow draft, I'm guessing these short distances could be easily covered without a motor. Is this correct?

2) When you arrive at the shore, do you typically just leave the dinghy there as you go off and do things? In other words, is inflatable dinghy theft a big problem?

3) Are you supposed to sit backwards as you row? (yeah, I know, that's probably a really dumb one)

4) Is it bad to tow it inflated behind the boat? Or should we deflate it after each use and lash it to the deck?

Anything else I need to know about inflatable dinghies?

--Mike

(Search terms: dink, dinghy, porta-bote, portabote, porta bote, baltik, affordable, maxxon, sevytek, sevytex )

We have rowed our dinghy for years. As long as you are not in a hurry or don't have far to go rowing is OK. We have however just added a motor as we want to be able to explore farther from the boat, rather than just get to shore and back.

I'd start with rowing and see if it meets your needs. And yes, you do sit backwards when you row.

We haven't had any problems leaving our dinghy on the beach or at a dinghy dock in a marina. I'm sure at times there have been ones that have been stolen. I do try to check every so often if it is alone on a beach and there are others around. This is particularly true if we are somewhere that is also land accessible. If you're on an island that only boaters can get to things should be pretty safe. The same is true at a marina dock, it's probably safer there than at a local park dock. We have not had any problems at park docks when we come in from a mooring but then our dinghy was probably the least attractive target tied up there. This could also be another advantage of not having a motor on it. I've heard stories of dinghys and motors being stolen during the night when tied to an anchored boat, but I have never known anyone directly who had this happen.

We have had no problem towing ours at up to 10-11 knots. I usually adjust the tow line so it is riding the crest of the wake. You tow from the two side eyes, not the center one.

The RU-260 is basically just like the dinghy we replaced. The flat slatted bottom doesn't row, tow, or motor as well as the Vee shaped ones. We also found it was becoming to small for the 5 of us. Watch those slats, we have broken a few over time. It does however roll up nicely. We kept it on the bow rolled, crosswise just behind the hatch. It actually makes a nice seat there and is low enough not to get in the way. We tied it on each side to the lifelines.

It was easy to roll it out on the deck, bow forward, ahead of the mast and climb inside to inflate it with a foot pump. I made a lifting sling out of some line and used the jib halyard to help hoist it occasionally, but it really is just as easy for two people to haul on and off by hand.

The choice between towing or pulling it up on deck for us is a question of time and distance to be travelled. Either way works. With our new dinghy we did also purchase a high end automatic electric inflator. The ease of inflating it will most likely lead us to be more willing to pull it from the water and deflate it. We tended to keep it stored on deck until we got to a place we needed it, inflate it and then tow it from then on to avoid having to do the inflation process over and over. I hope now that will be different.

The RU-260 is the same dinghy I have. I've had it for a year, bought it last June in anticipation of needing it for the trip to Bimini with the Conch Cruisers. Coudn't afford the motor at the same time. Figured what the heck, I'm a big guy, I learned to row in the Boy Scouts, rowing should be no problem and great exercise.

Hauled it to Bimimi, in the carrying bag inside the boat. Thought I'd save some money in slip fees, after clearing customs I left the marina and anchored about 150 yards off the dinghy dock. Inflated the dinghy on the foredeck, deployed it and got ready to row to shore.

Maybe five knot wind out of the Northwest, offshore, and a fairly strong tidal current running approximately East, parallel to the shore.

Got into the dinghy preparing to "test row" to the dinghy dock, but due to the wind and current (wisely it turned out) just snubbed the 100 foot painter up short and left the end cleated to the Mac. Unshipped the oars, unsnubbed the painter and began to row. And row, and row, and row. I'm rowing like mad toward the shore, and being blown and swept by the current in the exact opposite direction at an alarming rate.

Boing! The painter snapped tight. If I hadn't left it tied up, I believe my next stop would have been the coast of England, or maybe Aftrica.

Shipped the oars and pulled myself back to the Mac hand over hand by the painter. Pulled the dinghy back onto the foredeck, lashed it under the lifelines, pulled the anchor and motored back to the marina to find a slip.

Never used the dinghy again the entire week in Bimini nor since.

In fairness, before pulling the anchor I noted the paddle wheel speedo indicating five knots current. Expecting to be able to row against a five knot current might be asking a little much. On the other hand, such currents were common in Bimini. You could sure waste a lot of time waiting for favorable currents.

This year, we're headed for the Dry Tortugas with the same group. This year, I bought a motor. 4HP, the max it will take. Rowing is great exercise, but if you want to actually go where you want to go instead of where the wind or current happen to be taking you, get a motor.

Having a dinghy can add a whole new dimension to trailer sailing. I was at Isle Royal on Lake Superior last summer. Having a dinghy allowed us to explore up creeks an go island hopping for hikes. I have an airdeck, inflatable keel type dinghy that is 7'11" and it goes pretty fast. I have a new Tahatsu 6hp 4stroke outboard on it (thanks Chip). My son likes to take it out on the local lake and buzz around. I have a little trailer for it. This weekend, we're towing it behind our car on a local camping trip. Kids take it out fishing.

Chip, your story was very funny (though I'm sure it wasn't funny to you at the time!), and I'll be sure to keep your experience in mind! I'm going to think about this for a while, and maybe take the inflatable out on the bayou to get an idea of how hard it is to row against the wind.

I also need to find out how much of an issue current will be here in the MS Gulf Coast area.

--Mike

What are the rules on electric trolling motors ? Are they the same as with gas powered motors in regards to needing a registration ? In NYS I am pretty sure that you need to get it registered even if the motor is nothing more than a trolling electric motor. But in NC I have heard different opinions including a salesperson at Boaters World telling me that it does not have to be registered with just an electric motor.

You say "Why not ask MV" my answer is there are as many opinions at the Fish and Wildlife MV's as there are Fish and Wildlife boat registration locations in NC. By the way you don't register a boat at the MV liike you do in NY, you go to a Fish and Wildlife registration location which can be no more than a Mom and Pop tackle shop.

-Don B

Our original dinghy was an 8'6" Sevylor with inflatable floor. Although rated for 3 people I felt unsafe in the San Juan Islands with more than myself and wife aboard. I originally rowed it, but had problems (fortunately not as severe as Chip's) getting from the dinghy dock in a 5 knot wind. Also even when I rowed straight to the boat the current pulled us off course and since rowing sitting backwards I was constantly straining my neck to stay on course. The flat bottom had zero directionaly stability. The oars that came with the boat had shafts that broke into two pieces for storage. This design also meant they bent at the joints when rowing hard. I replaced them with better one piece oars. Good news on the boat was that it rolled up very compactly and was easy to store on the Mac. Had I kept the boat I would have added a Tohatsu 2.8, but when Boater's world had a sale last year I purchased a 10'6" Zoom with a wood floor and a 6hp motor. Harder to store, but absolutely rock solid as a way to get from the anchored Mac to shore.

One of the boats on the San Juan trip last year had a electric trolling motor on their dinghy. It did quite a good job of moving their boat around.

Our Boat US version of your RU-260 was limited to a 5hp and we already owned a 6hp, yet another reason we upgraded to a larger airfloor boat.

In the 8 years we used it with our previous boat and the current 'X' we never found wind to be a problem, only currents. Even those can be delt with. You never row against a current, you always row across them. They tend to be in bands and you can usually get through the strongest part fairly easily to a weaker area. Plan your path with the current in mind, aim high. Probably the worst we delt with was anchored inside Deception Pass on our first trip with the 'X'. turns out the spot we picked developed 6+ knot currents along the shore that reversed with the tides. It was slack when we anchored. We set out opposing anchors so there was no problem keeping the boat in one place. Trips to shore weren't too bad, but getting back to the boat was a one shot deal. You had to aim far enough upstream to arrive even with the boat and the hope you could grab something as you went by. Miss it and your only choice was to row back into shore where the current was weak and head back upstream for another shot.

Even in these conditions the dinghy served fine for many rowed trips to shore.

One key with the flat bottomed boats is air pressure. Since it has no floor structure to provide front to back support you need to get the tubes real hard. Inflate it till it seems good and then add some more. You need 3+PSI. A good indicator is the seat. If you sit on it and it creases the tube where it is attached you need more air.

Hmmmmm... speaking of small outboard motors, I wonder if a 3.5-4hp motor would be able to push along the 26x if the main motor failed? Has anyone tried this? If so, how did you mount the motor?

I have a 6hp Johnson long shaft (which I'm currently trying to sell) that was used as a kicker on our previous boat, but I guess it's a little too big to use on the RU260 inflatable.

--Mike

Our 6hp is setup to do this. It is on a trolling bracket on the starboard transom outboard of the rudder. It can be raised and lowered easily. My older mac has the transom mounted mast carrier which rotates outboard nicely and also acts as a crane. I have a lifting harness on the motor and with a simple block and tackle can lift the motor off the trolling bracket and place it on the dinghy.

I just got all this installed, and haven't got pictures yet. I will post a mod shortly. I expect the 6hp will move the 'X' just fine, I'll be testing it in a few days when I go out to test all the new stuff I've recently installed.

Duane Dunn, Allegro wrote:Our 6hp is setup to do this. It is on a trolling bracket on the starboard transom outboard of the rudder. It can be raised and lowered easily. My older mac has the transom mounted mast carrier which rotates outboard nicely and also acts as a crane. I have a lifting harness on the motor and with a simple block and tackle can lift the motor off the trolling bracket and place it on the dinghy.

I just got all this installed, and haven't got pictures yet. I will post a mod shortly. I expect the 6hp will move the 'X' just fine, I'll be testing it in a few days when I go out to test all the new stuff I've recently installed.

I wonder if a 3.5 will push it. Because the 6hp is too big for the dinghy, I'm going to sell it. But if a 3.5 has some usefulness in as a backup kicker motor for the 26x, that will give a few points to getting the motor for the dinghy.

--Mike

David,

Looks like a copy of the early model porta-bote; the new one will plane with a 6 horse, and no spoiler.

http://www.porta-bote.com/performance.html

Jim

We use a 45# thrust trolling motor on our dingy and it is quite heavy. Its made from wood and it rows and sails also. Regardless, the trolling motor pushes it pretty fast, it'll go a few miles between charges. Weve run the battery pretty low over a weekend but never run it dry. No gas, no fuss no muss.

I have an RU 260 as well. It's a huge benefit to be able to go ashore easily, or to visit other boats that are anchored or moored. In the cold Maine waters, it's also a piece of mind thing to know I have a backup plan in case one of those Maine ledges rips through my Mac 26x hull. (With 50 degree temperature water, one does not want to chance spending much time in it).

I have a 27 lb Honda 4 stroke, the clutch model. On the 'X, it secures nicely to the rear lifeline rail without any additional hardware - looks like the stock rail is almost made for it.

Last year I had a Seaeagle 9.6 RU boat - a solid boat, but weighing in at 99 lbs, it meant that it had to be towed all the time. This year, with the 55 lb 260, I'm able to pull it across the transom all by myself, deflate it and stow. Now my Mac is free to sail or motor fast without restriction.

Incidentally, the 2HP Honda pushes the dingy right along. It would not be big enough if the dingy was my sole boat and I wanted to go long distance fishing and exploring. I would want it to go much faster. But for my use, the 2HP is plenty.

Rick Dieffenbach
Lady-in-Red
www.trailersailing.com

Hey Rick - Do you ever have a problem with the dinghy motor touching the water when you have it stowed on the rail? Do you have any pictures of it in the stowed position that you could post?

Thanks,
Rich.