Kaboat too long for 25 cruiser

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We are in the process of buying a 25 cruiser! Shopping for a dinghy and the Kaboat 12' seems very appealing from a weight and use perspective for two adults and a toddler. Does anyone have one of these boats and how would you rate the stability compared to a wider inflatable. At 12 feet, how well would it fit/ride on the roof of a 25 (haven't measured it yet)? I will not be trailering so transporting would only be by water. Also, I like the looks of the Minn Kota Riptide 55s trolling motor for the Kaboat and does anyone have experience with that motor? Does anyone use a freshwater electric trolling motor on a dinghy in the salt and do you have corrosion issues?

Any advice would be appreciated,

Greg and Cindie
 
A C-dory 25 is a great cruiser. If that's what you're getting , you've made an excellent choice.

Journey On has a bimini over the cockpit, which precludes top loading anything from the cockpit. And Judy's first act when it's launched is to put the bimini up. So, one could load a inflatable/kayak from the bow. We have a 11.5' inflatable which is listed at 80# and I'm not going to try lifting it over the bow. The ad for the Kaboat 12 doesn't mention its weight, so be sure to check it.

An electric motor seems a great way to go. I'm not sure what size battery would provide enough cruising time, but consider that lead acid batteries are heavy. A group 27 weighs what, 50 lbs? And unless you get an (expensive) AGM, there's the chance of spilling acid in the dingy. And they're slow to recharge, which would seem necessary after a trip or two. I know that it's not considered green, but small outboards are light, run a long time on a gallon of gas, and the recharge consists of pouring gas into the fuel tank. A gallon lasts us a week, cause we go slow.

Good luck, Boris
 
The listed weight for a 12ft Kaboat is 48lbs. That light weight is a big part of the appeal for us.
 
I have the 14ft Kaboat and carried it on my CD22 in the San Juan Islands recently. The 14ft will take up to an 8hp motor. I have a 6hp Tohatsu that also doubles as an emergency kicker for the CD22.

With the 6hp on the Kaboat it will plane with two people. I used my gps and we could do about 14 mph with two. Alone I could get up to 17mph. The boat runs very well at 10mph with one or two on board.

It does take a little getting used to. The boat does feel less stable, especially with two. By myself I sat in the bottom of the boat (not on the seat) and I could turn the boat in a hard turn. One side of the boat will lift a little but it seems to just slide or skid after a certain point. I do think that if you worked at it you could capsize the boat over with a 6hp.

The 14ft weighs 58lbs and I would not want to have anything heavier. I do have a method to get the boat from the water onto the top standing on the bow. Also to get it off the top and it is not as hard as I though it might be. I use a lifting davit to transfer the 6hp from the CD22 to the dinghy.

I have rowed it about a half mile and it seems to row very well compared to my last dinghy. It has skegs on the tubes and is easy to keep headed straight. I also tried it with a kayak paddle and that works well.

I bought the 14ft because I wanted to use the 6hp on it. So far I am pleased. I think the 12ft would also be a fun boat and would move very well with one of the smaller motors.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Steve
 
SK396_red_guys_2.jpg

(Hey, is that you Roger?)

MVC-558X.jpg


Web site: http://www.kaboat.net/

Very interesting inflatable that uses the advantages of a long length to narrow width ratio for efficiency through the water. Might be my next inflatable if/when my WM raft kicks the bucket...

Hey Steve (and anyone else), have you found a good DC inflator that'll put out about 4psi? Seems there's a big hole in the market for a good inflator for non-commercial use (i.e., other than 110VAC).
 
Hi Steve,

I have not looked for an inflator yet. I am still using the hand pump and it does take some time. I am not sure I can inflate the Kaboat while on the CD22. I don't think there is room but it could probably be done some way.

For some reason the builders put the inflation valves for the tubes at the front of the boat and the valve for the floor at the rear. I inflate at the bock or launch ramp and load before going out.

Steve
 
OK Steve, plus I'd love to see it someday. I was just at WM and saw they had a couple of new (to me) respectable pumps in their line (WM brand not mfr). For $80 they have an AC model that will pump to 3.0psi, that's very decent and should fully inflate most PVC rafts, not sure about the hyperlon ones. I couldn't find the wattage req'd, but know my 400W inverter wouldn't handle it, so I passed on that.

They also had a small one for $30 (DC) that pumped to a rated 1.0psi and decent volume, which is enough to the raft and other toys pretty much inflated then top off with the foot pump. I bought that one for now.

Pumping by foot is fine most of the time, but when you add 2 blow-up kayaks with a bazillion chambers, it gets a bit old sometimes...(ha).
 
I carry one of those sealed small battery deals that come with built in jumper cables, 12v outlet, small compressor, etc. (they are sold for getting a dead car started.) I also have a French or Italian-made pump from one of the river boat companies that comes with alligator clips for power. I clip it onto the battery I was describing, and it works well to inflate my dink. I have also connected the pump to my truck battery when it was close enough. The boat battery is in an inconvenient location, but it could be done.

I also have an excellent hand pump that I recommend highly. See it here.

THIS is not the electric pump I have but it is a good one.

Warren
 
I bought a:

Bravo Superturbo BST 12 HPP Air Pump
12v 10amp max
Large air flow: 500 l/min

And I installed a 12 receptacle in one of the coaming pockets next to a battery.

One of the best moves I ever made. It not only pumps up the Achilles dinghy, but also pumps up the inflatable floor (3.5 psi,) as well as deflates everything. And it's so easy to use, Judy now pumps up the dinghy, after I get it spread out in the cockpit. Hey if she wants to do it, I'm not going to argue. Actually, it's holding the hose and pushing a button.

It's pricey, but I found a good price on the internet. It came with a sealed battery, but I pulled that out and put a 12 V plug on the end.

Boris
 
journey on":2a9hxfy2 said:
Bravo Superturbo BST 12 HPP Air Pump
Click to expand...

Thanks, Boris -- that is the pump I have, whose name I could not remember.

When you use this pump, do you use it with the valves closed, forcing air past them, or do you open the valves and then try to get them closed real fast after taking the hose out of the valve? I have been doing the former but wonder if there is a technique for doing the latter.

Warren
 
Bravo looks to be a pretty good mfr of all types of pumps. I have the Bravo 12V pump (~$100) just under the Turbo model (~$175) that Boris and others have. It did a good job for a couple of years, then one of the plastic "mumps" cracked. I believe I can get a replacement part. But, it was fairly low volume, took quite a while (10 min +) to inflate my 8' 6" raft, and it was NOISY. When you turned on the pump, best to stop all conversations...! It also vibrated quite a bit, had to put your foot on it or it would 'dance' off the boat.

The Bravo Turbo model should be much better with it's sound insulation and completely different pump mechanism. Evidently, you get what you pay for, I'll start saving up my pennies...

Thanks all for the information!
 
The Bravo 12 HPP is an excellent pump and can be utalized for a 11.5 PSI high pressure floor boat if possible. It basically has two stages--one is high volume, and will blow an inflatable in a couple of minutes. Then it goes into its adjustable stage--and you can set the pressure with a dial from 2.5 PSI on up to 11.5 PSI. 4.5 PSI is one of these settings. This is a higher quality pump and will last for many years.

The recharbable low volume pumps are not really suitable for inflatables, The volume is just too low--air matress maybe OK...

If you have SS bows on a Bimini, especially with a 4 bow system, you can rest the back of a longer inflatble on the top of the bimini. I would put a piece of soft foam between the inflatable and the top, to prevent any chafe.

Electric trolling motors. If you use the salt water series, and wrinse them off, then they will last a long time. The biggest problem is the battery, and how to recharge it when cruising. If you are only going to use the trolling motor for a day or two--then you can charge it off a 110 volt charger. It can be very hard on the battery, trying to charge it in parallel with the larger engine or house battery of the C Dory, off the 12 volt system. (one should only charge batteries of like size on the charging circuit)

I took our 12 foot aluminum boat with has a 48 lb thrust salt water series trolling motor (8 years old and still working well) along this week when taking the grand kids cruising. I also had a 3.5 hp outboard. The trolling motor will give about 3 knots, and several hours total time--but this is with two golf cart batteries (220 amp hours). A 40 hour AGM battery (such as a tractor or PWC battery) would only give you hald an hour use at full power, and slightly longer at lower speeds. Back to my warning about enough power if the wind comes up--with an inflatable (no matter how narrow) you can be in trouble with the low HP motor. OK if you are never in wind or current.

I recommend an AGM battery, since you don't want to spill the acid of a conventional flooded battery in an inflatable! Also you need a small battery because of the weight. I have used the small batteries as starting batteries on 15 and 25 hp outboards on inflatables, with no problems, but would not use a lead acid battery.
 
Well, I conducted a second and more lengthy test of my electric system on sunday and it gave me the best data so far. I am not an electrical expert and this info is not highly scientific.



I bought a Minn Kota 55lb thrust Riptide saltwater motor and an Optima 55 amp hour AGM battery which is the size of a normal car battery in a carry case. We use it on our 12ft kaboat dinghy http://www.boatstogo.com/kayaks_sk396.asp which fits my required 2.5 passengers. We used it for 1.5 hours at various speeds (usualy less than 50% thrust) averaging 2 knots and covering 3.46 miles about half with the wind and half against it. That took the battery down to 80% on my good meter at home. Deep cycle AGM (absorbed gas mat/ nothing to spill) batteries can safely be discharged to about 50% (depending on what you read) before negatively impacting future charging. That would give me roughly 3.75 hours/8.5 miles of range in my dinghy before my battery should be spared. The top speed with this motor on the Kaboat is about 4.5 knots and was enough to battle the current racing out of Vaughn bay on Sunday. I do carry a little 2lb backup 4 amp hour spare battery that gives me about 15 minutes of reserve power or can be used alone to go to shore and back without dealing with the heavier main battery.



The experiment is a success! This will be plenty of power for our dinghy needs. You could spend the same battery money on a larger regular deep cycle lead acid battery and get nearly double the range for a 15-20lb weight penalty. Best thing is a complete lack of any noise. You can only tell its running when you put your hand on it or stare at it closely to see it buzzing.


Very nice with a total price of $580 with both batteries and a quality charger. I plan to use my inverter/and/or my honda eu1000 to recharge the battery on longer trips.
 
The item to be concerned about is the power to push the inflatable against a heavy wind. I suspect that your boat may have less of a wind profile than a usual 8 foot inflatable, but any inflatable had a windage problem. Be sure and take that into account when you are heading out.

The Honda gensets only charge at about 8 amps--somewhat less as the battery gets close to full--so it can take some time to recharge the battery. An inverter and 15 amp charger (considerabe expense) might be a better "Solution" if the engine is running, and you have spare amps...but with most outboard alternator/charging system outputs, you will have limited amperage output--it will be interesting to see how much current the inverter/charger draw. Better yet, might be to make a setup so you can charge it directly off the main engine alternator--some, such as Yahama and Suzuki have a secondary charging circuit which would work well.
 
I have an inline amp meter and plan to check the draw on my charger in it's various modes to see if the generator/inverter can handle it. I would not plan to use the direct DC charge function of the generator because of the amp limitations you mention and long running requirement. I will however carry that 12v honda harness as a backup. We run twin honda 90s so we have a bit more charging ability than many and may bring that into play.

The wind is my only real concern but we will be using it wisely and I can always lock the motor throttle/steering and put the oars into action for supplementary thrust and that would help a bit for a short distance. I can average 25 miles a day in a sea kayak so I should be able to do a couple in the dinghy!
 
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