new dinghy test ride

S

starcrafttom

Active member
I took my new dinghy and the dog for a ride in the slew today and it was a lot of fun. loaded up the boat in the back of my truck and hauled it down to ramp in marysville. it was a blast!!! the little 3.5 nissan has no gear selector, just run and off. for reverse you turn the whole motor around. at idle it will bearly move and at full throttle it will almost plane me and the dog.

the cool thing is that once you have it at full throttle you can let go of the tiller and move forward to balance out the boat and get more speed. Then you steer by leaning on one tube or the other in the direction you want to go. No hands steering!!!!. what a great way to boat. we ran all the full out of the boat and then refueled with the spare can. very easy to do right on the water.

at the dock while loading the boat in the truck I was talking to a guy about the boat and the dog. He turns out to be Robbies Brother. small world some times.
 
Tom, if you're going forward in that thing and not hanging on too tight, recommend you teach the dog to steer so he can come back and get you when you fall out.

:lol: :dog :idea:

Charlie
 
Hey! So what kind of dinghy did you get?- I'm shopping for one right now I ordered a 2.5hp Suzuki motor last week. I'm thinking I want an inflatable floor and keel rather than a flat bottom, but I could be swayed....
 
mine is a used zodiac 8 ft 6 with a thin floor with the wood flats. it works well for what I wanted to do, but a inflatable floor would be better. I understand the inflatable floors go faster. I got the motor and boat for $500 on craiglist so i could not pass that up.
 
that's a bargain alright - you guys who live near lots of people have a big advantage finding the deals - I'm stuck buying new and paying retail....that's the price for living in paradise (not).
 
The air floor is equal to the older plywood or aluminum floors and inflatable keels. These were great boats, but really hard to set up. The air floor is almost as good, and is a breeze to set up, with the right pump.

Tom, got a bargin! But the safety issue is real--Alabama has a law which says that you have to have the "deadman" clip attatched to your person when running any outboard. (I don't think that this is enforced for cabin boats like the C Dories, but certainly is for open boats.)
 
you can let go of the tiller and move forward to balance out the boat and get more speed
Click to expand...

Yep, I learned that trick too. It's great!

As Dr. Bob says, use the deadman switch. I clip mine around my ankle so I can be a hood-ornament.

:wink:
 
oh I cant get into to much trouble at 5mph or less even if i did fall out. Besides i married the OHSA queen anyway, I have to have fun when she is not looking. :wink:
 
I remember chasing down a dinghy at Catalina, where a kid did that and fell out. Only about 3 to 4 hp, but it sure scared the kid--the boat was doing circles and he thought he was going to get run over. We first got along side and steered the boat out of the way of the victum and then eventually got to the throttle and stopped the engine....Of course without the kid aboard, the dinghy picked up speed!
 
Back
Top