Our Next Dinghy

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Pat Anderson

New member
I have been complaining for about a year about the weight of our Alaska Series by Gary King (50 lbs). As I approach 70 (yikes, how did that happen?), it is getting to be just a bit too much for me to hoist onto Daydream's roof. I need something lighter, easier to get up on the roof. We have thought about inflatable kayaks like Peter and Caryn's but Patty kind of nixed that idea (Peter, I still want to have another row in your kayak at FH if possible).

Then yesterday, Salish C (Ivar and Phyllis) came by our anchorage in Blind Bay with a dinghy on top of their boat. Ivar said it weighs 16 lbs. That would definitely be manageable! It was a Feathercraft inflatable rowing boat from Feathercraft in Vancouver, BC. So naturally, we Googled that. Holy cow, Batman! Those are EXPENSIVE dinghies - the one we were looking at is $2,150 US dollars! Here is a link to the one we are looking at.

Selling the Alaska Series would be a necessary first step in making this move! I think ours is 8' long, and is as many C-Brats know, this is one of the toughest and best rowing dinghy available. It has a special "Bearclaw" bottom that can stand up to being dragged over rocks and barnacles. The tubes are some kind of very heavy and durable material called "Grizzly Hide." Here is a link to some info on Alaska Series dinghies. Ours is yellow. I might also be persuaded to throw in the 2 hp Merc - a motor mount comes with the boat, the motor mount has deteriorated in appearance a bit over the years but not in usability. I am not putting this in the For Sale by Owner forum because I don't know how it should be priced, but if anyone is interested, PM me and we can chat! It will be on top of Daydream at Friday Harbor this weekend, and at Bellingham in August if we haven't sold it before that.
 
Pat, another option is to use the Garhauer Davit. Our inflatable floor dinghy is probably about 68#. We use it regularly to put the dinghy on the roof of the C Dory22. I have improved the lifting with a "spreader bar, which gets the dinghy slightly higher, to allow it to clear the roof as we bring it aboard. Even with my heart disease, having 10 years on you and 2x back surgery--we find it works...

That Alaska dingy is a great boat. I have no idea how the Feathercraft would hold up. They claim a urethane coated material--it has to be super thin to get the weight down...I would worry about ripping the material...

How about the motor? Lets say that Baxter has to go ashore and the wind is blowing or a current is running--can you row against that?
 
Bob, all good points! Another option for us is a really proper tow bridle, we are mostly slow cruisers anyway. I have really never needed the motor to get Baxter to shore, but as Patty pointed out, we did need the motor at Chemanis! And I really do not know what the bottom of the Feathercraft is like, can it go over rocks and barnacles like the Alaska Series can? I need to find that out. So we are really conflicted about what to do. But I do know that I cannot get the Alaska Series on the roof much longer hoisting it up the way I have been. A davit might be the answer, I don't know. It just seems that a really light dinghy would be a big boon...
 
Pat we have also been experimenting with tow bridles. We were using heavy lines to the side tow eyes on our boat--and then to a 75 foot line. At Lake Powell, this worked fine. But even on the St. Johns, where there were some pretty choppy crossings of larger lakes, the knots on the bridle would kick up a fair amount os spray. I made a new bridle of much smaller line, and all splices so no knots to kick up spray--seems to work better.

Of course the spray/water in the boat, was at planing speeds I think at low speeds not as much of an issue. However, there always has to be a way to safely get the dinghy aboard, if the weather is really rough. I can send photos of the bridles, and spreader bar if that helps.
 
Pat Anderson wrote: And I really do not know what the bottom of the Feathercraft is like, can it go over rocks and barnacles like the Alaska Series can?

Pat, I am familiar with some of Festhercraft's products, but not that one. The description and the weight suggest the hull material is lighter than what they use on most of their sea kayaks. The latter is pretty tough, but barnacles will slice it open if you are not careful.

Feathercraft have always been an up front, plainspoken bunch. I bet a phone call would get a straight answer.

BTW, I own a couple Folbots, which have aluminum frames and stringers, under a pseudo Hypalon skin, and for dinghy use, that skin material would not be durable enough. Stringers against the skin expose the skin to damage because the skin does not give on impact. Inflatables with no internal structural members should be less susceptible to barnacle penetration.
 
We anchor out a lot and although I can empathize with the issue of weight and wrestling a dingy on board, I refuse to give up our 2.5 horse engine. My left shoulder is severely arthritic (work injury) and my days of padding are well behind me, unless it's required.
 
Pat;
We've always towed the dinghy behind Journey On and never regretted it. Except for a shining moment at Lake Powell, but that's behind us now. So this is a recommendation of Bob's method.

We use a tow bridle fixed to the dinghy's side rings, led to another bridle attached to the boat. Works either at slow or high speed. That said, adjust the tow bridle so the dinghy rides on the downhill side of the first wave. One PITA is that we have to take the motor off, since it doesn't tow with it on. But that's our dinghy and motor.

A weight of 50 lbs is light compared with most, so you might accept that and enjoy it. Bringing our 70 lb (or so) dinghy back on board to deflate it is a pain, but we have to bring it over the motor and under the bimini. We keep it deflated and in the back at the start and for long trips.

Boris
 
Yes, we are going to explore a number of options that have been suggested. Greg Lang has suggested another method to gain more leverage to get the boat up on the bow rail, once it is there is easy enough to get to the roof. It is a great dinghy.
 
We have a Feathercraft Baylee 3 and love it. The price, while always high, has certainly gone up.
It is available with a double floor and is very well made. The oars are composite and made by Werner, good stuff.
It will, IMO, stand up to rocks if reasonable care is taken.
 
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