Portland Pudgy

H

hardee

New member
Just wondering if anyone is using this, (Portland Pudgy) for a tender? Its just under 8 ft long and just over 4 ft wide, heavy at 125#, but unsinkable, USCG rated at 4 person or 550 #, and (cool) comes in colors. I don't have a radar rack so it would fit on the cabin roof of the 22 Cruiser. I would have to eat more Wheaties, but it would row better that an inflatable, and I have no intention (at this point) of using an outboard for propulsion. Reportedly it rows and sails OK. Here's the link. http://www.portlandpudgy.com and I belive Sea Wolf Joe had a picture of it up in a post that he made way back.

If anyone has any experience with it, (good or bad), I'd sure like to hear it.

Thanks,
Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
Sure is cute and 'c-dory like'! Yep, TWO MAN lift for sure, or davit of some kind, or tow. Looks stable. I'd like to hear comments too, would consider it for quick trips in the car to the marina to goof around on a sunny afternoon.
 
No experience with a Pudgy, but that much weight up top will affect the stability of a 22.

I had an Achilles 8.8 inflatable and it's 75 lbs made a noticeable difference in the stability. The 22 Cruiser rolled more and farther to each side.
 
Both Capt D and Mac have these onboard their wonderful little tugs! Hopefully we can get Island Ranger to chime in hear as he did some of the flight testing to see if it would work for the R-25.
 
Yep - already sent a pm regarding the Pudgy. I still think they are the greatest - for the R25 - on weaver davits. I can't imagine trying to lift the 128 pounds and putting it up high on a C-22, but anyone who wants to try, good luck! You would be welcome to experiment with ours.

Mac
 
Hi Mac,
Thanks again for your PM and response. Just wondering if you have any photos of the PP in the weaver davits? Anything close up to see how they fit together. Not sure I under stand what "Weaver davits" are I guess.
Hope to see you over this weekend.
Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
Harvey,
Like Mac said, it is the best I have had as a dink. Easy to row, works good with the 2 horse long shaft Honda. I use the weaver mounts off dive platform. Pictures in my album.

But it would be a two man job to get it on the roof. Maybe in my younger days..........but it would still take two of me to put it on the roof. My wife and I haul it in the pickup to go to the little out of the way lakes in Montana.

I like it well enough where I would have bought one and towed it with the Hunky Dory. Easy to get in and out of it on shore for dog and me and wife. It was always a if'y thing for me and Dee with the inflatable.
captd
 
Hi Harvey -

Weaver davits are the hinges that attach on the back of our swim step. You just clip some eyes onto the Pudgy (a place is already molded in to hold them), and pivot the dinghy up out of the water. Can't think of a way to make them work with an outboard!

Mac
 
There are two ways the Weaver davits can work with a four stroke outboard--one is if the "side down"-- for the oil remains down as the dinghy pivots up. We have successfully done this with an 8 hp Honda on an inflatable and the Weaver Davits. The other is a bracket which mounts on the dinghy, and pivots as the dinghy swings up on the snap davits. This is a fairly complex mechanism, and requires 13" of clear transom space. There also a rotatable motor stand off mount which will keep the motor vertical, as the dinghy pivots.

I would think that for the small 2 and 3 hp outboards that it is easier to remove the motor and just put it on a storage bracket.
 
Umm, Dr. Bob, I think Mac was referring to mounting the PP with Weaver davits on a boat with an outboard, i.e. a CD-22. (as opposed to something like the Ranger 25) I can't see any way to mount up those type of davits ON a boat with an outboard.
 
Duh...Thanks Jim. I was in error assuming that we were talking about the ranger tugs. I appologize.

Actually there are several ways one could mount the Pudgy on an outboard powered boat. The easiest would be to use davits. The davits would lift the boat in back of the outboard and probably bring the dinghy over the outboard on the CD 22. The davits would have to be substantial, and there would be another 150 lbs on the stern at the least.

The second way of mounting would be to build a rack which had a ramp which would allow the boat to be pulled up and over the top of the cockpit. This would be like the "pull boats" of Purse seiners. We did this with a 375# RIB on our Cal 46--somewhat different, but the engineering is similar. In that case we used a trailer roller on a SS bar on the very back of the boat, and an electric winch to pull the boat up and over onto chocks on the aft deck.

Finally one could use a crane davit, such as Les put on one of the boats--or even one of the Garhauer davits (with a side mount on the cabin) to lift the Pudgy onto the cabin top--or rack over the cockpit.

I have a Fatty Knees, which is a little bigger and heavier than the Pudgy and I would not want to try and carry it on the CD 22.
 
I have been researching the possiblity of the mix of the PP and a CD-22 and I think it is not going to be a practical marriage. Not because the Portland Pudgy isn't a great boat. I think it is the C-Dory of the tender world, but because it started out at 125+/- a few pounds, and raising that to the roof of a CD-22 increases the lever arm of instability, and any rack or hoist that would would work to get it up out of the water over the cockpit is going to only add to the weight issue, increasing weight toward the stern, and the higher the rack, the greater the instability, (rasing the center of gravity above the Center of buoyancy). It is also going to increase windage. I'm not convinced that Towing is completely out of the picture, but it is not my preferred transport method for most situations. Thanks all, for the input on this thread. I would encourage any one who has a chance to take a look at the interesting craft, and consider it for any vessel large enough to do the transport.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
For what it is worth, if any of you happened to look at the pictures of Mood Magic, you'll note the wood/fiberglass pram mounted on the swim platform. It was fun to build while I was waiting for my R-25, looks really good on the tug, rows like a dream with just one aboard and would probably sail fairly well if I added stuff but it is too unstable and too easily damaged to be adequate as a dinghy. Particularly when one considers the unlikely, ugly possiblity of having to abandon ship for whatever reason in nasty conditions. We do all have a plan and an abandon ship bag, do we not?

After doing the same research that everyone else has, I came to the same conclusion and have a Portland Pudgy arriving about the end of this week. All I will have to do to mount it is to move the Weaver davits on the swim platform to match the Pudgy.

Will feel a lot better with the Pudgy on board but aesthetically .........
 
Hi, for those that are waiting, I got a call from Tony early this morning and he is quit sure the Portland Podgy's are coming. Should be in town before he gets back from down south, (week or two).
Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
I Googled C-Dory images and this came up on the first page of hits. Reminded me of this discussion.

http://www.portlandpudgy.com/mail2.htm

CDoryPortlandPudgy%20for%20web.jpg
 
So it sounds like storing one of these on a 22 would be a tough task but how would a 25 handle it? If a clever person could devise a simple way to bring it up to the roof and back off again, do you think the weight of 150-200 lbs would significantly impact the stability of a loaded 25 classic? I have been interested in the Pudgy and have been thinking about how to make it work for a 25. I have some rigging experience and am not afraid to try something challenging and it doesn't seem like the weight would really be a problem for the boat. Many owners seem to carry at least 75lbs of inflatable and other items on the roof.
 
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