Portland Pudgy

Dr Bob said

"Another thought--and entirely different way to go--is to re-design the aft bimini top to work like a "stacker" trailer, where the top rack pivoits down near to the water as a parallagram, the boat is winched aboard, and then the framework is winched back up to its full height--then the boat could be winched foreward (I know your radar is in the way)."
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Gregg,

That is the option that I thought would work for us with the PP, but we deferred on the PP due to the weight, (having it up high on a 22, and it's affect on the stability). I still think that the Portland Pudgy is the ideal dingy, just not for the 22. Good luck with your project.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
The stacker idea is pretty good but it would be hard to keep the fabric in place during transitions and the fabric would also get in the way while securing the boat once loaded. We tend to keep most of our camperback installed during use and in my case, I am hesitant to add more stern weight. I am moving forward with the original plan minus the two bars running from the bow to the roof rack. I have slightly modified the connection design for the other set of bow-to-water bars for rigidity and will first test tensioned tubular webbing running from my rear anchor point through the support saddles and down to the ends of the bow-to-water bars. They will sag some and likely need a couple of spreaders between the strands to keep them together although the channels in the hull will help with that. Webbing is low friction and low stretch and an easy material to work with while being cheap to replace. If it works, we will have a ready made bow hammock as well.

The modified connection at the bow includes long stainless from water up to 125 degree elbows near the tip of the railing, a short section of horizontal tube and a 90 degree tee tied back to the bow rail with a short riser section of tube featuring pins for take down. On the stern end of that tee will be another very short tube section and end cap with eye for webbing attachement with clip or pin. I may need to use a simple tensioning rig at the rear of the roof on that webbing to make the clip/pin connection easy but still get those things tight. With weight on the webbing, the tubes into the water will also be pushed upward but I don't think the leverage will be enough to lift them out of the water. The upward angle of the webbing will help a bit.

I have ordered nearly all of the parts now and put the rack on last night. Buy the way if you have a 25 cruiser and want a nice roof rack, I found the magic combination of components after much suffering and will post it on the roof rack thread.

Greg
 
It's on the boat now and I need to make some adjustments to the saddles on the rack but it looks good up there overall. I also have the bow rail reinforced with two additional and removable down tubes and will get started on the main assembly tomorrow.

Lots of activity on the marina today with the start of boating season this weekend for most folks.

see pic,

http://www.c-brats.com/modules.php?set_ ... _album.php
 
Interesting photos. Did you put the PP up on there from the dock? Or, were you able to pull it up over the bow from the water? Have you tried the radar to see if there is any interference from the PP?

Good luck as you continue with this project. I think the PP is a nifty boat, but I don't think I'd care to have that additional weight and windage on top of our 25 (and we've been known to carry our inflatable dinghy, bikes, and camperback up there). I hope you're able to make this work to your satisfaction.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
It doesn't look so strange up there. We may end up carrying it rear facing most of the time. We tossed it up there from the dock originally but have been testing the over-the-bow method at the marina as well. I keep having to tweak the geometry and structure of the bow slides but the concept is proving to work. I can say for sure that getting it off the boat is simple but the ramp and haul system for the way up is where all the experimenting is required.

We had it out is some gale gusting wind last week and 3-5 foot steep waves and it stayed put very well. I even went beam to the waves and didn't really feel the weight up there. We are loaded up nicely down low with three additional batteries in the seat cabinets so that helps a bit. The windage should be apparent when docking but while on the move it won't be noticable at c-dory speeds and in the conditions we are willing to travel in. Also, The boat really does not seem so heavy but the width makes it a two person carry for sure. The little wheels on the stern are great for manuvering around on docks or at a launch on your own. I will load more pics tonight.

Picture_004.jpg
 
The Portland Pudgy is a great boat, and the roof top mounting is both interesting and well done. Because those reading this thread are interested in dinghies, I am going to mention the Gig Harbor dinghy that weighs in at 72# for the 8' boat. www.ghboats.com. We bought one today and hope we love it as much as you love the Pudgy. Congratulations on a great installation.

Regards,

Greg
 
Funny how we both bought dinghys from across the county. Yours was built 3 miles from our house. I did consider the 8ft GH boat while shopping but the Pudgy won out for us. Bummer on the weight but it's packed with features.
 
I forgot to mention that the radar seems to work fine with the boat on top of the cabin and thats with an electric trolling motor mounted to the center seat and tilted horizontally.
 
More pics posted of what the launch is looking like so far. It gained another brace between the bars tonight and a new permanent fender on the water end. See our pudgy album and we are off tomorrow AM for a few nights up north. See some of you in FH.
 
Now in phase 2, the launch looks like an 18 ft teeter totter and works much nicer than the original design. The rail to water section is very similar as before but without the angled section at the top. It now simply slides into two stainless rod holders on the bow rail and is held in place by gravity and extra gravity with the upper section that just slides in with no fasteners necessary. As long as the water is relatively calm with just the normal waves/wakes, it all stays quite uneventful. In terrible weather, we just grab the tow harness.

http://www.c-brats.com/modules.php?set_ ... _photo.php

http://www.c-brats.com/modules.php?set_ ... _photo.php

We are still using a pulley system for the raise but the bars go all the way to the roof mounted rack so there is no more interference with the brow over the windows. Launching is very easy but we are still tweaking the raise system details. The two rail sections are just lifted out of place and they nest on one side of the Pudgy on the roof rack (thank goodness for that long 25 roof). I will get more action pics this week in BC at the gathering.
 
I had a question about the two power options we use and here is what I gave for an answer.

As you have have noticed, we have both electric and gas motors for the Pudgy and here is why. The 2hp gas motor will push it at 5-6 knots without straining and for as long as we have a little gas available. We use the boat for non-c-dory camping trips (separate trailer for hauling) and extended explorations away from Aurelia as well so the gas option is great to make the distance and have a far reach and cover lots of ground in a body of water such as Banks Lake or Potholes Reservoir. The electric motor is great for its lack of noise and still pushes the boat at 0-4 knots either from the 10AH battery I built into the boat or a separate 55AH and 80AH batteries we have available and portable. On some lakes we like to fish, the gas motor is not allowed so the electric is used for that as well. With the small built in Pudgy battery (solar charged), we can toss the electric on a get to shore and back (about 1.5 mile range at 2 knots) without touching the gas motor and so far Cindie likes to use the elec herself more than the gas version. We sometimes have both on the transom and do some switching back and forth as needs change and I can actually still sit on the back bench although I do have a small rear end.

I nearly started drilling for a mount to put the electric drive on the gas transom for a hybrid but it has not yet been that necessary.

I will say the 99 dollar Motorguide Thruster does push the boat basically as well as the 400+ dollar salt water Minn Kota Riptide 55 we had and uses less power to get the job done. The way we use it, I don't think the Salt water "protection" is worth the price difference as we don't leave it in the salt when it is not pushing the boat. The prop design on the Thruster seems to be the difference and I can't believe they don't have prop options for more if the Minn Kotas. Weedless trolling vs. efficient thrust is a battle still being won by the trollers so far I guess.

Also looked at the Torqeedo of course and still can't make sense of it for us. It has some great features and specs and a solid amount of thrust but it can't really go the distance. It would give about 7-9 miles of range at medium speed but then you need a 110volt recharge for 8 hours which is tough to accomplish at anchor and takes EIGHT HOURS or you carry an extra battery which they charge 600 dollars for. Still a novelty for the rich/short distance boater.
 
Gregg,

It was really fun to get to see this system in action at the Sequim Bay CBGT. Great job of putting all the pieces together. PP :thup :thup

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
The pudgy was just delivered Tuesday. Might try to finish fitting the racks this weekend after the warrior dash Saturday. I think I'm going to have to eat my wheaties, for the pudgy that is.

Karl
 
Gregg,

Thanks for the heads up. I still think they are the best tender ever. I just got my bracket finnished so I can carry my inflatable now, carried over the cockpit.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
Well it looks as if the currents are carrying him North West. There can be some very fierce winds going that way. (InReach track). I think the guy is crazy, but maybe he will make it. Hopefully he has an EPRIB--and lands someplace that others are not put at risk to rescue him...
 
It looks like he made it to Newfoundland Island near Corner Brook and landed for the night--made about 468 miles. I wonder if he droppedballest or popped balloons?

If some remember a Brazilian Priest a few years ago tried this with a lawn chair and about 100 "party balloons"--and lost his life in the south Atlantic.

This fellow seems better equipped, but...I wish him luck
 
thataway":3fy2svdi said:
It looks like he made it to Newfoundland Island near Corner Brook and landed for the night--made about 468 miles. I wonder if he droppedballest or popped balloons?

If some remember a Brazilian Priest a few years ago tried this with a lawn chair and about 100 "party balloons"--and lost his life in the south Atlantic.

This fellow seems better equipped, but...I wish him luck
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Must have popped balloons as dropping ballast would make him go up.
 
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