Rooftop dinghy straps

S

ssilver

New member
We bought a Westmarine RU-250 rollup and want to cruise with it inflated. I was hoping to just use some ratchet straps to hold it down. The bow seems ok when we thread the ratchet straps through the port/starboard rings attaching to the rooftop bars. Because the inflatable is much wider than the roof racks the stern section with ratchet straps does not hold centered very well. What are you guys doing to hold your inflatable down during transit? I posted a couple pictures under my profile in an album called dinghy. Thanks for your tips!! Sean
 
Are you towing your boat with the dinghy inflated on the roof? If so, I do not consider that a good idea. A friend of mine blew the bottom of his dinghy out doing that.

As for any dinghy at C Dory speeds, we just take a couple of lines--no ratchet straps. I take them from the hand rail aft and hand rail forward, and across the boat--you can also take the line from the SS raining which may be under the boat at this out, and go across & double back.

On the 25:

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On the 22:
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We always add extra hand holds; one just at the back of the cabin house, and one on the outer eye bros. If you need points further out.

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I tow with my dingy up like it is here, but I only have about 3 miles and nothing over 35mpg. If I need to tow farther the dingy goes down into the back of the truck. I have left it inflated and I have deflated it. It just depends of what I am hauling. On the Tundra with the 6'6" bed, I put the bow of the dingy up over the tailgate, but I probably won't do that again, it blocks to much of my vision. Don't like to tow with the T-Gate down so will probably deflate for long hauls.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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This is for cruise down the river trip not a trailer haul. I like those extra hand holds you have Bob I am going to see if I can find them. I have a rod holder for four poles on order that I plan on installing in the rear center of the house so that setup would not work for us Harvey. I do like that setup as it doubles as a rear bimini!!
 
The railings are available at almost any marine dealer or Amazon. They range from 12" to 36" In length and have standard 1/4" thread for the fasteners. You just go thru the roof, between the lip of the top and the side wall of the cabin, so no core. Same on the eye brow forward.

There also longer lengths to use as a hand hold, or crash bar in front of navigator's seat or infront of the galley.

On the current 25, I have a Radar arch, with fish rod holders, spreader light, etc over the aft cabin roof the tubes of the inflatable fit under the radar arch. I use the legs instead of the grab bars.
 
We just use lines, no reason for straps that I can see. IF straps are necessary, I usually make my own. The tubular nylon or woven strap material is cheap, as are the fittings. That way you can make exactly what you need.
 
Indeed lines could be sufficient for the dingy. I mention Strapworks as they can fabricate any type of strap you may need for almost any application.
 
Ratchet straps from Harbor Freight to the roof hand rails. They won’t last
long, due to salt water, but they are so inexpensive as to be virtually disposable anyway. Another option is a “spider web” bungee net but I wouldn’t trust that at freeway speeds.
 
I was going to order those extra hand rails Bob has installed but ended up just using dock lines to secure the dingy as Bob had suggested. Our dinghy has three O-rings on the bow. I threaded dock lines through them and was able to easily tie off to the mid-ship cleat. For the stern of the dinghy I used dock-line around each rear pontoon through the factory roof rail. This setup holds the dinghy straight as the line of looped around the pontoon of the inflatable prevents it from going side to side like it was when we had one ratchet strap across it. When I used the HF ratchet straps the hooks did not grip around the factory roof rails all that great and popped off when I pulled the dinghy from side to side to simulate strong wind. The ratchet straps have sharp metal edges that would have been rubbing on the inflatable. I was thinking I could get some pieces of carpet or something to protect the dinghy material. Glad Bob mentioned just using lines the way it is setup now seems to work good, we went for a couple hour cruise to just see how it would work out. Speeds up to 20 MPH and no issues and looks much cleaner than the bright orange ratchet strap setup and no need to worry about the metal ratchets rubbing against the inflatable. Our dinghy weighs 52 lbs and I was able to pull it up in the stern area and sort of flip onto the roof pretty easy. We will be installing a rod holder in the rear center of the pilot house that will sit in-between stern pontoons of the dinghy so it will be a little more challenging but do not think a big deal. Only thing I do not like about our setup is I hoped to clamp the 2hp Johnson alongside the 90hp Suzuki for transit and free up space. The darn Johnson transom clamp does not open up to fit the C-Dory transom. O-well it’s small enough to just keep in the stern corner standing up-right held in place w/ a bungee. Just trying to get all these little things figured out before our upcoming 9 day venture to NJ.
 
The straps I ordered from Strapworks were (Motorcycle Cam Straps w/ 2" Heavyweight Polypropylene) in silver gray to match the dingy and for a dollar extra they sewed on a buckle pad. I have four from handrail to handrail and I will take under advisement the possibility of the bottom blowing out while towing. If that happens I will certainly eat crow and own up to it here.
 
Clewless I checked out that strap store WOW what a selection. The ones I picked up have a short hook that does not go around the rail that much. I am sure they would have worked out better if the hook wrapped around the rail more.

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