A reader recently asked if I were to buy my next dinghy instead of building it, what would I get and it got me thinking...
Back when we were living outside Paris and building our Wharram Tiki, the most ubiquitous dinghies around were the roll-up Bombard AX-1's and the Bic SportYak... My guess at their popularity was that they were the smallest and cheapest available dinghies on the market.
Come to think of it they still might be...
Of course, those were simpler times, we all had smaller boats so the size of the tender was a critical factor. The use of a tender was simply to take you from your boat to shore and carry you back again, maybe do a little exploring, or some fishing or diving...
Actually not all that different than people use dinghies today if maybe a little slower.
The thing is, since I've been thinking a lot about dinghies of late, it seems to me that both of those dinghies still make a whole lot of sense...
For starters, they don't take up a lot of room on deck and are light enough be manhandled by one person (both boats weigh in around 42 pounds which is less than a jerry can of water) without resorting to winches or group effort, they both row pretty well and neither of them cost a whole heck of a lot. If you were to need an outboard for either it would be a small one and, as such, frugal in terms of fuel.
So, either would provide the needful attributes of a tender...
On the other hand, neither of the tenders in question are big, go fast, or cost a lot of money to buy and operate. So if you want to have something big, fast, and expensive they would not be happy making.
For myself, I'd lean towards the BIC Sportyak as they hold up really well (there are a lot of these dinghies that are nearing their 40th birthdays still in use so a visit to Craig's list might get you one for very little) and the plastic toy boat vibe assures that no one is ever going to steal it...
What's not to like?
On the other hand, a stowable inflatable to use from time to time is no bad thing and I have been keeping my eye on the PVC (and yes, dear reader, I know Hypalon is better but for a dinghy that will live in the cockpit locker most of the time PVC is certainly not a deal breaker) Solstice I saw at West Marine for $399
which looks very interesting...Listening to Flogging Molly
So it goes...
