What inflatable would you recommend?

[Bazmondo]

Hi Guys

First of all this is my first post and I also know next to bugger all about boating so please bear with me

A few years back four of my mates and I bought a Norman 20ft crusier with the best intentions of doing it up and going out and about on it. None of us fish, dive etc so any excursions would be just for recreational use.

Anyway years later and its still sitting there in its berth at the local marina. We go and sit on it take our kids crabbing at the marina and thats about it. All my friends have two or three young kids so getting the boat going is way down on the list at the mo.

We did get into kayaking for a bit and bought some sevylor rangers which was fun but found it was a lot of effort and kayaks are quite restictive plus we couldn't take the kids out.

The reason for the back story is to give some idea as to what type of rib i am looking for which would be basically a family safe boat, that chuggs along, but something that has a bit of ooomfff for when its just adults. The reason i'm now thinking to get a rib is that seems the best way to get out on the water for my/our needs. i.e no fuss, easy boating, minimal expense, no paddling, quick in and out of the water

The marina has a great beach that you can only get to by boat and many creeks and a seal colony so the boat would be for poodling around and getting to the beach.

We intend to either fold up after use and chuck it in the main boat, the Norman cruiser, or rest it over the bow.

I am looking at two boats one is £600 with an airdeck and the other is only £350 with an aluminium floor. Here they are and can you let me have your views please on which one to get if any, or any other suggestions are much appreciated. It obviously would be a bonus if the cheaper one was just a good, as looks wise they are equal, but would be happy to pay for the more expensive one if it was much better?

Waveline 3.2M Inflatable Dinghy - Airdeck Floor, Inflatable Boats & Dinghies | Mailspeed Marine

Inflatable Dinghy River Boat Tender w/ Aluminium Paddles & Flooring Family Size | eBay


Many thanks

Baz

[Max...]

Hi Baz, welcome to the forum - this question (which boat?) gets asked every week and it would be useful to search or look back over the SIB forum from the last year to see loads of answers and advice. These are SIB's you are mentioning not RIB's (which have a rigid fibreglass hull). I can try and sum up the general consensus though - if you want to take say 2 adults and 2 kids or 3 adults then 3.4m would be the minimal size really, a 9.8 2 stroke or if more than 2 small adults then preferably a 15hp 2 stroke will be minimum. Don't buy a cheap boat 'new', waste of time and money - always go for a secondhand used package on eBay that will perform better and lose you no money come resale - stick with the well known makes - Zodiac, Honwave, Quicksilver, Yamaha, Suzumar. Figure on £1200 to £1800 (boat/engine) depending on how hard you look and how much searching you do.

[Landlockedpirate]

Although the advice to buy quality and used is sound, I have to say the new £300 quid boat looks tempting. The other issue with used boats is repairs. Fixing things can be fairly easy, but if you dont have any DIY skills, even small repairs can get fery expensive.

It comes down to personal choice. The airdeck will be lighter and easier to assemble. The hard deck will be heavier, can be a pain to put together but will perform better under power (especially with engines at the top end of the power range)

I would guess that the quality of both boats will be very similar.

If you can leave the boat inflated accross the bow and roof of your boat I would go for the new hard deck, its only £300 and I'm sure you would nearly get your money back on eBay if you dont like it.

[Bazmondo]

Thanks guys for some good advice.

I just realized that 3.2 is only 10.5 feet and not 11.5 feet so I probably will need something a bit bigger. I think 12 feet will be perfect.

Max, thanks for what you said but I think I wont need that much power/performance straight away,as just lookking for more of a put put to mooch around on. If we need more later we can upgrade then so I think I will be fine with a 4 or 5hp engine.

I'm also going to rule out the aluminium floor one as I've looked at a couple of videos on you tube on how they set them up and it looks like quite a lot of agrivation. I'm sure its not that hard once used to doing it but its still extra hassle that can be avoided.

I am essentially looking for an airdeck that is 3.4m - 3.6m long with a 4hp to 8/10hp motor just for getting to A to B, so not worried about performance but obviusly want it to be stable as poss cos of the kids.

So both of these boats are too small so it's back to the drawing board. Any ideas guys?

And thanks again for coming back to me

Cheers
Baz

[PeterM]

I'll say it now - have a look at the Bombard 380 aerotec . It will work fine ( but slowly with a 5hp ) but can take up to a 25 if needed . So it can 'grow' with you engine/perfromance wise.

It will cost you more unless you can find a used one ( which do come up ) but they do seem to be worth the money . ( I would say that as I have one - but so do a few others on here - do a search there is loads of talk about them)

[Bazmondo]

Thanks Pete with have a look at one, also found this:

Honda 3.8M Air V Floor Dinghy, Inflatable Boats & Dinghies | Mailspeed Marine

Thanks
Baz

[PeterM]

Originally Posted by Bazmondo

Thanks Pete with have a look at one, also found this:

Honda 3.8M Air V Floor Dinghy, Inflatable Boats & Dinghies | Mailspeed Marine

Thanks
Baz

Honwaves are always popular and have a good reputation - there is a member on here ( clydeoutboards ? ) that is a dealer that it may be worth trying to get in touch with .

[Bazmondo]

Originally Posted by PeterM

Honwaves are always popular and have a good reputation - there is a member on here ( clydeoutboards ? ) that is a dealer that it may be worth trying to get in touch with .

Cheers will do....liking the honwave at the mo, just been checking it out on YouTube and its ticking all the right boxes so far ....the bombard is a tad too expensive for something they may be a 'flash in the pan' as my wife keeps saying, lol.

I used to have a sevylor kayak that was about 11ft long and took about 10 mins to pump with a foot pump.

Roughly how long does it take to manually pump a boat like the honwave 3.8 up?

I'm thinking I could roll this dingy up and store it on the Norman, and when I need it just drag it out of the boat (there would always be two adults at least) which is moored on a 3ft ish wide wooden floating pontoon at titchmarsh marina (you can see it here its the first row of boats in the channel, not the ones in the basin : https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=tit...ed=0CEEQ_AUoAg).

Would it be feasible to pump the dingy up on the pontoon, put the engine on it, and then drop it maybe 2 or 3 feet onto the water, or does that sound a bit dodgy?

Just tring to get an idea about real-time size and weight, and how long I would be blocking the pontoon pumping it up?

cheers
Baz

[PeterM]

Most tend to end up with a bravo high pressure electric pump as the floors need a high pressure , which is much simpler with an electric pump ! Or the stirrup types pumps can do it , but it will just take longer and take more effort ! . My bombard is max of five minutes ( if that ) with a bravo pump and maybe ten manually with more effort

I think you will be fine dropping it over the side . I used to do it with a small inflatable - stern first ( with engine in the raised positon ) over the bow of a rib which was maybe 2-3 feet off the water.

The honwaves are known for being welll built but I'm not sure of their weight , but at 3.8 it will be far simpler with 2 of you .

[Bazmondo]

Thanks Pete very helpful.

I think your right far easier with an electric pump just been looking at the bravo superthingy pump, spose thats another £100+ quid into the mix

Thanks again for all your help

Baz

[clydeoutboards]

Hi

there is an offer on when you buy it as a package and you get the 12hp bravo electric pump for free.

[ppenman]

You may find it useful to use a battery booster unit to power the pump. That way you can avoid having to blow the boat up close to car etc. if you're going to blow the boat up on a pontoon how easy is tha access to +12v

[bingosucks]

i`d steer clear of the second one ,it looks a bit too cheap !... i wouldn`t want to attach a donut on the back with canvas handles.... read back through some threads plenty of discussions over engine/boat size

[bingosucks]

http://www.rib.net/forum/f50/looking...e-48513-4.html

[Bazmondo]

Originally Posted by ppenman

You may find it useful to use a battery booster unit to power the pump. That way you can avoid having to blow the boat up close to car etc. if you're going to blow the boat up on a pontoon how easy is tha access to +12v

Just a battery on the boat which powers two little caravan fluresant lights and has a trickle charge solar panel attached to it.

Can i plug a Bravo doda to that or will it drain the battery instantly?

Cheers
Baz

[John Kennett]

Originally Posted by PeterM

I'll say it now - have a look at the Bombard 380 aerotec . It will work fine ( but slowly with a 5hp ) but can take up to a 25 if needed . So it can 'grow' with you engine/perfromance wise.

It will cost you more unless you can find a used one ( which do come up ) but they do seem to be worth the money . ( I would say that as I have one - but so do a few others on here - do a search there is loads of talk about them)

There's a reason these are so popular round here. It's because they are good. We've tried a stack of different boats between us, and they are a great all round boat. Well made, decent size, light, easy to set up and pack away. What more could you want?

This week I'm running one of mine with a 5hp on the Thames as a tender. There's plenty of space and it is more than fast enough for river use. On the sea I run a 15hp 2-stroke as I don't need the performance (or carrying aggro) of a 25hp.

I agree they aren't cheap and I certainly wouldn't want to buy new, but you should be able to find a decent used one for a reasonable price.

You don't need an expensive inflator, but they are good to have. A decent stirrup pump is about £20 and will do the job, and you can pick up a cheap electric inflator for a few quid which will take most of the effort out and you'll just need to top it off to pressure manually.

[Bazmondo]

Thanks John for some good advice.

I am keeping a look out for a bombard as they seem to be the way to go. There is one for £1350 on ebay which is more than the budget of a grand for the boat and £500 for the engine, plus the seller won't deliver and its 3 hour drive away.

I did see this:
http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/inflatables/suzumar-31m-inflatable-boat-vib-suzuki-6hp-fo-AVL059
which although small would be perfect for my needs and first time boat (can always upgrade next year if I need to/use it enough). Plus its all in with an engine thats had a once over, but it went last night

I reckon your right and I will be fine with a stirrup and already got one so will wait and see before investing in a lecky one.

The sevylor kayak used to take about 10 mins and then we had to paddle the damn thing which was a slog as the canvas jackets used to hold the water and make them extremely heavy.

Mmmmm....gutted about that Suzumar, are they any good by the way? Hope not lol


cheers
Baz

[Bazmondo]

Update...

Right then, ended up with an excel sd330 which someone here kindly gave a link to in earlier post. Got it from the excel dealer as a used one for £450 and its in very good condition.

Went to buy a Johnson that I 'won' on ebay for £225 but it was really old pre war thing that the bloke couldn't get started on the viewing so we agreed amicably to scrap the deal.

A few days later and after looking at every ad and ringing round loads of marina's and boat yards i sourced a yamaha 4stroke 4hp for £560 as its in mint condition.

Plan to get out and try it tmrw......yay!!!!!

[Bazmondo]

Have a couple of questions though:

1. Is there an electric pump that you can charge at home and then just take
The pump and charged battery to blow up the boat? All the ones i have
Looked at have the croc clips to charge of a battery in situ. As i am not
Near my car and i don't want to sap the main boats battery by plugging anything onto that. it only has a trickle charge going into it from a small solar panel.

2. Is there a very very small fold away elctric auxillary motor you can get as a back up?

Many thanks

Baz

[Nos4r2]

Originally Posted by Bazmondo

Have a couple of questions though:

1. Is there an electric pump that you can charge at home and then just take
The pump and charged battery to blow up the boat? All the ones i have
Looked at have the croc clips to charge of a battery in situ. As i am not
Near my car and i don't want to sap the main boats battery by plugging anything onto that. it only has a trickle charge going into it from a small solar panel.

2. Is there a very very small fold away elctric auxillary motor you can get as a back up?

Many thanks

Baz

If you're talking about cheap pumps then topping off with a stirrup, yes-go outdoors used to sell them. If you mean the bee's knees expensive ones then a Bravo bst 12 Batt pump will do the lot, cordless.


As for the electric motor, no. You'll have to carry a car battery to power it.Generally they're utter pants unless you want to pay megabucks for a Torqueedo, which are bloody expensive. Oars are better.