Just wondered if any of you had seen anyone come up with a good way to travel on a smaller boat, but with my sib along too.
Towing might be ok, but wouldn't that mainly be at displacement speeds. Not sure how would that be on plane.
I looked at divits, but my boat isn't that big and I don't have a swim platform per se, and I have an outboard on my boat...that obviously protrudes quite a way.
I've tried towing my 2.3m sib behind at planing speeds. Does slow you down quite a bit, but main problem was in any kind of a wave (perhaps a larger sib would not be more stable) - the sib kept flipping over and the tow line could jerk very hard. which puts a lot of strain on the tow attachment on the sib.
I find it handier now to keep it packed up and inflate quickly with a bravo pump.
Have you got anything protruding from the cabin roof Paul???
Not much, a light and an antennae. The guy I bought it from used to keep it on the roof, but it seems quite a job to haul it up there...wet, on my own. But that might just be me being a girls blouse.
Even sail boats who tow dinghys have problems with flipping ,ripped tow points & parted tows
Getting it clear of the water is the only real option if you want to plane
Agree with above... towing is a nightmare so use the smallest/lightest slat or air floor SIB that will do the job and either man up to pull it onto the roof** or stow deflated if room with an elec pump to inflate.
**But agree it isn't quite so easy as lifting a tender SIB about the slip/pontoon and scuffing the main boat is a risk.
What about selling the hard-transom SIB and going for a Avon Redcrest or similar? Literally takes minutes to inflate, folds down to a bag for storage and weighs about 20kg. Loads about in various states. I bought an Avon 8 and haven't looked back.
Only word of caution is how you enter and exit the soft-bottomed Redcrest from the main boat, as you have a bit of free-board height on the Quicksilver, and the Avons have a tendency to be unstable embarking and disembarking at height.
Sula
spy-sea-one
