http://www.womenandcruising.com/blog/2011/08/dinghy-choice-rib-or-hard-dinghy/ Women cruisers share their experiences, info and news Sun, 09 Mar 2014 21:56:12 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=3.8.41 http://www.womenandcruising.com/blog/2011/08/dinghy-choice-rib-or-hard-dinghy/comment-page-1/#comment-3921 Wed, 10 Aug 2011 23:55:27 +0000 http://www.womenandcruising.com/blog/?p=5045#comment-3921 Hi, we have been cruising for 11 years and have had 4 inflatables, 2 hard bottom and 2 soft. Our favorite is the Carribe a 9.5 foot hard bottom. It has large tubes so its not tippy, I have a problem flipping hard dingys so they were ruled out early on. A 15 hp engine is perfect with this boat. we have had dink for 10 years and are ready for a new one. One thing that I have seen is that if you buy a dingy in cold countries the glue has a problem in extreme heat. A cover for your boat will extend its life as well and keep your bum from burning on a hot day. Another must for us is dingy wheels, we are on our 2nd set, 1st made out of aluminum, they bent, the second made out of stainless. We found that the large tires work better as well in deep sand, and that the wheels help our backs alot. Well have fun with whatever you buy!

]]> http://www.womenandcruising.com/blog/2011/08/dinghy-choice-rib-or-hard-dinghy/comment-page-1/#comment-3920 Wed, 10 Aug 2011 17:31:55 +0000 http://www.womenandcruising.com/blog/?p=5045#comment-3920 This is an excellent discussion of the pros and cons of various dinghies!
We loved our Avon RIB w/ a 15-hp Yamaha engine. I could hoist it single-handedly on our davits with a block-and-tackle system.
But it went with the boat sale and on our new boat we just inherited a soft-bottom inflatable with only a 2-hp engine. Now we remember the old days of getting wet and not being able to giddy-up and skim.
It’s like getting an old clunker car after being used to a luxury model!

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