have fun 🙂

http://downeasteryachts.com/fo.....oad-images

scott

Well,the Tortoise is built and tested.  She's not perfect,but she's far better than anticipated. 

The boat does,in fact,sit *in* the cockpit on the DE38 easily as I had hoped,though a little high for a helm seat. 

The boat itself –she rows quite well.  Rowing by myself,I was able to keep a decent pace with short,easy strokes and the boat tracked incredibly well.  She handled a short chop gracefully and the wakes were no issue.

Loaded to 500 pounds [Image Can Not Be Found] the boat was even more fun to row!  She tracked and carried much better with the added weight.  Of course,it was VERY tight quarters and I probably couldn't make a long,deep stroke comfortably,though it wouldn't do any good.  The ride was smooth and dry.

Stability –the boat really came into her own there.  I could stand on the gunwhale (amidship) and not put the side underwater.  However,I could put the bow underwater quite easily by standing in the forward two feet.  I'll install a foredeck similar to the aft deck to remedy this. 

Sailing –OK,I screwed up twice.  First issue,I was feeling lazy and rather than building a rudder,I had the bright idea of using one of the 7'oars in a stern oarlock as the rudder.  It works,but only when moving quickly.  Second,the mast partner popped off the side of the boat,so I need to improve that.  The breaking wasn't enough to dismast me,but I did drop the sail and scull in with the steering oar with quite a bit of success.  What sailing I did do,I enjoyed immensely,though. 

The bilgeboard was moderately helpful while rowing,but it wasn't terribly windy.  If I were rowing with a crosswind,I'd definitely have it in the water to minimize leeway.

Overall,I'm extremely impressed by that tiny little boat.  I wouldn't use her as the main dinghy,but she takes up so little space (6'6" X 3'3") and was so inexpensive ($75 total and 20-30 hours building her) I can't imagine not having her aboard. 

(How do I upload images from my hard drive for this forum?)

I am impressed with the dingy. It is a 12ft inflatable with a high pressure floor that when inflated gives the bottom of the boat a rigid V shape in the water with a nicely curved and flaring v bow. Handles great and even paddles ok for an inflatable. Bottom inflates to 11.6lbs

I wondered where you were going to store that long lean thing 🙂 on downeaster 🙂 Glad you had fun building it  though. 🙂

Maybe you can cut it in half and turn it into a nesting design? My thoughts on building a hard dingy have been to build a 10 to 12 ft nesting design that will store in an area only 6ft long or less. I have seen some 3 piece nesting designs (though i can't remember where at the moment) that had potential.. good rowing, sailing or motoring boats with a decent capacity to bring people or groceries to the the boat at anchor.

Yes, once I get the sailing kit built, I plan on putting in a pair of bulkheads and cutting her in half.

After some rowing tests, I cannot express how impressed I was with this boat.  An absolute MASSIVE amount of initial stability, perfect manners under oars and a capacity for hauling gear that will boggle the mind (1,000 pounds) in a boat that's extremely comfortable to sit in.

The plan, as I jokingly refer to it, is to store the two halves on the main cabin trunk.  I really want to avoid using the stern davits.

In addition to the continued work on the Junebug, I'll be building a Bolger Tortoise as a test bed.  I'm quite intrigued by the box boat and I'll gladly throw two sheets of plywood at a concept that looks fun.  If my measurements are correct, this boat will fit on the stern seat of the 38 and serve as a perch for the helmsman.  (Keep in mind, I thought I could fit a 14' X 3'3" boat on deck, so that statement is suspect [Image Can Not Be Found]) 

I'm researching all the suggested designs, they all look very promising and should work very well.

The discussion about sailing rigs - instead of the super complicated rigs we see on commercial dinks, I'm going with a balanced lug rig for my Junebug and, probably, a lateen sail for the Tortoise.  This will keep the spars short, the rig simple and cost down. I'll make the sail out of polytarp so I can cheaply experiment with shapes / sizes.  Once I'm happy, I'll have a real sail made.

Wow, great info.  To solve the tippy-ness of hard dinghy's, anyone use the inflatable skirt-tubes?  Like this, http://www.dinghydogs.com/Text.....rison.html

 

(Currently I have an inflatable PVC dinghy with 6HP outboard and do not like the dinghy at all.  This year or next, I will definitely get or build a hard dinghy, and later get a sailing kit setup.)

That's certainly one way to go. I plan on putting eyes along the gunwhales of my dinghy and attaching the fenders from the big boat to them for reserve stability / buoyancy.  Not only is it cheap and easy, it also gives you something to do with those annoying and voluminous fenders when you're offshore...

Bacon_Grease said:

Why not a purchased hard dinghy?
1)  Cost - a WB10 with sail kit breaks two grand.

Now I am curious.  Given that a hard dinghy can be build for under $500, what is the price justification for hard dinghies which cost over $3k?  That is:  what are the professional dinghy builders doing which the home builder is not doing?  Presumably the professional builder has considerable price advantage due to volume production (jigs, molds, etc) which the home builder will never have since the build is a one-off.  How are the professional built dinghies significantly better?

When you buy a commercial dink, you're paying for the builder / designer's experience and knowledge as well as his time plus the time you don't spend building the boat.  Had I done this "on the clock" at work, the JuneBug would have cost five grand in my labor alone.

Some may argue that the hull shapes found in boats like the Walker Bay are "better" than those found on a home built Bolger Nymph (I'm just listing boats I have experience with...)  I can see their point, though I disagree. 

Scott

Tim    'Pelli'   DE32

Why not a purchased hard dinghy?
1)  Cost - a WB10 with sail kit breaks two grand.

Now I am curious.  Given that a hard dinghy can be build for under $500, what is the price justification for hard dinghies which cost over $3k?  That is:  what are the professional dinghy builders doing which the home builder is not doing?  Presumably the professional builder has considerable price advantage due to volume production (jigs, molds, etc) which the home builder will never have since the build is a one-off.  How are the professional built dinghies significantly better?

Scott Carle said:

We just purchased a 12 ft inflatable [....] I had to use a shop vac to inflate it

What's that about, your foot get too tired of pumping?  Ha.

Rofl.... I have two foot pumps and didn't even try to use one. Used the midget shop vac we keep on board to inflate it to test it. Then went to west marine and found a 12 volt inflater on sale for 30 some dollars that you can preset the psi and it will automatically cut out at that pressure..

Sadly I have to purchase another inflator's of some kind as unlike the tubes that inflate to 3.6psi the floor is one of the inflatable V shape floors and inflates to 11.6 psi.. just wow.. I didn't realise that all standard foot pumps and electric inflator's normally only pump between 2 to 4 psi. West marine has one that does in the catalogue that cost 199 dollars (its the next model up from what I bought on sale for 30 ish dollars)  with port supply I could get it for 149 but damn that is just pricey. I asked the manager if they could do any better and he is seeing what he can do. The boat moves with the floor inflated to a few lbs psi but I can tell that it would go 100% better if filled to spec.. I almost got it on plane with just a 3.5 hp 4 stroke the other day with just me in it. With it fully inflated I think I could actually get it on plane.

We just purchased a 12 ft inflatable [....] I had to use a shop vac to inflate it

What's that about, your foot get too tired of pumping?  Ha.

I would prefer not having nesting but there just isn't the room on a DE for it for a boat of that size

. 🙂 unless I rigged side davits on her and hung the dingy from them.

For a sail rig I would be using sailboard masts and sails. I picked up 5 or 6 masts both one piece and 2 piece and 4 sails for a sailboard about 5 years ago. So That would what I would use for sails since I already  have them.

I would think twice about nesting though. The guy we built the one for in Fiji, found it too much trouble and ended up finding a way to get it on his boat in one piece. We had no trouble getting it onto the Peterson with the main halyard.

I can get you photos of it if you are interested.

Tim   'Pelli'  DE32

I am still wanting a hard dingy though. my thought is a two piece nesting dingy of about 10ft  that you can actually row either end independently if used separately.  I also definitely want a basic sailing rig for it. I will most likely build one myself with plywood and stitch and glue technique. If I find plans I like I will buy them other wise will probably design it myself.

On sailnet.com is this comment: "I have been in a Fatty Knees dinghy,and it lacks the form stability of our Dyer Midget. This is likely due to the rounded hull,compared to the Dyer which is slab sided and flat-bottomed (with a slight V-shape). Also,unlike the Fatty Knees (which is a chopper gun dinghy),the Dyer is hand laid glass.  The Dyers have been in production for decades and there is usually a good supply on the used market,often at reasonable prices especially if you find one that needs a little refurb. JohnRPollard"

The Midget is.. I guess about $2k - 3k ?