Annie Hill wrote:

Darren Bos wrote:

Since we are talking about a fast outboard powered tender, I'd start at the motor and work forward from there. 

No we're not!  We're talking about the ideal tender and surely no-one would regard something that requires an engine that would be too large for many people to lift, to be the ideal tender.  In fact surely no one would regard as ideal any tender that requires an outboard motor!

Hi again David. The issue of Chinese made dinghys of new zealand design is interesting. I woraked for aquapro nz that designed and manufactured inflatables in NZ. The company was successful to the point of struggling to keep up with orders both domestic and ecport. It was bought by Survitic, a company registered in Ireland that also supplies R F D liferafts. Upon purchase they moved manufacturing to China. Same designs, same p v c fabric manufactured in France and Germany, glue made in  China. We would unpack and inflate boats and then one month in the sun all the glued pieces would fall off, handles, rowlocks, transoms etc. It got to the point we removed and reglued all these before any new boats were sold. Beware of r f d liferafts!!!

David Thatcher wrote:

I am currently looking at the Bolger Skimmer design. I have built one of these before and they are actually quite good load carriers. I am thinking a Bolger Skimmer but with a little bit of shape incorporated rather than the 'box' he has designed. 

Since we are talking about a fast outboard powered tender, I'd start at the motor and work forward from there.  For me a 2-stroke 9.9hp motor is all I care to lift on and off the mothership.  I have a 8hp Tohatsu that weighs 57lbs, the 9.8 weighs the same.  You need a pretty efficient boat to plane at these HP levels with more than one person aboard.  I would want a dinghy with relatively wide and flat aft to get on plane with the low hp and yet a pretty fine entry to deal with waves/chop and to prevent pounding.  A flat bottom also makes construction easier, but can pound when going into waves.  So, on top of the narrower forward sections, it is probably best if the stem is also raked aft.  These features take a lot of buoyancy out of the boat and it would have to be a pretty long boat in order to have any kind of load capacity.  To make it practical to take it aboard, it would have to be nesting. I like the clamps Dave Gerr shows for his Nester dinghy in the Nature of Boats for joining the two halves.  For the boat itself, I would shoot for something around 11' or 12' long.  The Spira power skiff or the Glen-L Power skiff are along the general idea of what I would shoot for.  I link to them only for a general idea of shape.  Whatever you build would ideally be done as lightly as practical, both so it can get up on plane and be lifted aboard without causing a hernia.

Given that building from scratch always costs more and takes longer, I've considered just cutting and existing boat in half.  Around here (British Columbia) there are lots of aluminum fishing boats to be had inexpensively.  If I could figure a way to add a bulkhead to make them nesting, that might be my first choice.

Thanks for the various contributions so far. We also used to have an old Avon inflatable, actually now that I think about it - two old Avons. No sign of glue failure on either and one of them was very old. It seems that the problem with modern inflatables is not so much the gluing of the actual fabric, but when plastic fittings such as the transom framing is glued to the fabric. The dealer told me I should have kept the inflatable out of the sun, to which I was able to reply that when not in actual use the salt was rinsed off and the dinghy stored indoors.

People could point and say that we should not buy Chinese made, but when I did my research on inflatable dinghies  I found that even some very well known New Zealand and European brands were in fact made somewhere in Asia. A bit like Apple computers - designed in California, assembled in China!  

I am currently looking at the Bolger Skimmer design. I have built one of these before and they are actually quite good load carriers. I am thinking a Bolger Skimmer but with a little bit of shape incorporated rather than the 'box' he has designed. 

Hi David, an inflatable dinghy should last well more than 7 years, particularly if the seams in the tubes are welded. If this is the case, and it is easy to tell, the plastic bits such as handles and rowlocks etc can be reglued and expected to last another 7 years.

You can tell if your seams are welded by looking at the edge of the tapes on the tubes. Welded seams will show a fine groove on the very edge of the tape. Glued tapes will be smooth to the edge and often a close look will show a slight glue line or discoloration adjacent to the tape.

If you choose to reglue the plastic bits you will need to remove them by using a hot air gun. Heat the plastic bit till it is uncomfortable to touch but not so hot as to melt it. Work a spatula beneath the plastic bit reheating as required. All residual glue must be removed or the new glue will fail. On the tubes the best solvent to use is toluene as it won't mlet the pic.. Use a rag and plenty of toloene. If it proves too stubborn which is likely, the old glue can be softened with meek or acetone.  Be careful as these solvents will melt pvc.

The plastic bits can be replaced with new or cleaned as above or even cleaned with an angle grinder with 100 grit disc.

Best glue to use is boscadore. You can normally get this from inflatable boat repaired or the Glue Guru, Wairau rd, Glenfield. Don't use adios contact glue etc.

Place your plastic bits in place dry and trace around with pencil. Mask 3 mm outside this line. Wipe the plastic bit and where you masked with meek or acetone. This time you do want to melt the pave a wee bit to key it. Brush a thin coat on to the tube and the plastic bit.  Best to use a resin brush with the bristles cut to half length so it is quite stiff. Leave for 15 minutes or more until the Glue I'd dry, not just tacky but dry. Heat the plastic bit with a hot air gun until it is uncomforta le to hold then heat the tube. Place plastic bit onto take tube starting at one corner and work it on carefully as you only get one shot at this. When in place heat again and use a small 70 mm roller to press it on as you continues to heat. If you don't want a yellow glue line around the fitting you will need to clean it now with toloene before it fully cures.