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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

Motorized inflatable dinghy for ~$200

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TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

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2272 Posts

Initially Posted - 07/02/2013 : 20:18:56

I might have mentioned it a year ago when I first got it, but I have a little inflatable "dinghy in a bag" that I found on Amazon.com for $112. (More recently the price has skyrocketed to ~$200.) It used to be called the Seahawk II but has recently been renamed as the Mariner 3 or 3-person Mariner. (This is good, because the company has a boat called the Seahawk 2 that's just a cheap vinyl pool toy, unlike the Seahawk II that is made with durable 3-ply fabric sandwich.)

I recently chose to power my little inflatable "dinghy in a bag" with an electric trolling motor. Everyone has tradeoffs to make on their specific boat and motoring needs. In my case, I had no place secure to keep a gas powered moter except in the cabin, and I did not want gasoline down there. The electric trolling motor and battery both store safety down below (as does the dinghy when it's deflated). Also I'm cheap, and found the trolling motor for $80 and already have a couple spare group 24 batteries in my basement for driving sump pumps and starting my Trophy boat during the 1-2 weeks a year that I use it on vacation. This dinghy will get very infrequent use (once or twice a year), so for <$200 total it will have to be good enough for me. If I were a serious cruiser with a larger boat I'd get a more serious dinghy and outboard. But for my purposes I expect this to be plenty good, and an appropriate match to a little 25 foot boat.

In addition, for the inflatable that I have, even though it's rated for 2.5 HP outboard with the motor mount, I felt it was safer to have the weight of the battery contained within the boat itself instead of the weight+torque of an outboard hanging off the transom. A steady 30 lb thrust should be enough to get this lightweight boat most anywhere in protected waters, and won't cause the flotation tubes to collapse under the pressure.

Weather lately has been terrible, so I've had to work in between rainstorms. All I've been able to do so far is attach the registration numbers to the boat (each one had to be attached with Krazy Glue because they didn't want to stick to the fabric) and install the motor mount. I hope to test it all out this weekend.

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Rick S., Swarthmore, PA
PO of Take Five, 1998 Catalina 250WK #348 (relocated to Baltimore's Inner Harbor)
New owner of 2001 Catalina 34MkII #1535 Breakin' Away (at Rock Hall Landing Marina)

Edited by - TakeFive on 07/02/2013 22:05:07

OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4382 Posts

Response Posted - 07/03/2013 : 10:30:52

Looks like you need dinghy davits, only $400

Edited by - OJ on 07/03/2013 10:31:29

John Russell
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3444 Posts

Response Posted - 07/03/2013 : 15:24:51

Too bad you couldn't get a clear bottom, it could double as a dodger.

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OJ
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Response Posted - 07/03/2013 : 16:56:00

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by John Russell
 Too bad you couldn't get a clear bottom, it could double as a dodger.

Edited by - OJ on 07/03/2013 16:57:02

Sloop Smitten
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1181 Posts

Response Posted - 07/03/2013 : 20:26:44

Here in California if you put a motor or engine on a boat, inflatable or otherwise, you have to register it with the state and have numbers assigned to it if you use it on a public waterway. If you row it you do not have that requirement if it is under a certain number of feet. I assume the laws are different in Pennsylvania.

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TakeFive
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2272 Posts

Response Posted - 07/03/2013 : 20:47:21

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Sloop Smitten
 Here in California if you put a motor or engine on a boat, inflatable or otherwise, you have to register it with the state and have numbers assigned to it if you use it on a public waterway. If you row it you do not have that requirement if it is under a certain number of feet. I assume the laws are different in Pennsylvania.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
There may be subtle differences vs. California, but motorized boats do require registration in PA and MD. That's why I put registration numbers on the boat:
<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by TakeFive
 ...All I've been able to do so far is attach the registration numbers to the boat (each one had to be attached with Krazy Glue because they didn't want to stick to the fabric) and install the motor mount. I hope to test it all out this weekend...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
I had a few minutes between thunderstorms this evening to place the battery and trolling motor on the boat and ride around the area. I confirmed that the boat has enough speed to make headway against the local current.

Although I do daysailing in Pennsylvania, this dinghy is intended for occasional cruises in the Chesapeake. Since its principal state of operation will be Maryland, I registered the dinghy there.

Edited by - TakeFive on 07/03/2013 20:48:18

TakeFive
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2272 Posts

Response Posted - 07/05/2013 : 14:48:50

Today was our first time actually using the new dinghy.

We had a nice broad reach upriver this morning. We grabbed a mooring ball in a cove, and rode to shore on "Take Two." The sail back was very vigorous, but beating into a strong breeze was still HOT because of the sun. I had hoped to maybe stay overnight in the cove sometime this weekend, but it's too bloody HOT.

This place is not nearly as quaint as the towns on the Chesapeake, nor is it anywhere near as cool as island hopping on the BVI. But it's about a close as we can come to that experience around the Philly area, so it was a nice time that we will repeat in the future.

Click on the picture below to see the whole photo album on Facebook:

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TakeFive
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2272 Posts

Response Posted - 07/07/2013 : 17:48:19

I forgot to upload this picture to Facebook the other day. It's one of the better ones of the admiral and me sailing. Thank goodness for timed shutter delay - and for autopilot:

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