18 replies to this topic

[Cman]

I sail from Marina del Rey to Catalina a few times a year on my 35’ J109 – 1/3 of the way motor sailing, 2/3 sailing. I leave the 9.5’ dinghy deflated on deck, and then pump it up when I get there. By the time we get there it’s late in the afternoon, we’re tired, and the little kids need to get off the boat in a hurry. So inflating the dinghy is just a time consuming hassle; we need to hit the ground running when we get there. Should I tow the dinghy or rig some davits for it? What are the pros and cons? I have a separate place to stow the small outboard.

Towing is easy to get started with, but what do I need to think about (only experience towing a dinghy is a 12’ rib behind a chartered beneteau50 in the BVIs). I like the idea of davits because I’m thinking I don’t have to think about the dinghy once it’s up; but at 35’ the boat seems a bit small for davits. I like to sail as much as I can, does it make difference if it’s towed or on davits?

Any advice would be appreciated. Tx

[Soñadora]

Towing's ok for short distances. Davits are awesome. You could lay a platform across the top, put a mattress and some solar panels up there, couple wind generators and 2 SSB antennas.

Or you could just HTFU, keep the deflated dinghy on deck, and show us your wife's tits.

oh, and 'Cman' is dangerously close to 'seaman' which is pretty damn close to semen.

[blackjenner]

I won't keep this rigged for offshore but, I'm kinda biased towards my davits and hard dingy.

[Gatekeeper]

Black

But that's a race boat...right?

[4knotSB]

She's wearing orange. Must be a racer.

[Mung Breath]

I do a lot of transits with a RID. If I'm motoring, I don't much care if I tow the dinghy which is certainly the easiest solution. If I'm sailing, I prefer it on deck because it slows me down and it's noisy. But I have a long flush deck.

The J/109 is a small boat with minimal deck space by comparison. But I can't imagine davits or weight astern on that style of boat either. Personally, I think I'd go with the smallest roll-up dinghy that will fit everyone and stow it. Use the transit time you save by not towing it to inflate it.

My $ .02-cents

[B.J. Porter]

I sail from Marina del Rey to Catalina a few times a year on my 35’ J109 – 1/3 of the way motor sailing, 2/3 sailing. I leave the 9.5’ dinghy deflated on deck, and then pump it up when I get there. By the time we get there it’s late in the afternoon, we’re tired, and the little kids need to get off the boat in a hurry. So inflating the dinghy is just a time consuming hassle; we need to hit the ground running when we get there. Should I tow the dinghy or rig some davits for it? What are the pros and cons? I have a separate place to stow the small outboard.

Towing is easy to get started with, but what do I need to think about (only experience towing a dinghy is a 12’ rib behind a chartered beneteau50 in the BVIs). I like the idea of davits because I’m thinking I don’t have to think about the dinghy once it’s up; but at 35’ the boat seems a bit small for davits. I like to sail as much as I can, does it make difference if it’s towed or on davits?

Any advice would be appreciated. Tx

I'm not sure I'd do davits on a J/109, just doesn't seem big enough.

That being said, davits rock - especially if you can get them strong enough to hold the dinghy with your engine on. We can be launched or recovered within minutes which is really nice.

[kent_island_sailor]

http://www.dinghy-tow.com/about.htm

[Moonduster]

It takes less than 15 minutes to go from a fully deflated Avon 2.8 stored below deck to planing ashore. You're doing something wrong if you can get your dink stiff, in the water, outboard on and underway in less than 10 minutes from partially deflated on deck.

Davits are ridiculous, expensive and ugly. And they'll increase the cost of your slip as your harbor master will measure the overall length of your boat from stem to stern including all accessories.

You might consider a 12V power inflator or using a SCUBA tank or just investing in a better pump. Seriously, once you get the hang of it you should be looking at less than 10 minutes.

Good luck!

[curm]

I like my davits. Good place to put a solar panel and it's easy to launch the dinghy. If going offshore I would lash my deflated dinghy on deck, but for coastal cruising in the NE the davits are perfect.

[Mung Breath]

It takes less than 15 minutes to go from a fully deflated Avon 2.8 stored below deck to planing ashore. You're doing something wrong if you can get your dink stiff, in the water, outboard on and underway in less than 10 minutes from partially deflated on deck.

Davits are ridiculous, expensive and ugly. And they'll increase the cost of your slip as your harbor master will measure the overall length of your boat from stem to stern including all accessories.

You might consider a 12V power inflator or using a SCUBA tank or just investing in a better pump. Seriously, once you get the hang of it you should be looking at less than 10 minutes.

Good luck!

Heck, with its stock foot pump, all three of my RID tubes are inflated in 5 minutes. It takes longer than that to find and rig a power inflator. The other thing not mentioned here is that davits would effectively extend the length of a J109 by what, 15%? I've seen that make for interesting bumper car action in a tight mooring field when the skipper ignores it back there!

[Cman]

Thanks for all the advice. I’m hearing davits not a good idea for a j109, and I can’t argue with that. It also seems apparent to me now that I’m using a really crappy pump. Any advice on which pump I should get (dinghy uses a naru valve and has a high pressure floor)? Tx

[curm]

Bravo 9 or Bravo 10. Get a spare hose because the bravo hoses are flimsy. I don't know about adapters for a naru valve. My new Odyssey air floor uses Halkey-Roberts values and it was a PITA to get the proper adapters, but I found them. Check out inflatableboatparts.com.

[Speng]

I'm surprised that a J109 is considered a small boat...

If you only need to do it once in while why not pump it up at the start when you're fresh and tow it so it's ready to go when you get there. OTOH putting the o/b on an inflatable in the water may be a pain?I dunno. I wouldn't tow it with the o/b in case it falls of. I wouldn't do davits just cuz.

[Bob Perry]

Can't imagine davits on that boat. That would look just plain silly.
Donn's boat looks fine with davits but it is a very different boat.
HTFU and deflate your dink each day. That's what I did on my Esprit.

Oh yeah, and about those boobs. We have rules here you know.

[Whisper]

I tow from San Pedro to Two Harbors all the time. With outboard and gas in the dink. 10'2" air deck inflatable with Tohatsu 9.8 hp 2-stroke. To minimize drag, shorten the tow line until it's surfing down the first stern wake. You will find the sweet spot where you can hold the tow line between two fingers. Otherwise, you'll need two hands. I don't tow when it blows more than 25 knots.

[Joli]

Black, that's a damn good looking small pilot house boat. It must be a pleasure to live aboard.

I won't keep this rigged for offshore but, I'm kinda biased towards my davits and hard dingy.

[xFishman]

I personally never liked the idea of towing my dingy (unless it is for a very short distance); however I don’t think that davits would really suit your boat either. We pretty much always ether pump up the dingy when we get where we are going or strap it upside down up front I. We are on a Tartan 3500 and make the trip from Newport to Catalina fairly often with the dingy strapped down up front, if the weather is fair.

[blackjenner]

Black, that's a damn good looking small pilot house boat. It must be a pleasure to live aboard.

I won't keep this rigged for offshore but, I'm kinda biased towards my davits and hard dingy.

It's pretty amazing so far, Joli. As of yesterday, we have officially lived aboard for two years.

Here is the latest and best pic of her from Race Your House.