2007 dhinghy

Comment by Randall S Anselmo on February 22, 2012 at 8:31pm

How do you like your Porta-Bote?  I am strongly considering getting one to replace my crumbling dinghy.

Comment by Mirko Sebastian on February 23, 2012 at 6:35am

I appreciate the flexible and tough hull material of the hull Porta-Bote.

Found the black plastic material used for the benches less useful. It heats up in the sun and it is not strong enough.

Folding is quite difficult and one does not know where to stow the benches...we haul out and carry the boat up-side-down on the rear net.

Rowing isn´t great with a Porta-Bote. The hull flexes so much that the oars come out.

FranklyI am not sure if I would buy the Porta-Bote again...what else do you consider?

Comment by Randall S Anselmo on March 9, 2012 at 9:32pm

My other thought was to build a Ruel Parker Periagua like Boatsmith's.  We do trailer often, though, and I wondered if the Porta-Bote might be more convenient when the whole package is on the trailer.

Comment by Mirko Sebastian on March 10, 2012 at 1:19pm

The Ruel Parker Periagua looks fast, its corners could easily damage the thin skin of a Wharram. To start with I'd consider a robust rotomould dinghi or an inflatable, Wharram cats are already a handful by itself to look after.... 

Comment by Randall S Anselmo on March 13, 2012 at 7:22pm

Thanks for your comments.  We've been using the small wooden stitch and glue dinghy that came with the Hei Matau when we bought her.  With the kind of padding around the gunwhales that I would use to protect any boat, Wharram or not, we haven't had any problems with the skin.  It's only problems are that it's too small for my family of four, and that the floor is soft.  My concern with a rotomoulded dinghy is weight and lack of collapsibility, and with the inflatable, lack of ability row against a stiff wind.  Like any sailing conversation, there seem to be so many fine points to consider!  I'll let you know what we come up with.

Comment by Ann and Neville Clement on March 14, 2012 at 7:33am

   Nev and I will be building a ply,epoxy/glass fiber nesting dinghy over the summer.  We got the design from a friend who designed it for use on his Triton 28 monohull (he stored it on the foredeck all nested).  We have admired Ed's dinghy for 5 years.  It is very stable in the water, it nests well, trails well, rows well, sails well, looks good, planes with a 2 horse engine, and we just discovered that IT STORES FULLY ASSEMBLED ON OUR RAMP!  Even better, when he and his wife use the dinghy to go to boat or beach, she arrives dry and all the other passengers on other dinghys arrive soaked if there is a chop running.  This is a light weight stitch and glue design that Ed and his wife assemble in the water  and they haul it up on deck disassembled by hand with no pulley system at all.  The designer is Ed Davis and he has given us a few plans to sell for him.  He is making a video to go with the plans so you can see how it is built.  Many of the pieces come with full size patterns.  Ed works for Wooden Boat.  When we get ours done, we will take a pic of it.  We call it the Ed's Five Star and it is really pretty with a nice sheer line and sprit sail. 

     Another nesting dinghy you might be interested in is the Chamelion which was designed by Don Greene.  I don't know if it is able to be stored assembled on the ramp or not though.  I have seen one and it looks good.  I don't know how well it sails or powers, etc.

      We were delighted to see that Ed's dinghy is lighter than our inflatable and also the smaller 2 horse engine will be lighter than the 6 horse we currently use with our inflatable.  Light weight stuff is easier for us to deal with because we  are lots older than most of the folks on this web site.  Old but still going!  Currently on our way from Bahamas to Rhode Island.

Comment by Randall S Anselmo on March 14, 2012 at 7:38pm

Thanks Ann!  Being a visual person, I'd love to see a photo or general drawing of the Five Star. Do you know the rough dimensions (weight, length, beam, capacity, etc.)?  Hope you have a fun and safe journey back from the Bahamas.  Where will you be in Rhode Island?  We're thinking of coming out for the America's Cup World Series regatta this summer.

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