On Tue, 30 Aug 2005 07:35:23 -0700, Lloyd Sumpter wrote:

Hi,
(Been a while since I've been he wave to the ol' regulars!)

I'm thinking of trading my Walker Bay for an inflatable (then using the WB
for lake fishing), for the tender dinghy for Far Cove, my Catalina 36.

Thanks for the replies: I've seen the porta-bote, and it's not what I'm
looking for.

I bought a Brig Dingo D285, and so far I'm very impressed. It has a
"solid" floor (5 piece plywood linked together) with an inflatable keel
that goes all the way back to the transom.

The Bad News is the oars really suck. They're too short, and PINNED so you
can't feather them. I think I can modify "proper" oarlocks to be female
and fit over the pin, then use some decent oars and it should be OK.

The Good News is that it goes GREAT with an electric! I bought a Minn Kota
Max50T (50-lb thrust, Maximizer cct) and with one person on board, it goes
5.8 knots WOT and 3.7knots at 50%. That's not bad at all: in fact I'm
guessing it's at least as good as a 2-4hp engine. Kinda fun pulling
donuts, jumping my own wake, making NO noise!

I COULD use up to a 10hp outboard if I wanted to go Really Fast and be
Really Noisy.

And, it fits on Far Cove's foredeck like it was made for it. (Though it's
a LITTLE heavy for simply throwing overboard to launch like I did with the
Walker Bay)

So... anybody wanna buy a well-used Walker Bay 8 c/w 30-lb electric and
oars?

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36
"Near Cove III" Brig 285