I'm really attracted to the Walker Bay 8 as a dink that appears
sufficiently small to fit inverted on the foredeck of my little Hunter
310, and light enough to possibly be able to man-handle on-and-off
without using a jury-rigged harness.

However, I note that it's made of injection-molded polypropylene.

Can anyone comment on the ease-of-launch/stowage issue, or -
especially - on how effective their "UV stabilization" really is?

Also - is Niccolls Lite still in business? Their NN10 looks really
nifty.

Thanks.

Al
s/v Persephone

Can anyone comment on the ease-of-launch/stowage issue, or -
especially - on how effective their "UV stabilization" really is?

I used a WB 8 for a few years, both with a Cape Dory Typhoon and a Pearson 30.
Good little dink that tows very well, but has limited capacity. I can't imagine
launching it from deck without cursing someone out and I'm stronger than most
sailors.
Several people here have been talking about portaboats as a better alternative
to rigids and inflatables.
On my C&C 32 I now use a Quicksilver 300 airdeck.

Good luck,

RB

On 18 Dec 2003 21:27:25 GMT, (Bobsprit) wrote:

Can anyone comment on the ease-of-launch/stowage issue, or -
especially - on how effective their "UV stabilization" really is?

I used a WB 8 for a few years, both with a Cape Dory Typhoon and a Pearson 30.
Good little dink that tows very well, but has limited capacity. I can't imagine
launching it from deck without cursing someone out and I'm stronger than most
sailors.
Several people here have been talking about portaboats as a better alternative
to rigids and inflatables.
On my C&C 32 I now use a Quicksilver 300 airdeck.

Good luck,

RB

Thanks for the feedback.

I have Persephone at a slip, so the capacity required is mainly for
2-person anchorage-to-shore tourist excusions - not ferrying supplies.

Can you compare its stability with other hard dinks?

(Persephone has the typical Hunter split transom and swim platform, so
we aren't going to tax that too much, but it obviously isn't an Avon.)

I looked at a Portabote but have enough windage with the H310's high
freeboard, so I don't want to convert my forward life-lines on one
side into a 10-foot-long-by-two-foot-high bulwark. (Though in fairness
the coach roof does cover some of that cross-section, anyway.)

Unfortunately, neither my cabin top before the mast or the portion aft
of it can accommodate the 10-foot length.

A Niccolls Lite NN10 nestable is much more of interest, but they don't
seem to answer e-mails, so I wonder if they're still in business.

On 18 Dec 2003 21:27:25 GMT, (Bobsprit) wrote:

Can anyone comment on the ease-of-launch/stowage issue, or -
especially - on how effective their "UV stabilization" really is?

I used a WB 8 for a few years, both with a Cape Dory Typhoon and a Pearson 30.
Good little dink that tows very well, but has limited capacity. I can't imagine
launching it from deck without cursing someone out and I'm stronger than most
sailors.
Several people here have been talking about portaboats as a better alternative
to rigids and inflatables.
On my C&C 32 I now use a Quicksilver 300 airdeck.

Good luck,

RB

Thanks for the feedback.

I have Persephone at a slip, so the capacity required is mainly for
2-person anchorage-to-shore tourist excusions - not ferrying supplies.

Can you compare its stability with other hard dinks?

(Persephone has the typical Hunter split transom and swim platform, so
we aren't going to tax that too much, but it obviously isn't an Avon.)

I looked at a Portabote but have enough windage with the H310's high
freeboard, so I don't want to convert my forward life-lines on one
side into a 10-foot-long-by-two-foot-high bulwark. (Though in fairness
the coach roof does cover some of that cross-section, anyway.)

Unfortunately, neither my cabin top before the mast or the portion aft
of it can accommodate the 10-foot length.

A Niccolls Lite NN10 nestable is much more of interest, but they don't
seem to answer e-mails, so I wonder if they're still in business.

On 18 Dec 2003, (Bobsprit) wrote:

I used a WB 8 for a few years, . . . . Good little
dink that tows very well, but has limited capacity.
I can't imagine launching it from deck without
cursing someone out and I'm stronger than most
sailors.

Though we're still looking for an inflatable that really
(easily/reliably) deflates/inflates to enable in-lazaratte storage,
one solution to the launching-from-deck Thing was suggested some time
ago in one of those "I wish I had thought of that!" tips in one of the
sailing or cruising magazines -- namely, a simply-made and easily
collapsable "derek" arrangement:

Three 1"-diameeter dowels capped with poly-piping at the end acting as
collars which, when slotted together, make pole which can be attached
at one end to the mast, held up near the other end with a spare
halyard, and with pulleys at the over-the-water end (and, again, which
when done can be removed and stowed conveniently).

On Mon, 22 Dec 2003 00:56:52 GMT, wrote:

I assume that you are using this dinghy with a sailboat? If so use the
spinnicker pole as a derrick. connect the pole to the mast; connect
the pole lift and rig a two, three, whatever, part tackle between the
pole and then dink. You probably should also rig for and aft lines to
the end of the pole to control swing while you're hauling the dinghy.

Cheers,
(change to bruce/at/inet/co/th for teply)


On 18 Dec 2003, (Bobsprit) wrote:

I used a WB 8 for a few years, . . . . Good little
dink that tows very well, but has limited capacity.
I can't imagine launching it from deck without
cursing someone out and I'm stronger than most
sailors.

Though we're still looking for an inflatable that really
(easily/reliably) deflates/inflates to enable in-lazaratte storage,
one solution to the launching-from-deck Thing was suggested some time
ago in one of those "I wish I had thought of that!" tips in one of the
sailing or cruising magazines -- namely, a simply-made and easily
collapsable "derek" arrangement:

Three 1"-diameeter dowels capped with poly-piping at the end acting as
collars which, when slotted together, make pole which can be attached
at one end to the mast, held up near the other end with a spare
halyard, and with pulleys at the over-the-water end (and, again, which
when done can be removed and stowed conveniently).


Cheers,

anon
(reply to k4556[at]inet[dot]co[dot]th)

On Mon, 22 Dec 2003, anon wrote:

wrote:

I assume that you are using this dinghy with a sailboat?

yes

If so use the spinnicker pole as a derrick. connect the
pole to the mast; connect the pole lift and rig a two,
three, whatever, part tackle between the pole and then
dink. You probably should also rig for and aft lines to
the end of the pole to control swing while you're hauling
the dinghy. Cheers . . .

Of course, I agree with this . . . if one has a spinnaker or like
pole. As it happens (actually: it didn't just "happen" and instead
for us was a matter of choice), we don't, having opted instead for a
near functional equivalent to a spinnaker or gennaker but with (for
us) more ease-of-handling yet don't-give-up-performance features
(i.e., Doyle's self-furling "utility power sail" a/k/a "UPS")). My
earlier suggestion, quoted in part below, thus is correspondingly
meant to (and does) perform exactly the functions in pretty much the
same manner as use of a spinnaker pole you summarize above yet also
with more collapsable/stow-able ease.*

-----------------------
*
Three 1"-diameter dowels capped with poly-piping
at the end acting as collars which, when slotted
together, make pole which can be attached
at one end to the mast, held up near the other
end with a spare halyard, and with pulleys at the
over-the-water end (and, again, [acts as a "derrick"
and] which when done can be removed and stowed
conveniently).

On Mon, 22 Dec 2003 19:05:17 GMT, wrote:

Sorry 'bout that. All of the sailing boats I've been around had poles
so somehow assumed that everyone did.

One comment on your design. Those one inch dowels aren't going to be
very strong and if "poly-piping" is PVC piping it doesn't have much
strength. With my setup, initially the spinnicker pole is just about
horizontal in order to reach far enough out to lift the dinghy
horizontally (level) and have sufficient clearence to avoid bashing
the topsides of either vessel against the other. This puts some pretty
high loads on the pole. I'd do some testting to be sure that one inch
dowel would be strong enough.



On Mon, 22 Dec 2003, anon wrote:

wrote:

I assume that you are using this dinghy with a sailboat?

yes

If so use the spinnicker pole as a derrick. connect the
pole to the mast; connect the pole lift and rig a two,
three, whatever, part tackle between the pole and then
dink. You probably should also rig for and aft lines to
the end of the pole to control swing while you're hauling
the dinghy. Cheers . . .

Of course, I agree with this . . . if one has a spinnaker or like
pole. As it happens (actually: it didn't just "happen" and instead
for us was a matter of choice), we don't, having opted instead for a
near functional equivalent to a spinnaker or gennaker but with (for
us) more ease-of-handling yet don't-give-up-performance features
(i.e., Doyle's self-furling "utility power sail" a/k/a "UPS")). My
earlier suggestion, quoted in part below, thus is correspondingly
meant to (and does) perform exactly the functions in pretty much the
same manner as use of a spinnaker pole you summarize above yet also
with more collapsable/stow-able ease.*

-----------------------
*
Three 1"-diameter dowels capped with poly-piping
at the end acting as collars which, when slotted
together, make pole which can be attached
at one end to the mast, held up near the other
end with a spare halyard, and with pulleys at the
over-the-water end (and, again, [acts as a "derrick"
and] which when done can be removed and stowed
conveniently).

Cheers,

anon
(reply to k4556[at]inet[dot]co[dot]th)

On Mon, 22 Dec 2003 19:05:17 GMT, wrote:

Sorry 'bout that. All of the sailing boats I've been around had poles
so somehow assumed that everyone did.

One comment on your design. Those one inch dowels aren't going to be
very strong and if "poly-piping" is PVC piping it doesn't have much
strength. With my setup, initially the spinnicker pole is just about
horizontal in order to reach far enough out to lift the dinghy
horizontally (level) and have sufficient clearence to avoid bashing
the topsides of either vessel against the other. This puts some pretty
high loads on the pole. I'd do some testting to be sure that one inch
dowel would be strong enough.



On Mon, 22 Dec 2003, anon wrote:

wrote:

I assume that you are using this dinghy with a sailboat?

yes

If so use the spinnicker pole as a derrick. connect the
pole to the mast; connect the pole lift and rig a two,
three, whatever, part tackle between the pole and then
dink. You probably should also rig for and aft lines to
the end of the pole to control swing while you're hauling
the dinghy. Cheers . . .

Of course, I agree with this . . . if one has a spinnaker or like
pole. As it happens (actually: it didn't just "happen" and instead
for us was a matter of choice), we don't, having opted instead for a
near functional equivalent to a spinnaker or gennaker but with (for
us) more ease-of-handling yet don't-give-up-performance features
(i.e., Doyle's self-furling "utility power sail" a/k/a "UPS")). My
earlier suggestion, quoted in part below, thus is correspondingly
meant to (and does) perform exactly the functions in pretty much the
same manner as use of a spinnaker pole you summarize above yet also
with more collapsable/stow-able ease.*

-----------------------
*
Three 1"-diameter dowels capped with poly-piping
at the end acting as collars which, when slotted
together, make pole which can be attached
at one end to the mast, held up near the other
end with a spare halyard, and with pulleys at the
over-the-water end (and, again, [acts as a "derrick"
and] which when done can be removed and stowed
conveniently).

Cheers,

anon
(reply to k4556[at]inet[dot]co[dot]th)

On Mon, 22 Dec 2003, anon wrote:

wrote:

I assume that you are using this dinghy with a sailboat?

yes

If so use the spinnicker pole as a derrick. connect the
pole to the mast; connect the pole lift and rig a two,
three, whatever, part tackle between the pole and then
dink. You probably should also rig for and aft lines to
the end of the pole to control swing while you're hauling
the dinghy. Cheers . . .

Of course, I agree with this . . . if one has a spinnaker or like
pole. As it happens (actually: it didn't just "happen" and instead
for us was a matter of choice), we don't, having opted instead for a
near functional equivalent to a spinnaker or gennaker but with (for
us) more ease-of-handling yet don't-give-up-performance features
(i.e., Doyle's self-furling "utility power sail" a/k/a "UPS")). My
earlier suggestion, quoted in part below, thus is correspondingly
meant to (and does) perform exactly the functions in pretty much the
same manner as use of a spinnaker pole you summarize above yet also
with more collapsable/stow-able ease.*

-----------------------
*
Three 1"-diameter dowels capped with poly-piping
at the end acting as collars which, when slotted
together, make pole which can be attached
at one end to the mast, held up near the other
end with a spare halyard, and with pulleys at the
over-the-water end (and, again, [acts as a "derrick"
and] which when done can be removed and stowed
conveniently).