Cutwater 30 Dinghy Options?

[henrybrown]

I'm debating whether to stick with a roll up 8' West Marine RU3 (light but fragile) or get a swimstep-mounted Weaver davit and add a 10' West Marine RIB-310. ( No motors, just rowing for me.) I like the perceived convenience of the Weaver davit system but my main concern is all of the exhaust water on the port side that would seem to spray into the inverted dinghy. I'm also not crazy about limboing over, under, or around the support bars while boarding the swimstep. What do other Cutwater 30 owners use for dinghies, how have you mounted them, and do you avoid a wet dinghy? I've seen pix of the Cutwater factory dinghy with its longer tubes to the stern of its transom and wonder if this alleviates the spray issue. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

 

[R Baker]

I don't think whatever dinghy option you chase becomes really acceptable in boats of our sizes. Hoisting a dinghy onto the cabin house of a 40 ft boat would fit the bill. What kind of dinghy works best ? We've had just about every kind from inflatables with and without motors to rowing skiffs? All have there attraction but seem to have more compromises. I think the most used dinghy I've had was a 12 ft inflatable kayak. On the boats I used it with, it was towed - mind you at displacement speeds. Recently we had a Rossiter 12 ft skiff - an absolute dream to row but it could not be brought on board our Ranger 29 and was a pain to tow - bang crash ! So this year we will try another inflatable boat, but with a bit of a difference. It's a 1 metre wide by 3.5 metres long (by Grand) it can take an outboard but is set up with oars, and being narrow I hope it will row or paddle ok. It weighs about 40 lbs so I might be able to get it onto the cabin house or even horizontally on the swim platform. Failing either of those solutions I can tow it. The traditional solution is a hard dinghy, adequately fendered around the gunnel and towed especially if you want to propel it with oars. Maybe our new narrow inflatable will be an acceptable compromise.

 

[henrybrown]

Ah, the truth hurts! But you have a good point. I've been experimenting with a BIC Sportyak 213 which is hard plastic. I put it on the inside of the staples of my swimstep and it fits. But it barely rows 2 people to shore. I carry the RU3 inflatable the same way as it fits on the inside of the swimstep. I have kayaks and paddleboards for the roof rack.
I think I will hold off buying anything else until the Sept Rendezvous at Roche Harbor. There I can walk the docks and see what other intrepid Cutwater owners have done to solve this issue. Thanks for your two cents!

 

[BradOwens]

We have a 10 foot RIB on weaver Davits on the swim step. We get a bit of water in it while under way, but not enough to be a problem. We bring it along side the starboard end of the swim step to board, rather than climbing over the swim step rails, and the rails make excellent hand holds. We have to clean off some soot from the exhaust at the end of each trip, but that's not a big deal. Hope this gives you some ideas.

 

[henrybrown]

Hi, Brad. Thanks for your input. Can you possibly send me pix of your RIB attached to your swimstep? Which brand of RIB did you go with? Are you pleased with your RIB or would you have purchased a different model?

 

[BradOwens]

We bought our R29 from the factory with the Ranger brand RIB. It's similar to RIBs sold by Zodiac, Avon, etc. It has the hypalon tubes which I have been told are more UV resistant than PVC. We're very happy with it. You can view a picture by going to http://www.anacortesyachtcharters.com and selecting Charter Fleet, then Power Yachts. Serendipity is the first one listed. I'll try to send more pictures to you by private message.

 

[Connerkip]

We bought an Achilles 270 rib. I like the size as it doesn't hang out quite as much, particularly for docking We used the weaver davits but instead of the 4"up and 4" out brackets, we used the minimum up (maybe 3/4") and 4" out. No water collected in it at trawler speed or 16 knots. Also bought the torqueedo motor. We hang the motor on the swim platform rails, and keep the battery and tiller inside.

 

[stwendl]

You might want to look into inflatable kayaks by kaboat.com. I have one that is 14 ft long and about 3 ft wide