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It was a rainy day, I had both boats out of the water, and Francey was in Helsinki visiting my daughter and her children so I had a bit of time. I found a used molded polypropylene dinghy, a Walker Bay 8, on Facebook Marketplace. My idea is to use it when I go over to Fire Island so that I don't have to rent a slip.

I would like to keep the dinghy in the cockpit and drop it over the side when I want to row ashore rather than tow it behind me. Any suggestions for the least complicated way to deploy and retrieve this boat with minimal modifications to my B31? I don't have a swim platform and would prefer not to add one.

According to the specifications that I found online, the boat is about 8 feet long and 52 inches wide and weighs about 71 pounds. The boat is light enough that I had no problem carrying it home on top of our Volvo wagon and I was able to get it off of the roof by myself.

Moving blanket on transom and slide it in and out would be the simplest.


If you want to get complicated, add a davit.

A dinghy in the cockpit is rather impractical. Unfortunately.
Takes up a lot of space and renders all crew movements very difficult.

I did it with a 2.2 meter inflatable for a while, which is far lighter and presents no problem to just toss overboard, still getting around it to grab it was not easy.
For a rigid dinghy which probably also requires fine movements so as not to damage the mother boat is even trickier.
I really cant think of anything to suggest other than, at least, not forget to tie it to a rope before you send it overboard!
An upside down inflatable dinghy on the bow may be a bit easier to maneuver.

Peter I have a pair of 8’ sit on top kayaks for the same reason. They fit nicely between the engine box and aft cockpit panel. I don’t know if you have a plate in the deck for a fighting chair? But I’ve strapped the nose of the kayak to my fighting chair and left the back on top of the gunnel. A wet towel is all you need to protect the gunnel.

The kayak works for me as I drop everyone and everything off at the landing dock and just come in on the kayak in a bathing suit after anchoring. Also before having a swim platform I used a ladder that just hangs over the gunnel. Not as easy to get in and out but if you are prepared to be wet it’s no problem.

Peter we travel with a roll up inflatable. When we reach a cruising ground we haul it out & inflate it. It stays inflated until we start the long trip back. Ours is 8’4” x 5’1” inflated. When moving it lives in the cockpit and travels well there but as Yannis said (what, I’m agreeing with Yannis?) it makes it difficult to move around the cockpit. Not an issue anchoring but really a problem docking if you need to move around quickly. If not careful someone could get hurt. The other issue is launching. It takes two because it’s awkward and as Carl said unless you protect the boat with a towel it will scar up the gunwale or the transom. It’s nice to have the flexibility but it does come with challenges.

Doug,

stick to the inflating inflatable.

the hard dinghy is once every so often.

long trips with hard dinghies in the cockpit, smell issues.

we never disagreed on anything, we just embellished others' commonalities!

Cheers!

Yannis wrote: ↑Oct 23rd, '23, 12:45
the hard dinghy is once every so often.

long trips with hard dinghies in the cockpit,

wow...so much to say. But I think it best to just bite my tongue on this one.

Get a welder to make up a stainless V shape to match your hull and make it long enough to set the hull V on it. Weld that piece to a stainless tube put in one of the rod holders.
Lift the bow up and set in the v and pull the dingy on in.

Put it in the opposite side rod holder to lift up the bow, set in the V and slide boat back into the water.

Thanks for all of your advice and suggestions. I understand that the inflatables are more practical as a tender, but I just didn’t like the way they looked. The lines on the Walker go nicely with a 31, looks like they belong together.

Something like what Bruce has suggested sounds like it might work for me. I think I might add rollers to make it work more smoothly. This will be a good winter project for me.

Peter,

I dont know how easy is what Bruce suggests because there is still the weight to fight, however, may I add that putting a screw or pin that allows the V to swivel on the vertical stainless tube may render things a bit easier.

Carl,

My english might be deteriorating because back in the day a hard dinghy was always a dinghy...
There probably are other connotations that are more widely used in Staten Island, LOL!

Yannis your English is better than mine, I just find myself with a streak of immaturity at times.

I used to carry a 10' aluminum flat boat the same way. Bench cushion on the transom. No problem launching over the transom. The issue is getting in and out of the dinghy without banging into the hull. You don't think you are going to bang it -- but you are going to bang it. The slightest chop seems to get amplified when climbing in and out. I rigged up some pool noodles on the bow of the flat. Red ones. Looked awesome...